don't scratch it

part of the study i'm doing involves skin testing participants to see what they're allergic to. in order to do this, i have to be "certified" to do it--meaning i have to do some practice skintests on people to make sure that i'm not going to totally fuck things up. i know it sounds like it might be easy, and it is. yet i keep failing the certification. and every time i try to redo it, it involves sticking myself with histamine--something that makes everyone itch whether they're allergic or not--and recording the results.

that's right, i've had to stick myself with itchy stuff twice now. and it better be the last time. it's 15 minutes of pure, unadulterated torture: imagine four bites from mosquitos-on-steroids. mosquitos like they had in the jurassic period, or in the mesosoic period, or...i don't know. i'm not a dinosaur specialist. what are those people called? i tried spell paleintologist now and decided i don't know. the point is, the bumps itch like hell. and you're not allowed to scratch them, lest you spread the histamine. or get it under your fingernails and then rub your eyes.

so i've just sprayed myself down with benedryl AGAIN and am going to go measure my results. it better work. oh, science.