One of the things that comes with reading the Britannica is being reminded of stuff that you thought you had forgotten and frankly were probably hoping you had. This morning I was reading about Acarina, which is a scientific name for mites and ticks (which are, by the way, closely related to spiders). A few years back I read a fascinating and very unsettling book about the cornucopia of microscopic-sized creatures living in our bodies. Acarina and other incredibly small life forms have built veritable societies within our little human selves. And, like all societies - like us, really - it isn't pretty. They're living, eating, mating, defecating, fighting wars, building churches, starting book clubs - everything distasteful you can imagine. Somewhere in my lower intestine, a tick Tom Cruise is jumping on a mite Oprah Winfrey's chesterfield. And not a single one of these creatures is paying me a dime for the privilege.

I don't think anything can be done about this and, unlike Tom or Oprah, some of these little critters make positive contributions to our ongoing existence. But it is comforting at least to personalize them. I'd be much happier knowing that Oprah is in my lower intestine than on a TV somewhere. And Katie Holmes would be welcome to visit Tom anytime she wants.