It is absolutely gorgeous outside. Just stunning, really. It's the kind of weather which actually makes you happy that most places require you to smoke outdoors; you can appreciate nature in all her beauty while also enjoying the bracing slap of hot smoke upon your lungs. It is indeed a marvelous day on which to be alive. I suggest you drop what you're doing immediately and go stand in the sun for a bit, because it's not going to last. While we're talking about the outdoors and the appreciation thereof, I have some disturbing news for those of you with allergies.

Take it away, Anahad O'Connor:

Studies have found that alcohol can cause or worsen the common symptoms of asthma and hay fever, like sneezing, itching, headaches and coughing.... Beer, wine and liquor contain histamine, produced by yeast and bacteria during the fermentation process. Histamine, of course, is the chemical that sets off allergy symptoms. Wine and beer also contain sulfites, another group of compounds known to provoke asthma and other allergy-like symptoms.

This is indeed troubling, as I am both an allergy sufferer and someone who every now and then likes to take a drink. As my fellow Claritin addicts can attest, this has been a particularly rough season, and I am concerned that my occasional indulgence might be making it worse. O'Connor suggests avoiding alcohol altogether, but that seems like the worst sort of reckless hysteria. Seeing as wine is identified as the worst offender, my solution is to stick to the brown liquors (taken neat, lest the water somehow activate the small amounts of histamine within) and double up on my loratadine intake. Seems like a pretty foolproof plan, right? The more you etc.