I first walked into Feel the Steel out of the sake of curiosity only. It is a small place, but well organized and cozy, with either Primus or jungle music in the background normally. I talked to the staff: DJ, his apprentice Chris, and their guest tattoo artist Shad (who I highly recommend to anyone) and got to know them. Pretty chill guys, but they don't get as much business as they should. The place is virtually spotless, and easily accessible to a mostly college community, despite being in the bitter north country of New York. The only catch was this: Any and all mods that I have had been done myself or by trustworthy friends. The one exception is my industrial, done by the ex-piercer of Needleworks in Saratoga NY, Chris (may his soul rest in peace).
At A Glance Author brand Contact brand@bme.anon When A month ago Artist DJ Studio Feel the Steel Location Potsdam, NY
So I mentioned to DJ that I was considering getting three tongue piercings in the shape of a triangle. Turns out that he has had only minimal experience with off-center tongue piercing, seeing as most of his customers wanted basic tongue piercing done. I have already had the center of my tongue pierced for two years, so I did not worry about that one. He seemed to know his stuff enough to successfully accomplish what I wanted, but it was an unsure thing. Well, after stopping by the store a few times and just chatting about random piercing experiences, I decided to trust him with doing the other two. He told me that he would be able to do it, but wanted to do only one at a time to accommodate for the swelling. So I got the first one done that day, and it was marvelous! $50, ten minutes, standard aftercare briefing, and I was out the door. Perfect size for swelling, just the way I wanted the angle, everything. It only took a few days for initial healing, maybe due t o religious gargling with salt water and Listerine. (By the way, I'm sorry for mentioning more that one mod getting done in this article, but it's kind of essential seeing as they're a set.)
I had to wait for about a month or so to get the other one done, however. I got tedious waiting, and I knew that I could have gotten both done at the same time if I had went down the street to Alchemistress, but DJ insisted that I let one heal at a time... also he was waiting for some kind of measuring tools to make the perfect triangle (which turned out to just be a mini ruler). Also the fact that I was poor due to paying the bills made it less likely to happen any time soon. Fortunately for me, it was around my birthday, and my friend Liz was going to get her next tattoo done by her friend Chris at Alchemistress (the tattoo parlor down the street), so she offered to pay for the third piercing for my b-day! So I set an appointment (on my birthday) after classes, but before work, to get it done.
We got there around 4 pm, and the store was pretty busy, with about 3 people waiting for Shad to tattoo them and DJ had just finished up with his last customer when Liz and I walked in the door. There was a quick greeting, some small talk, and the same procedure as last time, with some exceptions. My saliva glands decided to flip out because of sticking my tongue out so far, causing excess drooling and some laughter on everyone's part. DJ had to change his gloves twice before I stopped drooling... other than that, the process went smoothly. When DJ finished things up, I swished with some mouthwash, then looked in the mirror to check the placement. I noticed that the third one was a bit crooked on the bottom. Later on DJ would say that he had to go crooked because of the blood vessels in my tongue, which did not sound right to me, but could be probable (I mean, he's the expert). It's just right on the top however, so that worked out nice, no harm done. I can lay off t he perfectionism for this one.
Finally, the triad is complete! I had no problems talking at work that night, and although it took about 2 weeks for this one to heal up, there were no issues of major concern. I thanked DJ the next time I stopped by the shop and tipped him for the service and a job well done.
Anyway... I'm happy with the result. I can eat food again now, I'm one step closer to my "modified" Zen (already planning with DJ about my next project), and I have something to remember my dear friend Liz by when we go our separate ways.