Because I just sneezed in my latte.

ANTIHISTAMINES

The throw-down inside my sinuses, magnified x 1000

Wikipedia says:

“An antihistamine is a drug which serves to reduce or eliminate effects mediated by histamine, an endogenous chemical mediator released during allergic reactions, through action at the histamine receptor.

Only agents where the main therapeutic effect is mediated by negative modulation of histamine receptors are termed antihistamines – other agents may have antihistaminergic action but are not true antihistamines.”

I say, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!

If there’s an antihistamine to be had, I’ve had it. In addition to asthma and chronic rhinitis, I’m allergic to so many different types of trees, grasses and molds (way to live near a rainforest, dumbass) and so many airborne pollutants (way to live in a city, dumbass) and so many other random things (venison? really? dumbass!) that there’s always SOMETHING to be puffy/itchy/watery/sneezy/runny/congesty about. Blech.

This is why, for multiple months every year, I sound alternately like a squeak toy or a pitbull. Everyone has some homeo-somethingorother remedy they want to suggest beyond the world of modern science, but I gotta tell you… I’m a drug case.

In fact, the fastest way to irritate me is to suggest a remedy for my allergies that you think I haven’t thought of as though I would CHOOSE to spend my life burning through Kleenex and breathing like a freight train all summer. Naturally, if I could take Vitamin C or root of newt to fix it, I WOULD. I even weaned myself off of all the drugs once to try a fun regimen of sinal irrigation (Patia!) and herbs. My eyes swelled shut and I thought my nose was going to fall off of my face. AND I got a cool rash.

So. Antihistamines are necessary. But few of them actually WORK, either, unless you take them in random and elusive combinations that leave you feeling vaguely disoriented and slightly floaty. But it’s better than dying of post-nasal drip.

Here’s a list of what I’m on right now:

Loratadine
Cetirizine
Fexofendine

If I ever adopt triplets, those are totally the names.

External Links:

Wikipedia entry on allergies
Wikipedia entry on deviated septums (septii?)
A photo of me looking totally impressed at the height of allergy season

As requested by Darren.

PAVEL BURE

Bure after being traded to the Dark Side

Pavel Bure was picked 113th overall in the 6th round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, out of the Central Red Army of Russia. His first season with the Canucks was 1991-92, at the end of which he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie player.

He is considered by many to be a big part of why Vancouver nearly won the 1994 Stanley Cup (JE ME SOUVIENS) after he recorded several 60 pt. seasons, and consistently dominated the ice with his unique (and somewhat flashy) scoring technique. He also went on to play in several All Star games.

Eventually, he decided he was not going to skate in Vancouver anymore, and in 1999, took his toys and went to Florida to join the Panthers. Ew. Then he went to the Rangers in 2002. EW.

Eventually, his career as a player ended in 2005, due to the after effects of a knee injury sustained in 2003 (or it may have been the broken engagement with Anna Kournikova… we’ll never know. She ended up with Enrique Iglesias. Ouch. As REM would say, everybody hurts sometimes.)

There have been all sorts of weird rumours surrounding Pavel in Vancouver: he wore lipgloss (okay, I started that one); he was bisexual and romantically involved with Marc Messier (I didn’t start that one, though it sounds like I might have); and that the real reason he left the Canucks was that he could never quite get his hair to do that adorable curly thing like Trevor Linden’s does (I made that one up.)

I’m not a huge fan — I tend to shy away from primadonna players, as gorgeous as their efforts may be at times. I like the ones who balance elegance with a touch more grit.

I will say this for Pavel Bure — when he was on, he was ON. His style of play was crazy effortless at times, much like currently NHL wunderkind, Alexander Ovechkin. Sadly, however, I think “effortless” eventually translated into a lack of effort, and his career fizzled out rather unnecessarily as a result.

Sure, sure… the injury. But I think his heart left the game a couple years before he did.

On a completely related-yet-unrelated note, Pavel’s fellow hockey-playing brother, Valeri, is now married to Kirk Cameron’s (of Growing Pains and Left Behind fame) sister Candace (of Full House fame — though according to IMDB, she was also in Punky Brewster (!) TJ Hooker (!!) and Who’s the Boss (!!!)

Damn.

External links:

Pavel Bure stats page at his fan club
Pavel Bure’s NHL.com page
The cover of a book on Pavel Bure, in which he looks rather slinky
A haunting photo of Kirk Cameron, just because