I love body art. I love browsing tattoo websites and flipping through tattoo magazines at the bookstore. I like hanging out at a couple of the local tattoo and piercing shops to flip through the flash imagery and portfolios of their artists. I even created a ‘Body Art’ board on my Pinterest so I could collect images of body art that appeals to me.
(Photo Credit)
Much as I love it, you’d think I’d have some body art of my own. Surprise, surprise … aside from my ears, which are stretched out to a modest 8 gauge, I have none. No tattoos, and no exotic piercings.
I grew up in a house where tattoos were unacceptable, and any more piercings beyond one in each ear lobe were frowned upon. My ears were pierced when I was six years old, which was a big deal because my mother hadn’t been allowed to have hers done till she was 16.
I got the second piercings in my ear lobes at the age of 16, then third piercings at 18. None of the additional ones thrilled my mother much, but she allowed them.
When I turned 18 I also started pestering my mother to allow me to have my belly button pierced. While I realize, technically, at 18 I could have it done regardless, I was still living under my parents’ roof and respected their wishes. That is, till mom finally said: “FINE. Do what ever you want. I just don’t want to see or hear about it.”
I took her literally and Mike and I (yes, he and I were dating back then too!) went to Ink Assassins and I had my belly button pierced. I remember laying back on the table and making him kiss me so I’d be distracted from the clamp and needle being shoved through my skin. I also remember when I got in the car to drive home realizing it had been a BAD idea for me to drive because the seatbelt was rubbing on my new piercing and it was painful. { Stupid teenagers! }
Sometime in my early twenties, I also got the cartilage in my left ear pierced twice and I had my nostril pierced on two different occasions. I loved my nose piercings and miss having one. But every time I think about having it re-done, I remember the healing process and that stops me … particularly with all the sinus infections I’ve had this winter! (Maybe in summertime…?)
I’ve been thinking a lot about a tattoo. I love them on other people: Kyla Roma‘s new tattoo is gorgeous and just the other day I was admiring the Red Velvet girls’ tattoos on Elsie’s blog. I wish I had that sort of confidence and style to pull off those looks!
Me … I’m considering something subtle. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it. I’m pretty non-commital anymore and ink is a pretty big commitment. But you never know. I was inspired the other night and thought of the perfect image and the perfect location, so right now it’s very appealing — but perhaps thankfully, it’s just not in my budget right now.
Do you have body art?
What would you like to have done?
I keep sitting down to write an update, but fail miserably at it. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say; I’ve been busy and there’s plenty to write about. It’s almost a case of the exact opposite: life is so busy that I’m to exhausted to put a coherent thought together. Forgive me if this post is nonsensical. I thought I’d make an attempt to post something…
I’ve been back in Erie for just over a month now. I’ve gotten to experience everything from 80-degree weather and sunshine to freezing temperatures and snow flurries. In other words: it has been a typical spring in northwestern Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten what “typical” weather in this part of the country entails, so I’m getting used to the bipolar temperatures all over again. I’ve refused, however, to unpack a coat, so I’ve compromised with wearing hoodies when it gets cold. (And shhh, don’t tell, but I’ve borrowed my mom’s jacket off the coat rack a couple times when I had to take Gracie outside in the middle of the night.)
Speaking of Gracie — she’s adjusting to her new home pretty well. She’s trying very hard to make friends with my parents’ dog (a 12-year-old Akita/German Shepherd mix named Kodi). She likes to lay down next to him and attempt to snuggle, but he just jumps up and walks away, startled. She always steals his treats from him too (little brat!) but he’s a gracious old gentleman and lets her have them without the slightest grumble or growl.
My new job is making me happy. It has me exhausted and I love every moment of it. Even when everything else seems to be going wrong, the one thing that cheers me up is the satisfaction I get from my work. Finally learning C# has been so fun and it’s made me want to delve into all sorts of other projects. I find myself writing code for 8 hours at work and then coming home and putting in another 2-3 hours some nights. I’m learning to appreciate the wonders of jQuery and next I’m hoping to dive into some Objective-C so I can work on some iPhone apps.
Yes, I realize that my geek is showing. HARDCORE.
Random other stuff:
… After seeing this advertisement for Tawapa jewelry in the latest issue of Inked magazine, I decided to start stretching my lowest ear piercings. (Random and crazy, I know.) I have 14 gauge tension hoops in now (which hurt like heck, I might add). I’m not sure if I’ll stay at 14 or go to a 12 gauge. I have no plans to stretch further than that, though. (So don’t freak out mom! Ha ha.) Those lovely Seraphin earrings come in gauges as small as 14g, so I’m all set.
… I’ve been driving the 300ZX almost every day. I don’t know why, but I never felt totally comfortable driving it in Nashville. I guess because I knew if I got lost in the Element, I had a built-in GPS system, but in the Z, I’d be crap out of luck. (Not that I ever really got lost? But whatever.) Anyway, she’s getting some mileage put on her now and I’m enjoying it immensely.
… I’m still a-knittin’. On evenings when I’m not working or out, mom and I sit and watch TV and knit together. I have a sweater-vest almost done for Benny and I finished a pair of socks for myself. Unfortunately I must have spaced out when knitting the second sock because it’s about an inch longer than the first sock so I need to tear it back and fix it. (Duhhh.)
… I am home sick for Nashville almost every day. I’m happy here and I love being with my friends and family, but I miss my “family” in Tennessee too. I’m stuck living with family till the house in Tennessee sells, so I’m in this strange state of limbo where I feel like I don’t actually belong anywhere. I feel like some sort of homeless nomad, which would theoretically be really cool except that I can’t actually embrace the nomadic nature of my situation because of the mortgage and utilities that I’m solely responsible for, again, till the #@$% house sells. (Yes, I know I was stupid for allowing myself to get stuck with that in the divorce — I’ve had dozens of people tell me as much — but what’s done is done, so leave it be.) I think once I finally find a place to BE, I’m going to feel a lot more settled. In the meantime, my loved ones have been doing their best to make me feel at home, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
It’s good to be surrounded by friends and family again, and it’s good to be loved. <3
