Channeling my Asian

Asian ancestors, plx channel me some of your power of study and smartness . Add oil everyone!

Fyi. My eyes are open.

How optometry ruins lives (xD)

Hello! 

Today's post is about science nerd and anime/gamer nerd combining their forces and kind of ruining the ethereal  image I had about fictional characters that I have fandomed, or will fandom in my life. This is overanalysis of Anime and ocular studies, so if you don't this sort of post, I suggest you move on to some other page. xD 

Anopthalmos! Just kidding. It's just Chopper being adorbs.

Before I just used to think character design was pure creativity. Back story was often fictional, or based on the rules of the realm that the character resided in. Now for ocular diseases study, we're getting a whole new set of 'realm rules' hammered into us, which kind of makes me sad sometimes because the characters that I thought were so unique and creatively designed...if they were actually to walk around in society today, probably wouldn't be as fierce, happy, or perfect.

I'm not saying that these characters aren't plausible, but this study (yes I actually am studying pretty hard this year and learning stuff ermagerd, not sure if all that stuff will stay as stuck as the first 152 pokemon and evolution levels), kind of makes me wonder how much research and logical effort is put into a fictional character's design, whether it be an anime, video game, book, etc. A classic example of , which could only be explained fictional laws and physics that defies logic is one of the One Piece battles (I can't remember which one), but I believe it was one where Chopper was 

Nami from One Piece..Another...er...physics anomaly.
Maybe more biological to be honest o_o;;

fighting an enemy and they both were falling for some reason, and Chopper used his devil fruit to sudden increase in mass and weight so that he would fall faster and dodge the blow from the enemy. This of course, is not true as according to Newton's law of gravity, which (pardon my rusty physicst), objects will fall at the same speed regardless of mass. Now ofcourse you can try to explain that with other things like 'oh but the way Chopper was orientating himself in the fight must have done something with the air resistance', but it reality, it was likely just a lack of physics knowledge and intuitive creativity of the artist/writer.

For some other interesting physics-related One Piece anomalies, I recommend http://comipress.com/article/2007/11/08/2894.

Thus on that note, I will be focussing on Anime and Video game characters today because they're the ones that have the most vivid impression on my childhood, and I'd like to share so interesting points that I guess, maybe only a person who has undergone specific optometry study would notice or have been exposed to. Or maybe it's just me being on a weird tangent again, but here we go. 

Here are some common character design aspects, that are ocular related that may 'seem cool', but in reality...

1.Albinos, or characters with pale hair and pale or red eyes. 

Picture from jonatan7.deviantart.com via google.

So I think most of us are familiar with other white haired/pale eyes anime characters. Other characters that come to mind are Sephiroth, the wimpy guy from Final Fantasy 13, and the grid of characters above.

It seems cool right? Really different hair, and fascinating array of coloured eyes.

Well, these people, more likely than not, are suffering form Oculocutaneous Albinism. This means that they lack pigment, which means that you see the red fundus (back of the eye) reflection from the back of their eye (hence the red eyes), or their eyes are a very pale sort of blue or even colourless, because they have no pigment in their iris (the colored part of your eye). 

Final Fantasy X-2. Rikku (left), Yuna (middle), also with heterochromia (we'll get to that later), and Paine (right) with red eyes and pale skin and hair, aka oculocutaneous albinism.

Cool in appearance, but according to my notes, (haha this is actually helping me study), 'autosomal recessive, pink skin, white hair, nystagmus, macular hyoplasia, high myopic astigmatic refractive errors, poor vision'. So in reality, if one of those characters walked into an optometrist clinic, they would probably have bad eyesight, and really light sensitive. Meaning that they would be very keen on getting a good, dark pair of sunglasses, and I would be more than happy to sell them polarised. Nystagmus means that the person has problems focusing on one or or both of their eyes, and is often characterised by like...twitches? If you want to know what i'm talking about, find a sibling or a friend and a spinning chair, and spin them for 30 seconds, then tell them to open their eyes and see what their eyes are doing. That's called nystagmus. But the nystagmus in this case wouldn't be caused by spinning around, it would just be there even in static status, meaning extra difficulty orientating and tracking objects. 

So..all these badass characters who fight like it's second nature, or run around in deserts, or HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SURFACES IM TALKING TO YOU TOSHIRO AND YOUR ICE...yes. It sounds so much cooler to have white hair and light blue eyes because of your ice powers...but in reality, you are probably lacking pigment...maybe it makes sense that the sky goes cloudy to reduce brightness to make fights more durable. We'll see. I guess fairly speaking, I'm pretty sure there's people who just naturally have white hairs...I wouldn't know, I'm specializing in eyes not hair and skin growth xD. 

Cloudy skies on the summoning of Hyourinmaru...Happy accident? 

2. Heterochromia

My lecturer is a seasoned eye diseases specialist, and his notes directly state that Heterochromia is rare as an isolated congenital disease, and always look for something else. In other words, it is VERY RARE, for people to have different colored eyes without some sort of other defect. Such other defects/diseases associated with heterochromia include, but are not limited to Fuch's heterochromic uveitis, Horner's Syndrome, Waardenburg's syndrome, diffuse melanoma, siderosis etc. Siderosis bulbi is if a person gets an iron foreign body into their eye, and being bathed in ocular fluids, the iron body rusts and discolours one of their eye. Hence that heterochromia would have pathological origins, or that 'something else' that is 'wrong' with the person. Also note that siderosis bulbi is potentially blinding, as the high iron concentration can affect your lens and give you a cataract in that eye. So no, heterochromia in that case is not good. 

Kakashi's not really heterochromic..but regardless,
he's still sah kewl!

There are plenty of heterochromic characters out there, and I'm pretty sure I was fascinated by the concept when I was a kid, because, I mean, c'mon, it looks so cool.

In reality, heterochromia is a red flag for potential complications and congenital diseases. I know Yuna's heterochromia, from Final Fantasy X and X-2, is supposed to be symbolic of her blood-line and unity...etc, but yeah. Simple heterochromia is very...very..rare. 

We're being trained now to see heterochromia as a serious occurrence to investigate in regards to the presence of other dieseases or defects, so I guess now if I ever see another heterochromic character, my first thought will always be...I wonder what else could be wrong with them, and they just haven't been diagnosed, or aware of yet? I wonder when was the last time they saw the optometrist...and I wonder if there are even optometrists in Konoha..

3. Waardenburg's Syndrome

Waardenburg's Syndrome is a congenital condition that is also associated with Hischsprung's disease, which is the absence of ganglion cells and is often associated with lack of nerve bodies in the colon, which causes constipation and discomfort to the patient. 

Waadenburg's Syndrome is actually highly associated with the presence of a white forelock, and vastly heterochromic eyes (usually one blue and one green). (Note that heterochromia in general, is just a difference in eye colour, not necessarily different colour hues, for example on eye can just be lighter or darker. (i.e. one brown and one slighter browner eye). 

Dynamic heterochromia associated with Hischsprung's disease

I guess I can't really remember any characters off the top of head with a strikingly white forelock, but I do remember when I was obsessed with drawing horses I'd always add a 'white forelock' just to make them look cool or more unique. Now I know that I was probably condemning them to a life of misery and congenital defects.

Another character that kind of pops into mind is Auron from Final Fantasy X. I guess at this point, I am fairly impressed because Auron has sunglasses xD (note that another key feature that's being drilled into us, is that if a patient has one good eye left, ALWAYS PRESCRIBE GLASSES for protection purposes.) Also, if Auron did have Waardenburg's syndrome, he would probably need glasses as there are lots of associated ocular and vision problems that come with Waardenburg's syndrome, such as wideset eyes etc. Hearing loss is also characteristic, I don't remember Auron's personality that precisely, but I do remember he was kind of a nutter...maybe?  

I guess the extra merit Auron has is that he has other grey patches of hair, which could be indicative of age, rather than pathological Waardenburg's. *shrug* 

I guess Waardenburg's syndrome also stands out to me because when I was in high school, I clearly remember this kid who had a white forelock, and wore glasses.  I wish I remembered this kid's name so I could facebook stalk, but at this point, I wonder if he was diagnosed. I do remember seeing him on the bus, and I thought he was one of those kids who just wanted to look cool or make a fashion statement by bleaching that chunk of hair white.

Other things you start to notice as an optometry student is ptosis (i.e. the drooping of one eyelid), which can be indicative of other diseases as well. So now when I'm browsing facebook, yes, sometimes I click on people's pictures of them having fun and partying whatnot, and I'm pretty sure I would diagnose ptosis. Ptosis is relatively common, and I'm pretty sure many, if not the majority of my single eyelid Asian friends have a ptosis in one of their eyes haha. For those who are curious, ptosis is defined by our lecturer as when the upper eyelid crosses the limbus at anything roughly lower than 11 and 1 o'clock (i.e. imagine the round coloured bit of the eye as a clock face, and the part of the eyelid that intersects is where you're interested in. The picture below, again courtesy of Google, shows a ptosis in the person's right eye (which is left in the pic). You can see the upper eyelid cuts at maybe 10 and 2:30, and is clearly more droopy than her left eye. 

Ptosis in the right eye. Notice the smaller pupil in the same eye which is a classic characteristic of Horner's Syndrome, which is important! 

Anyway that's my random 2 cents worth of mind ramble today, I think I've expressed some of my thoughts, so now I can go absorb more information for my exams! (ughh 2 more hours of colour vision to go..total 8 hours =.=) Good luck with studies everyone!

Oh, also got my timetable for semester 2...sigh. It's not that great but oh well.

Night guys, sorry for the typos, I've kinda reached the point in the post where you start of excited and just want to express some ideas, then it starts to get a bit fatiguing to finish it off. I actually came back for a quick edit this morning, but I probably won't come back to edit further. Sorries! ^^"'

Happy Night ^___^

Post Exam Takoyaki

Hey all~~

Just finished work. Btw. I love old people. Had my first customer who said she wanted to return to get glasses from me ^___^. Her granddaughter was kinda bitchy and picky, but this old lady was absolutely lovely, and I had the nicest conversation with her while the granddaughter was getting her appointment done. I try really hard to relate and talk to customers and practice my rapport and finally my different techniques and stuff paid off in this one case. (It's a delicate balance of making them comfortable enough to talk to you, or to give them enough space ^^"') Ofcourse I always stumble and sound awkward maybe with the next customer, but I they say the people who succeed are like the people who keep trying until they find something that works.


And then I came home and found out dad had sent me a tongue scraper and phone case. He got the phone case colour spot on (its really similar to the one I chose here), and I think he remembered that I needed a tongue scraper when I was back in Taiwan. Like that made my night. <3 He still knows me well as his daughter even though we don't see each other much.


And my exam is a practical exam and I've attended all the practice sessions even after the long tired days, so I guess I feel pretty okay about it. My assignment is done. It's one of those nights where consistent hard work pays off. ^______^.


Oh and I bought a scientific calculator for 30 bucks, and I'm quite happy with it because it's the same brand of my graphics calculator that I've been using for ages, so I won't have any trouble with adjusting to it.

And my exam went pretty well, I'm pretty sure I scored a solid pass, if not a decent mark. Maybe not a 7 but a 6 ish? And that's with my persistent studying nowadays, like I revise notes on the bus, I don't let myself relax until it's like absolutely pointless in any more revision. I was really slack in high school. Oh and two of my practicals finished for the semester! =D And I haven't skipped any lectures this year, or work shifts (I took a few hours off on a performance Saturday, and Ed let me have a Sat off because of an exam plus I think one of the co-workers wants more hours), nor have I skipped any dance rehearsals that I'm supposed to be at, so I'm pretty happy and proud at the moment! Past week has been kind of depressing and I do acknowledge I lose my optimism sometimes, recently more often than not, but I'm content tonight.

Goodnight kiss to you all folks! :) (yes I am learning this atm) 

Update - Life and Motivation

General Update: 

Yo how has everyone been? !

Hey y'all it's Anita here.
No i'm not taking weird selfies. Above is a picture from practical, and if you look closely, one of my pupils (the black part of my eye) is ginormous compared the the other eye. Can you guess which eye?

Also yay congratulations to me because the oddly rectangular photos you will be exposed to in the rest of this blog is due to my new Samsung S4! :3 Finally a smartphone which can take pictures..dun...dun...DUNNN.

Anyway I thought I'd do a general update. So pretty much lately my life is uni, work, dance, and family and boyfriend, and I guess the first 3 have their perks and downs and I guess I'll be elaborating on that today.

1. So uni. 

 Pros: Learning interesting stuff

Cons: Never ending stress

The eyeball is fascinating, and I'm actually really glad I chose to do optometry over animation. I think of it now, and I think, although I would be swimming away in creativity and relaxation, I think I found my dose of arts in dance now, and optom is a lot more challenging and rewarding; especially when you discover and understand something really detailed. For example, we learned that your depth perception is because of the DIFFERENCE between your two eyes. Like I guess in simple terms, the difference between what each of your eyes sees, gives the world it's 3d effect. (try closing one of your eyes and doing simple things like pouring water). Also, it explains how your eyes see different things at the same time, and the reason why (i.e. shut one eye after the other, the image moves, and it's the difference in these images that your brain translate to depth and 3d).

Also we're doing slit lamp in practical, meaning we get to see awesome things in our eyes: 

Persistant pupillary membrane - common and benign

2. Work. 

So we got a new practice manager at work. I guess it's really unsettling sometimes because I just got comfortable and was starting to get confident, then she comes along and she wants to change everything and most of the things I was doing previously was wrong and I have to re-learn. I also get really self-conscious of how inept I think I sound when talking to customers, because in all honesty, I am born an introvert, and when I'm at work, I try to dab in pretending I am extroverted. In reality, early in the morning when I go to uni, sometimes I walk extra slow so I don't have to talk to people because it's too tiring. Talking to people, yes, I enjoy learning about their lives and stuff and talking about things in common, but sometimes I just want to relax and not have to be judged on how awkward I am when I talk, or sometimes I'm just not comfortable talking with people, so it takes extra brainpower and is really tiring to talk to people. I am an impatient speaker and I want to get to the point, which I think can make people uncomfortable. I like to debate, discuss, and I have a very tangential way of humour. I think weird things are funny, I will admit it, and I try to keep that side as normal to people as I can. My brain is just wired weird. 

3. Family

Family, I love them. I appreciate them. Lately I don't agree with a lot of things, and I lot of times I wonder if it's me who's being illogical and immature, or them who are being closed minded. I guess a dangerous aspect of my personality is that I think I'm always right, but I've been trying to work on that, as well as my apologizing and not being lazy. 

4. Dance

More often than not, I feel like I'm not good enough. 

I feel like an artist who can't draw what they want to draw. I have an image in my head, but it's not being represented to my content.
I've seen a lot of dancer's ego as well, although I'm starting to think it's more along the likes of artist's ego, rather than just dancers.
I guess I have to keep reminding myself I love to dance because it keeps me fit, and that it's fun and challenging, and its fun to express the music. Not because I want to be better than someone else, or prove my dancing worth to others. 

----

Some other pictures to entertain you guys: 

Teehee. Heel buddies at a friend's recent birthday dinner. 

Thanks for reading, till next time folks.

Update: Yay, own diabolical mind proved to be on the right track in psychology.

 Hello all! How has everyone been?

Haircut~!

 It's been awhile so I thought I'd do a kind of update/ philosophical post while I'm still here and posting.

So pretty much lately, it'still uni holidays, so I'm trying to make the most of it. This week has been dance rehearsals and hanging out with the boyfriend, as well as eating food and trying to keep up dance practice at home. I'm trying really hard to improve my upper body coordination, as I know I can look floppy and messy sometimes (wish I had more body control xD, time will tell if it's something that can be trained well). I do have work on a couple of days, and I'm enjoying it. Although I do know the boss prefers the other employee to do sales (because that's her main strength), sometimes it does feel a little bit demoralizing when he doesn't choose me for a handover. Oh well, I suppose I can't take it personally.

Ah yes, so Happy New Years everyone!! For our family, we just celebrated with a home dinner (everyone left by 8pm lol), and I finally got to bring my boyfriend over for dinner. My nephew was so cute, because he thought boyfriend was really 'handsome', but he also asked 'why is he so black'. Bahahaha. Naah I love your skin colour if you're reading this (Y). Like dark chocolateee.

Dinner at home

 Also for Christmas, Eejay decided to buy me a game-boy ds <3, and I bought myself a Pokemon game. It's been a really long while since I self-indulged in something expensive like that, but I guess it also was nice rewarding myself. As for gifts for others, I bought mom some nice clothes she can wear to Chinese School, and I bought the sister a hello kitty Polaroid camera (although I told her it included her bday present value as well...cuz it wasn't that cheap.)

Gameboy!!

Game-boy in blue, of course my favorite color. :) 

Hmm what else. I guess this set of holidays wasn't as boring as the previous. I felt more busy and less bored even with all the cancellation of events and closure of shops.

----

I'm not sure if I've updated you guys on the dance crew progress? But anyway, long story short, Funktion crew is no more, and now I'm in a dance crew called UNDEFINED, which is actually Eejay's old crew remade and resurrected. So we've been working on stuff, more productive than bkp in terms of quality and time, so this is our first work:

It's a different style to what I'm used to, but I enjoy the diversity, and it came out pretty good for our first work. We can only get better in terms of group synchronisation, vibe, and swag! :)

Currently bkp is working on a project that involves old kpop songs (2010 and earlier), which is nice because it appreciates some of the older, but still quality music and dance.

 For example: 

Miss A- Bad Girl Good Girl

I think this is one of the first songs and dances that really appealed to me. Miss A was the first group I followed because they had so much energy and their dances were really creative. I liked this choreo because of the sort of...canons and the way they drag out a few of the beats and then hit them hard? It's like you're expecting them to move at a certain time and direction and beat, and they do it unexpectedly. I think that's important in good choreo, that your audience is kept unable to guess the next move, which makes it exciting and engaging on top of good visuals. 

Secret-Madonna

To be honest, I didn't like this song when I first watched it. And I thought the choreo looked really weird, with their hands spread when they danced? Like it looked kind of...unnatural and not sexy.

Theeen...I started learning it. And watched the second chorus. And then I started liking this, although I think it was mainly the dance, and the chick who says 'mamia' at the end of chorus becuase she is pretty dam hot. xD The dance got me more interested in the song because it's so feminine but fierce? And that's one thing with dance, is that you can put on a personality without saying a word, and this sort of sassy personality was so much fun and different to what I usually do. I still don't like the spread fingers, but I'm used to it now, and I think the non-chorus choreo (after the first chorus) is pretty strong too.

Like what Michelle Pham said, make-up is something that you can change and put on a personality with temporarily, so I think that applies for dance as well. :) And how well you pull it off in both respects is also how well it comes off as.


DBSK-Mirotic

Okay...I don't really like this song because the choreo is hard. I like the song, and the vocals of the members are great, and the choreography is pretty hot. But...just seriously. This is opposite of Secret's Madonna, I think the dance killed the song a little bit for me because none of the moves are on the beat and it's really illogical (illogical to the point of not being able to know when to dance to parts).

But the members vocals are definitely good. I think I would be more fond of this song if I didn't learn the chorus hahaha. xD

---

Oh, also, I don't know if any of my readers remember my Types of Intelligence post, but today I found an article that kind of supports my train of thought, which means I'm not completely crazy, and somewhat on mark. Although they split their classifications of intelligence much further. Which categories do you fall under?

Taken from http://neurolove.me/post/29408953745/the-nine-types-of-intelligence

The Nine Types of Intelligence


1. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)

Designates the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef. It is also speculated that much of our consumer society exploits the naturalist intelligences, which can be mobilized in the discrimination among cars, sneakers, kinds of makeup, and the like.

2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)
Musical intelligence is the capacity to discern pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone. This intelligence enables us to recognize, create, reproduce, and reflect on music, as demonstrated by composers, conductors, musicians, vocalist, and sensitive listeners. Interestingly, there is often an affective connection between music and the emotions; and mathematical and musical intelligences may share common thinking processes. Young adults with this kind of intelligence are usually singing or drumming to themselves. They are usually quite aware of sounds others may miss.

3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)
Logical-mathematical intelligence is the ability to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complete mathematical operations. It enables us to perceive relationships and connections and to use abstract, symbolic thought; sequential reasoning skills; and inductive and deductive thinking patterns. Logical intelligence is usually well developed in mathematicians, scientists, and detectives. Young adults with lots of logical intelligence are interested in patterns, categories, and relationships. They are drawn to arithmetic problems, strategy games and experiments.

4.Existential Intelligence
Sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.

5. Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart”)
Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand and interact effectively with others. It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note distinctions among others, sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others, and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives. Teachers, social workers, actors, and politicians all exhibit interpersonal intelligence. Young adults with this kind of intelligence are leaders among their peers, are good at communicating, and seem to understand others’ feelings and motives.

6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
Bodily kinesthetic intelligence is the capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of physical skills. This intelligence also involves a sense of timing and the perfection of skills through mind–body union. Athletes, dancers, surgeons, and craftspeople exhibit well-developed bodily kinesthetic intelligence.

7. Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
Linguistic intelligence is the ability to think in words and to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings. Linguistic intelligence allows us to understand the order and meaning of words and to apply meta-linguistic skills to reflect on our use of language. Linguistic intelligence is the most widely shared human competence and is evident in poets, novelists, journalists, and effective public speakers. Young adults with this kind of intelligence enjoy writing, reading, telling stories or doing crossword puzzles.

8. Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart”)
Intra-personal intelligence is the capacity to understand oneself and one’s thoughts and feelings, and to use such knowledge in planning and directioning one’s life. Intra-personal intelligence involves not only an appreciation of the self, but also of the human condition. It is evident in psychologist, spiritual leaders, and philosophers. These young adults may be shy. They are very aware of their own feelings and are self-motivated.

9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)
Spatial intelligence is the ability to think in three dimensions. Core capacities include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation, graphic and artistic skills, and an active imagination. Sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters, and architects all exhibit spatial intelligence. Young adults with this kind of intelligence may be fascinated with mazes or jigsaw puzzles, or spend free time drawing or daydreaming.

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Anyway that's all from me tonight! Might do a little bit of exercise soon. Goodnight lovelies. <3