Deaf, Mad and Blind

Now that I am nearing my 25th birthday, I am perpetually astonished as I witness the signs of aging in my life. For starters, my vision and hearing are going, at least on my right side. That might be caused in part by the car accident I was in seventeen years ago (!) when glass from the shattered car window got into my eye and ear. Of course, the hearing problems might also stem from standing too close to the drummers in marching band back in high school.

I guess I shouldn't say hearing loss, really. I'm not deaf, I'm just not able to properly distinguish sounds on that side any more. Someone might be talking, and it'll come through as a blur of noise. As for sight, my right eye is near-sighted, so if I close my left eye, my vision is too fuzzy to even make out the details on the computer screen while I type this.

Now for the madness! As I get older, I become more idiosyncratic and "unique," with strange eccentricities and affectations. And my memory is going too. I can still remember Kings of England and Presidents of the United States, but the important things -- like the names and faces of people I've only just met -- seem to almost immediately slide out my brain's back door.

As I reach the zenith of my life, or rather, the young part of my life, I thank you all for your patience and understanding in bearing with me, your friend the senile old dotard.

Here's to the "Quarter Century Club!" Huzzah!