Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

@acetone_kitten It's cool, but thanks hun! <3 The more I read about it, the more it sounds like I basically caught this at Stage 0. It's actually *better* than what happened to me in Boston... as this shit goes.

And this time around, we know what to look for-- instead of dicking around for a whole month while it got worse, like last time, I can pop straight into the nearest retinologist and say HIT ME.

So yeah, in general, I'm feeling stressed out but kinda punchy. My current attitude is that this all sounds dealable in the long run, and if it *does* hit sooner rather than later, we can still get it dealt with. It'll just be a little grueling. I'm up for it. I've had worse. Motherfucking bring it. There are days when the doubts seep in, but the life I've got is very much worth fighting for. And, you know, I like being able to read and stuff. :p

Less freaked out this morning. Found a medical study that gave solid percentages, and it looks like this is less "tornado at the door" scary than "turns out your house is built on mud" scary. I have something like a 15-20% chance of getting wet AMD (read: effective blindness but somewhat treatable if caught fast) in the next 5 years.

And it turns out the main drug that treats it is still cheap. And still goes directly in the eyeballs. Yay! I'll deal.

I actually read some statistics, and the odds are less <10% per year of hard drusen becoming a full-blown problem.

It's just that... well, the vision in my right eye's already a bit fucked, so it would mean major impairment... unless I caught it within, like, three days. And got injections. Rather expensive ones.

Just one more thing to fret about, one more engagement with Adult-World bureaucracy. My eyes are the same today as yesterday.

Basically, after 7 years without an eye exam, today they found these things called "drusen" (German for "geode") on my left retina, my "good" eye. They're little fatty deposits, and they come in "soft" (bad) and "hard" (less bad). The optometrist was vague, but I'm pretty sure I just have the hard ones.

They're a common warning sign that I _could_ get full-blown macular degeneration in my left eye. Nothing bad is happening yet, it's just a scary thing to think about!

This goddamned headline. If ONLY it could all happen overnight. 😂​ Surprisingly supportive story for Inside Edition, though!

https://www.insideedition.com/london-teenager-transitions-overnight-while-parents-sleep-48724

Went in for a routine eye exam, and they found precursors to a retinal disorder in my left eye-- the same one that I had to get a year of painful treatments for when it hit my right eye 7-8 years ago.

Dammit, I thought I was done with this. And I'd just book with a retinologist and get it out of the way, but... I'm in the middle of changing insurance and haven't even gotten my new card yet.

Gonna be stressed and preoccupied for a while, yeah.

I love that Youtube's recommendations algorithm doesn't know what to do with all my horror-comedy links so it tends to just bundle them up under "Software - Topic." I guess Claridryl is technically software. :D

https://www.reddit.com/r/trashpandas/comments/a0unr5/when_you_think_youre_clever/

#moodsnapshot

CW: adorable but mangy wildlife =(^)_(^)=

@001zlnv Oh, I had just assumed Taranchula's latest album had dropped and you were quoting the lyrics...

Meeses.

https://www.boredpanda.com/cute-harvest-mice-in-tulips-photography-miles-herbert/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BPTwitter

(ALTERNATE SELECTION FOR @LeDiva: the same selection, accompanied by chopsticks, a small mallet, and a complimentary dish of dipping sauce with ginger and fried shallots. 😺​❤️​)

@kelseyhusky In your case, I suspect it's partly due to an imagination and an inner life that go maddeningly far beyond physical limitations?

There's a lot of that about. The fact it's probably the result of good things about you doesn't make the sense of longing hurt any less. And I realize there's probably more to it. *hug*

Next time I see ya, remind me to go into *exactly* what "Antler Mom" is goddess of, and why it abbreviates poorly to "dream goddess." It's relevant.

@troodon Right there with ya, sib.

@starkatt Yeah, @acetone_kitten and I went back and forth for years over the song "Nutrition" by the Dead Milkmen-- because I still insist "I give a healthy shit" is a far better lyric than "I give a hell of a shit..."

I wish there were a "hide reviews from Californians" checkbox on Yelp.

I wish Yelp just *defaulted* to hiding reviews of non-Californian Mexican restaurants from Californians.

I also wish it would default to hiding all reviews that contain the phrase "Well, I've visited $FOOD_ORIGIN_AREA, and I can say..."

Yes. They do it different here. Shut up and eat an avocado or whatever it is you people do. :>

Listening to Dylan's "From A Buick 6" and helplessly associating the lyrics with my evil swamp-dragon lady. She's got 4d10 of flame-breath instead of a .410 full of lead, but... meh, close enough. <3

"Unicorn skin." It had BETTER be ethically sourced...

https://gfycat.com/wildshadowyduiker

Eris charges a cancellation fee.

To be fair, this was clearly specified in Her terms of services. I don't regret a thing.

@chalcedony@octodon.social Could we steal that for a Parallax ship name? I'll leave a note to credit you if we use it. :)

@mona@cybre.space Really? I just can't feel that way after seeing, say, Marge Gunderson in Fargo, or the sheriff in No Country. There are definitely warm, deep, sensible human beings there-- they're just very rarely the movers and shakers in Coen worlds, because they have more sense than to *start* any action, so they tend to fade into the background. (Which may be worthy of some criticism in its own right...)