I became interested in body modification in 1995. A coworker, Greg, came up to me and asked me "Do you want to see my balls?" This was not normal break room conversation at UPS so I was somewhat shocked. But another coworker said that I had to see it to believe it and I agreed. He pulled down his pants and through the tip of his penis was what appeared to me to be a tie bar. Holy Shit! I had never seen anything like it. His jewelry had gold balls on each end and it was amazing. I learned later that it was an ampallang, and that at the time I asked all of the usual questions...
At A Glance Author BustaCaps Contact BustaCaps@bme.anon IAM BustaCaps When Five years ago Artist Bil Studio Body Exotic Location SJ, CA I got my tattoo in 1989. It's a shark on my left shoulder. I wasn't really interested in body mods then but I had a friend with a bunch of tattoos and he was pretty cool. I mentioned to my girlfriend that I wanted one. She said "You're too much of a pussy to get a tattoo." To be fair to her she based this on some pretty substantial evidence. I am horrified of needles. Maybe petrified is a better word. Anyway, 2 hours later I had a heat on and a tattoo. I nearly passed out in the chair, I remember Pinky (San Jose, CA) smearing something mentholated under my nose to keep me awake.
By the summer of 1997 I had read enough about piercings, mostly in PFIQ and on BMEfreeq, that I was ready to talk to an actual person about it. I found a local piercing/leather shop in San Jose, and spoke to the piercer. He was very excited about piercing a straight guy. He wanted to invite some friends. The more I spoke to him the less professional I thought he was. I decided to keep looking.
I found Bil at Body Exotic (San Jose, Ca) in September of 1997. He was down to earth and professional. I just went in to chat with him but by the time I left I had made an appointment to get a PA for that afternoon.
I returned and we went to work. I went with a stainless bent bar bell, I can't remember the gauge. In a few minutes Bil was done and after a half hour of recovery (I really can be a pussy sometimes) and reflecting on what I had just done I was ready to go home.
Did I forget to mention that I didn't notify my wife of my decision? It slipped my mind. Mistake #1
I limped home. My wife asked me about my day and I again forgot to mention my decision. She noticed the limp and asked what had happened. The jig was up. I said, "Come with me and I'll show you a surprise." We had discussed the PA in the past and I guess I was being evasive enough that she caught on.
We were both pretty startled when I removed the rubber glove and bandage that Bil had applied and we saw the blood. Lots of blood. I hadn't thought of looking at it first to minimize the "freakout factor". Mistake #2.
We were both pretty freaked out. I called Bil. He was ready for my call and after I described my condition he said that it was nothing to worry about. I could come back and he'd look at it but he was sure that wasn't necessary. We waited it out. Ultimately everything was fine. My wife did worry that she was going to chip her teeth though.
December 1997 I was involved in a car accident. I broke most everything. Both legs, back, pelvis, ribs, shoulder, hand. I also lacerated a kidney and severed my urethra. The hospital staff was pretty interested in the ring that showed on my x-rays. They gathered around as a nurse asked me how to remove the ring. Apparently steel rings and MRIs don't mix.
My mom arrived at the hospital first so she was the lucky recipient of the ring along with my other personal belongings. When my wife arrived she had some explaining to do...
That's about the sum of my body modification experience. I'm happy to see that BME is still here and happy to be here.
Post Script: At the settlement meeting regarding the accident one of the 37 (really, 37) opposing lawyers held up my x-ray and asked me to explain what it was he was pointing at. Of course it was the jewelry, it came out perfectly in the x-ray. I explained that it was a genital piercing. He asked what it was for. I told him that I didn't think the conversation was relevant and I would be happy to discuss my genitals with him at a later time.