Body-piercing to me, has always been about filling holes in me left by stupid boys and the occasional stupid grown man. I like to think that if I ever ran into any of them again in this life, they'd look at me grinning bravely through a face full of metal and realise that I undergo far worse pain for fun, than any hurt they could ever inflict on me. (Though between you and me, I'd rather have an eyeball pierced than repeat the last break-up I went through. Gah!) But the other day, I thought; 'Why should I only get mods because some boys are lame?' The entire point of my piercing journey so far has been about doing something for me, not them. So why does there even need to be a boy in the first place, for me to have something done? Exactly. Anyway, yesterday I went not one but two gruelling and intense interviews for a First Diploma in Music (I do a passable impression of a bass-player), and after about four hours of rattling off Interpol bass-lines at various people and being chastised over my complete lack of knowledge of theory, I was told I may as well skip the First Diploma and go straight onto the National Diploma. After the shock wore off and the feeling returned to my fingers, I logged onto BME to research my reward.
At A Glance Author Jenny Contact furball85@hotmail.com IAM furball When It just happened Artist Sarge Studio Metal Fatigue Location Bournemouth I was pretty set on getting a second set of holes in my lobes anyway (I didn't think I needed to justify them with a failed relationship) but felt a bit dumb asking Sarge, a man so uber-talented he could probably do keyhole surgery with the needle between his teeth, to do a job that any fool in a Claire's Accessories uniform could probably do. But I simply don't trust anyone other than him to put metal in me anymore, so I apologised for my rather pedestrian requests and asked if he would do my left nostril at the same time. Not that nose rings are particularly outlandish these days either, as much to my distress, we are not living in 1973 anymore, but I figure two common-or-garden procedures at the same time makes it slightly more interesting, and he was pleased to be able to freehand, having worn out his clamps by 'spending all day doing people's bellybuttons'. Hee.
It worries me how familiar I have become with the wall opposite the chair in Metal Fatigue. I stare at it resolutely as he gently prods my nose with a cocktail stick and loosely attaches a tiny CBR (without the ball, obviously) to my nozzle so's I can preview it before the painful bit. 'Oh yes. Definitely. Put it in me.' It's only as the tube is being inserted up my nose that I start to fret slightly. Not really because of how much it might hurt, but because I had my nose pierced at another studio about a year and a half ago and managed to cover the unfortunate artist in tears and slime. I didn't think I would ever be able to look Sarge in the face again if I got snot on him, so I silently willed my mucus to hold steady. And I think that is possibly the stupidest sentence I have EVER written.
'Relax!' The brief crunch as the needle slid through my nostril was almost pleasantly painful and to my intense relief, my nose decided it was going to keep its contents to itself this time. My eye didn't even water. I was officially declared 'hard'. This made me extremely happy. It's weird, because every time I do this, I realise I really enjoy the sensation of something being punched into me. My completely un-modified family think I need sectioning. The conversation didn't even miss a beat as he did my ears. I don't think it's down to me at all though, really, I think it's mostly because he's so good, he could probably amputate your leg without you even noticing. Eternal credit to Sarge, as always. :)
So it's been about three hours and the redness has disappeared, although it feels a little sore when I wrinkle my nose. The sensation of having something up your nasal cavity is a bit weird, but I know I'll get used to it. (I'm not even aware of my lip ring anymore). And best of all, it looks really, really cute and even my Mum said it suited my nose. So I'm very happy with my present to myself for being such an apparently awesome bass player and getting that college place (although I'm sure they're going to find me out, once I actually get there). And it's nice to finally get something for a completely positive reason too. Hopefully this one won't go the way of my first nose stud, which lasted five days until one morning I woke up in the midst of yanking it out of my beak. But I think who you go to greatly affects your chances of retaining a piercing, and touch wood, I've never had any problems with anything I've had done at Metal Fatigue, and long may that continue. So thankyou, Sarge! :D