Thursday, November 18, 2004
See me, fee-ee-eel me
Just came back from the optometrist's, for the first time in 5 years. My vision (near-blind) has only worsened a tiny bit, and I picked out some cheapo frames for my new pair of glasses. I stepped on my old pair a couple of weeks ago, and felt no great loss when they broke right across the bridge, frankly, since I had always regretted the frames on those ones and they had some kind of funky film over the lenses. So soon I will have brand new glasses. I only wear glasses in the early morning and at night, changing to contact lenses when I need to leave the house. I had to remove my contacts in the opt's office and do some walking around, and boy did I feel insecure! I can see only blurry shapes without them, and I couldn't have picked my own baby out of a lineup in that state. It's kind of scary.
The baby herself was a little unnerved when I was periodically hidden behind a huge metal and glass measuring thingy. I love all that stuff at the optometrist's office. I find the equipment aesthetically pleasing and the tests are kinda fun. Maybe that's because I started going when I was still a little kid. I still get excited about doing the tests. Only now I realize that I should be honest in my answers. It's not a test, like how cool are you, or how smart are you... So it does no good to try and pretend my eyes are not as bad as they are. I was a bit of a dork when I was a kid. No surprise I was also a four-eyes.
Question: Is terrorism a response to powerlessness, or is it in fact a function of power? Or both? Is the soldier who shot the injured, unarmed man in a mosque in Fallujah a terrorist? Is President you-know who? The November National Geographic has a good, short article on terrorism, with a useful definition (which I will find and post another time). It also makes a good point, that terrorism is always with us, in all times and many many places. But I wonder if we can define what it is that pushes people to such extremes of human behaviour.
Just came back from the optometrist's, for the first time in 5 years. My vision (near-blind) has only worsened a tiny bit, and I picked out some cheapo frames for my new pair of glasses. I stepped on my old pair a couple of weeks ago, and felt no great loss when they broke right across the bridge, frankly, since I had always regretted the frames on those ones and they had some kind of funky film over the lenses. So soon I will have brand new glasses. I only wear glasses in the early morning and at night, changing to contact lenses when I need to leave the house. I had to remove my contacts in the opt's office and do some walking around, and boy did I feel insecure! I can see only blurry shapes without them, and I couldn't have picked my own baby out of a lineup in that state. It's kind of scary.
The baby herself was a little unnerved when I was periodically hidden behind a huge metal and glass measuring thingy. I love all that stuff at the optometrist's office. I find the equipment aesthetically pleasing and the tests are kinda fun. Maybe that's because I started going when I was still a little kid. I still get excited about doing the tests. Only now I realize that I should be honest in my answers. It's not a test, like how cool are you, or how smart are you... So it does no good to try and pretend my eyes are not as bad as they are. I was a bit of a dork when I was a kid. No surprise I was also a four-eyes.
Question: Is terrorism a response to powerlessness, or is it in fact a function of power? Or both? Is the soldier who shot the injured, unarmed man in a mosque in Fallujah a terrorist? Is President you-know who? The November National Geographic has a good, short article on terrorism, with a useful definition (which I will find and post another time). It also makes a good point, that terrorism is always with us, in all times and many many places. But I wonder if we can define what it is that pushes people to such extremes of human behaviour.
# posted by becca : 10:53 AM
