Wednesday. I talked my friend Alison into heading up to Somatic in Long Beach to get pierced with me. I've been waiting to get my nostrils dermal punched for about 4 months now. The plans have changed quite a bit since the initial conception when I was talking to John one night when he still worked at Stigma in Mission Beach. On the way up, I'm expecting for the dermal punches to be there, so we can put 6 gauge holes in my nostrils. I call him as we're leaving, just to make sure he's there, and to see if he can do a christina on Alison. He says yeah, and sounds really excited to be having us both up there one last time before his trip. We stop on the way up and grab gas, soda, and sammiches, then resume. Arrival at Somatic is great, as per usual. John get's a big smile on his face, and gives me a hug. We go out front and have a cigarette. I ask him if the punches are in yet, and he says no. Apparently, the laws here in California are stricter than he's used to and so he's been running into problems getting a hold of those. So, we just decide to punish my nostrils with 6 gauge needles instead. I kind of start to get a little nervous at this point, since these will be my biggest initial piercings to date. Plus, 6 gauge needles just look fucking brutal.
At A Glance Author hydr0chl0ric Contact hydr0chl0ric@hotmail.com Artist John Durante Studio Somatic Location Long Beach, CA So, I start talking to the girly behind the counter while John does Alison's christina. There's silence in the studio for a second while I'm looking at jewelry and she goes back to reading her Reader's Digest. I hear an "Ow." from the piercing room and figure Alison is almost done, and that it's getting really close to being my turn. So, I head back outside and finish my sammich, eat a snickers bar, and have a cigarette.
He calls me into the piercing room, I drop my backpack, and hop up on the exam table. He spends a second studying my face, then marks my right nostril. We adjust the mark to accomodate for future stretching, and begin marking of the left nostril. It was at this point that we realized that my nostrils are not exactly symmetrical, since, try as we might, we couldn't get the marks to look exactly even. Finally (after about 15 minutes, and lots of "How does that look?") we called Alison in to check it out since both of our eyes were straining. Eventually the three of us came to an agreement, and John began marking my cheeks with reference points that he would use during the insertion of the needles.
I close my eyes and begin breathing. Centering myself...relaxing. No pain exists here. There is only myself, John, and the needle. I feel the recieving tube slide into my left nostril, and continue concentrating on taking deep breaths in through my nose, and out through my mouth. I feel the point of the needle against the mark on my nostril, and John's knuckles against my cheek. We've done so much work together, John and I, that no words need to be exchanged. He can read me. Deep breath in....Deep breath out...Deep breath in, I hold it for a second, he knows this is his cue to pierce, deep breath out. I feel the needle slide slowly through my nostril. No pain exists here. He pulls the needle back out, follows with a taper, and inserts the jewelry. I'm shocked back into reality, momentarily...pain *does* exist here. My head begins swimming with the sensations, so Alison grabs me a bottle of orange juice from behind the counter, I down it, and begin to re-center myself. No pain exists here. Deep breath in...deep breath out...I feel the recieving tube slide into my right nostril this time. Deep breath in...Deep breath out...Deep breath in...Hold it...hold it...There is no pain here...Deep breath out, I feel the needle making it's way through my right nostril now, into the recieving tube. It stops, backs out, followed by the taper from the inside, which is in turn followed by the plug. O-ring goes on. I'm all done. I lay back, close my eyes, and enjoy the endorphins for a minute or two. Enjoy the feeling of being one step closer to Completeness. Enjoy this feeling where nothing else in the world matters. Enjoy this closeness we have. Enjoy this fleeting moment of perfection, where everything seems to stand still.
I open my eyes, and am greeted (much like last time) by John smiling. I wipe my eyes, since they're watering pretty heavily, and sit up. Alison is in the doorway smiling. I look in the mirror, and become instantly impressed. Get up, grab my bag, walk out to the front, pay the girl and head outside. We stand outside for a few minutes, smoking. I give John his tip, and we discuss some of the cooler jewelry he'll have access to when he leaves for his trip next month. It's time to go now, but, I don't want to leave. I give John a hug, knowing that this is probably the last time I'll see him until April or so of next year. We leave.
The ride home is long, and I keep looking at my nostrils in the mirror. They're only slightly sore, but, they feel like they've been there forever. I get home and slam my nose into a glass of warm salt water, and clean off the nastiness that's built up with a q-tip soaked in saline solution. It's been 4 days, and I'm just repeating that process 3 times per day, with a wash of anti-bacterial soap in the shower once per day. I've also been doing the normal supplementation of my diet with vitamins A and D, as well as Zinc. They were kind of weeping blood for the first couple days, but, that's stopped now.
As always, if you have any questions or comments email me at: hydr0chl0ric@hotmail.com or look at the pictures on my iam site: http://iam.bmezine.com/?hydr0chl0ric
Ta ta for now.