Cutting and Self-Mutilation - NPR's Information

I was listening to some old NPR last night, from back in 2005. And apparently self-mutilation has been happening in human beings since the days of Ancient Greece. I looked this up only because one woman in her forties had said to me, quite matter-of-factly, "When I was a kid, no one would have cut herself. It's just not something you would do. If someone was stressed and she cut herself, we'd've been weirded out and would be like, 'Go read a book.'" Convinced this was incorrect, I looked it up.

In the nineteenth century, apparently two American doctors noted the phenomenon of women all over Europe puncturing themselves with sewing needles. They called them "needle girls" and said they were probably hysterical. Interesting. Here is the transcript. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4697319 Here, more interesting if you have time to listen, is the story with the real voices. http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=4697319&m=4697329 Listen to the victim of self-mutilation. Hear her logic. There is a very strong logic to cutting oneself.

Lihua

Look at me. I'm cool.

Sitting here in a library with my Star Trek lunchbox. They don't allow drinks in here and so my Star Trek mug is in the box. If only everyone could see that little bit of extra coolness I carry around. Plus I have on my TARDIS necklace. (Well, it's a little red police box. See, I couldn't find blue. But I was pleased with the charm I picked up at the dingy craft shop).

Lihua

"I want to talk about BOOKS, man!"

Peter Troughton has to be my third- or fourth-favorite Doctor. He's really incredible. I want to fight a fiction war. I want to live in a world where everyone reads. If I ever get married he has to read. Hands down. If he doesn't read he DOES have to make up for it with Star Trek or Doctor Who. Preferably BOTH. But mostly he has to read.

My brothers don't read much. My mother has no time to read. I want to talk about BOOKS, man!

(If YOU want to talk about books, especially classics, e-mail me. Please. Bai.Lihua@yahoo.com. I want to talk about books.)

I am writing a Scary Story for the kids who need one, usually two, before bedtime. This is fun babysitting. This is also bilingual babysitting.

I am now tutoring in Chinese. The first time was confusing, for both me and the student (a few years younger than myself). I don't know how she learns, the way she takes things in, and I assumed it might be similar to mine. Looks like it's probably not. So I suppose if she wants to ask questions I'll answer them. That will most likely teach me more about her method of absorption than my just spewing information ... and she was good. Most people can't repeat words with the same delicacy she did. I was pleased. And she was dedicated.

Today is MY Chinese lesson. Tomorrow is HER Chinese lesson. Fun times. Truly. I love it.

Lihua

Doctors and Slumber. And Stuff.

Tom Baker is, so far, my favorite of all Doctors. However, I have not watched all the Doctors. Tom Baker is currently number one and then comes David Tenant and then Matt Smith.

I am tired, ready to fall over and perhaps sleep. I thought I should mention the Doctors. Now I sleep on this hot Saturday night.

I'm seventeen and think I am supposed to be getting stoned with my friends but ... you know.

Lihua

TV and Heat

Today is a hot sort of day. I love the heat. You may think I'm out of my wits, like my family does, but I do love the heat. Makes me think of childhood. Brings stories to my head - stirrings from the muffled senses of conscious thought. But besides that, I have whole libraries of Doctor Who to watch. There is so much to see. My only qualm with Doctor Who is the same issue that I had when I discovered Star Trek: IT'S NOT IN BOOK FORM. This means I can't absorb myself in it in the introverted way that I tend to prefer, and that I can't pick it up to hold in my hands at convenient times. So this is how I shall spend my non-work-related hot days: writing and dreaming and watching Doctor Who. Isn't it merciful that it lasted beyond three precious seasons? Not that it would have bombed after three. I'm just glad it lasted so long. I mean, there SHOULD have been more of Star Trek.

Lihua

Back From the Shadowy Underworld

Been gone, disappeared; I know I know I know. Things to mention ...

Doctor Who is awesome, seeing as it's a show I have never watched until my friends started talking about the current season, and so I watched OLD stuff - the 1963 stuff - as well as the contemporary Doctor Who. Love it. And so pleased it lasts for longer than three precious seasons (like Star Trek. Hisssssssssssssssss).

I am writing and writing and there's stuff you can see on http://inkpop.com. Look for Lihua! There is of course also http://teenink.com/users/BaiLiHua. I make it a point to respond to your comments.

And ahm. Let's see. I'm working at a science lab. Cool, no? Yes, coolness. I like it even if it is mostly measuring salts. But measuring salts is cool, and you all know it.

Anything else? Yes, but right now I don't want to blather.

Lihua

Dear Media ...

Dear Media,

You make me want to be thin. You make me want to puke in the toilet everything I've eaten today because I hear that voice in my head (or my ear - depending on how you view it) telling me it was wrong to swallow.

You make me want to break with hunger, to feel my insides creaking as they die. You make me want to measure myself and glisten like gold when I'm finally the perfect shape.

But Lihua? The real Lihua wants to feel strong. She wants muscles and the full round face with which she was born. She wants color and fun. She wants life flowing from her hands and her voice.

It's a battle, Media. Sometimes I think you're winning and then I remind myself of who I am: a writer, a thinker, a sister, a daughter, a survivor.

Sincerely,

Lihua