FYE 8

My family is very conservative and I am the black sheep. My brother is nine years older than me and he is the perfect child. My parents suffered with me for the past eighteen years because I am very independent and wild at heart. I wasn’t allowed to dye my hair, but dyed it black against my parents’ wishes when I was fourteen. Was only allowed two piercings in each ear, I pierced the third hole myself in my bathroom when I was fifteen. My parents dreaded my eighteenth birthday because they knew nothing would stop me there.
Sure enough I got my industrial piercing in my right ear and two cartilage piercing in my left right after my eighteenth birthday. That sure caused uproar in my house. I went home for Thanksgiving and they weren’t surprised with what I got in D.C. They were expecting it. I got my tongue pierced and a tattoo on my spine.
In September there was supposed to be a tattoo and piercing workshop in SLCC. I showed up but very few did so it was postponed until who-knows-when. Those who showed got a ten percent off coupon on any piercing. This excited me because I was planning to get a tongue piercing. People always assumed I got it for the “wrong” reasons. My reason was that I have to have something in my mouth, I usually use gum but I don’t always have gum. So, I decided to see if a piercing could replace that. And it did. Now you know the real reason why.
Few days after getting the coupon, I ran over to Tattoo Paradise in Adam’s Morgan with a group of friends. Each one of us got a piercing and I did my tongue. I was told it was the least painful piercing. It definitely was the most painful piercing for me, even compared to my industrial. I cried when the guy shoved the fat needle through my tongue. Sorry for the graphic details. It hurt so much for a week and my tongue swelled up three times its size. Once the pain went away, I fell in love with it. I refuse to take it out, even with my mother’s demands.
After I got my tongue done, I decided to get a tattoo that I had always wanted since two years ago. I have a favorite, personal quote, “What Nourishes Me Also Destroys Me”. I decided to have that tattooed down along my spine. I was told it was going to hurt bad, it didn’t. I enjoyed it. I had two friends with me when I got it. I was supposed to be alone but since I had to be topless for the procedure, the tattooist let them be in the same room. It took about thirty minutes.
I was aware that tattoos are PERMANENT but the quote was personal for me and it can be easily covered by shirts, so I went ahead and got it. My parents weren’t so happy but the tongue piercing bothered them more because it is so noticeable. Deciding what to do with my body is a big decision so I try to not be too stupid about it. I make sure my tattoos are easily covered. I don’t worry about where my piercings are because they are not permanent. There will be more tattoos and piercings to come.