Body: Its Peculiarities
May 28, 2008
The first in a series about how we are built and the history of our corporeal selves.
I want to sit and reflect on your physical self. And then I want you to tell me what is weird about it. Not weird-the-shame-drives-me-to-drink but weird-isn’t-this-curious-and-interesting. I know you can do it. I’ll start:
- I can bend my elbows backwards. This has a tendency to freak people out. I don’t really get that. But it does happen: I have seen more than one person shriek and scuttle away in terror. I consider it a beautiful gift of elasticity.
- My front teeth are weird. Not publicly–the front sides look normal*. But if you looked at them in cross-section, you see that they have an extra “ledge” in the back, almost like a second tooth were growing in behind them. This causes dental hygienists some excitement. I’ve had one tell me that it is genetically indicative of indigenous populations from northern Canada; another said it was a primarily Asian peculiarity. Either is interesting.
- I have twin dimples, one on the back of each shoulder. I am fond of them.
- I have an almond-shaped birthmark on the bottom of my left foot that I think of as the Evil Eye. I have another oval, about 1/2 inch in diameter, on the front of my left ankle. I have in the past called that one my “Spot” but that nomenclature has been appropriated for the place in my tubes currently besmirched by Crohn’s and red, puffy grumblings.
You?
* Although I had a weird “friend” in high school who would examine my mouth periodically with the intention of analyzing how “buck” they were trending. He was also a Jehovah’s Witness. What’s a brother gonna do, I guess?
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Give it up for double jointed thumbs. Never fails to give people the willies.
i can fold my tongue in half and keep it that way. i guess it’s a genetic thing and binary: either you can, or not.
double jointed middle fingers. i can flip you off with EXTRA GUSTO!
the wandering eye thing would be more interesting if i was in better control of it. or see out of it.
very bendy. can get both legs behind my head.
and disproportionately large… ego.
Faded pink birth mark on my left hip. Haven’t seen it in years.
Hyper noisy backend.
Hairy toe knuckles.
Benign hemangioma (soft tissue tumor) in the natural cavity on the left side of my face. Swells up like a balloon when I’m exercising, hung upside-down or overheating. Under normal conditions, only hairstylists, dentists and physicians seem to notice.
Had an awful surgery as a teen to remove it and it grew back. Go figure. :)
the toe next to my big toe is longer than the big toe. it likes to hang over the edge of birkenstock sandals. there is a lump under the skin under my chin.
sometimes if i sit cross-legged and put just the right pressure and angle on my left knee, it comes of of joint or something until i straghten it out. its very painful. so i get up from sitting by going to the right side.