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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

September: Heterochromia

http://thespectacleblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/gracelingcoverjpeg.jpg

Do you know what it's called when someone has eyes of two different colors, like Kat and the others who are Graced? Heterochromia - in this case, heterochromia of the eye. From Wikipedia:

"Heterochromia of the eye (heterochromia iridis or heterochromia iridum) is of two kinds. In complete heterochromia, one iris is a different color from the other. In partial heterochromia or sectoral heterochromia, part of one iris is a different color from its remainder."

You may be familiar with some well-known people with heterochromia, such as Jane Seymour and Kiefer Sutherland. Here's a fun fact: Anastasius I had one black eye and one blue eye, so his nickname was Dicorus, which means "two-pupiled."

Do you know anyone with two differently-colored eyes? What color are your eyes?

~Little Willow

18 comments:

SaraD said...

My left eye is blue and my right eye is half blue half brown. I usually get comments like "your eyes are so awesome!" except for the girl who started screaming and saying my eye was bleeding. Apparently the brown looked dark red in the dim room...

Anonymous said...

David Bowie has two different colored eyes, but one eye was paralyzed in a fight (or so the story goes) which is the reason for the discrepancy.

Steph Bowe said...

And Kate Bosworth! She has different coloured eyes.

I know a boy who has one blue eye and one brown eye, as well as a girl who has brown eyes, but with a slice of green in one of them. They look really cool. I'd like to get one coloured contact and wear it for a day, and see whether people would notice.

Vanessa said...

Two of the kids down the street from me (brothers) each have one blue eye and one brown.

I know a lady with blue eyes with a spot of brown on one, it's about 1/3 of her right iris.

Eyes are so cool! Mine are brown, but I still love them. My friends and I have fun taking pictures of each others' eyes on macro focus and then zooming in to see the little details. Everyone's eyes are so unique!!

holly cupala said...

My best friend for the last 20 years has heterochromia - one blue, one green. The embarrassing thing is that I knew her for an entire year before I noticed. They are fairly close to the same color, and she was looking into the light.

Did anyone else read THE RED TENT? I believe Leah had two different colored eyes in that novel.

Kristin Cashore said...

Hi everyone!

My Finnish translator, Maria Lyytinen, has heterochromia, making her the perfect translator for Graceling! And the man who moved my furniture from Pennsylvania to Florida a few years ago, when I was in the middle of revising the book, had one brown eye and one blue eye. I felt very confident about the delivery once I saw that. :o)

Little Willow said...

Hello to all of our fair-eyed, dark-eyed, and magically-eyed friends alike!

Little Willow said...

Kristin: Oh, how fortuitous.

Lorie Ann Grover said...

I'm a brown-eyed girl. :~)

Melissa Walker said...

My friend Dan Pauwels from high school had a blue and a brown eye... I thought of him immediately while reading GRACELING!

Dia Calhoun said...

I have light gray-green eyes, once someone called them "ver-eyes." I really ought to look that up one day . . .

Erin said...

I've got brown eyes. I've never met anyone with heterochromia, but I think that ROCKS. :)

Little Willow said...

Dia: I hadn't heard that expression before, though it makes sense - or I can make it make sense! - Ver would be in regards to sight, I assume, whereas verde would be green.

Charlotte said...

Eyes are so beautiful ! I don't know anyone with two differently-colored eyes, but it must be gorgeous. My boyfriend's eyes are blue, but their color changes depending on the light : in winter they're darker and almost green, and in summer they get lighter and are more grey than blue. It's lovely.

Ema uk said...

I have 1 blue eye and 1 green....people only tend to notice when I'm in the light...or on certain pictures it really shows up with a flash...I love my eyes..x

Ema uk said...

I have 1 blue and 1 green eye...my ex has central heterochromia..his were blue with orange circles round the middle..our kids didn't get the heterochromia gene though :(

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