4/12/05

I had a discussion with Sarah the other day about body modification. I came up with another concern- is it too much like worshipping the body? Is giving too much importance to the body? Is it a sign of existentialism? I know body modification today is derived from the practices of primitive cultures. What kind of belief systems were present in these cultures? and are the modifications a product of these belief systems? I think it's going to take me awhile to answer these questions.
    Earlier I mentioned that my inspiration for this blog was seeing younger kids with modifications. That really irritates me. I think the rule of thumb for that should be 'wait til you're 18'. Otherwise, you just look stupid. I mean, if it's obvious that mom and dad took you to get pierced or tattooed, you're going to look ridiculous. I think it's also worth noting that most younger kids that have piercings are irritating anyway. Like at the Fear Before the March of Flames show, there were a lot of loud, disrespectful kids that really didn't know how to behave properly- and most of them were pierced. It was the same story at the Leftover Crack show back in September; lots of stupid young kids with piercings. The stupidity of the kids could be unrelated to the piercings, but then again the piercings could be evidence that their parents will let them do whatever they want and consequently the kids are spoiled brats who don't know how to properly conduct themselves in public. If I ever have kids, they have to wait until their 18 to get pierced or tattooed. I think by that age they'll be grown up enough to make the right decision about body modification. I guess in that case the right decision is whatever is best for the individual. I would want my kids to think very carefully about any modifications they want. If I end up a pierced and tattooed mom and my kids complain that I'm telling them to do as I say, not as I do, I'll be able to point out that i had to wait until I was 18 to get pierced and tattooed. Ok I think that's it for now. I still have a lot to think over with this topic. I think I'll take a break from this for awhile- still need to do a lot of research regarding the questions I raised in this entry. If I find any answers I'll post them!

4/3/05

Breather Resist last night! That was a lot of fun. The singer from Coliseum was being an asshole though. I think I heard enough macho posturing from him to last me quite awhile. Jessie actually walked out of the venue during their set when the singer went on his rant about the pope and his "fake fucking heaven"- that guy really had class! Anyhow I was glad Jessie wasn't too upset. She just didn't want to stay and watch that guy's band. Understandable- neither did I.
    Back on topic. I had the tattoo issue partially resolved when I started looking into other forms of body modification. The site bmezine.com (can I link this?) has been my main source for information. I have most of the moral questions about tattoos figured out for myself, but now I'm really not sure about the culture itself. Like I said before, I respect it, but I'm not sure if it's the place for me. I think there is a definite line between modification and mutilation, but doubt the body modification community feels the same way. Some of the modifications people have and the rituals they perform seem a little too out there for me. I think it's really cool that these people are so comfortable with their own bodies, and realize the potential that their bodies have. Most importantly though, they understand that their bodies are their own- and I don't think I can describe how respectable and awesome and right that is.
    I just don't think I want to amputate any of my body parts or have my lips and/or eyes sewn shut or be suspended from hooks or anything like that. I do think it's really cool, but I don't think I want to do that to my body. Basically, the issue I have now is that if I do get permanent modifications, will I become part of this culture. Not that that would be a bad thing, but I'm not sure if it's what I want. Also, if I start getting permanent modifications now, will I end up wanting to amputate my body parts? I really don't want to get into that. I really cherish my body, and want to keep it intact.
    The view I'm hoping to stick with is that my body is my temple, and I can decorate it if I want to. I just won't do anything too painful or damaging. But again, where do I draw that line? I'm already starting to drift from that. I always thought scarifications were kind of unattractive, but now that I've seen some that were really nicely done, I kind of like them. I wouldn't want to be branded or have little bits of flesh peeled off of me, but I think scarification is really beautiful. I'm sort of afraid that I will become really comfortable with all types of body modification. Not that I'm against any of it, but I don't know if I want to get to the point where I'd want any of it done to me. I saw a skin removal scarification on the bme site- it was so beautiful! This guy had some type of plant and flower designs on his chest and stomach. I was so surprised at how well it was done and how beautiful it was. This is quite a change for me. I used to squirm when I saw any picture of this type of modification.
All righty that's it for now.

    3/25/05

Sorry for the lack of updates. Major guy problems (grrrrrrr...) And a sweet trip to Toronto over spring break!!! Unfortunately that doesn't really fit with my theme so I'll have to write about that some other time.
    Anyhow, after having all of those tattoo ideas, and narrowing it down to a few that I wanted, I began to realize that a lot of what I wanted done was probably not going to grow well with me. I would probably start to hate it, and would not only dislike the images, but also would not want to remember that time in my life. It was towards the end of my senior year (high school) that I started to realize this. Now, things are going a lot better and I really would like to remember this time in my life. However, I still sort of feel that if I were to get tattooed now, I wouldn't like it when I was older.
     I have a strong suspicion that I will go back to Christianity some time in the near future. So when I'm a middle aged Christian woman, I'm not sure I'll want to covered in tattoos of skeletons and gory zombie heads. Although maybe if I were to be, that would just be evidence that Christians come from all walks of life. I might get into a discussion later about my attitude towards Christianity. I'll just say that I've seen it completely turn my family's life around. We were headed down the wrong path since day one and it all got fixed in just a few years- I attribute that to my mom's faith.
    Anyhow, I've resolved that issue. This may sound strange, but here's what I've come up with: I will only get tattoos depicting objects/creatures that I wouldn't mind actually touching my body. For example, I would only get a tattoo of fruit bats if I didn't mind if actual fruit bats were to touch me (which i definitely wouldn't mind- I'd really like to be able to get to see and touch one some day- they're so cute a fuzzy!) Or if I were to get snap dragons (my favorite flowers) tattooed on me, I would only do so if I wanted actual snap dragons to touch my skin (again, I wouldn't mind- when I was younger my mom would by snap dragons every spring and I'd help her plant them so I'm definitely cool with them touching me). I know it sounds strange but I think that's the best way to go. For awhile I thought that would prevent me from getting the skeleton tattoos I've wanted since I was 14, but, come to think of it, I'd be pretty happy if I got to touch an actual skeleton (minus rotting flesh bits if possible).
    After that was resolved, I had yet another moral problem- was it against my sometime-to-be-taken-up-again religion? In the bible, I'm not sure where though, it says that you shall not make marks upon your body. However, that's in reference to ancestor worship. When someone died, they would be cremated. The family or tribe of the deceased would make cuts upon their own skin, and rub the ashes of the deceased into their wounds. I imagine it was to have a part of the person stay with them, and maybe to get some of their life force. I can see why this would be bad, because it's having idols before God. I'm pretty sure it's not in reference to tattoos, but perhaps this needs further research.
    My mom told me about another passage in the bible that relates to body modification. Again, I'm not sure where it is but I can find that out. It's about Jesus making you his bride and taking responsibility for you and making a new life for you and what not. In the passage it says he will put a ring of gold in your nose.
     I take that to mean that although piercings may not be holy, they are (and were back in biblical times) a mark of purity and beauty. It seems kind of like a completely unsleazy way of enhancing beauty. This is my own interpretation, of course. I think it's a good point though. I mean, consider the way earrings enhance someone's appearance. It may not be something very noticeable unless you really look at it- but it can make quite a difference. I'm not really sure why it is, but earrings can really make people look a lot more attractive. Not all people can pull it off, but almost everyone that does wear earrings looks much better with them. It would probably be easier to understand if you observed it- it's a fun experiment!
Anyhow that's it for this installment.

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...