It all began by reading one of the top headlines from The New York Times today, which happened to be about plastic surgery and the number of doctors switching to cosmetic medicine.

I learned of how cosmetic medicine used to be performed strictly by plastic surgeons, facial surgeons and dermatologists who had undergone several years of training in facial skin and its underlying anatomy, but is now a field that obstetricians and even E.R. doctors are entering for the immediate pay, regular hours, and "glamour" of it all.

I read of cosmetic foot surgery that many women undergo in order to look good in their Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks, "coming out" cosmetic parties that celebrate new physical attributes, and current experiments aiming to blast fat in an unobtrusive manner.

I then visited the Web site for The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and read the available statistics and browsed the before-and-after pictures.

The photographs depicting otoplasty, or ear pinning, struck a special chord with me. I remembered being made fun of in elementary school for my ears and the resulting trips to the computer to see what could be done about them, so suddenly my attitude switched from shock to a sort of longing.

I soon snapped back to reality though after reading about the procedure and side effects, and viewing more images. The "before" pictures were actually much cuter than the "after" pictures. The people may have had ears closer to their heads, but they didn't look quite normal either. I liked their old ears. I like mine now too.

This 30-minute internet episode reminded me of how easy it is to get caught up in the idea of fixing anything we deem even slightly imperfect. The human body seems to have become something that is, and should be, malleable.

Why do we pay extra for unadulterated food, but then turn around and pay to make our own bodies less natural?