Our Descent Into Madness

Via Big Fat Deal, I’ve learned that some are turning to a new and experimental chemical injection to get rid of fat…or, at least, to liquidate it.

Anti-fat injections are one of the most hotly debated procedures in cosmetic medicine because they are spreading faster than the science behind them. Unlike mesotherapy, a process that entails superficially injecting vitamins and other substances into the skin, lipodissolve involves deeper injections of a compound drug that is supposed to break down cells in the fatty layer under skin.

But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drug to be used cosmetically in anti-fat injections. Neither the drug formula used in lipodissolve nor the method of treatment is standardized. And researchers disagree whether the shots eliminate fat cells, or merely liquefy fat so that it shifts around in the body, raising the possibility of long-term consequences such as the aggravation of heart disease.

This process sounds so much (to me, almost infinitely) grosser and more risky health-wise than fat itself.

From Boing Boing, check out this neat gallery of anatomy tattoos. Most of them are the anatomy of the body part on which they appear, making the skin seem transparent. A few are of other anatomical features. Cool stuff.

They remind me of our friend (and tattoo artist in training) Austin.

The deed is done. Behold, my right forearm, till death do us part (hopefully!):

I’m so happy! It took less than an hour and, though it did hurt, it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it might be. Now it just feels like a pretty mild sunburn.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a bulletin Tuesday warning the bodies of American citizens, with their large concentrations of artificial, synthetic, and often toxic substances, have been reclassified as industrial waste.

“The average human body is now only 35 percent organic,” EPA chief Ralph Johnson said. “Due to changes brought about by modern detergents, silicone implants, and processed cheese food product, it is no longer safe to allow human tissue to come into contact with our nation’s topsoil.”

Johnson said the EPA is seeking funding to construct a massive, federally managed human-body containment facility in the Mojave Desert to safely and viably store human remains.

-The Onion

I will be 18 in less than two weeks now, at which time this is the symbol I plan to have inked into the flesh of my forearm:

It’s the rose on the flag of death, and I am getting it for many, many reasons. Wish me luck with my first sterilized, motorized tattooing experience. It certainly won’t be my last.