Touch Up Times One

So what was supposed to be touching up of three pieces just turned into one. Mark had a rash of cancellations and appointment changes so he didn't want to spend too much time on unpaid work. Of course, he didn't know I had $40 to give him, which was its own amusing experience.

We opted to touch up Britney & Christina as they needed the most work. Lola really just needs her shoe recolored and a few lines. It definitely hurt more the second time around, but the funny thing was it made my nose itch. I kept wiggling my nose and Mark was like "You okay?". There actually wasn't much to be done, so it only took about half an hour. They also ooohed and aaahed over Lucius. I got to see Melanie's cupcake, which was just as cute in person.

When I tried to give Mark the tip we went through the usual "Take it" "No" "Yes" "No". He finally took it when I threatened to kick him. I also gave them pencils which I actually promised to do several months ago and always forgot about it. So now they have pencils from a defunct brokerage firm.

We didn't get to discuss my foot, though there was certainly time. I think when I go to show off the first part of my puppet, I'll bring in the pictures and we'll talk about it then. I have a pretty good idea of what I want and it'll cover it up really well. Of course, then I can't wear skirts without hose anymore because it is going to be big and bright. But that was going to happen eventually anyway.

Underage Modding and Other Random Thoughts

Britney & Christina are already scabbing. I have to say I'm a bit surprised. I think I know why though. I had a hard time getting them fully dry this morning after my shower. They may have still been a little wet when I moisturized them and got dressed. I know moisture increases scabbing, so I hope this will just progress normally and it won't fall out. That would suck. It might not be a bad idea to take baths for the next week or so to avoid any further issues with scabbing.

Now for the title of the post, underage modding. It's something that I often find myself preaching against. One message board I frequent has a board devoted entirely to modding. Occasionally, a member will post a picture of a tattoo or piercing and then it comes out they're underage. Sometimes as young as 15. I know laws vary from state to state and country to country, but for the most part, most governing bodies seem to agree it's okay if Mommy and Daddy say so at 16 and then you're on your own over 18. In my state, everything is 18+.

I wanted my navel pierced off and on since I was 16. It was the cool thing to do. A lot of girls in my high school went to sketchy piercing studios that didn't seem to much care how old you were as long as you paid up. I waited until I was 18, could sign for myself, and do my research. I picked a place that was known for being clean and reliable. While the other girls were getting infections, migration, and scarring, I got a healthy, happy piercing that I still have 5 years later. I don't think any of them still have theirs.

I suppose I fail to see the urgency of getting modded. Since I was 18, I've been pierced 15 times with 11 to show for it and tattooed 15 times with 10 to show for it. You've got plenty of time, kids. If a place plays fast and loose with age requirements, what else are they ignoring? Infection control practices? Proper jewelry? Training? The odds of something else going wrong seem to go up when dealing with a place that's already willing to break the law. Fortunately, most of these places don't seem to stay in business very long.

So that's my soapbox speech for the day. Now off to work out and then soak in a nice, warm bath.

Britney, Christina, and NKOTB, Oh My!

Today's session went quite well. Pat wasn't there, which was a huge relief. I was about 10 minutes late, but that ended up not being a big deal. They'd had time to do the opening odds and ends so when I got there, we could just get started. Of course, with Mark, nothing is ever done quickly.

He showed me the sketch (posted at the end of the entry) and I loved it. She even had eyelashes! It's details like that which really make a piece, in my opinion. It took a while to fiddle with the size and placement, then figure out a way to make sure they were even. Mark put together a method that I think worked quite well. He taped the stencils to a strip of paper, then lined it up on my chest. The first time I didn't think they were even, but the second time worked out just fine. There's also a chance that I'm uneven. Also what slowed us down was this group of girls coming in. One of them had called ahead, but Mark wasn't too thrilled with the idea of tattooing her because she wouldn't say what she wanted. Once she showed us what she wanted, it made total sense. It was a stick person with a square head, holding a shamrock and a sign that read "NKOTB 4-Eva". Oh. My. Lord. We all looked at each other and started cracking up. Then another one of her friends wanted a heart with "NKOTB" in it and a third wanted your generic, boring butterfly. He told them he still had to work on me and they'd have to wait. He was definitely hoping they wouldn't come back. Sadly, they did and I'll have to find out what actually became of that situation.

As for me, we didn't start the actual tattooing until 1:30. My appointment was for noon. He decided to completely finish one and then start on the other one. The first one (Christina) only took about an hour. It hurt, but nothing totally unbearable. Of course, I'm comparing it to my last experience which was probably the most pain I'll experience being tattooed until I get my other side done. There were some parts that were more painful than others. Closer to my armpits and near my collarbone were tougher than closer to my sternum and near my boobs. As usual, color was worse than the outline. We took a break after he finished the first one and then moved on to Britney. Britney took about 20 minutes longer because he wanted to make sure the shading and whatnot was all the same. The only current difference between the two is the blue background. He did Christina's last and did Britney's somewhere in the middle. He'll probably darken up Christina's at some point.

I wanted to hang out for a bit, but I had to run off to work. Somewhere along the way, I manged to leave my debit card there. *facepalm* Now I have to go back tomorrow. Mark also gave me the original sketch so that no one would ask for them. He said they're for me and me alone and he won't do them on anyone else. I was flattered. It's also helpful because it saves me taking pictures of two bloody and swollen birdies.