Monday, February 16, 2009

Entry: Floaters

This isn't so much something I learned from Wikipedia, in that this time around I learned a variation on Wiki's usefulness; namely, proving to someone that you are not playing a joke on them.

My boyfriend and I were watching the latest episode of Family Guy this afternoon, which was apparently way more important than reading a book or going to the gym or volunteering at the Humane Society. Anywho, there was a joke about eye floaters, and I laughed (kind of), while my boyfriend just looked confused. And I said, "You know, the floaty things in your eye?" Well, apparently he is some kind of mutie with perfect eyes, because he doesn't have them. After a few turns on the Wheel of Disbelief-- "Are you just going along with the joke to fuck with me?" "Are you just pretending that you don't have them to fuck with me?"-- I turned to the Wik' to prove to him that they exist, and to prove to myself that I'm not embroiled in some twisted, ocular folie a deux with Seth MacFarlane.

And they do exist! Hurrah! And are apparently caused by crap in the vitreous humor (aka gel that fills your eyes). Ewww.

I don't know, is this some rare thing that only afflicts myself, at least one member of the Family Guy writing staff, and possibly a third person who wrote the Wikipedia article and is presumably not the latter person I mentioned (because I certainly didn't write it)? Who else out there on the Internet has weird floaty things in their eyes?

ETA: Andy Goth sent me a link to this essay about floaters. Floaters, and HP Lovecraft. Check it out.

7 comments:

George said...

I see them sometimes (but not all the time). The easiest way to see floaters is to look at the sky in the morning, especially if it's clear.

Regina said...

True that. I've also found that they show up when I'm looking at a blank white wall or a mostly white computer monitor. But considering that he's on the computer just as often as I am, maybe he just doesn't have floaters.

Galadriel said...

I have some nagging, really persistent floaters. I was describing them to my step-grand-mother-in-law, who told me that her late husband had had them too. While he had Alzheimer's. And so he was convinced they were bugs, and would chase and try to catch them.

MKelley said...

I get floaters, and have since childhood.

They seem particularly easy to see on a sunny day. Sometimes they are obtrusive and irritating, other times I forget all about them and cannot see any unless I make an effort to look for them (like I did after reading this post).

My husband also gets them (thank goodness, it's not like he needs any more reasons to think I am a little crazy!) and for him they are often indicators that he may get a migraine in the next 1-3 hours. Although considering it's rare for him to go more than 2 days without a migraine or other headache it's also possible this is purely coincidence, and he would still see floaters without his hereditary migraine predisposition. Holy run-on sentence Batman!

Chris said...

I spent the first twenty-two years of my life trying to convince people that I see floaters, and it wasn't until I met my wife that I found someone who knew what I was talking about. Apparently we're not alone. We all need to start a support group or something.

An Cúglas Hiberniæ said...

I have a huge one (if I outstretch my arm and "pinch" it my fingers are three inches apart) floating around in my right eye that sort of looks like a pterodactyl. I think it's quirky and unique like a birthmark.

Charlotte said...

My entire family is effected with Floaters. My Father was born with detached retinas and he has them Really bad. The clear morning is a really good time to see them. But I have them all the time. Sometimes so bad that its like looking through really strange static like on a tv. When I was really young (3?) I too thought I was looking at something in the air and would try catching them to no avail. Must of looked like I was Special