Oddity Central |
- Strange Addictions: Woman Addicted to Drinking Her Own Urine
- Weird Chinese Massage Therapy Involves Meat Cleavers
- Artist Uses Lovers as Living Paintbrushes
- Chinese Family Turn Abandoned Toilet into Cozy Home
| Strange Addictions: Woman Addicted to Drinking Her Own Urine Posted: 20 Mar 2012 03:53 AM PDT
It's disgusting, funny and sad all at once, what 53-year-old Carrie from Colorado Springs goes through. She has been addicted to drinking her own urine for over four years now. Her urine intake amounts to about 80 ounces a day, and since she began she has consumed over 900 gallons. "I drink almost all the urine that comes out of my body. It tastes like water for me," she says. What makes Carrie's condition all the more weird is that she doesn't just drink urine from a glass. I watched this video of a program about her on the TLC channel, where she gathers up the courage to confess her habit to her friend Denise. During the confession, she describes in detail exactly what she does with the urine. Some of it goes in the regular way, through a glass. But then she puts some of it in a Neti pot and drinks it nasally. And some, she actually drinks through her eyes using an eye cup. She even brushes her teeth with it, and saves some so that she can rub aged urine all over her skin. Carrie says that it's the nasal drinking that hurts the most. "The pain is different than any pain you've experienced." Reading about Carrie, the first question that comes to mind is, "Why?" Why would anyone want to do such a thing to themselves. Doctors and psychiatrists do have a few theories as to what is happening to Carrie. Some say that it could be a type of Pica disorder, where people are obsessed with eating things that aren't food. Others say that Carrie displays the exact symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive disorder, spending a good deal of time obsessing over her urine. According to psychiatrist Dr. Keith Albow, drinking urine probably allows Carrie to forget about stressful things. He says that Carries condition shows a "real failure between what represents you as an individual and what represents waste products to be discarded. She probably has guilt over ridding herself of her bodily functions." Counseling and therapy should be able to help Carrie. We sure hope it does.
Strange Addictions: Woman Addicted to Drinking Her Own Urine was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Weird Chinese Massage Therapy Involves Meat Cleavers Posted: 20 Mar 2012 03:38 AM PDT
If a man came at you with a meat cleaver, your first instinct would obviously be to run for your life. But not for the people of Hsinchu, in northern Taiwan. Because for them, being tapped with the sharp end of a cleaver is actually a form of therapy that is known to cure many ailments. They line up in large numbers to meet the therapist, who prepares by sharpening the instrument on a wet stone and rubbing iodine all over the blade. The Chinese knife massage is probably a treatment you'd only expect in hell, but in reality it's said to increase blood flow, release the body's stored energy and wash away harmful toxins. The treatment itself is pretty simple: all the therapist does is hold a couple of cleavers and strike the patient repeatedly with the sharp edge. No, don't be horrified, there's no blood involved. The trick is to bring down the cleaver with just the right amount of force, and then to not push or pull it once it touches skin. The up-and-down movement of the cleaver is said to release static energy, which leads to self- cure. "Chop, chop, chop, and the pain will go away," is the motto that the knife therapists use to convince clients. Each cleaver massage session lasts about 30 minutes and can cost up to $15. Patients are generally advised to be fearless, but each one seems to have a different reaction to being hit with the blade. Some of them twitch and squirm, while others giggle as they are tickled in the armpits with the blade. A few actually groan with relief as their tensions are released. Practitioners claim that the therapy has the potential to cure serious diseases like cancer and kidney disorders. The weight and thickness of the knife used would depend on the seriousness of the illness. Sounds like the Chinese have worked out a pretty neat 'hack' for the human body. If you find Chinese health practices fascinating, you may want to check out their fire treatment, it’s really hot! Weird Chinese Massage Therapy Involves Meat Cleavers was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Artist Uses Lovers as Living Paintbrushes Posted: 20 Mar 2012 03:23 AM PDT
Alexander Esguerra, a New York-based artist, has invented the perfect recipe for love and art to go hand in hand. The couples who participate in his sessions not only get to make love, they also get to take a great souvenir home – a piece of art born from their sensual 'act'. Esguerra invites couples to cover themselves in non-toxic, water based paint and then 'do as they please' on a canvas on the floor. At the end of the love-making session, what results is a wonderful painting for the world to admire. It's just like making babies I guess, equally messy, but without any diapers to be changed later. The concept has caught on pretty well, and is turning out to be quite popular. So much, that he's actually converted it to a business called 'Love and Paint'. The art packages are provided at luxury hotels, starting at $2,500. There have been fifty couple participants so far. Photo: Alexander Esguerra/LoveAndPaint.com 30-year-old Esguerra says that he first got the idea for Love and Paint after a night's sexual encounter. When he woke up in the morning, his room was a beautiful mess. He then decided to "artistically capture those moments through the act of sex that our bodies interacted and affected the space around us without bringing in that whole played-out porn spiel." The sessions he organizes are private. "I tell them to take the paint, lay on top of the canvas and pour it on each other. Look into your partners eyes and make love as you normally would." He also advises couples not to make it all about the paint, or take the session too seriously. Photo: Alexander Esguerra/LoveAndPaint.com The paintings that have resulted are pretty much colorful blotches of paint on canvas, but I must say that they certainly have taken on a beauty of their own. Photo: Alexander Esguerra/LoveAndPaint.com Photo: Alexander Esguerra/LoveAndPaint.com Artist Uses Lovers as Living Paintbrushes was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Chinese Family Turn Abandoned Toilet into Cozy Home Posted: 20 Mar 2012 03:03 AM PDT
“There’s no place like home!”, I believe the saying goes, and this modest migrant family from China proves it applies even when home is an abandoned public toilet in the city of Shenyang. Zeng Lingjun was born in a small village, in the Jilin Province of Northeastern China. As a boy, he dreamed of one day attending college, but because his family was too poor he had to abandon his dream and settle for becoming a cobbler and repair shoes for a living. But just because he couldn’t afford to go to college, didn’t mean he was willing to spend the rest of his life in his village. He had bigger plans for himself, so one day, with just 50 yuan ($8) in his pocket, he left for Shenyang, the biggest city in northeast China. Being a hard worker and a skilled cobbler helped Zeng make a living in the big city, and he was soon earning around 2,000 yuan (315) per month. But this wasn’t enough for him to get his own place. Six years ago, a friend tipped him off that an abandoned hotel toilet was available for rent at a very low price. He immediately borrowed the money he needed and rented the derelict toilet as his new home. He took down the old door and all the wooden cubicles, and laid down some planks to cover up the toilet bowls and make room for a bed. The dismantled cubicles were converted to storage space and, even though the place is just 19 square meters in size, he somehow found space for his own little cobbler workshop. In 2008 Zeng Lingjun met his current wife, also a migrant worker. They married in 2010 and had a baby shortly after. Now the three of them live in the abandoned toilet. At one point, they saved enough money to move into a normal 80 square meter apartment, but they found themselves coming back to their old home just days after they had moved out, unable to afford all the expenses. Although the smell never lets them forget they live in a toilet, Zeng and his family just flush the toilets whenever the stench becomes unbearable, and just enjoy their life together. After all, who needs luxury when your loved ones are near and you have your health?
Chinese Family Turn Abandoned Toilet into Cozy Home was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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