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Hard Not To See the Vanity in This
June 1974 - 
Hard Contact Lenses
For the past ten years, I'd been unhappily putting up with having to wear eyeglasses. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to have a solution to my vision problems but I wished there was another way for me get around and not bump into walls (okay, it wasn't that bad but not being able to clearly see a traffic light with my naked eye was no joke).
After a passing conversation with an acquaintance, I found out about the existence of hard contact lenses. This guy Robert was standing in front of me, talking about how blind he was without his glasses. The fact that I could not tell that he was wearing lenses, made me want to jump up from my chair and run (not walk) to the nearest eye doctor. I had to have this amazing innovation. Little did I know that this idea was not so new.
Back in 1888, Adolf Fick was the first to successfully make what could be called a contact lens. The fact that it was made from blown glass did not make it very appealing to most. You see, the surface of the eyeball has to breathe and this cannot happen through glass. By 1929, Dr. Dallos perfected a method of making molds from living eyes (Yes, I did say, "molds from living eyes". Please don't ask how). Anyway, for the first time, the lens actually conformed to the shape of the eye. Trials with these lenses were difficult to say the least. A gel had to be placed on the lens in order to avoid irritation and damage from the wearing of the glass lens. The gel made it difficult to see at times but I guess when it comes to vanity, you have to take the good with the bad.
The previous lenses were pretty large and covered most of the visible area of the eye. It wasn't until the 1930's that a type of Plexiglas had finally been developed and the clinical trials with glass stopped (how could you put glass in you eyes anyway?). About 1949, the smaller lenses, which cover only the corneal area, were finally produced. Up through the 1970's these "hard lenses" still did not allow air to pass through its surface. No air passing through means possible adverse effects, meaning you could hurt that delicate organism. This brings us back to 1974 and me.
While I was at Sterling Optical, the eye doctor and his helper, showed me how to carefully put in my newly purchased hard contacts. Unfortunately, there is a huge natural defense that I had to move pass in order to purposely stick a foreign object in my eye. Forcing my eyelids open and placing the lens directly on what I'd spent my life protecting, at first felt like a horror movie. Eventually I learned that as long as they were clean, they were comfortable. For a short while, I experienced the same feeling as when I first put on my "I hope they don't look like bottle-cap" glasses, but wait, this was different. These were no glasses. No one could tell I had them on! I felt like a new man. I had gotten my face back! Dry Eye
,The real story was that after about five or six hours, my eyes would feel dry and irritated. As much as I wanted to leave my lenses in, I couldn't. Then there's the other problem. I had to be careful not to get ANYTHING in the lenses just before I put them on. It was bad enough getting a piece of lint in there but a stray eyelash felt like there was a rock being pushed unto my eyeball. I found that I couldn't be in a hurry prior to putting them on because if I hadn't cleaned them well enough I'd have to snatch them out to avoid the stinging pain. My worst nightmare was being at the beach and a grain of sand... Never mind, too frightening.
The next few years, I'd learned how to time out wearing the hard lens according to the occasion. Of course, I was still wearing my glasses but having the option of not wearing them, made a big difference to my ego (no, I didn't say vanity). At least I was happy until the night of the party. I would soon find out why they called them
Hard Contact Lenses
I merrily danced and talked and laughed with my family and friends that particular night. I was successfully able to ignore that rational inner voice, which had always signaled me, like clockwork. "The time is up Cinderfella," it said. "Take those things out of your head!" But I kept saying, “Shut up, stupid. I'm having too much fun." When I finally got home, about eleven hours later, my eyes felt a bit dry but that was about it. Usually the technique for taking out hard lenses was to pull the outer side of my face near my eye, with my finger and then blink. I did this a few times but neither lens would do their usual pop out. Finally, I had to move the left lens off the cornea, unto the white area of my eye and then blink. The lens did pop out and I was relieved. I proceeded to do the same with the right lens and got it out of my other eye.
After doing so, I found that any amount of light was irritating my eyes to the point that my only comfort was to keep them shut. As I attempted to peer through my lids, the light was blindingly painful, especially to my right eye. I was scared but I wasn't in any real pain. I decided to wait it out and see what happened before I ran to the hospital. As the hours passed, my eyes slowly returned to their normal state.
Eventually, I found that no real damage had been done. The eye doctor warned me to be more careful. It was weeks before I dared to place the contacts on again. I did not dare to wear them longer than I should and I listened to the little voice. Fortunately, there was another voice that talking about a new type of lenses. These were soft and some were even called "extended wear." Hearing this new voice, pretty much made me punch the old one in the face. To be continued with part three: 
Soft Contacts
Also check out part one and part four:
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We all have our shortcomings. Mine used to be these two things sitting on either side of my nose. I like to call them, my eyes.
Dec 1964 - Eleven years old
My mother turned off the water and walked over to me. She still had a drippy plate in her hand and an already soaked dish towel. My stopping her from doing her work, suddenly made me feel like I had said something important.
“Do you mean from where you sit in the back of the class?” she asked. “Yeah. I kind of have to squint to see the writing on the board” I responded.
I didn’t like the sound of that. She and my father both wore glasses but my brother didn’t. He was older so why was I having problems and not him. Anyhow, I figured it would be like going the doctor. If you’re sick, he gives you something to make you better. An eye doctor couldn't be much different.
I finally rationalized that it wasn't like I couldn't get around all the time without this odd and remarkable appliance. Maybe I’d eventually become happier with the glasses, than without them. It was going to be great to clearly see the writing on the blackboard at school again. I didn’t want to miss a thing in the world around me so maybe this thing being part of my face now was for the best. At least some of the time, anyway. At the age of eleven, I was quickly learning what the word compromise truly meant.
There was no getting away from the truth. As I grew older so did my ego but the way I felt about my vision was making me take a step backwards. That was, until my next discovery. A new product called contact lenses.
To be continued with part two…
Hard Contact Lenses
Also check out part three & part four
Finders Keepers is book two of the Bill Hodges trilogy (Book one being Mr. Mercedes, which I also reviewed). It's the story of one man's obsession with the way an author has written a particular character in his books. When this man (Morris Bellamy) finds that there are unpublished works in which the author might have supported Morris' view of a beloved character, Morris is willing to kill in order to possess the unseen manuscripts. Unfortunately for Morris, he goes to jail and his obsession is put on hold for many years. This gives others a chance to possess the books but watch out! Morris has never forgotten his obsession and will let no one stand in his way to get them back.
Finders Keepers is definitely a crime drama and an excellent one at that. Seems like Stephen King can write anything (I'm used to his horror) and be really good at it. The pacing and suspense were right on target. I know to expect the unexpected from King but the scene in the house between Morris and Pete's mother actually startled me (in a 'that didn't just happen', kind of way). It was great to see the old crew from Mr. Mercedes back together again. Their roles in the story fit perfectly and just like in the previous book, things got more and more tense towards the end. It was difficult for me not to see Morris as the Gollum character from Lord of the Rings, though. His life-time obsession with Rothstein's unpublished stories felt only strangely familiar at first. I did not make the Gollum connection until Pete also got hooked. All I could think of was the passing of the ring and what a person is capable of doing in order to possess it. I was happy that neither Morris nor Pete ever said, "Give me back my precious." This book I give a five out of five stars and I'm anxious to see the third installment in the trilogy. Finders
Keepers
"Imagination fuels fear. Fear fuels the imagination." Dyllon's Law
The Coven
Things aren't as quiet on the Crystal Coast as some may believe. They say there might even be witches there.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Coven: Book One by Chrissy Lessey. The characters were interesting and it’s obvious that a lot of care was taken to correctly convey the area where the story takes place. There were times that Stevie’s learning about her new “gifts” felt like Witch Training 101 but Ms. Lessey’s real point was so much deeper than that. The real story is about a mother’s love for her autistic son. During the story, Stevie’s instincts are to use her newfound gifts to protect her son. She understands that hurting another in an attempt to achieve this goal would make her no better than those presenting the evil and Stevie’s final decision towards the evil, springs from her love for those around her. This theme carries the reader to a well-written rollercoaster ending, which had me on the edge of my seat. I will be reading, The Secret Keepers, which is the next book in this series. 
The main characters (Hodges and Brady, to name a few) jump off of the page and into reality as people that we might really know or we try hard to avoid. The motivations and the actions that they take make sense as increasingly difficult situations are presented to them. The best example is the obsession, which develops within Hodges in order to solve the mystery of the killer. He is a detective who has lived for his job and can’t handle his well-deserved retirement. His desperate feelings of worthlessness (among other reasons), drives him to catch the killer. As Hodges struggles to do the right thing, he is constantly aware that by doing so he might also be breaking the law.
I must mention the dark character that is the killer. It’s astounding how King came up with the personality traits and family relations of the man. I would swear that King personally sat down with Brady and collected the facts first hand. Once this information is blended into the story, King makes Brady just dark enough that regardless how much you understand his life (and it’s pretty messed up) you have to hate the guy. King has written a well-paced story that grabs hold of the reader’s attention from its shocking beginning to its nail-biting conclusion. This book makes for one of King’s best suspense novels and it easily deserves five stars.
Mr.
Mercedes by
Stephen King
"Where do dreams come from?"
The DreamCannot Be Controlled
Ominous
The basis for the video, just like the book, is the uncertain world of dreams. Deidre dreams nightly about Kelly and Dyllon's new marriage. She wishes for their happiness and this is reflected by the use of light and happy musical tones. But this mood turns suddenly ominous and Deidre is reminded that dreams cannot be controlled. Or can they?
The book, THE DREAM DILEMMA - Reflections of EL, is the continuation of the story that began in Reflections of EL: In Search of Self. Both books are part-autobiographical.
Before you sleep tonight, see if you can figure out the riddle of the little wooden figure and solve the:
dilemma
that
cannot be controlled
Murder has come to a quiet rural town in New England during the 1930s. Is it possible that children might be involved?
The story of Thomas Tryon’s exploration into the odd behaviors of the young brothers Niles and Holland Perry is both well written and well executed. The small-town descriptions were realistic and the plot twists kept me guessing but the unexpected final revelation involving the siblings haunted me for days. Tryon’s work with the 1972 movie of the same name was just as shocking and I consider both works to be classics.
The Other by
Thomas Tryon
What is all of the fuss about the new movie, Star Wars - The Force Awakens?
I've only had my ticket for the last month (for the December 18th opening day showing ) so I believe that I can answer that question. Regardless, I can't give a review of a movie that I've never seen before so let's instead take a look at what all the buzz is based on.
Back in May 1977, I saw a new movie at the drive-in called, Stars Wars - A New Hope - Episode IV. It was advertised as a shoot-'em- up Western in outer space. Reviews were good, it was popular for months and I thought that would be it. A great movie but then again, there was a lot of other great movies. 
As the year progressed, every child had some toy and/or model related to Star Wars. Even some adults said craziness like, "I wish I had a light saber." This is from a movie that was numbered "Episode IV". How could a movie that skipped the first three chapters be so successful? It took three years but I found out.
In May 1980, when The Empire Strikes Back was finally released, there was an adult following that shocked more than a few people. As the movie began, the same theme music as in the first installment sounded and the rolling credits again impressively stretched across the screen. In unison, the crowd gave out a loud and resounding "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa." 
There were a lot of happy people who finally got their fix. Not to mention the big shocker about Luke's father (I don't want to spoil it for anyone who doesn't know).
Return of the Jedi (May 1983) was also a good movie because of the established relationships of the main characters and the exciting resolution to George Lucas' story. Carrie Fisher's good-looks helped a bit also. 
But what didn't help episode VI was creating the furry little Ewoks. Those fuzz-balls were just too childish but I guess the kids in the audience appreciated them more then I did.
Apparently, Lucas did something very right because even though it took another sixteen years (May 1999) before Episode I - The Phantom Menace finally premiered, young and old were still in a high state of excitement. 
Fascinating story building amazed all but there was one character that almost single-handedly destroyed the show. Yes, it was Jar Jar Binks. This creature was more than just childish; this thing was just plain stupid. He served an important function in the plot but his role should have been given to a tree or something that could keep its mouth closed. But, the movie was successful in spite of that creature's antics.
By May 2002, Attack of the Clones premiered and it was an instant blockbuster. A great love story and even greater shockers. To me, the biggest success of the movie was the decision to give Jar Jar Binks just a few lines (sorry, just a joke). 
And finally we arrive at Revenge of the Sith - Episode III, which is a truly remarkable achievement of a movie. Since its premiere on May 2005, I've seen it more than a few times but the exciting plot blended with the inevitable sadness and tragedy that Anakin must face to become his future self holds up every time.
The story-writing decisions to connect a 2005 film to the original that premiered in 1977 must have been more than difficult. I've heard that George Lucas had a great deal of the entire story in his head from long ago. Overall, well written scripts, amazing stars, remarkable direction, stupendous musical scores and ever-increasing CGI effects have made Star Wars a memorable part of our lives for nearly forty years.
Hopefully, Star Wars - The Force Awakens - Episode VII will not disappoint but signs are good that it too will be a winner. Its actually premiering Thursday evening, December 17th even though the commercials say Friday. Rotten Tomato (movie reviews) has already given the film an average rating of 97%. I hate standing on long lines so I'm thankful that some theaters now have reserved seating. Along with quite a few others, I will be having more to say about this film. Oh, almost forgot. May the force be with you. The Force
Was
Never Asleep |
