going to the gym in the morning has the magical effect of making me suitable for little more than television and couch-lounging, at least for an hour or two, which is why i could never be one of those people who goes before work (i'd be unemployed in a week). forgetting that we had a luscious netflix pile of dark shadows and x-files episodes, the missus and i blew a bit of our saturday on a style network "dos and don'ts" show (don't paint yourself orange, do follow trends [except for the painting yourself orange trend], &c).
to my great surprise, the item about excessive facial piercings actually got to me. my eyebrow bar and i are great friends, and i could give a monkey's about what people in the office think about it, but i was finally able to admit to myself that it doesn't have a lot of relevance for me these days. joe and i had a long talk, i took a deep breath, and i took out all of my exotic piercings* - for good. the tragus ring that inspired mom to threaten to keep me from going to college: adieu! the cartilage bar i acquired in berkeley on a date with paul: bless! the eyebrow bar, snagger of sweaters, instant dater of wedding pictures, way to kill fifteen minutes in london when lukas refused to leave a record shop on berwick street: may the wind ever be at your back! you were all great friends of mine, and i feel pretty naked at the moment, but i think i needed to slough a few outdated bits of identity. also, i've always been a big fan of monkeying with my appearance: change is the constant, no?
okay, really naked.
*except for ye olde navel ring. it's had such a hard life (remember, kids: captive bead rings are not key rings) that i don't have the heart to confront it again.
The tragus ring still makes a good story (we were actually en route to move you into your dorm at the time). It paired so well with the one about discovering your nape-o-the-neck tattoo while walking through South Coast Plaza and hearing Joanna ask: "Lauren, is that real?"
ReplyDeleteRe the EW list: I've actually seen 7 so far.
zoiks and adieu! when G helped me take out my eyebrow captive ball before i started work in washington DC (which was wimping out, really, and i do miss it sometimes), i swear he almost barfed.
ReplyDeleteso if you made it through your removal frenzy, barf-free, i commend you both.
we should talk about tattoos. for some reason, i've falled so in love with berlin that i've got a set of 3 different options for commemorating it forever, but don't know if i could quite do it. your symmetry argument has always been compelling.
ma: (on the EW "25 movies you need to see before oscar night" list) gah, i feel like a slacker. hoping to knock off a few more this weekend (or perhaps this evening when joe's off at darts playoffs).
ReplyDeletewabes: those captive beads are a giant pain in the ass. i got the one in my ear out on my own, but not before i went for joe's leatherman to see if it had a wire cutter (which nearly caused him to barf, i think).
and yes, we should talk tattoos. little art-buddies to commemorate big life-things (and keep you honest evermore, since you can't pop them out quite like CBRs): they really are wonderful. what are these options?
i'm getting commitment jitters just writing it all down - and i don't really think i'll do it, but...
ReplyDeleteif i could do a charm bracelet (though not actually a bracelet), i would, there are a few little things:
- a kingfisher after the wax print i have from TZ
- the berlin bear that has a firebreathing tongue (city symbol: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-be.html )
- a tiny little red with white polka-dots mushroom, bavarian christmas-ornament style
- the symbol for the Volksbühne (here: http://www.volksbuehne-berlin.de/ )
it's the permanence that actually sort of scares me, naturally - and i worry about how you know what color it's really going to be. and then there's the problem of location...
so, when you mentioned wire cutters, i couldn't help but recall the, what looks to be the "helix" piercing i had, based on your illustration.
ReplyDeleteit didn't heal right, and my body was trying to reclaim it in some sort of spooky growth, so on a visit to my parents', my dad whipped out his wire cutters and off it came. very weird.
that's what my sister always threatened to do with my eyebrow ring...it was also suggested that i could put my eyebrow under water and use it to attract fish to catch.
ReplyDeletewell, see, i warned you that the worm charm was going to get you negative attention.
ReplyDelete(that said, i still want this.)
that is pretty. worm charm. that just sort of makes me giggle...
ReplyDeletei see jewelry here all the time that i want to send home for you. i should be your buyer.
Ixnay on the attootay...
ReplyDelete