Depth Perception

After I wrote it, I realized that it was a lie. Last week I said that I hadn't finished a single non-school related book since I got here. That's not actually true. My first month here I finished this guy: 

Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions by Susan R. Barry 

I had been wanting to read it for a while and remembered at the last minute to pick up a copy before I left Texas. It was a little more scientific than I bargained for, but it was fascinating. 

It might seem like an odd book to read unless you know that (drumroll please) I am stereoblind. 

Yep. You've probably heard me talk about it endlessly or not at all. Basically it means that your two eyes don't necessarily compute and combine the slight differences they see resulting in a lack of depth perception. Now before you start lining up cups and asking me if the blue one or the red one is in front, I can do that kind of stuff. No need to take away my driver's license. It's not that I can't see that something is in front of something else. It's just that I can't see the space between things. 

I had been trying to tell people about this for years. The only reason I knew that I didn't have depth perception was because every once in a while I did. Occasionally, when walking home or dashing around campus, especially if it was a sunny day, I would notice the leaves on the trees were really defined. All of a sudden it is like stepping into a pop up book. It always seemed like magic. I remember the fist time I saw why it's called looking through the looking glass. I had always seen myself flat on the plane of the mirror. 

I would usually confuse people by saying, Oh look. I have depth perception today! For a while I tried to explain it by saying that I basically saw the world like a regular movie, while other people saw the world like a 3D movie (which probably helps to explain why I never really understood 3D movies). After reading the book though, this doesn't really help either: apparently the eyes of people with stereovision (those with depth perception and 3D vision) actually create 3D when they watch regular films as well. 

Anyway, I believe it was the crunch time of the Spring semester that led me to procrastinate by researching my vision online (I think it was also after I had tried to explain it to a friend...who told me that was not how normal people saw). I was surprised to find out that other people had the same experience, and found a review of this book online. 

As it turns out, stereoblindness is not that uncommon. Some people who are cross-eyed or have a lazy eye (or did as a child) or even just don't have eyes that are perfectly aligned have the same problem. Sometimes it is just because one eye is much stronger than the other. It's kind of funny because I always said that I felt like my center of gravity was over to one side of my body--I am constantly ramming my shoulders into door panes and walls. Turns out, it might just be that my eyes use images from one eye predominately. 

The fun part of the book is that there are lots of little exercises to help you practice your vision. Sitting around in airports and offices I am sure there were plenty of people confused by my squinting and focusing. I had already figured out that if I tried really hard I could conjure up a bit of depth perception. If I close my left eye, focus the right one well, and then open the left one, sometimes I can get the images to merge. When I am just sitting around, I try to practice. This came in handy when I drove back and forth between Abilene and FW two dozen times this summer (watching the hawks flying through the air is fascinating when you have depth perception!) or when I got bored in class (I would try to make a desk, or a pencil pop out,  or even sometimes I would just stare at the professor and try to see his nose in 3D. Ha!) (Apologies to any professors reading, I'm sure it wasn't your class!)

All of this to say that when I was little and wondered if what I saw as blue, was really what you saw as blue, or if we all saw things a bit differently, might have a bit of truth in it after all. (Cue some postmodern philosophy and situated hermeneutics!)

So now you know. 

Week in Review Sabbatical Style: Week 10!

Another week has come and gone. And let me tell you, this week has gone well. It's the week in review: 

• In the end I found an even cheaper deal for another night at my hotel here in Agia Napa...so I just stayed another night. No complaints.   
• Apparently I when I advanced my watch when I came to Europe it messed the days up (although any of you who have seen my watch lately will wonder how I see anything off of it). I couldn't remember what day it was this morning, and my watch said Sunday. So Sunday it was. Until about an hour ago when I realized my computer and the hostel booking devises were telling me otherwise. This makes the confusing conversation I had with the receptionist about the time change tonight make more sense. 
• Tonight begins "summer time" (aka the end of daylight savings time). 
• Tomorrow being Sunday also means that buses tomorrow are very limited. 
• I got another cup of Greek coffee from the same place. The first sip sent an actual shiver up my spine. (I will say though, the thing about coffee I really love is the little jolt you get about 2 sips in. This stuff? It sends caffeine fireworks through your system. I can barely type.)
• For those keeping track, I decided to start my Camino in Pamplona. 
• I also bought a small 4 euro bottle of contact solution. It is 120 ml, and here the limit for bottles that go in your zip lock bag for the plane is 100 ml. If they make me throw this one away too I will not be happy. 
• In Larnaka I got chatted up by the Arab waiter at the restaurant I went to. His name was Ibrahim. Imagine that. 
• In Cyprus people drive on the left side of the street. I have almost died crossing the road...twice. 
• OK, I probably wouldn't have died. 
• I have been getting a lot of reading in here, which was part of the plan. I read Love Wins and Northanger Abby this week. Kind of an odd combo, but hey, I enjoyed both. 
• Remember how I went on about the Central American sun being bright? Yeah well the sun is pretty strong here too. Hello sunburn!
• I had some great moments of depth perception this week. I love it when that happens. (See this if you are confused by that statement.) 
• I got a check in the mail this week to cover the replacement (and major upgrade!) of my laptop. The insurance covered ALL of it (including a copy of Microsoft Office that was on there). Seriously people, if you are students (and I am pretty sure even if you aren't) run to get yourself some student insurance: www.nssi.com/ (especially if you are as clumsy/accident prone as I am...)
• I've been catching up on the news since I have a TV with 2 English channels. Kind of glad I ended up nixing the Middle Eastern portion of my trip right about now. 
• The plan for the next few days: head to Limassol for a couple of nights (another coastal city), head into the mountains to see some villages and monasteries, then see the world's only divided capital.
• I just realized (again) that today isn't Sunday yet...so consider this a week in review a day early!  

Just a few pics below: 

My "beach recliner"

The view from the recliner. I had the beach to myself. 

Arabic on the tea, Greek on the cream, Hebrew on the Sweet and Low

The view from here. That coffee looks innocent enough, but whew. I'll be up all night. 

Life's Not Always A Walk in the Park...

But some days it is.

And today was one of those days.

I had yet to make it to Fort Worth's botanic gardens since I got back, so while I was on that side of town today, I stopped in. It really is one of my favorite places in Fort Worth. 

As luck would have it, I was struck with some pretty awesome depth perception AND had the place almost entirely to myself. I had a long walk through almost all of the gardens while having a lovely chat, and then I staked out a nice plot of grass and read for a while as a set of clouds blew through (no rain, of course). Throw a family of raccoons and some Sufjan Stevens into the mix and it was a pretty perfect afternoon. 

My allergies will curse me tomorrow, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was worth it. 

Anti-Pet Peeves List

I read a blog a while back where the blogger talked about all the simple things that made her happy. She noted that there is really no word to express the opposite of the tiny annoyances of a "pet-peeve" but nevertheless set out to make a list of these kind of simple moments that made her happy. I realize that I have been doing too much complaining about all my to-do list tasks lately, so I thought I would sit down and do the same. There are hundreds more, but here are a few I've come up with:

• The feeling I get after two sips of coffee when my eyes pop.
• The way the grass at my parent's house looks after my dad mows it.
• Unexpected jokes (especially when it is 3rd grade/laffy taffy-esque humor!)
• Postcards in the mail. (Or just checking the mail in general.)
• When the perfect song for my mood comes on the radio or my ipod.
• Driving on a traffic free freeway at twilight.
• My Saturday morning routine of eating breakfast and reading the NYTimes' weekly travel stories.
• 80's music and bad dance parties.
• The look my students have when they figure out a new word in English.
• Waking up to a chilly room and being snug under the covers.
• Opening the door to a house that smells like food cooking (bonus if it is roast in the oven after church on Sunday).
• A made-up recipe that comes out yummy.
• When songs, poems or novels have really long titles. (See almost anything by Sufjan Stevens)
• When I walk outside to realize I am having a brief moment of exceptional depth perception (...I'll probably have to explain more about that one later).
• Wearing boots and crunching acorns.
• When I catch myself smiling at the TV, movie, book or a random thought. (Mostly because Lindsay used to make fun of me for this.)

And honestly, I'm smiling at my computer now just thinking about all these little things. Which is probably the point. : )