Well, ladies and gents, boys and girls, the 'Bear did it. Friday night, I went into to the local tattoo shop and got a new tattoo and got my tongue and my lip pierced. The tattoo took the longest, so, of course, I got it done first. Then came the tongue and the lip. I'm a bit sore this morning, mainly my lip. The barbell in my tongue is a bit awkward and makes eating a bit of a challenge, but it doesn't hurt. Hasn't really hurt at all since I got it done.

I had made my mind up Friday that I was goign to go and get pierced and tattooed, in that order. The girl I work with, Braindead Idiot had a friend who was a tattoo artist and piercer and she said she'd take me to him. I'd even get a good deal. One problem. He was working at the tattoo expo going on all weekend and wouldn't be available until Sunday. Well, I had heard stories about how my tongue was going to swell up and I wouldn't be able to talk for 3 days, so I figured, if that's really going to happen, I'd rather do it Friday and have all weekend to recover. Besides, the art for the tattoo I wanted was at the place I had been planning on going and I didn't know if it would be at this other guy's place. So, I decided to just go where I had originally planned. No biggie. I had talked to the wife and we had planned on going that night. She's been wanting to get her navel pierced, but I wasn't sure if she wanted to do it or not. I just wanted her along for moral support.

So, on the way home Friday, I'm going to swing by Taco Bell for supper and Wildside is right there, about 100 yards away so I stop in and ask to make sure that they'll do everything I want in one go. I didn't know if they had a limit, but it's basically "whatever you think you can stand." They did, however, suggest I get the tattoo first, and then if I felt like it afterwards, get the piercings. I mentioned that I needed to go get supper, which they said was a good idea, guess you don't want to get tattooed on an empty stomach, and headed home.

When I get home, the wife, for some reason, wasn't in the best of moods. I think Demonchild was getting to be a bit of a monster and had been on her nerves all day long. We sit down to eat supper and I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to get done. Sadly, however, things didn't go as planned. Something happened to really put the wife in a funk so at 9:00 when I decided I was going to go, I ended up going by myself. Icebear Jr. was already asleep in his crib and Demonchild was living up to his name. I didn't really want to take them because I knew they wouldn't behave for the length of time it took me to get tattooed and pierced so I told her we should take them to her mom's. She nixed the idea because then she would have to explain to her mom why she needed to watch them, an argument would ensue, and all hell would break loose. Bad times all around. So, she stayed home and I left. I was kind of bummed, but was looking forward to everything too. I really wish she could have come.

Every other time I've been into Wildside, I've been the only person there, so I was kind of surprised when I walked in and saw Michael tattooing one guy, Valerie working on piercing someone and 3 girls standing around waiting. Wow, business has picked up. So, I fill out the form for Tattoo consent and then stand and wait. Luckily, Michael is the one who'll do my tattoo (Valerie did my other and although the shape is very nice and clean, I don't really like how she did the colors). I had picked 2 different pieces of flash (tattoo art) for what I wanted so while I waited for him to get everything the right size and cut together, I stood around and sort of talked to the girls who were getting pierced. They looked barely 18, if that, but had ID and shit so they must have been. Wildside will not pierce or tattoo you unless you're at least 18 or have parental consent. Very touchy business. One girl comes out with her tongue pierced so I asked her the typical questions. Did it hurt and shit. Then Michael motions me over and asks me where I want it. Now, I haven't gotten any pictures of it yet, but I found a pic that's similar. My tattoo is a celtic sun with my zodiac symbol (Capricorn) in the center of it. It's on my back, between my shoulder blades, at the base of my neck. If I wear a T-shirt, part of it will stick out above the collar. The celtic sun looks exactly like this:

Remember, that's not me in the pic, I found that on another web site just to give you an idea of the image. On mine, the center is filled in black with the Capricorn zodiac symbol. It looks rather cool. As soon as I get some pics taken of it, I'll post them here. I know, you probably don't care, but it's my diary and I can do what I want.

As Michael was finishing with the tattoo, he asked if I still wanted the piercings and I said yes, so Valerie started getting ready. For the tongue, you don't really have much of a choice of jewelry. All you get is a long barbell (because your tongue swells some), and you get to choose between the size of the balls on the end. Yes, I now have balls in my mouth. The lip was different, I went with a spike. After Michael wraps up my tattoo, I go to the back where Valerie has everything laid out and is ready for me. She hands me a small plastic cup with a brownish liquid in it (Listerine, actually a Walgreen's generic) and says to swish it around in my mouth for a bit and then spit it out. This shit is fuckin' nasty, but I do it. The stuff, is fuckin' 30% alcohol, so my tongue and shit is kind of numb from it. After spitting, she takes a set of clamps out of the sterile packing and has me stick my tongue out. After placing a rubber band around the clamp to get the proper pressure, she grabs my tongue and applies the clamp. Now, I was expecting the clamps to be rather tight and painful because of stories I'd read and the girl who got her tongue done earlier said that the clamp was pretty tight. Not this time, I guess. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. Valerie lifted my tongue up and down a couple of times to make sure things were centered and shit and then took the needle. I was expecting her to have me take a deep breath and then stick me on the exhale. Instead, she just turned around, aimed and boom. It hurt just a bit, but was gone instantly. After releasing the clamps, she fed the barbell through, screwed on the ball and it was over...almost.

I immediately felt awkward with this big, long, barbell clicking off my teeth and hitting the roof of my mouth. Before I could get used to that sensation, Valerie had my lip and was pulling on it. She opened yet another set of clamps from a sterile pack and a new needle. Very clean, these people. After making sure that the clamps were on and that everything was centered, she picked up the needle, and again, in one swift motion, stuck me. This one hurt a lot more. I think it was because I could see it coming and was expecting it to hurt. But it subsided quickly and she fed the jewelry through, screwed the spike on the outside and I was done. She gave me some cards with aftercare instructions on them and I was finished. After running to Walgreens to get some generic Listerine, some Aleve (pain reliever and anti-inflammatory meds) and some Saline solution, I headed home. Wasn't sure what to expect, but I hoped the wife was in a better mood.

When I got home, the wife was still awake and was still kind of pissed. I just stayed out of her way and got ready for bed. I showed her the piercings, but had to leave the bandage on the tattoo until the next morning so she'd have to wait to see it. I went to bed and slept rather well considering all the pain I'd been through that evening. The next day things were ok. My tongue had swollen some and my lip was a bit sore, but it wasn't really that bad. I was proud of myself. That night, the wife got pumped, and we went and got her navel pierced. It looks so cute to. She's got a nice little titanium ring with a little cross charm on it. The ring is rainbow colored and just looks so good on her. She looks really good with it.

Today is day 3 and everything seems to be progressing well. My lip is the most sore it's been, but has already started getting better. My tongue is fine, but I'll be glad when the swelling has finally gone down so I can get a shorter barbell. I'm sure it will be less awkward. My tattoo is coming along fine as well. A few people at the office have noticed and most of them like it. One really liked my tattoo and wants me to take her to the tattoo shop sometime. Her and her life partner, I think, want to get tattoos. Lesbians are so cool. Anyway, that's the story of my wonderful weekend. I didn't do anything Saturday or Sunday but sit around and heal. Oh, and in case you're wondering, yes I can eat just fine. It takes me a little longer to chew and I can't take as big a bite as I'm used to, but it's not a problem. I do prefer to have soup or something like small noodles since they're less of a challenge, but I can eat normal food. I'm sure you've all just been sitting glued to your monitors at my story. Unfortunately, it's nothing like reading about Uncle Bob talk about seeing Quiet Riot (who I used to LOVE), or seeing Anenigma tell about Scary Neighbor Kid and his PVC javelins, but it is my life. Which, sadly, isn't all parades and parties. Oh well. Maybe the next one will be more interesting. I'm on 98. I'll have to find something special to write about for #100. Till then, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

"Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?"

Icebear

previous - next