Holes

Yesterday I did something I haven't done in eight years: I got another piercing. I'd actually been thinking about doing it for awhile - when I was on the west coast earlier this summer I came close to getting one (then I ran out of time and also decided I'd rather not chance going to a shop that I couldn't necessarily get any good references for.)

So anyhow, this past Friday night I was out with Aren, and we were talking about plans for Saturday since we were going to be heading into NYC for the day. She mentioned that if we had time she might like to stop by a tattoo shop and get her eyebrow piercing re-done, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity for me, too.

Saturday morning we headed up to Manhattan. We saw the afternoon matinee of Avenue Q - a fun and funny show, but honestly I think it's a little overrated - and then walked over to Red Rocket Tattoo Shop (stopping to eat delicious New York pizza on the way.)

When we got into the shop and started signing forms and letting the piercer know what we wanted, I found myself surprised that I wasn't nervous at all. For all of my previous ones, even though I'd wanted them really badly, I'd still dreaded the actual procedure. This time I guess I just had a much better handle on what to expect, and more confidence that I could tolerate the pain relatively well. (Plus, I mean...eight years is a heck of a lot of time to grow up and get some perspective!)

Anyhow, the piercer was great. He suggested excellent placement on my right cartilage, joked with me through the whole thing, and performed the actual puncturing and jewelry installation flawlessly.

I thought back to the last time I got piercings: my second set of holes in both ears when I turned 16. In January of that year I started asking my parents literally every day if they'd let me get a second set of holes when I turned 16. By the time my birthday rolled around in July, I had them worn down enough to say yes. My Mom rode with me over to Blue Byrd Tattoos in Dayton so she could sign the consent forms. I'm pretty sure she was completely freaked out to be in a tattoo shop (I had my first set of holes done at the mall before graduating to the "more mature" method of getting piercings.) I don't even remember much about getting the piercings done, but I think I probably wrote about the experience as an article to try and keep my BMEzine account subscription active. (It's long since fallen idle by this point...)

When I was in college, I stopped wearing CBR's in my ears and started wearing "normal" earrings. Gradually I stopped making a habit of wearing two sets of earrings at once. I actually can't remember the last time I did that.

Given that, why bother with the new one?

Hard to explain. It's definitely a new look. I definitely feel like it fits my personality. I also really like where my life is at the moment - and so there's probably some element of wanting to mark that somehow. Given how immersed I was in that particular subculture before, there was definitely something very comfortable about the experience - after having been in a lot of situations in the past 8 years where I haven't known what to expect, it was nice to do something new yet familiar. I assume that it's similar to the way it feels to be very skilled at something - skiing for example - and be able to use that knowledge and orientation to confidently navigate new terrain.

(Gets distracted watching the Cubs start beating the Phillies...YEAH CUBS!)

I'm not sure. I'm not sure it really needs much justification? I wanted it, I got it, and now I really like it. Enough said?

Also, I'd like to get a tattoo at some point. I can't decide on a design or location, though. So, it'll probably be awhile.