2001-08-20 - 11:32 p.m.
The worst part of getting a tattoo isn�t the time you spend in the chair. It�s painful, sure, but you know something pretty and colorful and unique is going to come out of it and that makes it hurt less. It�s the pain of creation. (And I�m not saying that just so you all think I�m some stud with a high pain threshold--I�ve broken practically every bone in my body over the years and each one has left me crying for mommy. But I�ve definitely built up an impressive pain tolerance where Art is concerned. I once sat through Howard Stern�s Butt-Bongo Fiesta, so getting tattooed--or having your femur shattered in three places--is nothing.)
Things don�t get icky till after you get home and remove the bandage. You�re supposed to leave it on for at least 12 hours, which gives the gauze plenty of time to become glued to your flesh and soak up lots of blood, excess ink, bits of dead skin and whatever that clear fluid is that oozes out of wounds as they heal. Ripping it off band-aid style can damage the tattoo, so removing it is a time-consuming and basically very unpleasant process.
But then comes the best part. Once the bandage is gone and you�ve washed off all the leftover gunk, you get to see your new tattoo in all its glory. Enjoy the view while you can--after a day it�ll scab over and get all crusty and itchy and you won�t want to look at it again for a couple of weeks. But that first glimpse is my favorite. It�s like seeing your baby born, or your lover naked, or Cheap Trick at Budokan, or something.
Pictures soon. After it�s healed.
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While I was at the tattoo shop my friend Jeff and his fiance dropped in and we wound up talking about politics. Ever ranted about George W. Bush while someone has your arm in a wrestler�s hold and is stabbing needles into it at rapid intervals? I highly recommend it--it�s very cathartic. Never have my mental state and my body�s physical responses been so synchronized.
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Those of you who have been following the adventures of Joe�s Monkey will be happy to know that he has arrived in San Diego safe and sound. Don�t believe what he wrote on the web site--he was just tired after the flight from Atlanta and the jet lag was making him delusional. Really.
This is just a brief stopover for him, actually, because DLove is taking him up north for Burning Man. Hm. I wonder if I should Scotchguard him beforehand.
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