Distance.

...is the integral of the absolute value of velocity. Isn't that beautiful.

Subjective observation is important. Its the first step in every injury report form, and only after this evaluation can the athletic trainer do the objective, assessment, and plan. It is the history, which always, always, comes before palpation and special testing. Athletic Training says so. It is law. http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_manshocTPq1rngbi0.gif

Eye contact is very rare for me. There is almost always math homework, a physics textbook, the occasional calculator with which to fiddle. There may be movies, board games, campfires, clouds, or bunnies, anything to serve as a distraction from the most resonating mode of communication. The problem, I think, is the frightening magnitude of focus required to purposefully maintain the gaze of another. Teachers are good at this, because they remove themselves of all intentions except the furthering of their students' educational horizons and understanding of life. Its awkward for friends unless it is a brief glare or sympathetic shot of sharing the pain. Its nerve wracking from flirts and naturally playful and witty people, often assumed to be innately superior to the humbled masses. I refuse it from my parents, deflect it from other adults. Someone did say that once, right, that eyes are windows the soul? Shakespeare, Da Vinci, proverbs, the scholars. It must be true.

In the recent past, I had the distinct pleasure of being rightfully trapped in close proximity to a fixed gaze. Physically, it would have caused significant pain to flee the situation, and emotionally, the inertia of the atmosphere was too great to overcome. Thus began an informal staring contest, which I probably lost at the fault of a dare and eskimos. Of what I actually want to take note is the exchange and record of cognizance. I remember wondering how ugly my eyes were, but mostly, everything disappears. There is the lingering question of what happens next, the breathless absorption of the space that is filled and packed with the absence of everything. There is a moment of trolling and a moment of utter seriousness. There is a moment of classic (by Tumblr) and a moment when there is no space to be filled at all.