Alright...I'm trying to think of how to tell you this. I can't think of a really great, intensely interesting way right now. I'm tired. :)
I guess the whole body art/body modification thing started for me on my golden birthday - the day I turned 7. No, I did not have my parents take me downtown and get some not-so-mainstream peircing done. Are you kidding? My mom took me to get my ear peirced for the first time. I'm not sure if I'd been asking for awhile to have it done, or not. Either way, I went to Claire's in the Beaver Dam Mall. At that time, I think I was a little scared. Not much, though. I went first, followed by my cousin Briana. Things went really well. I had a few problems, but nothing major. Most of it was because I'm allergic to nickel, so I can't wear anything but pretty high-quality jewelry. (Which is odd, because I have a ton of nickel in my ears, and it doesn't bother me a bit now. Funny how that works.)
I then went on a 7-year hiatus from the peircing scene. I started bugging my mom for my second set of holes when I was about 12 or 13, I guess. Well, on my 14th birthday, I found myself at Claire's again, waiting for numbers 3 and 4. I got them, and I absolutely loved them.
So, at the rate I was going, it looked like a seven-year wait until my next peircing would take place. At first I was cool with this, because I thought "Oh, that's kind of neat - every seven years, get more peirced." Well, that worked for awhile. But, then I met Wendy.
Wendy is a girl that I met when I went to the National Youth Leadership Congress in DC. She was very cool, and we became friends pretty quickly. So, we're sitting at dinner one night, and somehow we got talking about peircings. That's when she stuck out her tongue, or somehow let us know that she had it peirced. A few of the girls were in shock. I thought it was amazing! I loved it from the minute I saw it, and I knew I wanted mine done. I was 17 at the time, and I had to wait for 2 more months before I could get anything done. So, I waited. And I kept thinking about how much I wanted my tongue peirced.
I brought the idea up a few times to my parents. They were not real gung-ho about it, so I figured it would have to wait until I went to school and was out of the house to get it done. Plus, with graduation coming up, I didn't really want all my relatives freaking out over my tongue at my graduation party. In order to deal with this "I really want something peirced" phase, I went back to good ol' Claire's (a week after my 18th birthday), and had my left lobe peirced a third time and my left cartilage peirced once. (That brings the total to 2 in the right lobe, 3 in the left, and one cartilage in the left) So much for my "seven-year plan". :)
In the meantime, my mom had been sending me all these links to medical sites telling of the dangers of peircing your tongue. They really played up the possibility of the needle hitting a nerve, which causes your tongue to swell permanently. This leads to drooling and the lack of the ability to talk for the rest of your life. This, for some reason, didn't phase me much.
So, my ear work held me over until school started. And, don't get me wrong - I did a lot of looking around on the web about the topic of body modifications. The site I found the most helpful was BME. They have loads of pictures, stories from other people who got peirced, links to buy body jewelry, aftercare tips...you name it. It really helped me confirm my decision.
I think I waited a whopping two weeks after I moved to school to get this done. It was sort of spur-of-the-moment. I called up my friend Corey, and asked if he'd go with me to have this done (I really didn't want to go alone). So, we ate what would be my last solid meal for a week, and then went and got me peirced. I went to the Peircing Lounge in Madison, WI (I highly recommend it - the people a great and the place is VERY clean). My peircer's name was Ron, and he was completely chill. He told me exactly what the procedure involved - from first walking in to when the ball is tightened on the bar. Ron also showed me exactly how they sterilize EVERYTHING, and how I would be able to tell if something was not sterilized correctly. After showing me the instruments he'd be using, he had me do the "rinse with Listerine for a minute" thing. I did, and good LORD, does that stuff burn. So, he came back, peirced me, and I walked out about 5 minutes later. Overall, it was painless - it just felt wierd when the needle got through the bottom of my tongue.
So, now I have my tongue done. And my parents found out. They freaked a litte, but not too bad. They don't have any idea why I'd want to do this, and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I can really explain it. I just LIKE it. But, they're getting used to it now. People tell me they wouldn't notice at all - I don't talk differently. I also don't usually play with it that much - nothing that would really get noticed, anyway. I didn't get it so I could hang it out of my mouth all the time and be like "Look what I did". I'm glad I got it done - I love it! I have a few different beads and barbells. My favorites include a yellow bead that glows in blacklight, a silver barbell with two pink acrylic beads (one with a white rhinestone set in it) that glows in blacklight, a silver bar with teal metal beads, one with a silver hoop running through it, and a silver barbell with silver beads that have red rhinestones set in them (it's for the Badgers! *S*). Yeah.
Since the tongue (done spontaneously on 9/9/99 - cool), I got my left cartilage done once more. This time I went to Hot Topic. My peircing addiction is still there, but it gets expensive. My next project, I think, will be either a daith, a tragus, or a rook pericing. I'm really liking the rook, and I think I'll get it done in my right ear. That will help even things out a little. :)
I also have one tattoo, which I designed myself. It's a flower, and it's based on a hibiscus. I just really liked it when I drew it, and I like knowing that no one else will EVER have this tattoo (I took all the designs with me). I got that done at Steve's in Madison. I liked the place. I'd heard a lot of good things about it, and it was clean yet very laid back. The people there were really cool. Pete was the guy that tattooed me, and he did an EXCELLENT job. From what I could tell, he's also the only one that would tattoo feet. Yeah - I got the flower put on my right foot. I chose that place in part because my roommate at the time had a tattoo on her foot, and I really liked how it looked. The main reason, though, was because it's a place that can be very exposed if I want it to be, but it's also easily covered up. I like knowing that it's not showing constantly. Even though I don't like when people judge people based on appearances, I know it happens. I wouldn't want a tattoo to bias an interviewer's opinion of me, and affect major aspects of my life.
I've already got another tattoo design picked out, but I don't know where I want it done yet. I'm thinking my other foot. I don't know. And, now knowing the expense of tattoos, I think I have to hold off on this one for a while. Because music plays such a large role in my life, I decided on a treble cleff. I want it to be about 1.25 inches long and 0.25 inches wide. Also, I want it done in blue, with a turquoise outline. I'm not sure if they can even do that, but it's worth a shot.
So, there you have it - all my body art up to this point, plus a few future additions. If you have any questions about anything realated to this, feel free to e-mail me at skamikaze241@hotmail.com
