Sunday, May 07, 2006

Writers' blurt

I came across an article about a woman who suffers from hypergraphia - a compulsive need to write things down. She writes almost continuously - on her computer, on scraps of paper, on her skin or her work clothes (surgical scrubs, as she is a neurologist). She often comes up with her best ideas in the shower, so she keeps a waxed pencil there to write on the walls. The opposite disorder to writers' block. Fancy that. I wish I had invented this, so I could write a story about it. Apparently, the Unabomber was a sufferer, too.

I also came across an article about a Bausch&Lomb contact lense cleaner liquid causing fusarium keratitis, a fungal infection of the eye, which can lead to blindness (and has, in some cases around the US). The company has kept it nice and quiet, since I had to read what has got to be globally regarded as an obscure little Finnish-language newspaper to receive this information. As it happened, it was the very liquid – the latest and best with "moisture-loc" – I had been using. I threw away my lenses, the bottle of liquid, the lense case. The condition particularly presents in tropical conditions. Great. I am not that surprised, given how everything goes moldy in these climates, but I must admit I wasn't expecting my *eyes* to do that.

The heavens have opened again and it is pissing down in Hilo with a tropical ferosity, solid non-stop for the second day running. If you want to see real rain, click on my Hilo Webcam link. Usually, you will see the Pacific. Quite often, you will see a vertical sea with slots (Terry Pratchett quote? Can't remember. I don't read him.) On the other hand, it didn't rain once in December.

© 2006 Anna MR

3 comments:

nmj said...

goodness, my optician just sent out a letter warning about the fungal keratitis! if the B&L solution was manufactured in milan you're okay, but anything else should be chucked out . . .scary . . . although, i think the incidence has been v.low, but you just can't risk it . . . switch to alcon, opti-free express, i think it's better . . . i didn't expect to be advertising len solution today, i shouldn't really, they make so much money, why is it so damn expensive?!

Anna MR said...

Yup, right up there with tampons and other "luxury products"...(which of course also can cause nasty side effects)

I went to Wal-Mart and bought a bottle of other B&L stuff. Shoudn't have done, really, they should be boycotted I suppose. But I couldn't get in touch with my optician to ask for advice, and some solutions don't go with my new-fangled (but very comfortable!) Oasys lenses.

There now, we should both be expecting to have the sponsorshipmoney rolling in...

nmj said...

nice copyright! am just goin to bed & you still have the day unfolding, time zones are just bizarre ...