State of the Foot

Well, I gave my mom a detailed description of the state of my foot, and she has diagnosed the problem as metatarsalgia, which basically means a problem with the metatarsal bones of the foot (not all that surprising). The treatment involves staying off my foot, ice, and some ibuprofen. So I've been icing and hobbling around and trying to sit around a lot. What could be more fun?

Someone once said to me that the two most important parts of your body to take care of are your feet and teeth--they will give you the most grief when you're older if you don't pay attention to them. I think this foot problem started back with the marathon training, especially with running on pavement. When I thought about it, I remembered that the same part of my foot felt a bit uncomfortable towards the end of the marathon, but of course I still ran on it. Then I think that other activities/changes in footwear have exacerbated the problem until Gimpy McLimps-A-Lot emerged.

The good news is, it feels better after I just sit around, and with the ibuprofen at work, it itches instead of feeling painful.

Whee.

Shopping

I have a tremendously dire urge to go shopping, but I don't think it's based on a need to buy anything. I think it's because I feel trapped.

Yikes.

And now I will speak of other things.

I'm in the middle of reading Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Woman, by Susan Faludi. Faludi is writing about the mid-'80's, a time period when she sees an anti-feminism backlash in progress.

I feel like I have been mired down in the middle of this book for months, especially now that I want to read Dennett's new book and Pollan's new book. I have to see this book through before I can move on. It's all I can do just to hold on to the book I'm reading.

Anyway, I just finished reading the chapter on plastic surgery, which apparently underwent major growth as an industry during the '80's. The book tells the story of a thirty-year-old woman who thought she could use plastic surgery as part of a publicity stunt to improve herself and get a man. But after she underwent breast augmentation, she was faced with a double standard; she wasn't good enough because she looked old. But since she used plastic surgery to enhance her appearance and look younger, she was "damaged goods."

I was reminded of the TV show The Swan, in which participants undergo an extensive self-renovation process that involves plastic surgery, counseling, and an intense personal training regime. For some reason, I was fascinated yet horrified by the show, and watched quite a few episodes. I learned what it looks like when a person has collagen injected into her face; what it looks like when she is given a face lift and a tummy tuck. Basically, I learned how to spot a fake.

Basically, I'm just fundamentally disturbed by this aspect of our society's relationship with beauty. I don't see beauty as something that a person can really alter that much, and it obviously does not reflect one's character.