Those of you who’ve met me in person have noted an oddity in my facial expressions. The deal is: I was born with nerve damage that paralyzes most of the right side of my face, so I look somewhat like an oddly youngish stroke stroke survivor (I’ll look fully normal when I’m in the nursing home; this is why I look forward to old age).

One of the odd consequences of this birth defect is that the eyelid on the right side don’t close all the way, which means that eye never gets quite as much protection from the outside world as it ought to, and this makes me prone to bouts of eye strain that can only be cured by not doing things like staring into computers for hours at a stretch. I’m stuck with this at my job, so I need to reduce computing for leisure.

I’ve been trying to tough it out the past few years, but the years are winning, as they always do. This doesn’t mean I need to stop having a hiking blog but it does mean I need to rethink my blogging duties so I spend more time hiking and less time blogging. I’m a fast writer, but chores like editing and posting photographs and creating cool GPS-track mashups require a lot of computer face time that may well need to be dialed back.

On the other hand, testing gear and going on group hikes doesn’t require so much computer time, so I may focus more of my attention in those directions.

So if things feel like they’re changing around here, that’s why. (If it’s any consolation, at least I don’t have a more disgusting excuse, such as “sorry, but using the computer is causing inconvenient bouts of projectile vomiting.”)