In doing some online Christmas shopping tonight, I realized that I don't really have many hobbies anymore. At least, any hobbies that require purchasable stuff. I blame this on school. In many of my interviews over the past couple months, I've been asked how I feel about going back to school, continuing my education, etc. Obviously, the correct answer to this question is that I would always be open to getting more education, especially if it would benefit The Company and myself in my job.

Except... this is absolutely the worst time of the year to ask a student how they feel about continuing their education. I have to bite my tongue to stop from yelling, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??" When faced with all the final projects, extra reading, last problem sets, and final exams that this time of year has to offer, I just can't imagine subjecting myself to another round of school. And yet, somehow by the time the beginning of the next semester rolls around, choosing new classes always seems exciting again. "Ah, THIS semester I'll get all my work done on time, do the reading before class, never fall asleep in lecture, and ask lots of questions when I don't understand the material."

But that feeling usually lasts about two weeks.

Anyway, I also think my lack of interest in stuff outside of school has a lot to do with my eyes. A few months ago, I had lunch with a friend who had just gotten into kayaking - he was taking classes in the pool to learn how to safely roll a kayak, and he was spending most of his weekends on the water in Maine. He was also playing IM soccer, hockey, softball... As he was talking, I realized that I can't do any of those things right now because I'm wearing my glasses. Yeah, okay, I could get one of those uber cool rubber straps that goes around the back of my head to keep my glasses on while I ran around, but my eyesight isn't good enough to do any of those things without my contacts. And I still can't wear contacts for any real portion of the day (although it might be okay if I just had them in for a 90 minute soccer game). I haven't even been interested in doing any photography for the school paper since I stopped wearing contacts.

Around Thanksgiving, I made an appointment Josh's eye doctor because Josh and I were having similar eye symptoms, so I wanted to know if it could be from a virus or something else that we both had. The doc didn't think that was the case, but he spent almost an hour just talking with me and listening to my description of everything that's been happening since last March. He examined my eyes and tried to flip my eyelids inside out to check for giant papillary conjunctivitis (unsuccessfully, because I'm a big baby), and ultimately determined the following:

I probably had a mild case of GPC early last spring, and I also had a severe allergic reaction to an unknown something while I was in England. The unrelated medication that I was on taking up until the end of this September probably changed the pH of my skin (causing the weird acne I was getting) and of my eyes. Inflammation in the eyes, particularly if it's prolonged, can cause changes in the cornea, making it more difficult for the eyes to stay moisturized. The good news is that since it's been so long since I wore contacts on a regular basis, any GPC that I had is probably gone. It's also possible to help my eyes get better at keeping the moisture level up, by doing obvious things like drinking lots of water and washing my eyelids with very mild soap, and also by eating more foods that have omega-3 fatty acids. Fish are a big source of this, which is unfortunate since I hate fish, but flaxseed is also a decent source of these fatty acids. So I've diligently been eating my flaxseed every day.

I'm also supposed to lay off the coffee and soda, and get as much sleep as I can. So with that, good night.