Queer Musings

links for 2006-09-30

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 30 seconds with bunnies.
  Funny Flash animation re-enacting the most important parts of The Texas chainsaw Massacre. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Flash Humor Movies)

links for 2006-09-28

• born different
  Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Gay GLBT Queer)
• Qlipp
  A blog that compiles GLBT videos from sources like YouTube. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Blog Gay GLBT Queer Video ViralVideo)
• Matthew's Place
  I wish I could have gotten off work to listen to Matthew Shepard's mother speak when she came visited my companies gay alliance. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Gay GLBT Queer)
• Queer Beacon
  The Queer Beacon offers insights as to the representation of gays in wider released movies. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Blog Gay GLBT Queer)
• 365 Gay The daily gay newspaper online
  Gay news. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Gay GLBT News Queer)
• Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
  GLBT activism. Found via StumbleUpon.com
  (tags: Activism Gay GLBT Queer)

Why Do We Want to Get Married?

As I look at my family, my friends and co-workers, I have to wonder why are we fighting so hard for same sex marriage?

I'm watching one of my best friends' marriage disintegrate. I have a feeling before it is all said and done it is going to turn ugly. I'm not really sure what I can do to help. Sure I can be supportive. I can help with child care when she needs it, but I still wonder; why do we want same sex marriage?

Just some random thoughts...

Technorati Tags: Divorce, Marriage, Same Sex Marriage

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Depression Triggers

Let me just say this, I hate bad news. That more than anything will throw me into a depressive tail spin. The end result is I tend to avoid all but the most important things like work.

I should start from the beginning. Last month I went to the optometrist to get a new prescription for contacts. No big deal, I've had contacts before, and my prescription doesn't really change all that much when I go. This trip was a little bit different. While conducting the exam the optometrist gave me the news that everyone around my age expects to hear. I am starting to develop presbyopia.

Not a big deal. I knew that was probably going to happen eventually. My mom and her parents eventually had to move into bifocals. My dad has to wear bifocals, so it only stands to reason that I would need them someday.

I was OK with the news. I've known people that wore different contacts in each eye. One for distance and the other for reading. I've also known people that would wear contacts for distance and have a pair of glasses for reading.

Then came the news I wasn't expecting.

The optometrist took me into another room to conduct the routine exam for glaucoma. He sat me down in front of the air puff machine and after running the test he just kind of went, "Hmmmm."

Not a good sign in my book.

He then told me to set my chin back into the strap and ran the test seven more times.

Definitely not a good sign.

After running the test eight times, he delivered the news. My intraocular pressure was slightly elevated. All I could hear him say after that was the words "glaucoma" and "ophthalmologist."

Glaucoma... All I knew was that it could eventually lead to blindness.

That started my tail spin. Sure I came home and called my health insurance company and found out I did not need a referral to see a specialist. Yes I then called an ophthalmologist and set up and appointment. I then went to work every day just to keep up some type of routine.

For the last three weeks I haven't done anything more than what was required to exist. When I wasn't at work, all I wanted to do was just hide here at home. It didn't help that every time I turned on my computer I was going to my insurance company's web site and WebMD to find out more about glaucoma. Needless to say I wasn't happy with the information I was finding.

Damn the internet for not providing me with a miracle cure. The web can provide all types of snake oils to cure ED. Hundreds of people try to get me to buy "herbs" that can increase my stamina in bed. If you Google a way to increase a part of the male anatomy, you'll get 2,510,00 results. Was it too much to ask for one site that could promise a cure?

Bah... Enough of the self pity.

I went to the ophthalmologist this last Monday. He performed some type of ultrasound test to check the thickness of my corneas. He dilated my pupils and used a couple of different instruments to look inside my eye to check the optic nerve.

The long and the short of it, is everything came back normal. He did say that my corneas were a thick enough that it could give faulty readings on the air puff test. He also mentioned that the optometrist's air puff machine could have been a little off.

There was no sign of glaucoma. He just wanted to set up another appointment in six months just for a follow up. After that I should see him if I ever felt like I needed a more thorough exam than I would get from an optometrist.

I'm still dragging myself out of the funk. Another couple of days and I should be back to my old self. I have vacation at the end of the month, so I booked a hotel in Vancouver. That will help. A trip out of town always makes me feel better, especially when it involves being able to get out of civilization, and somewhere where I can spend some time wandering around forests and mountains. Being able to get close to nature always makes me happier. Monday night while at work, I saw the fox everyone was talking about wandering around the complex, and even that made me feel better.

So no more pity party. Everything turned out fine. I'm still going to able to enjoy sunrises and sunsets, so what is there to complain about?

Technorati Tags: Depression, Glaucoma

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