Back from the holiday weekend, having survived festive occasions involving family twice in three days and the horror of the Macy's parade (and its unusual pre-game coverage, which was heavy on Broadway show "performances").

I use the quotes because all of the live entertainment was apparently pre-recorded, sometimes in an incredibly obvious fashion. Seriously, at what point do we just stop expecting that musicians will actually perform live? At least the acts at halftime of both Thanksgiving day NFL games were plausibly live, even if they were incredibly intrusive (why is Vanessa Carlton playing at halftime? If she's a fan, can't we at least get her into a jersey?).

While in Maine, though, I did get to play another edition of Mystery Allergic Response. For those of you not familiar with the game, once every few years I have an allergic response to something I can't pinpoint that results odd physical responses. Past installments included:

* A fall 1991 attack that started as hives on my legs and ended with me double-timing it to Student Health Services as my throat narrowed (not the total closure seen with anaphylaxis, thankfully). Got to spend the afternoon napping in the infirmary, doped up on Benadryl.

* A late fall/early winter 1992 episode which let me spend some quality time in the St. Elizabeth's Hospital ER. It was actually less severe than the previous one, but happened at a time when on-campus health options were closed.

* Went on the road during the spring of 1994, as something in my grandparents' house sent me to the hospital in a wheezing fit (I had a pretty good write-up of this floating around somewhere).

No visits to the doctor (yet) for the latest chapter. At first I thought it was just my legs itching from dry skin, which I get when the weather turns cold and dry. Tried the usual creams, but rather than soothing the itch the affected areas of my legs turned red and kind of bumpy. I also have rashes on the inside of my upper arms, but they seem to be responding (slowly) to hydrocortisone cream.

The oddest aspect to all of this are a bunch of tiny bubbles that have appeared under the skin of my hands. Very strange.

So, while not the emergency assistance sort of reaction I've had to things in the past, my latest bout with mystery allergens (though I'm guessing there's some combination of cat, cigarette smoke, and down mixed with dry heat involved) may be more annoying, as it's slow to dissipate.

More than you probably wanted to know about the way my body like to have fun with me, I suppose. At least I didn't include pictures.