Aaarhh… knife… in… gut… Please, Please, help me, as only devout straight dopers can!
I know Cecil could advise me in an ill-considered second, but I am unworthy. Ed Zotti might take up to a minute, but he too, is unavailable. I, myself, am lost.
It started when someone pointed me to the website www.dhmo.org, which I’ve seen many times (as well as countless similar ones) It’s a very well done bit of satire, but it’s like a knife in my gut.
You see, I think I may have originated the longstanding DMSO joke. I certainly can document that I published it 23 years ago. However, I can’t prove that I was the first. maybe there was a lot of spontaneous independent evolution going on. If so, I’d be cool with that – but I’d really like to KNOW
Can anyone suggest research techniques that would help me to prove whether I am or am not the originator? I’m not interested in any sort of royalties or control. It just bugs me
In 1977, I, without any outside prompting or inspiration wrote an article on DHMO. It was soon published in a friend of mine’s APA (Amateur Press Association) 'zine (under my name) and also spread (by me and my friends) around MIT, at various high school academic competitions (Junior Classical League, Math Meets, Earth Day, Educational Studies Program, etc.), and science fiction fan events (Boskone, various relaxacons]
APA zines are widely traded/circulated (the sociology was not unlike the modern internet chat group), and were often archived in libraries or collections (I have a couple of original copies around here, too)
There have been numerous common elements in the DMSO parodies that suggest a common origin. (e.g. when I wrote it, were punchlines (themes, ‘additional risks’, etc.) that I decided to leave out for timing and structure, but none of these show up in ‘other’ DMSO jokes, as one would expect under independent evolution)
I can even tell you why it’s DHMO and not DHM or DMO: I was deliberately mimicking the DMSO (DiMethyl SulfOxide) fad. DMSO was an industrial solvent, approved for veterinary use, that had gotten some interesting airplay on 60 Minutes, etc, and even prompted the founder of The Dreyfus Fund (the most famous mutual fund of the era) to write and independently publish book called “Mr. President, an important Drug is being overlooked” protesting the FDA’s refusal to authorize DMSO as a treatment for cancer, arthritis, etc.
[It also had an interesting property that was scientifically verifiable: it could penetrate the skin and enter the blood stream (you could taste its ‘oyster-like’ flavor in your mouth in minutes) and it could sometimes transport medication through the skin as well.]
I’d really appreciate any help. It’s been bugging me for decades. Tracing a UL is a classic problem for SD’ers, and I’m usually pretty good at evidence, but this one has me utterly defeated.
Cecil? Ed? Slug? AAAANNNYYYYBBBBOOOODDDYYYY???