Extremities: fingers, toes, hands, feet, ears, nose. Neuropathy, poor circulation, numbness, injury, infection, gangrene. Amputations! [Phantom limb phenomenon; phantom pain.]
Moving on.
Kidneys: Corrosive damage by sustained hyperglycemia. Reduced kidney function, infections. Renal failure. Dialysis, transplant!
Moving on.
Pancreas: Doesn't work.
Moving on.
Eyes: Natural aging and wearing out. Corneal damage, retinal detachment. Burst blood vessels due to increased blood pressure, sustained hyperglycemia, eye trauma or injury. Poor vision in one or both eyes, decreasing in quality over time, eventual blindness in one or both eyes. Seeing-eye dog! Helper monkey!
Moving on.
Heart: Increased strain. Higher blood pressure. Sustained hyperglycemia leading to damage of the heart muscle. Circulatory system damage. Heart attack, stroke, leg clots. [!]
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Curiosity has prodded me to buy two books recently:
Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others by Daniel P. Mannix
The Re/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids by Paul Spinrad
Those of us who have read Katherine Dunn's Geek Love understand "Freaks." Hardly a spectacle, this book is more of a look at the everyday lives of midgets, dwarves, hermaphrodites, giants, pinheads, half-people, the multi-legged, and the like. Maybe the Freaks are normal, and the normal people are the freaks.
Of course bodily fluids are disgusting. We remember Georgie the orderly from Denis Johnson's Emergency, don't we? "There's so much goop inside of us, man," he said, "and it all wants to get out." But who isn't curious? Who?
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A Slowly Growing List of Things to Look Forward To When You Have a Child
- Every day is either Christmas or Halloween or Birthday or Easter
- Leave those cats alone! They're going to scratch you and it will hurt
- You cannot lie under circumstances, but nor can you tell the literal truth
- Geez that kid is sharp
- Can I have cake? Can I have cake? Can I have cake? Huh? Daddy? Can I have cake?
- For the last time, stop asking me!
- Noticing the growth: taller and a bit heavier to carry
- Children's television shows
- Food. Wasted food
- Remembering that you once acted this way yourself
- Watching where the both of you are going
- The joy of hearing the word "fuck" being used experimentally, and justifying this experimentation by saying "Well they learn it eventually"
- TANTRUMS
- Sitting down together on the living room floor, a mess of blocks & cars & plush Care Bears strewn around you, discussing the complexities of each car's identity, its name, and why it is so humorous
- Having to take responsibility for someone else for a change
- More frustration than you're prepared for
- Wicked cackling
- Drawings of potato guys
- Learning about the world all over again
- Circular Logic
- Unexpected hugs and words put beautifully together out of context
- Waking up after 4 hours of sleep, and unexpectedly having to confront shit, in more than one place, including the carpet, a big toe, a butt, a bed, a toilet seat, and underpants
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