Various Updates

It's been about a week and the new tattoos are almost healed. There's still a little bit of scabbing which will probably be taken care of when I shower. I love text tattoos. They heal so fast.

I'm waiting to hear back from the piercer if he's at the shop today. I noticed my dermal is sticking out pretty far and I'm afraid it's gonna work itself out. I caught it on my seatbelt a few days ago and I guess it got a better yank than I thought. If he's not in, I'm gonna have to figure out sometime during the week to go.

In less happy news, Hell City is in two weeks and I'm not going. *sigh* It would've been great to see Muriel again and collect a new tattoo (or four). Maybe next year and maybe someone else can go with me. That'd be more fun than going by myself anyway. As I learned in New York, I'm only good at entertaining myself for about 2-3 hours.

The Itch

And no, I'm not talking about my healing tattoos. They haven't hit the itchy stage yet. My foot is healing awesome, too. Mark's gonna be so proud.

I'm itching for a few things. Namely, a full sleeve on my left arm (the arm with Lucy). My parents would absolutely wig out, so that will probably have to wait until I no longer live at home. In other words, I'll get it when I'm about 30. :P

I'm also itching for some new piercings. I'm gonna give my nostril one last try. If it screws up for a third time, then I'll accept it and move on. I still want my lip pierced and my "teardrop" dermal. Jason said he probably wouldn't be able to hide a lip piercing. I know Piercing Experience has jewelry that is flat and tan/brown. I really don't want to have to go there to buy the jewelry and then go back to get pierced by Jason or Melanie. I may need to powwow with one of them a bit more on the subject. The dermal would be hidden by my hair, so that's no biggie.

I'm also still toying with conch piercings (ear). I hear they can be finicky and you really need to have a CBR in them to get them to heal right. I wonder if that would fall under "not appropriate" at the office? I'd hate to ask because then they're onto me. If I just came in one day with it, that's another thing. Again, powwowing needs to happen.

But before all of that...bedtime.

Teardrops

I can't believe I've gone a whole 5 days without posting in here. Amazing, kiddies.

The new tat is healing well. It's all scabby, but some of it is starting to come off. I can't wait to see what it looks like actually healed. I'm sure it'll be very pretty.

The big news is I'm getting myself another dermal anchor tomorrow. I've been itching for another one, but I thought adding more to my chest might prompt the office dress code nazis to crack down. I love the look of "teardrop" anchors and realized that the way I wear my hair every day covers that spot pretty well. Bingo! For those who don't know, it looks like this:



I want one that's either light blue or clear and Melanie was pretty sure they had a blue one. They have clear ones for sure. I think it'll look really pretty, though maybe not for the first few days as I bruise so easily. I'll be pierced by Jason because Melanie's off on Fridays, so that'll be a good experience. I hope. I know he has more experience with dermals that she does, so it might be for the best in the long run, especially since it's on my face.

I also finally got the guts to ask about a lip stud. I asked one of the female managers because for some reason I felt more comfortable asking her. She said she would look into it for me, but that she thought they'd probably say no. I told her they allowed my nose stud, though I didn't tell her I asked for forgiveness rather than permission. ;) So hopefully she'll get back to me soon on that and it'll be good news. I won't be totally heartbroken if she says it's against the rules because our handbook is very, very vague on the subject of dress code. The only things it covers in specific are no formal wear and no weekend wear. It doesn't say anything about tattoos, piercings, or unnatural hair colors. Those are easily the 3 biggest issues employers have. I think when I told her they allowed the nose stud, it gave her pause. I also have no client contact, so that should also help my case. I even gave her an example of size. I feel like I made a pretty good case, I wasn't whiny, and if she says it's a no go, then I'll just accept it. I hope she says it's okay, though.

The Healing Process

I had to retire my nose stud. Now I've got a lovely lump of scar tissue (not to be confused with a lovely lady lump, mind you) that I'm slowly trying to make go away. I'm taking this as a sign and I'm not going to attempt to repierce it. Obviously it doesn't work out for me. At least I'm not that heartbroken over losing it. That's the good news.

Meg and I are going to get her nose pierced this afternoon. I can also get Mark to see how my ditch is healing. I think it looks pretty good. I'm not really seeing any striations or wild variations in the color. It still looks pretty solid. I think I may have a bit of bruising though and she was pretty badly swollen last night. I'm gonna give her a bath when I get in the shower and get the last bit of excess ink off.

Speaking of, time to hop in the shower, confirm Melanie is there, and then head out.

Hanging With The Cool Kids

I called out from work yesterday (I know, shame on me). As a result, I could get to the shop earlier. I got there around 3:30 and it took Jason all of about 10 minutes to fix me up. My dermal wasn't actually loose. The anchor moves around a bit and that's what I was feeling. He humored me and tightened it anyway. Then he gave me a longer post for my nose, which instantly made it feel better. It had started to scar (eek!) and I need to start putting vitamin E oil on it to break down the scarring that has already formed. I haven't cleaned it yet today, but it feels better.

After that, I just decided to hang out. They were really slow. Mark was working with another woman who had apparently been there for a while already. She's had plenty of work done by him as well, so we joked about how a 2pm appointment with him is really more of a 3:30 appointment. I'm scheduled to touch up Lola, B&C, and my foot on the 28th. We decided to go ahead and just work on everything that needed it. Lola actually needs less than I thought. Some lines need to be smoothed out and her shoes needs to be recolored, but other than that, she healed really well. That was good to hear. I was concerned I'd done more damage.

Shane was in a good mood. He was like "Mark! I want to tattoo your leg! Let's do something!" and Mark was like "Eh, I don't really have much space left and what I do have is scarred". Shane was like "I can work with that". Mark just kind of smiled and nodded. Shane scampered off and started drawing something and let Mark get back to sketching for today's clients. A few minutes later Shane goes "Mark! I drew you an elbow piece, come see". It was a spider web type thing in the colors and layout of a Union Jack. I don't know if Mark actually let him do it, as I left around then.

Mark said again that if I get tattooed on one of his days off by Russ or Phil or whomever, he'd come for "moral support". Just what I need, another excuse to skip out on work. Teehee. Speaking of Phil, I need to go by the shop and tell him I've scrapped the the Mucha idea completely and pitch the Alice in Wonderland idea. I also will probably need to reschedule, but I won't know for sure until I've gotten more scheduled with Russ and/or Dustin. I'm just a busy little tattooing bee right now.

And now I'm sick of my laptop freezing so time to end this entry.*sigh*

Aftercare reminders, tips, and tricks

I thought today's post should actually be informative rather than my usual rambling.

Aftercare is an important, if not the most important, part of modding. If you're a newbie, it can be a little intimidating to go through all the rituals of care. If you're an old pro, like me, it's always helpful to get a bit of a refresher course. Off we go then.

Piercings:

Soak, soak, soak!
Sea salt soaks are almost universally recommended for piercings. There are several ways to go about it. You can make your own salt soak with a 1/4 teaspoon (not tablespoon) of salt in 8 oz of warm, distilled water. Some piercers may also have H2Ocean, which is a premade salt soak in a spray form. I'm addicted to this stuff. I'm an inherently lazy person, so something that I don't have to make myself is amazing. If you can't get your hands on it, making it yourself is the next best thing.

As for the actual soaking process, shot glasses work well for navels and nipples. For ears, noses, and dermal anchors, you can dip a paper towel into the solution and simply let it rest on the piercing. For oral piercings, use the solution like a mouth wash for the first week or so. Oral piercings don't need quite as much help because the natural bacteria in your mouth will promote healing. Soak for 5-10 minutes at least twice a day. Some piercers will recommend up to 5 times a day for the first few weeks.

Ice, ice baby
Ice is also beneficial to a healing piercing. Your new piercing will probably swell and be sensitive for the first few days. Icing 2-3 times a day for no more than 10 minutes will reduce swelling and pain.

The heat is on
For areas that have low circulation, like cartilege piercings, a hot compress can help healing as well. It's also good for a piercing that might be acting up. The heat increases circulation and brings more antibodies to the area of the piercing. It's best to do this before bed and after you've passed the point where the piercing is painful to the touch.

Ow! That hurts!
Your piercing will be sore for the first few days. You just poked a hole in yourself. It's going to hurt. However, it shouldn't be in serious pain for more than about two days. If you find yourself in pain for more than 5 days, call your piercer. It could be a sign of something more serious.

Does this look infected?
Sometimes piercings get infected. It happens to the best of us. I've had two get infected. Signs of infection include swelling, redness, pain, yellow or green pus, heat, and an unusual smell. White or light yellow discharge is normal. That's lymph and it's there to help healing. However, if it's highlighter yellow or has a bit of a green tinge, that's a red flag. It usually also has a strong smell. If you suspect infection, go to a doctor to confirm. You'll probably get a lecture (I did), but it's better than it spreading.

Hands off
The top cause of infection in piercings is touching it with dirty hands. If you have to touch your new piercing for any reason, make sure your hands are clean or wear gloves. Wash them thoroughly before you touch it or, at minimum, use hand sanitizer. Make sure to get under your fingernails. That's where germs love to hide.

Any questions?
If you have any questions or concerns, call your piercer. It's not just their job to pierce you. It's their job to help you along healing as well. Don't be afraid of sounding stupid or naive, they've probably heard the same question 100 times before. They're not going to make fun of you for asking. Most piercers I know would much rather have you ask than try to figure it out yourself and end up with an infection, rejection, or migration.

Tattoos:

Wanna see my new tattoo?
After your tattoo is complete, you'll be bandaged up in some form. Mark prefers paper towels and masking tape. Dustin used saran wrap and medical tape. Leave the bandage on for as long as they tell you, usually anywhere from 2-4 hours, though I find two is more common. It may be uncomfortable, but don't take it off until you're supposed to. It's protecting your fresh ink from the elements and allowing it to finish oozing on its own time.

Rub a dub dub
After you take the bandage off, it's time to wash your new tattoo. I prefer lukewarm water and a face wash designed for sensitive skin. I just use my hand to wash off any excess A&D, blood, or other fluids that may be on there. DO NOT use anything with an exfoliant in it. Any type of mild, unscented soap is fine. It can be antibacterial, but it's not a necessity. I avoid any kind of scrubbing as well, just gentle circles with my hand. Then rinse and gently pat (not rub) it dry. Don't panic if some ink comes off. That's completely normal and part of the process. It may feel a bit sticky and that's also normal.

Smooth like a baby's butt
Make sure your tattoo is completely dry before applying lotion. If it's not and you apply lotion, that can cause thick, scaly scabbing which is not pleasant at all. The best way to make sure it's dry is allow it to air dry for 15-20 minutes. If you don't have time for that, simply take your lotion with you and apply when you get the chance. For the first few days, it's best to use Aquaphor. It's actually not a lotion per se, but a skin protectant. After your tattoo has begun the healing process, switch to an unscented lotion like cocoa butter.

But now it looks like a lizard
Your tattoo will scab to some degree. Ideally, it will just be light scabbing that feels rough to the touch. Some areas may scab worse than others. Areas of the body that bend like wrists, elbows, ankles, and near the balls of the feet tend to scab worse than other areas. If your clothing rubs on the tattoo, that can also cause more scabbing. Try to make sure that you're wearing loose fitting clothing (or none at all ;) ) during the healing process. If you've accidentally sealed moisture in, it may end up thicker and more scaly. I had this happen to my swallows on my collarbones. It's no big deal, just keep applying lotion and let the scabs fall off on their own. Don't pick! That can cause parts to fall out and require touching up.

No soak for you
Unlike piercings, tattoos should not be soaked. They need to be washed, but no soaking. That means no pools, hot tubs, bubble baths, lakes, oceans, streams, ponds, or any body of water you may be tempted to sit in. Most tattoos are healed over in 10-14 days and then it's safe to soak for a short amount of time. It's best to avoid soaking it for more than that for about a month or so.

Any questions?
As with piercings, don't be afraid to call your tattooist if you have a question.

As you become more experienced, you'll learn what works well for you. Some people need to baby their mods to heal them, others can get away with ignoring them. It's best to follow the rules the first few times and then put together your own routine. Everyone's body is different and everyone's body responds differently to healing. If you listen to your body, and your piercer and/or tattooist, you should be fine.

Happy modding!

Hot Messes

My nose and my chest dermal are a pair of hot messes right now. I just got off the phone with Jason (the other piercer at Overlord soon to be something else) and he gave me some advice. Hopefully it'll stave off anything until I can get there Friday evening. My nose is going to need hot compresses and I'm going to have to try to tighten the gem on my chest dermal manually. Apparently Jason has a fancy tool that will appropriately tighten the gem, but I can at least keep it in place for the next 48 hours or so. I think I may just stick a bandaid over it and pray. I've tried it once and it doesn't feel like it's doing anything. If nothing else, the bandaid will keep it on there until I can get over there. My skin probably won't appreciate it, but at least I won't lose the gem. Besides, it's not like it's inhibiting healing. The sucker is mostly, if not totally, healed.

As for my nose, it's going to suck. Apparently hot compresses will help a lot at making whatever it is (I'm 99% sure it's a granuloma) go away. Right now I'm cleaning it with the H2Ocean and trying to keep the stud as clean as possible. He also recommended vitamin E oil, but I won't have time to get that until at least tomorrow night. By that point, I'm not sure it's worth the effort. If he says I need it when he sees me, then I'll pick some up.

It's time for Lola's check up this weekend anyway, so I can do that as well. Hopefully Mark won't be busy. Friday nights can be a little hit or miss. They're either slammed or totally dead. I'll be going right after work, so ideally it'll be the latter. I want to bounce some ideas off him and I can't do that if he's dealing with clients. I also need to schedule Lola's touch up. Lord only knows when I'll have time for that. I'm leaning toward either President's Day (as I'm off from the office) or March 1. Of course, if I do President's Day, then I'll only have 4 full days before I get my peacock done. Decisions, decisions. If I go March 1, then the peacock will be over a week old and I'll still be almost 2 weeks away from starting Em Jr. I don't want to wait on the touch up because the longer I wait, the more I lose the motivation to do it. Though, if I go President's Day, then I don't have to ask off from BBW. I'm scheduled to close that night. If I go March 1, I'll have to request off. Double blah.

At least I know I'll be out there on Friday evening and everything else will just fall into place.

More Potential Retirements and General Updates

Haven't heard back from Malia, but I really wasn't expecting to. The shop manager messaged me and said she should be getting back to me in a few days. It's not like there's a rush on it.

I need to call Mark this afternoon. I'll probably do it as I go to work out. I could probably do it from my desk, but honestly, I like to keep those kinds of conversations as private as possible. Some things I'm fine with talking about in earshot of others, but my tattoos (and money) are not on the list.

Apparently Christina has taken over ownership of Piercing Experience and she's working on making it a friendlier place. I'm pretty happy about that. She's a cool chick and I think she can get people who are equally cool. She was about the only one who wouldn't talk down to you or sound like she was talking down to you. I hope she succeeds and if so, I might consider going back there again. This is helped by the fact that Melanie is out of town until further notice. Of course, I'm not really in a piercing kind of mood. I'm even considering taking some out. My VCH has been bugging the crap out of me, especially since I've had the worst period in recent memory this week. My nipples still haven't healed after a YEAR. I like my navel piercing, so I'll probably keep it and I like the stuff in my ears. I don't think I'm going to redo my tragii. I may get an inner conch done. I hear those can be tempermental, but since I have the H20cean now, I'm a bit more optimistic on that front.

I whacked my nose stud at least 3 times in my sleep. It's all red and irritated today. It got a good cleaning and I took some Advil, so I hope that will help calm it down. The chest dermal is happy as well. It's been the best behaved of all my piercings, interestingly enough. I really don't have any trouble with it. I just keep an eye on it when I'm pulling off certain kinds of shirts.

Not really getting excited about Lola yet. Probably because I've been spacey, tired, crabby, and overworked this past week. I haven't really been able to focus on it. Instead I've been focusing on how crappy a period I've been on and I can't seem to keep anything in my head for more than 10 minutes. *sigh*

Another Retirement

I just retired my right tragus piercing. I was kinda bored with it and it wasn't healing really well. So I decided just to get rid of it. At least I'm even again in my ears.

Speaking of ears, my left one feels totally fine. I haven't taken any antibiotics today yet. I'll probably take it right before I go to bed so I can sleep through the inevitable swelling and pain. I figure I needed to give my arm a break. I've been treating my ear with topical antibiotics just to be sure it's not left totally to its own devices. My arm is still sore, but maybe this will help. When I washed it in the shower this morning, a little bit of the scabbing came off. I'm just gonna keep it moist and keep praying. I'm going to get Dustin to check out my arm on Thursday. He'll be able to give me a much better idea of what, if anything, is going to happen to it.

I may get Dave (the other artist whose portfolio I fell in love with) to do an art nouveau piece for me. I asked Russ to do one so I'm going to wait to hear back from him on that. I keep telling myself I'm going to slow down and then I don't. I think after I get my faux peacock half sleeve, I really will cut back. I'm gonna wait to hear back from Russ. It could be at any time. He said he usually starts a piece a month or so after a consult. Ideally, I'd love to have it done at the convention, but I won't be heartbroken if that doesn't happen. I'll know more when they release the information. It is still 5 months away after all.

And because I love lists, the updated tentative schedule:

Feb 1-Finish Lola
Feb 21-Peacock faux half sleeve
Mid-April-Art Nouveau piece done by Dave
June-Second art nouveau piece done by Russ (ideally)
July-Nautical stars on left hip during the "Tribute to Tradition" done by whoever isn't busy

I'll get my weight loss tat whenever I reach my goal. At this rate, it's looking like mid-March. Which reminds me, I need to print out motivational pictures and post them in a prominent place.

Diagnosis

Well, I broke down and went to the doctor Friday night. Sure enough, it was infected. Of course, being doctors, they freaked out that my ear was going to fall off or something. They not only gave me a shot of antibiotics in the ass, but a tetnus shot. I was due for one anyway, but the implication that my jewelry was going to give me tetnus pissed me off more than a little bit. So now I'm on a 10 day course of antibiotics. The swelling is almost entirely gone, I'm pain free except for if I knock it or something, and it just generally feels better all around. And that's after essentially 5 doses of the stuff.

I also got inked yesterday and it was an amazing experience. However, I think it deserves its own entry and I have to shower and get to work. I'll give it the due time it deserves when I get home.

Sore and Cranky Mods Part Deux

I think my left rook might be infected. It's red, hot to the touch, swollen to almost twice the size of my other ear, and when I cleaned it, blood and a bit of brownish yellow gunk came off. The pain is a little better now. Obviously our expired Advil still had a little kick to it. Fortunately, there's some good stuff at the office, so I hoarded a bunch. I'm gonna take more in about an hour and I need to examine the swelling when I get the chance. I have no idea what could've caused it, but who knows? I'm debating over going to the doctor. I guess I'll see how it looks/feels this afternoon. If it's still bad, I'll suck it up and get some antibiotics.

In other news, I think I'm finally going to go over to Ink & Dagger and introduce myself. They've got a guest artist there who is offering work at a "significant" discount because he's only in town for a week or so and is apparently not well known in these parts. They do a lot of old school stuff and, I admit, I don't know much about old school tattoos. I'm slowly learning, but most (if not all) of mine are new school. Of course, if I have an infection, any kind of inking is out of the question for a while. I'd be just finishing up my antibiotics course by the time it was time to finish Lola. Euch.

Since I keep getting interrupted, I'll blog more later.

Sore and Cranky Mods

Lola's very sore today. It's not very comfortable to turn to either side. I also can't get half the tape gunk off and it's been 3 days. As if my skin didn't like the tape to begin with, it had to stick around for a while. She'll be finished (ideally) in 12 days. It depends on two things. If I'm the only one he has on the schedule that day, then we can go as long as I can hang in there. If he's got someone else coming in that day, then it's a matter of how much we can get done in the time he allotted. Three to three and a half hours seems to be my limit, but unlike last time, her face isn't already done. That alone takes a good hour to 90 minutes. She is considerably smaller than her sister, so it's possible she could be done in that time frame. For those keeping score at home, Mae goes from about 1.5 inches below my armpit to about 3.5 inches above my hip bone. Lola is about even with Mae on the bottom, but her head stops right below my bra line.

The nose is doing pretty well. It's still a little red, but not painful. I'm loving the H20cean. How did I not know about this stuff before? It's perfect for someone like me who's pretty darn lazy. I'm even using it on some of my older piercings to see if that helps them along. My left rook has been sore for no apparent reason, so I gave it a good cleaning this morning and took some Advil.

My chest dermal is happy as can be. The bruising is gone. It's still flush into my skin. I spray it 2-3 times a day and it's good. It was itching a little this morning, so hopefully that means healing is well underway. It may be the easiest piercing to heal so far. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself.

Lola Part 1

Quote of the Day:
Mark (to me): You're starting to look like a tattooed person!
Shane: Don't tell her that! Then she'll start to think she knows something about tattoos.

Shane then clarified saying I actually do know something about good tattoos because I've been going to Mark for so long. I told him I just admire and only know what I absorb going to see them.

She ended up being smaller than anticipated. When Mark fit the sketch against my side, her foot would've been right on my boob. We both looked at each other and went "Nah". So he shrunk her down and placed her lower. Her foot is now right under my boob and her head is right below my bra line. It will definitely make healing easier. He wasn't totally happy with having to make her smaller, but I still have good symmetry when you see me from the front. I teased him that meant I had space to put something up under my bra. He just rolled his eyes.

Today was a tough session. The shop was super busy. People kept walking in and distracting Mark more than usual. I don't think we even got started until 2:40 or so. Shane made a privacy screen so there were no free shows this time. It was kinda nice. I told Mark I always have the urge to throw random undergarments in the air when I'm behind one of those. He got a good laugh out of that.

He got interrupted at least 4 times while he was working on me. First he had to get a second machine ready because he needed two different sized needles. Then the phone rang. Then he ran out of ink and I actually got up and stretched my legs during that point. Then the phone rang again. By the fourth time, he was a swearing mess. I'm really the best person to deal with these situations because I'm totally chill. It sucked that he had to keep stopping, but I just hung in there. Even if he'd planned to do something other than the outline, he had another client waiting and we needed to get moving. I'm getting her finished off on Sunday the 25th. Hopefully we'll get her finished. I'll do a third session if necessary, but the idea doesn't really thrill me much.

While I was there, I got Jason to check out my nose. As it turns out, it wasn't really swollen at all. I had all this stuff stuck on the bottom of the stud. That was pulling the stud into the hole. Once he'd cleaned it off, it popped right back up. I finally picked up the H2Ocean. I'm going to go with the max recommended treatments for the next few days to help it settle down. He admired my chest dermal. Melanie wanted to get another picture, but when she left, I was in the middle of getting inked. She works Sundays, so we'll probably just do it when I go back to get Lola finished. My nose feels a ton better already after being cleaned.

I'm so happy to have her started. I think she's going to be even better than Mae. I just hope she doesn't get too upset that she's shorter than her sister. ;)

Getting Rid of Stress

I'm going to put myself out of this ridiculous stress over how much Lola is going to cost tomorrow. I'm just going to call Mark later today and say how much I can afford. It's still on par with what he's charged in the past, so I don't feel like I'm a cheap bitch because of it. It doesn't look like my birthday money is going to arrive on time, so I just have to make due with what I have. I know I'll feel much better when there's a set price.

The nose was swollen pretty badly this morning. I know I whacked it at least once when I was asleep. It was the worst I've seen it. I did the usual routine and iced it twice using my water bottle. I'll probably do it again when I get a refill. I don't know if any of the swelling has gone down, but there isn't really much more I can do. I can't drink at my party tonight because I've taken so much Advil. I'd like to keep my kidneys and liver functioning beyond my 24th birthday. :P Oh the sacrifices I make for my mods...

Another Goal...

In addition to getting a tattoo when I reach my weight loss goal (and as a constant reminder to stay fit and sexy), I might get an inverse navel piercing or a dermal anchor. My stomach and hips are easily the parts of my body I hate the most. And it's inevitably the last part to change. I'm not 100% sure I'm suited to an inverse navel because of how the top part is pierced. If not, then I'll just get a dermal there. I want to eventually be proud of that area and show it off. It'll be even better if it's nice and sparkly.

Who knows how long it will take, but a minimum of 6 weeks. And that's losing at the rate of 2 lbs a week. So at the earliest, the end of February. I also need to focus on the toning. I should be doing Pilates 4-5 days a week and situps with the medicine ball 3 days a week. Having the weight come off is only have the battle. I need to make sure I'm toned up to take advantage of getting all the flab off. ;)

I'm absolutely not going to let myself jump the gun and get them early. That's why it's a goal. My weight loss site recommends making a collage of "goal pictures" and posting it somewhere prominent. I'm beginning to think it might actually help. If I'm constantly keeping my eye on the prize, so to speak, then it's all the more motivation to get out there and work hard to take the last 13 or so pounds off. I've let myself backslide and I'm hoping I haven't done too much damage. I'm weighing in tomorrow morning and from there, I'll know just what I need to do. I'm really hoping I can finally beat this mental plateau and begin maintaining a healthy and happy way of life.

Little Irritating Things

Mark never called me back with a quote on Lola. I'm really not surprised. Typical male, never calls when he says he's going to. :P What probably happened is he didn't get around to sketching and, thus, doesn't know how big she is. Since size is probably the single biggest factor in pricing, I'm just going to go with what he charged me for Mae. I know he wants to have them roughly the same size. Same size = same amount of work = same price. It would just be kind of a pisser to not have the cash on hand. Meh. I let the stupidest things bug me sometimes.

The nose is still swollen. I may have gotten a little better, but it definitely hasn't gotten worse. I can say that much at least. This morning it got a rinse, a soak, and I took a vitamin, drank a big glass of orange juice, and took 2 Advil. Now all I have to do is wait for it to decide it doesn't want to be swollen anymore. I'll probably ice it at least once when I get home. My chest is doing great. It feels secure and it's not really crusty. The bruising is still there, but that's going to take at least another 3-4 days to clear up.

I was browsing the portfolios of some of the guys at the shop that does the "tribute to tradition". A lot of stuff they had up wasn't really my taste, but it was solid work. I was really impressed with the owner's portfolio. Apparently, he's very much in demand and it's hard to get an appointment with him. I can see why looking at the work he does. I bet he's ridiculously expensive, too. That's usually how it goes with the uber talented and in demand. Ideally, I'd like to get inked by him at the convention if he's there. I was thinking if he is going to be there, I might try to introduce myself beforehand. At this point, it's all just hypothetical.

Only 2 more days of getting up early, then it's 3 days of celebrating the anniversary of my birth. Well, I guess 4 since I'm taking Monday off to recover. ;)

I Fought The Law

I'm so frustrated right now. I made the mistake of telling the truth and got deferred from giving blood. I'd made such an effort to make sure I wouldn't get deferred and they turn me away because my state doesn't regulate tattooing or piercing procedures. Seriously? I even checked the website in advance, but they didn't list states that regulate, just how many. I figured with all the red tape I go through every single time I get inked or pierced, we had to be on the list. Wrong. The only statewide regulation is you have to be over 18. Other than that, it's up to each county to impose regulations.

This has pissed me off enough, I'm seriously considering contacting someone in the state government (Not sure who. Representative maybe?) and making my displeasure known. I shouldn't have to lie to do a good thing. Plus, it's hurting the Red Cross because they have to turn away an otherwise ideal donor. I know in the old days there were issues with blood diseases, but not anymore. Things have improved a lot even in just the past 10 years. I even rattled off a few things that I know one country requires and the nurse said I'd just rattled off all Florida's requirements. *facepalm* The rules are really damned simple and I don't know why Georgia hasn't bothered to do it. Half of it is common sense.

*Needles should be sterile and single use. All used needles should be disposed of in a sharps container.
*The artist/piercer should be wearing gloves at all times during the procedure and, ideally, any time they're in contact with the client's skin.
*Any non disposable tools should be sterilized in an on site autoclave.
*Ink should be put into single use ink caps and disposed of after the tattoo is complete. It should never be returned to a universal container.

And if you wanted to get a little more strict, you could add that artist/piercer be vaccinated against Hep B. It's fairly common anyway and Hep B happens to be the biggest concern when collecting blood. It was on my list of required shots before I went to college.

I know it's not a big pork project or whatever they call it in politics, but it's definitely something that should be addressed. When something like 40% of people have tattoos, making even a small percentage of that wait just seems unfair and unhelpful. Everybody wins in this situation. Most counties do this stuff anyway, so why would it be such a big leap for the state to put it all in writing? I'm sure they've already got people from the health department inspecting and whatnot.

So I guess that's my rant for the day. Off to start composing my strongly worded letter to whoever represents me.

No Witty Title Today...

More bruising today on my chest. I'm not surprised. It wasn't too pleasant to give it a massage in the shower, but I did a little bit. It feels perfectly secure. I think the L shaped jewelry made it much happier. I was actually worried because it didn't hurt when I woke up this morning and I was like "is it still there?". It was and just as happy and flat against my skin as before. So yay for that. It'll probably still look kinda gross on Saturday when I go back. Apparently Jason will want to inspect it. I'm fine with that.

Speaking of Saturday, I'm calling Mark tomorrow to confirm everything. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we didn't really get to talk so I said I'd just call. I guess I could've called today, but I had to work and I figured give him a day or so to look her over and ponder how to make it work. That being said, she will be on my right side. For a brief time I thought about putting her on my thigh, but after inspecting the mole situation (absolutely not allowed to tattoo over known moles), I decided something more linear would be better in that spot.

As for the payment situation, I think I'm going get together as much cash as I can and pay him as much as I can up front. I'll try to explain the situation on the phone tomorrow. I can afford a $300-$350 piece. I generally don't like carrying that much cash, but if I get it the day of then it shouldn't be too bad. Plus, by then all my other bills will have come out so I'll know how much I can take out. Go me.

I've only whacked my nose stud a few times today so maybe my brain is getting the hint that there's something there. Now that I've said that I'll probably whack it 8 times in 2 minutes. :P

Dermals oh my!

Pictures!







Melanie is great. She's super nice and explains everything she's doing. I was kinda freaking out a bit before she did the dermal. Once I settled down, she pierced me and it didn't really hurt at all. The problem came in when she tried to get the jewelry in. There are 2 kinds of jewelry that can be used for dermals. One kind is the solid piece and another basically has 2 loops for the foot and heel. She prefers the two loop kind, but it refused to go into my skin. She actually took it out several times and repierced me at least once to try and get it in. Finally after about 15 minutes of fiddling, she decided to try the other jewelry. It went in seamlessly. We were like "Seriously?". It was kinda funny.

I was glad I was wearing my glasses today. When we did my nostril, my eye watered really badly. Had I been wearing my contacts, it probably would've come out. Less good.

I gave the shirt to Mark and we're tentatively set for a week from today. He was preparing for clients so I didn't really get to talk about any details. I'm gonna call him on Monday and we're going to sort out the rest of the details on the phone and the official appointment time.

Getting Inked in Public aka Tattoo Conventions

So apparently the crowd at Sacred Heart is responsible for organizing the tattoo convention here every year. I actually found an article from '06 quoting Shane about the event. When I'm there next weekend, I'll ask if they're planning on doing another one this year. I would assume so as last year was the 12th annual or so the flyer said. I was considering going to Miami that weekend, but I may put it off to convention it up. So much excitement in the next 6 months tattoo-wise. Allegedly Ink & Dagger is doing their $50-$100 tattoos every Sunday in March (as yet unconfirmed), then the convention in June, and I&D's 4th of July "tribute to tradition". That's in addition to whatever hot messes I decide to get myself into outside of that.

I'm waffling about several other things. I may or may not get a chest dermal. I may or may not get my nose repierced. I may or may not do both. I may place Lola somewhere else. I may not. I may pay Mark up front for part of Lola in case I get downsized/laid off/insert corporate jargon for "no longer employed" here. I hate to ask him about pricing because I feel it's rude, but I'm going to need a hard and fast number. Alternately, I could pick something smaller and more affordable and save up for Lola the old fashioned way. She's going to be at least as expensive as Mae. I figure I'll be honest about the situation. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to be running around with a half finished tattoo because I couldn't afford to pay for the second half (or third as the case may be).

Overall I really dislike discussing price because half the time I think he just pulls it out of his ass. I underestimated Britney & Christina by $70, but I overestimated Butch by $40. It's all fine and dandy when I overestimate, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass when I fall short. I like to plan for all contingencies, so best case I don't get laid off and I can pay for everything no problem. Worst case, I'm laid off and only managed to pay for half or 2/3 of it. The reality usually lies somewhere in the middle. What will probably happen is I'll get laid off, get the check I'm owed, and that would allow me to finish paying her off. Meh. I should stop thinking about this. It's stressing me out.