At A Glance
Author	tlw
Contact	tlw@bme.anon
When	A month ago
Artist	Tracy Rowe
Studio	Rockstar Tattoo, formally Vivid Tattoo
Location	Petersburg, Indiana

Well, how do I start this off? I guess I should go ahead and explain myself a little, since I feel the need to.

First off, I'll tell you that I've wanted tattoos forever. Ever since I've been around my mother and her friends, I've had no problem with the "outcasts" of society that have tattoos, piercings, and god knows what else. Because of my exposure to such people early on, I have absolutely no problem with them. I love the art of tattoos and the beautiful way people look with them and piercings, though I also know that they are not for everyone. Myself, I'd like both and this is just the beginning of my journey, so to say.

Now, I guess I get to explain my piercing thoughts. To start off, I have a thing for guys with piercings. I mean, take my boyfriend for example: 0 gauge lobes in both ears, left eyebrow, labret, right nostril, tongue, and both nipples. Mind you, I'd be fine if he didn't have them too, but that's another story altogether. You see, pain is not exactly my thing. I like it sometimes, sure, but as a general rule, I do not enjoy stabbing or burning pains. So, I'm thinking that getting even my ears pierced might be a bad idea, especially since I already had a bad experience with that as a child.

I know you're probably wondering why a twenty-year-old would suddenly decide to go for body modification. Well, I can answer that: I've wanted to, but I've always been too afraid to do anything. My last relationship was more conservative and I wasn't exactly in the position to go out and do anything that I've had in my head (like piercings or my many tattoos that I'm wanting), so I just kept it to myself. Now that I'm in an open relationship with someone that is more like me and supportive, I'm not so afraid to go out and do something like that.

To get back to what I should be talking about: My first piercing. Well, that happened a few weeks ago. I'd been planning it for some time now, but my boyfriend wanted to pay for it and we kept holding it off. We ended up going a county over to the cheapest and one of the best places in the tri-state area for piercings. I've seen this woman do piercings and tattoos, mainly piercing my boyfriend, so I trusted her and I knew the place was clean.

So, the first night we drove up there was a Friday, but they had closed the parlor early to go to a concert, I think. Well, they closed early for some reason; I'll just leave it at that. Anyway, we went back the next night and they were locking up the store, early again, but they let us in to wait for her to get done with the tattoo she was currently working on.

We sat up front and scanned through tattoo magazines and waited for about a half an hour. Not so bad, compared to what she was working on. After those customers left, I was shown to a back room with the large bench and sink and prepackaged needles. It was very clean, so I had no problem with it. She always sprayed the place down very nicely after anyone stepped into the room, so I knew how it went.

On the way back, she asked if I wanted a 14 gauge or an 16 gauge lobe piercing. I knew the difference and had just told my boyfriend I was planning on getting a regular (18 gauge) piercing. Once I looked at the size difference, I went for the 14. It didn't look that much bigger and it was going to hurt one way or another, so I just decided to go for it.

Sitting down on the bench, she showed me the marks on my lobes with a mirror to make sure I liked the positioning. I trusted her more than myself on that, because I have no real clue where it should go but in the middle, so, yeah, I'm a little dense on that. Anyway, it was fine and she clamped my left ear first. I knew the clamp would probably bother me as much as the needle, so I was trying to be calm and everything but I was a little nervous because I could remember my attempt at getting my ears pierced as a child and how much it bothered me. (No worries, I'll end up writing about that experience in a later story.)

Of course, I was prepared for it to hurt like a bitch, so when it just felt like some pressure and something like a cat scratch, I was mildly surprised. Sure, that didn't hurt that much, but my ear was throbbing already and my right ear was starting to burn from the cleaner. I was surprised by that though, because it did not have that effect on my left ear.

When she moved to my right ear and put the clamp on, it stung a little and when the needle went through, it hurt enough for me to say, "ow" out loud. I wasn't expecting the other ear to hurt more--I was prepared for something about the same as the left one--so it did manage to catch me off guard.

Well, after all that, which wasn't very much obviously, I left and my boyfriend and I went out on a date. I was okay for the most part, generally light-headed and dizzy for a good hour after the fact because of my elevated level of adrenalin. All and all, I didn't pass out, though I was sort of close after I was pierced; I didn't freak out like I did when I was young; and I certainly like having my first piercing at last.

Of course, this won't be my last. I'm hooked, so to say. I have plans for the future with multiple holes in my face and such, but I don't want to give it all away just yet. For now, I'm happy with what I've got and that I'm finally breaking out of my "plain girl next door" appearance and becoming the person I am on the inside.