The Dark

Let's see if I can get so more blog posts written in the time I have before work (I should probably actually be sewing).

I drive in the dark a lot, particularly since it's winter now.  But even in summer, I frequently end up driving at 2 or 3 or 4 oclock in the morning,  I'm a night owl (I've done a post about it and everything) so going to bed much earlier than 2a generally doesn't happen to me.  As such, I'm accustomed to the dark.  One of my biggest pet peeves about driving is people not turning off their high beams when other cars are around.  I understand that they forget, but you shouldn't be using your high beams at all if you're going to forget.  It's extremely dangerous to blind the other drivers around you and more importantly, high beams are almost never necessary for proper sight (at least they certainly aren't for me).  I can see just fine without my brights on except on rainy and moonless nights.

As a small child, I was desperately afraid, not of the dark so much, more afraid of what could be lurking in the dark (maybe that is what being afraid of the dark actually means).  A night light wasn't enough for me, I actually slept with a set of my room lights on.  Eventually I remember realizing that the dark wasn't scary, the dark was just comforting and suddenly it became very difficult for me to sleep with any source of light in the room on at all (ask Boyfriend, I drive him crazy, I cover over lighted light switches and small LEDs).

I also work a lot in the dark.  Backstage, you only set up one or two lights per side of the stage.  Generally if you err on the side of not enough light and too much, people generally err on the side of not enough. (Now, this can get dangerous with many actors or young actors or when there are endless cables running across the ground, in which case, more light is important).  The dark has become comfortable backstage for me though.  There have been a couple times when I've been calling the show from the booth and I've forgotten to turn on my light and my board ops have had to remind me that the reason I'm having trouble reading my lighting is because I don't have a light on.  When I'm not in the booth but instead I'm backstage, I tend to read a lot.  I situate myself somewhere where there is just enough light to see and sit down and read a book.  As a child on car trips I used to read by the light of other car's headlights so I have always been used to reading in the dark.  I have had countless people come up to me and ask: "Aren't you going to ruin eyes this way?" or "Your eyes are better than mine if you can read in this dark", etc etc.

Tip: Reading in the dark doesn't actually damage your eyes in any permanent manner, though it may temporarily strain them (though apparently it may have been linked to nearsightedness, maybe? And that seems like damaging to me?)

Regardless of all my tangents though, I find the dark comfortable and inviting.