Enjoy!

3/5/05

All right I remember some of my other tattoo ideas. I wanted a little black heart on each wrist (which I might end up doing), some kind of carnivorous dinosaur (shut up...), classic Hollywood monsters (Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, etc.), a coffin (two, actually, as part of a chest piece), a cupcake (not sure why I wanted that- I don't even really like cupcakes), strawberries or cherries or some other interesting-looking fruit, a pirate (again, don't know why), a pirate skeleton (which is still a pretty sweet idea), a labyrinth and Minotaur and Theseus and ships with black sails (from the Greek myth- I'm sure you're familiar with it- my name derives from Ariadne, Theseus' lover), a little red cross (like the Red Cross symbol- my dad found the name Ariana in a book series he was very fond of- the character Ariana was a nurse-or maybe some kind of healer seeing as it was set in the dark ages), a bird of prey, a forest full of scary looking trees, Felix the Cat (I still love Felix- when I was younger I had a copy of a Felix movie- he saved a princess whose name was Oriana), Jack Skellington (again, shut up, everyone goes through that phase), the Cryptkeeper (I had a Cryptkeeper doll when I was younger- yes, I was a very weird kid), and a bunch of severed zombie heads (sweet idea- might still do that). That's all I can remember for now. Damn, that was one really, really long run on sentence. It took up 17 lines! Ok I think that's it for today.

So less than 4 days after I get my septum pierced I develop a cold and/or sinus infection. This is particularly uncomfortable because the area around the piercing is too swollen and sore for me to be able to blow my nose! I think I'll live though. And I have a second interview at Hot Topic on Friday! Hopefully I can get this job- otherwise I might end up going back to Amvets or having to work at Rite Aid or something. Anyhow now for a real update. This was supposed to be posted on the dates given at the beginning of each entry (can I back date this thing?)

2/27/05

Fear Before the March of Flames and Circle Takes the Square were pretty cool. I was glad I finally got to see them, and got to go to a show at the Icon. I was expecting an older crowd though. Unfortunately, a lot of high schoolers. Seeing so many 14-year-olds with lip rings has given me my blog theme: my ongoing struggle with/debate about body modification, and how much I am willing to dedicate myself to it.
Before I get any permanent modifications, I want to explore the culture I would be committing myself to if I were to do so. Most of my friends and relatives got tattoos right when they turned eighteen. I was planning on doing the same, but I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted. I have seen a lot of really bad tattoos, so I want to be careful. In shopping around for artists and tattoo ideas, I found a lot of information about the body modification community. I really respect that so many people commit their lives to it, but I'm just not sure it's something I should do. It would be really easy to just go get tattooed now but if I do it without really thoroughly thinking it through, I'm going to regret it.
I think I may end up going through with it this summer if I decide I'm cool with it. I will probably go to H.O.D.- a lot of my friends get tattooed there and I really like their work. I plan on getting a fruit bat (my favorite animal!) on each shoulder blade. I want it to be realistic, not too stylized, and probably in color.
I've been planning on getting tattooed since I was 11 years old. Back then, I just wanted a big cross tattoo on my right arm. It's kind of funny to see people who actually have that now. Anyhow, my ideas progressed from then. I thought about it a lot, all through middle school and highschool. I wanted tigers for quite awhile. I also wanted a graveyard scene, some jack-o-lanterns, and skeletons (well, I still want skeletons- maybe bat skeletons!) I had a lot of other tattoo ideas which I can't remember at the moment- I'll have to think about that- maybe it'll be in the next post.

Sadly no Terror show for me. My ride kind of bailed. But I get to see the Explosion Tuesday so I'm pretty happy.

Anyhow, I got my septum pierced yesterday. No pictures yet but I'll post some soon. I was supposed to get it done last Saturday with my friend Rico. Come Friday, though, he was nowhere to be found so I made other plans for the weekend. I was kind of disappointed, but I figured we'd reschedule. I really didn't want to wait any more, but I thought it would be fun for both of us to go get the same piercing together.
I was trying to take a nap after my morning class yesterday when it occurred to me that I could just take the bus down to South campus and get pierced at Renaissance Tattoo, which is about two or three blocks away. My friends get pierced and tattooed there, so I know its a reputable place. I considered inviting one of my friends to come with me (seeing as I don't get to hang out with him as often as I'd like), but I didn't want him to feel pressured to get anything pierced.
The place was only a five minute walk from the South campus bus stop- just a little bit past the church where my friend got baptized on Easter weekend. The inside of the shop was pretty cool. A lot of tiki and oriental-looking decorations, and some Coop-inspired art work. They also had these glass trophy things ( from a tattoo convention or something) that were shaped and painted like devil heads- I really wanted one but eh I guess I'd have to be an award-winning tattooist to get one.
Anyhow the piercer Kat was really cool. I was a little irked that she didn't use retainers because that was the kind of jewelry I wanted. She said they fall out too easily, which I imagine is something I wouldn't want to happen. She showed me the kind of jewelry I could chose from, and suggested I go with a 14g if I wanted to stretch it, or a 16g otherwise. I didn't want to stretch it, but a 16g seems too thin. My friend Siobhan has a 16g septum which looks really nice, but her nose is much smaller than mine!
I decided to go with a 14g captive bead ring. I also chose a small pink stud to go in my nostril, because my hoop would look funny with a septum ring. I have a picture of that which I can probably post now. Anyhow, Kat cleaned the area and went over the precautions and cleaning procedures with me. It took her awhile to find my 'sweet spot', the space between the upper and lower cartilage where septum piercings go. She said some people do get septum piercings through their cartilage, but it never heals well and its much easier to have the piercing in the sweet spot. She also informed me that one section of my cartilage didn't extend far enough into my nose, and I would therefore snore like a freight train when I was older. Yay!
After she had the spot marked, she rubbed the cartilage with this little metal thing to numb the nerve. Then she put the needle through. And it really, really hurt. I heard that septum piercings were relatively painless- but apparently not. My nostril barely hurt- it was just a little pinch- and I was expecting the same thing for this. That definitely wasn't the case though. My eyes watered really bad. i actually reached up to wipe a tear away and almost hit the needle, which would have been extremely painful. Kat put the ring through, which also hurt, but only because the area was very sore. Then she put the stud in, and I was all set. It didn't bleed at all then, and hasn't bled yet which is pretty cool.
She answered a few more of my questions, gave me a copy of cleaning and care instructions, and cashed me out. She said to come back in 3 weeks for a check up, and that she could order me a retainer if I wanted to put that in after the piercing healed. She also told me how to straighten the piercing if it was crooked after the swelling went down. I'll have to tape one side of it to my face while I sleep to train it to stay in the right place. I really hope that if I do have to do that, I'll remember to take the tape off in the morning.
I'm still pretty sore, but I'm glad I got it done. I've been wanting this piercing since I was 12 years old, so I'm happy to finally have it. I'm not looking forward to cleaning the pus out of my nose while it heals but it has to be done. My other piercings healed really well so this one probably will too. My mom's probably not going to like my septum ring, but she did really like my nose ring so eh it may not be so bad.

Terror
Acacia Strain
Warriors
Remembering Never
@ Forward Hall

Yay!!!!!! Hope Jessie's car will make it there and back. If I'm not in class Monday, you'll know what happened...