Topic awaiting preservation: Piercings, tattoos and bears

oh... my...

Greetings all. I know axle started somewhat of a ... more abstract piercing experience some time ago. But, I have as of recently stretched my earlobes to 1/2" (perhaps i will stretch one more time) i have the snugs of my ear and the inner conch of my ear pierced. I would post an image if anyone is interested. I was wondering if anyone had anything similar done, or perhaps an interesting tattoo. I want to get a couple more (Septum, Tongue) done and both my forearms will be tattood. I always enjoy seeing and hearing about others' experiences with piercings and tattoos (as well as pictures).. I was also wondering, those who see people with such visible tattoos and piercings, do you see those people in a negative manner or (if in a professional world) take them less seriously? If not, why do you not have an interest in tattoos or piercings?

I have no tattoos, I have no piercings.

I don't have a problem with either per se, but I do get rather tired of seeing chunks of metal hanging off of people's faces...
I've never had any desire to pierce anything, and quite honestly do not understand why anyone would. I have the "to make me different" and "to stand out" reasoning plenty, which is often pretty silly since most of the time people are either a) doing it with their friends...more to fit in thatn anything or b) already to the point where they don't fit in with anyone and need do nothing further...

I would like to shoot the next person I see with a "tribal" band tattooed around their bicep or ankle.

Aside from that I enjoy good tattoo work, and would not take anyone in the proffessional world less seriously for having them, nor view anyone negatively for having them....depending on the content.
I think what you have tattoed on you says far more than that you have a tattoo.

I get bored very easily with a lot of people's tattoos. Part of the reason I've never gotten one is that there is not one particular thing that stands out as something I want permanantly on me... ~shrug~

Not that any of this adds much to the topic...but....you asked

I'm a frigging pincushion. Both ears to 10g, 18g through my eyebrow, 12g through my labret, 12g through my septum, 14g through my navel, 16g through both nipples, and a 10g PA (if you don't know what a PA is, don't ask--this is a family establishment)

As for responses... well, lots of my jewelry is obvious, even when I am fully clothed. My mother tells me that people judge me, even if they don't want to, as a freak. That's fine. It keeps them on-guard, and gives me somewhere from which to leap into interesting discourse.

I used to think it would be a detriment to my professional growth...but if it is, I know I wouldn't be happy in that environment anyway, so I'm really just filtering.

Next I'll be putting a 12g through the nape of my neck, and another 12g through the right top of my bottom lip, probably a ring this time. Good times. Love getting poked.

-S

I heard septum hurt like a <insert vulgar word here> Twitch, care to tell about your experience with it? (as i plan to get mine done)

no piercings, no tatoos. Tatoos- ok. Piercings? I dont get it- self expression?

What personal message do you want to communicate thru your piercings? Or maybe nothing- just think its cool? Either way I am fine with it- just curious.

quote:

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10g PA

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OUCH!

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Cro8: Me too, although I wouldn't have a problem with tattooing myself a bit (of course not by myself). Peircings, I think, can get way overdone, and I don't think I'd enjoy poking myself just to havea peice of metal hang off of me.

[This message has been edited by counterfeitbacon (edited 10-02-2003).]

i don't take people any less or more seriously because they have tattoos or piercings. i hardly think it matters what a person looks like if they can do the job. unfortunately, not everyone feels that way.
i, myself, have 4 tattoos and have my ears (16 holes between the 2) nose, tongue and both nipples pierced. my tattoos are in places that people won't see when i'm in my work clothes and i perfer to keep my jewelry fairly subtle. if i worked someplace that was more accepting of things like that i'd have my eyebrow done as well. since i don't, i'll just have to be content with getting more tattoos
i like getting tattooed... i love the smell of a tattoo parlor!
i don't like to think that i've gotten these things done for the "cool factor", but maybe it was on some level. i usually don't wear any earrings and have a very tiny nose stud. so most people don't even realize that i have piercings or tattoos unless i tell them. i just like knowing that i have them... i'm sure that probably doesn't make much sense... but the closest thing i can liken it to is wearing sexy undies... no one knows you have them on... but it puts that lil grin on your face knowing that you're being kinda saucy hahaha at least that's how it is for me


__________________________
Cell 1007::

I have no idea what this piercing/tatoo language means...
Here, no piercing, no tatto, no bear, whatever this means, just plain me, old-fashioned way.
I personally don't like looking at people with piercing. Depending on the amount and location of them, I really dislike looking at the person. Of course I don't care what people do with their own bodies, but this is just my opinion and feelings.
The only piercing that I see not much of a problem, is a piercing in that small hole in the middle of the belly, that I don't know the name in English (in Portuguese it's "umbigo").
As for tatoos, they are a polution to my eyes, with rare exceptions.
Bears, I like them, at the zoo or in the wild.

I have tattoos and really wish I didn't. I've had to bandaid them for business conferences in the past (sadly, not everyone has an open mind). One day I'll have them removed. Getting them was a mistake. Well, perhaps it was right at the time but it isn't anymore. 10 years on and I want them gone, they're too visible. I'd never get another one. My interest in personal body art has completely waned. I like it on other people but not for me.

I don't have anything pierced.

Amerasu

after all this, i think my entire fascination with piercings stems from the ability to stick my finger though my earlobe (among other miscellaneous items). Snugs i got done because they were rare (you dont see many people with the snugs of their ear pierced), inner conch was kinda like the icing on the cake. I enjoy the symmetry it creates, as there isnt' a blank spot from the jump from earlobe to snug. I plan on stretching that too (the inner conch). Plans for my tattoo have already been laid out, but are not yet permanent, i'll post those too if anyone would like to see them.

thanks for sharing your thoughts, i believe we need to become largely more acceptant and appreciative of other people's own choices, and what they choose to do with their own bodies; people should not be rediculed and discriminated against for their own appearance, we've had enough of that in our past, if you dont recall. Thank you again.

I'm not pierced (unless you call a normal silver ring in your ear pierced, I don't),
nor am I tattooed. "Bears" I'm not sure what that is unless you mean beard which I do have.

I'm thinking of a tattoo, but I really want something that I can see myself having for the rest of my life, so far I havn't found/drawn one like that.

As for other peoples choices.
It's up to each and everyone to choose, personally I believe that you should be a bit older than late teens before you hit the more major stuff, the ones you can't remove.

Not that a teenager shouldn't be allowed, it's just that when you are young, your ideals and likes/dislikes tend to be very strong and often prone to change. To express yourself with body modifications, tattoos and somilar things that are virtually unchangable is perhaps not that smart until you have found yourself.

Going into the really hard stuff like tounge-splitting, scarification, facial art, implants, genital piercing and so on... That part I really don't understand.
But that's me.
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

Sanzen, your right, i did start a thread similiar to this, and in hindsight, i wish i had perhaps handled it a bit better at the time, and i am sure i picked up a few enemies in the process...beyond my control now i guess.

But...for those that missed it, here's my PIC...........ONLY KIDDING !!!

4 tat's - 2 x nicely drawn fine lined woman, a grim reaper and a mural with my eldest childs name on it.

1x eyebrow piercing and a PA ( see twitch's post )



[This message has been edited by axleclarkeuk (edited 10-02-2003).]

well....i totally agree with DL-44 ! nothing to add

Piercings ?


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I would have posted on that thread Petskull... if it werent Closed.

It was closed for good reason.

*scratches head*

I didn't close it, if that's what you mean...


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Just read the other thread....

Now i only have this to say :
i don't have them and i don't care if you do (not harsh just don't care)

The only question i have to all people with piercings and/or tatoos:
Why the hell you have to tell everyone, you can reach, about it?
Every single person i know with a (new)piercing or tatoo is so damn proud on the new 'jewel' they have talk about it to everyone who wants to listen to it (and to all the people who don't).
Sometimes they are even worse then the people who just had a baby/wedding/new love/destination in life.


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"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

I dont have anything neither tattooed nor pierced (earrings dont count ). not because it suck or anything, its just that i think they do not suit me at all.

I would rather have a mechanical limb than a piercing, i mean its much cooler, and far more useful (i mean, you can open cans with ease! )

Tattoos, i may get temporal ones, if i find anything that i like and suits me. I was thinking about a poem or some quote actually.

Or like that woman in a simpsons episode where marge goes to jail, one of them has a Mad magazine cover in her back. That would really own!

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Alevice's Media Library

My father (who is currently in russia) had been living in china some time ago, he was studied chinese medicine and tai chi as well other spirtual chinese stuff...
when he came back he had 3 tatoos, on one arm a dragon on the other white tiger on the back pheonix....he didnt get them so that he could go to the beach and show em off or anything like that...those tatoos do have meaning to him....its more like the particular way of life he chose...

Poeple who get tatoo in order to show how cool they are ...are actually lame IMO

when I was younger I thought it was cool to have a tatoo, but as mahjqa stated in the other thread it gets boring fast...so having some shitty drawing on your arm for about like the rest of your life sounds really lame...

Well, I guess I need to chime in on a couple things before I let this topic go on it's merry way.

The absolute #1 reason anyone should get any art done to the body is for the sake of that art. Why decorate a Christmas tree? Why paint your walls? Why hang artwork? Why color your nails? Why pick out nice jeans, and the most fashionable sweaters? It's all for decoration, for the artistic expression. That expression can say lots of things, and it really depends on the person that has them done. For me, they say I'm not afraid of needles. They say I enjoy being enhanced with jewelry that most people couldn't stomach to have inserted. They say I am willing to be called the freak by people with tiny brains and no ability for self-expression or self-exclusion from the societal norms. I'm not following trends, most of the time, and I'm not doing it to please anyone else. They're for me. I want them. I get them.

For those of you with the tiny brains unable to cope with these sorts of expressions, I ask you to back off, and stop spending your time focusing on the shiny bits of metal in my face. Pick up a hobby and step back from mocking me. I'm not a "pincusion," and I'm not a "freak" just because I prefer to decorate myself. I'm not a queer because I do this (though I am, anyway), and I don't do it to freak you out. That's not my purpose. If you're wearing the best clothes to fit in, you're wearing them for the ass-wrong reasons.

We here all have a creative side. I just wear mine in my ears, eyebrows, lips, nipples, and hoo-hah. You wear yours on a business card.

-S

*raises her glass of wine to twitch*
that was quite well said! bottoms up buttercup!

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Cell 1007::

quote:

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Why paint your walls? Why hang artwork? Why color your nails? Why pick out nice jeans, and the most fashionable sweaters? It's all for decoration, for the artistic expression bla bla...

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Some walls are badly painted. Some hung artwork would be better off in the trash. Some jeans and sweaters are just ugly.
It's all a matter of taste. Some people like "X" and don't like "Z", some people like "Z" and don't like "X", some people like both, some people like neither.
The important thing is: you must respect the others, even if they think and act differently from you. I don't like tatoos and piercing, specially piercing, they are ugly, people that use them gets uglier, and this is my opinion. It doesn't mean that these persons are freak and it doesn't mean that I have a tiny brain. It just mean that I find it ugly, bad taste. If I have a person with this stuff in front of me, I am NOT going to tell this person that "hey, you are freak, ugly person, I don't like you because you are using this stuff". I will have the same consideration for the person as if he or she was not using the stuff. But inside myself, I will be thinking: "wow, this guy or girl looks ugly, he or she could look much better if he or she took off this stuff".
Can you understand? It's not againt the person that uses the stuff, it's against the stuff itself. And, if you use this stuff, for me it doesn't mean that you are brave, corageous, strong, bla bla, it just means that you like or do not bother with the pain. In a torture chamber, I doubt you would be better than the ones that do not use this stuff...
You have the right to use them, I have the right to not like them.

I will be honest and say that 2 of my tattoos were done for the wrong reasons, and hence i regret having them done, but the other two i took time too choose for, what twitch mentions, artist reasons.

My eyebrow was something i had always contemplated, but never really got around to doing, but.....at a moment in my life when i was feeling a bit low, my two young daughters clubbed together their pocket money and paid for me to have to dont to cheer me up ! It worked, and til the day i die i will not regret having that done.

What twitch has said, pretty much covers my train of thought...

Christina Agulera ( sp? ) has approx 12 piercings, now does that mean that this beautiful young lady becomes an instant freak, just because she chose to have some tiny bits of metal skewered to her skin ? I didnt think so..

We live in a two faced society, thats life.

Miss Aguilera looks like a whore you find in the corner of the square. Not that its caused by the peircgins tho.

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Alevice's Media Library

I hate Christina Aguliera, and Halley Berry... I don't get what the world sees in these women...


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Don't personally like peircings but I am getting this tattoo:



Different colors, but...

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

quote:

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I hate Christina Aguliera, and Halley Berry... I don't get what the world sees in these women...

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Interesting, because I don't like them too.
I add to the list this Avril Lavigne (I've seen this girl twice, I think, and it was enough for me to completely dislike her at first sight), Jennifer Lopez, Demi Moore, Barbara Streisand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and many more...

For all the people who like to have peircings or tatoos, enjoy have fun put as much iron and steel in your body as you wish. But don't say to people they have tiny brains just because they don't like it.

Look my hair is almost as long as my upper legs and i am not dragging about it i don't run around saying "look my hair is almost two feet". I don't go to a public place to say i am so much better then the other ones because of my hair... But if anyone is interested in the how or why i did let it grow i will tell them the reasons and thus a part of my story. But more important if people are NOT interested i will keep it to myself.
And yes if I cared about piercings or tatoos i would consider getting one.

quote:

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Why color your nails? Why pick out nice jeans, and the most fashionable sweaters? It's all for decoration, for the artistic expression.

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Why bother other people with the things you wear? That's just to make a statement you'd better let the clothing/peircings make the statement.
I don't care about your jeans, why should i care about the piercings? or tatoos?
Thank god you are free to do what you want with your body, thank god i am free to ignore you.

__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

I wanted to get my Labret pierced for a while, I still do, actually. I definitely want my ears pierced... And probably a subliminal tattoo on my back somewhere. I don't see the point in guaging (sp?) that shit out, because there is no way that it will close up after so long... Then you're stick with a big gap for the rest of your life. That means when you're 70 and you're retired you're gonna have this big hole hanging from your ear... Not cool IMO.

Actually, I like Demi Moore, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Selma Hayak. I'm that 'sexy-pretty-face-long-black-hair' guy... I don't know, it's a thing with me I guess...


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Our common taste didn't last long...
I didn't say they are not pretty, I just don't like the way they are but they are pretty women. Some of my preferences go to Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger, et altri.

hey petskull guess it's where you from he...

__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

Nothing like an unpopular opinion to bring out the bastards in the audience.

The ones that think a "race-blind" society is one that ignores the color of someone's skin. Screw that. I say praise it. We're all so goddamn unique, with so many beautiful traits. "I'm free to ignore" your piercings. Yeah. You're also free to block yourself up in your basement. Remove yourself from society. It's changing, bay-bee, and it's gonna do so without you. We think by ignoring it we're doing society a favour--like bringing it up is something that should be shied from. Ethnicity and piercings; should these be so easily compared? I say hell yes. Bring it on. Society needs a good screw, and I'm lubed up and ready.

Don't ignore stuff like this. Praise it. Embrace it. Rub it all over your body, and find out how shy you really are. Let your hair grow, then shave it off. Shove a nail through your nose, then go to church. Rub yourself down with hot oils while praying to the almighty deity that no one knows. Above all else, don't ignore our differences. You do, and I curse you to all the cliched drawings of hell for eternity.

Political correctness be damed. Worst thing ever to befall humanity.

-S

what the hell have you been smokin', twitch?

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Alevice's Media Library

i have three tattooo's and one ear pierced, no longer wear earings in it,,,,it became an occupational hazard to wear them...


as for my tattoo's i wear them with pride, each has a very special personal reason to me, i dont cover them up, but i wont flaunt them.. they are personal...

get in my face about them (especially one of them) and i would happily tear your face off.

Its my body i will do what the hell i like with it, if its a problem to you so what, i would rather not know you..

If it upsets you that i have a tattoo of someone who is no longer here on me, then fuck it i dont care, i can remember the times we had,k i can remember the places and the things we did, but it is great to be able to wake up and see her face on my arm...

all i can say is if you are planning on having any form of body transformation, wheteher tattos piercings on some of the more exteremt stuff done, make sure you do it for the right reasons, some are permanent..

the current resurgence in tattoos is surprising, the tribal tattos so popular now are just a fashion trend, its a shame some people dont realise ya cant change them like clothes...

But to hell with it, i wear mine with pride, i dont go telling everyone i have them, but i will explain why if asked...

what amazes me is the lengths some people will go to "fit in"... well fuck it, you are who you are, ya cant change it, you can modify it, either physically or mentally if you think its appropriate or some one is worth changing for, but only if it doesnt make you unhappy about yaself..

anyway enough ramblings... dont know when i will be posting again as of this sunday just got made homeless, so am heading back to uk with my tail between my legs...


so to one n all, its been a blast, try and catch you all soon

tom

Twitch, you ARE the man =P

My hair used to be over 2 Feet long, i shaved it all off. (weird huh) I work in a grocery store, and i have multiple (very visual) piercings (against store policy). You find that your attitude and the way you treat people often outweighs their opinion on your piercings. People who are against piercings will soon come to realize that us people with piercings and tattoos are the NICEST (for the most part), most accepting, tolerant, and loving people you will find on the planet. We're not ALL evil. We love doing these things to our self for our own self improvement and for the betterment of our selves.

My hats off to you twitch

if you wanna see my ears you can go to my Xanga and see for yourself. I know I should have my own website, but i can't finance it at the moment.

Much respect.

edit: Also: people with dreadlocks get +10 points in my book, that shit's awesome, i was gonna get them done before i shaved my head.

[This message has been edited by Sanzen (edited 10-04-2003).]

quote:

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i can remember the times we had,k i can remember the places and the things we did, but it is great to be able to wake up and see her face on my arm...

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Have you ever heard of a portrait?

Changing subject a little (I mean, not related to the quote above), it's funny how young people can get angry for nothing.

BTW, what bears have to do with piercings and tattoos?

viol: it's a wizard of oz reference.... lions and tigers and bears...OH MY...

__________________________
Cell 1007::

My opinion on tattoos and piercings is:

I personally wouldn't do it, becuase I'm the kind of person that tries to avoid pain at all costs, but if you want to get it done...hey...it's your choice and I'll respect you for that. If on the other hand you choose to get it done because everyone else is...hey...that's your choice, but I won't respect you for it...it'd be like showing respect to the trendwhores...

Twitch, nobody is against you or piercings. Lighten up mate.
And i do think most people accept piercings, if they care about it.
But that has not to mean they should like it.

I like my body in it's normal shape. It's a very fine piece with all those delicate chemical and mechanical processes and i am very proud about it. And there is no way i am going to alter it if not needed.

But if it comes to it i would die fighting for your freedom to have piercings and i would die again for mine to have none.

Now kill the rage or use it to change the world...

__________________________________________
"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

I have zero interest in piercings or tattos for myself. In and of themselves I see them as nothing different than any other self adornment that people have. I wouldn't look negatively at anyone simply because they had them. I try my best to judge people by who they are, period.

PA? Yikes!!! Soon you'll be ready for some splitting... ~shudders~

. . : slicePuzzle

I just have the normal piercings that a woman would have. One hole in each ear. For me it was a sort of rite of passage when my mother let me get them when I was 13. In my family it shows that you are a woman.

On the other hand, I am not sure if I would get a tatoo. If I did, it would be something tasteful and it would be of my work, signifying an important part of my life.

Well said, Bugs... If you're an asshole, I don't think you're an asshole because of your piercings, just because of who you are....

I don't judge Twitch's piercings...

No tats, no holes but I do look like a bear so..............

I largely haven't got any because I never really got round to it but I have always intended to it (every time I have something came up or the person who was going to do it wandered off or..........).

I doubt I'll get anything pierced yet but I'll probably get around to tattoos eventually - I have some ideas

___________________
Emps

The Emperor dot org

What's the point? Art? Self-mutilation? Wanting to be an individual, like everyone else?

Tattoos. They're basically permanent grafitti on your skin. Do you really need it?

Earrings. Your ears are pretty enough without giant holes or steel strips hanging out of them.

Price Alberts. Don't get me started on Prince Alberts.

I think a 5/8" Bamboo tunnel in my earlobes are only bettering the look of my 'already pretty enough" lobes. I enjoy having something natural in me. I feel like I have a piece of mother nature as a permanent part of me. As far as tattoos go, its not graffiti, and even if it was, lets hope its something special, and not something meaningless. I would think that most of the people on this board would have gotten tattoos or piercings for the RIGHT reasons, not the wrong reasons; i say this because i contend that most of the people on this forum are intelligent and open-minded persons.

quote:

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Around 16 percent of adult Americans have at least one tattoo, believing the body art makes them feel sexier, more rebellious and even, in some cases, more intelligent, according to a poll published.

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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/031009/323/eapic.html

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Emps

The Emperor dot org

How does ink drilled into skin increase intelligence?

I guess the same way glass wrapped in wire makes one an instant nerd.

Well, not to long ago I had a 1st hand expierence with a PA, and decided - This is a good thing.

So, after debating in my head for a few days, I decide to bite the bullet and get it done.

I had been wanting a piercing and / or tattoo for a long time now. But, could never quite decide on what to get done, and toss in the fact that my mother *HATES* any Piercings other then the ears, I had to be carefull about what to get done. She yelled for 5 mins at a friend of mine for wanting to get her nose done (I am unsure as of to why she is so anti-piercing).

So, any facial piercing was out of the question (ears, so dull, and I dont like the look of plugs), eye brows, nope? lip? nope, Tongue, possibly as she may not notice it when I went home to Visit, nipples? .. allways a possability and may get them done later after I asorb the debt hit of the PA,

So, between the 1st hand expiercing with the PA and then deciding agaisnt nipples, I went for my PA

I went to a few shops in TO, and pretty much everyone ignored me or gave me attitude when I walked in, or had really scary dudes doing the work (Sorry, I dont want a 350pd guy named bubba ramming a spike though my penis) and ended up going to Passages on Church, walked in, instantly friendly staff, and the girl who did my piercing was super sweet / nice and very informative. Was a comfterable enviroment, not intimidating at all and no attitude.

So, we talk about what I wanted to get done, what size, cost, etc. She didnt have any appointments for the next few hours, so she could do me right then/there. I took a 30min break, went to a near bar and chugged a smirnoff ice back, and then went back over (although, the drink did nothing for me)

And got under way, she explained each proccess/step and cleaning/care/blah/blah/blah, then proceeded to prep me, put in the numbing cream and then asked

'do you want me to tell you when I go to do the piercing?'

wisely - I said no. if she had told me, I would of tensed up for it

So, me and her are chatting away, I'm taking lots and lots of deep breaths to relax my body. So, chatting away, then

*gasp* very brief micro-second of pain, not even worth calling painfull. ..

and then carry on chatting while she proceeds to put in the taper, stretch it out, and put in the final piercing (was pierced at 10, stretched to 8)

and been loving it since going on a little over a week now since I got it done, and cant wait till it fully heals.

Yay for another PA :P you and Axle should start a club =P

I'm in for a tongue piercing soonish. Probably get pierced at a 10 and stretch to an 8, just like your PA. I dont want my barbell to pull a cheese grater on my tongue, then i'll have one of those split tongues (not my style).

Ears will be going to 3/4" later this week. And i've actually started producing my own organic jewelry, made from high quality wood; if anyone's interested =P

Don't have any piercings nor tatoos. Never seriously considered getting any of the two either, but that is mostly because I don't feel like it would 'suit me'.

But a lot of my friends have either one of them or both, and I see nothing wrong with that. As long as you 're not ashamed of having it and have a reason for it (other than 'Some TV star had it, so I had to get it as well') I'm ok with it. Some people suit them and are more attractive with them, while others would look much better without them. But that is my view of the whole thing, and there are sure to be people around that has the opposite view of things

_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -

I'm a little late to this thread... been right busy as of late, but I always like a good conversation about tattoos and piercings...

Myself? I have 2 tats, wear 14g hoops in my ears, and had a 14g tongue piercing for 8 years. I took it out 6 months ago, not because of any pressure or job related thing or anything (I was a bank teller with it for 3 years!). I removed it because the shape of my mouth started changing after I had my wisdom teeth removed and it became very uncomfortable. The tats, well... if I had it to do over again, I might have thought harder about it. The complete tattoo is a rose on my upper arm. High enough to be hidden unless I'm wearing a tank top, which doesn't happen often. I got it done first when I was a sophmore in high school (1989-90, I think), and it was done by a friend of mine with a needle, some cotton thread and a bottle of india ink (a poison, BTW, I wouldn't advocate it these days...). It hurt like a b*tch! It was covered over and colored a few years later by a friend of mine who was an aspiring tattoo artist at the time. Freebie... And I had it professionally covered and cleaned up a year or 2 after that. It's faded now, and I have some nice scars. I could have thought harder about having it done... and the subject is not one I would choose, if I was the person then, that I am now.

Like everything appearance related, it's a matter of personal choice. Visible tattoos and piercings should be considered carefully, dependant on what you do for a living, and whether or not it's going to affect you negatively in that respect. If you don't care what other people think about it - that's definitely your choice too. As individuals, we have free will, and I personally think that we should exercise it every chance we get. But we also live in a society, that functions around certain guidelines and expectations. In order to succeed in that society, it's necessary to play the game.

If you're a good player, you figure out how to make your own choices, yet still make a decent living. Every choice has societal consequences, good or bad. As long as you weigh your consequences when making your choices, what the hell does it matter to anyone else what you decide to to with yourself? For that matter, even if you didn't weigh your consequences, what the hell does it matter to anyone else? But you made the choice, so let's not hear any whining when regret comes knocking.

Honestly, I think that people spend way too much time worrying about what other people are doing that might be "wrong"... It's their life, let them live it and learn from it themselves! If they ask for help, offer it - but otherwise, I have my own life to live, and so do all of you...



Cell 617