Look into my eyes... deeper...you are getting sleepy...

Okay, I have to start by saying: I’m not objected to getting older. As I’ve mentioned before, I think I’m getting better and better with each passing year. BUT- I couldn’t help but notice, that when I look through recent pictures, I seem to be on the advanced track for signs of aging. Specifically, wrinkles around my eyes. On their own merits, I don’t really mind the fine lines. But when I realize how quickly they are becoming less and less “fine,” I get a bit concerned and start thinking that maybe spending $50 on a half-ounce jar of wonder serum sold by someone the a lap coat and a GED at the mall might not be such a bad idea after all.

I’ve always had dry skin, which seemed to be a good thing as a teen and early adolescent, because I never had to deal with a big acne problem. However: dry skin comes back to bite you in the butt because apparently you really need to take care of it as soon as you hit, oh, 25 or so. But I haven’t been doing such a good job of this I guess.

Behold! Yet another photographic essay; this time of "Lefty," my left eye!

Here’s Lefty in college:

This is just a cropped, close-up of the picture of the one I took of the composite photo (featured in my WSU Homecoming post). It’s not the clearest photo, so perhaps this isn’t a good baseline for comparing apples to apples, but it’s the best I can do under the “I didn’t have a digital camera back then” circumstances.

While it’s a bit fuzzy, there are no visible signs of fine lines/wrinkles.


Jump forward about 9 years to May 2005: This was taken at Lindsey’s birthday Party. Not bad, but I think I had more fine lines than the average 26 year old:



Hop ahead again 4 months to this past September. This is Lefty after enjoying some cake at a wedding in Oak Harbor: It now officially looks like I have a bear claw in the corner of my eye:



Here’s one shot from last weekend on Friday evening in Pullman, the night we got into town: The bear claw has grown and blended into a nice flowing wave. I AM a water sign, and I have been swimming more lately, but I’m not a fan of these waves:


Now, here’s the one that made me freak out in the first place. This is Lefty the morning of the football game in Pullman last weekend:


Yes, that really is MY eye, not my grandmother’s.


I couldn’t help but think, ‘Do my eyes really look like that?!?” and “Hum, maybe I shouldn’t smile so much,” and “I wonder if I would have nicer looking eyes if I weren’t laughing 98% of the time?” So I figured I could cut back on laughing AT other people, but laughing WITH other people was not something I wanted to eliminate, or even cut back. So to be fair to myself, I looked closer at the last picture, and blew it up to the size that you’re now seeing. And then I remembered how I went out and had (more than) a couple of beers the night before. And how I left my eye make-up remover at home and had the previous day’s remnants of mascara still lingering around my eyes… And that made me feel a little better. I love excuses…

And after all, when I’m not smiling, I’m more or less okay. Here’s a picture of me at Beth’s wedding last month. It was a rare shot where I had a neutral expression on my face, so I wasn’t in my normal squinty smile:


I can still see the fine lines, but they’re not bad. I can live with them. I might even learn to love them.

But am I still going to spend WAY too much money this weekend at the Clinique counter on some little bottle(s) of wonder serum? Unfortunately, all signs point to yes.