It was a day marred by the worst headache I've had all year. Actually, in about a few years.

Now I won't say it was a migraine. I'm too much of a wimp to know what kind of pain that entails. And I thank my lucky stars that I don't get them. Or at least I don't think so.

But you really don't want to know about how long I needed to lounge around in a dark room to recover or if Adam Levine from Maroon 5 dropped by to see if I was doing okay.

You're probably asking yourself: how often does she blink when she's looking at her computer screen?

Actually, I should ask you the same question. ;) About a year ago, I read a very interesting article in Romance Writers Report about the need for regular blinking. No, not by those hunky heroes who sometimes wear Stetsons -- blinking needs to be done by the writers.

And I think that's why I prefer the printed page for reading books and magazine articles. Okay, I haven't done any scientific analysis to count the amount of blinkage I do in online and offline scenarios, but rarely do I place a bookmark in a great novel and say: "Ouch! My eyes feel like the sandpapery stuff I saw on that commercial that removes unwanted body hair."

When I'm online for long periods of time, though, the itchy-eye symptoms seem to frequently appear. That can probably be attributed to my need to blink more often. It's really something I don't think about until my eyes are bleeding or I'm getting all squinty-eyed, encouraging even more wrinkles.

BTW, I don't recommend the sandpapery hair-removal product; you're better off going to Home Depot and getting a belt sander. ;)

So please, for the love of all things legible, look away from the monitor and blink a few times. Then remember to do it again and again.

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