Well. It's done.

I got my tattoo.

It's kirei. I'm really happy with it! =D

It's sort of still unreal, though. I mean, I know it's going to be there for the rest of my life, but... it doesn't feel that way yet; it's still too new, I suppose. ::looks down at leg:: I can't believe I have a tattoo. ::stares blankly::

In any case, the tattooist who came to Angelica's house to do it (Chris) was really funny and nice. He didn't know kanji, so there were a few things we had to correct him on when he traced the art, and the first time he laid it down on my skin it was slanted, but we straightened it out and after that it was smooth sailing.

I was in a weird position, with my left leg lying on a chair, turned inward, so that the outside of my calf was facing up. So then I had to turn in the chair I was sititng in, so that I was facing my right. Then Chris was in a chair on the other side of the chair with my leg on it, doing the tattoo. To tell the truth, the position my leg was in was more painful than the tattoo itself.

I hadn't been nervous at all about having the tattoo done, but when I had lunch with my mom, she started saying that I should take something ahead of time for the pain, like aspirin. Jokingly, I said I couldn't because then I'd bleed more ('cause aspirin thins your blood), to which she asked, don't I like blood? And I said, well, I like pain too, so it's okay. My mom's funny, she has a high threshold for pain (as do I, I suppose), but she's really squeamish about it. I'm not squeamish about it, but I'm always worried that my threshold for pain isn't as high as I think it is, and at a certain point I'm just going to collapse into incoherent screaming or something. Which is really ridiculous, because I don't think my own stubborn pride would let me. ::sweatdrop::

But anyway, it felt like... when I got my ear cartilage pierced with a needle... when the needle pushes through, your body kind of shudders. That's what it felt like. And after the first minute, you kind of get used to the pain, so it isn't so big anymore. (Not like I think Angelica half-expected: for me to shudder in ecstasy or something. She's been reading Kushiel's Chosen too much.) In addition to that, I was doing breathing exercises that I do when I can't get to sleep, and so halfway through the tattoo I started getting sleepy... I could've just rested my head on the back of the chair (which I did) and maybe rested/dozed a bit if my right leg hadn't been falling asleep!

Once Chris finished outlining the kanji, I had to get up because my right leg was asleep and tingly. Once I woke it up, though, it was back to work.

All in all, it was worth the little bit of pain. Not to mention, it was kinda fun!

As soon as I find my camera, I'll take a photo and scan/upload it. ^_~

Sore wa... himitsu desu.

I brought in something to Cathy to be signed and when she was done she said, "Happy Birthday." I walked out a bit, walked back in and said, "Did you say that on purpose?" She looked at me weird and said, "Why, is it your birthday?" And I said, "Yesterday." She said "Really?" and started laughing. Then she asked why I hadn't said anything and I said that I don't really like to make a big deal about it. I mean, going up to your co-worker (even if she happens to be my mom's friend), and saying "You know, today's my birthday." It's a bit pretentious, don't you think?

Then she asked what I did to celebrate... and I told her about getting the tattoo last night. And she asked me what I got, so I showed it to her... and she asked what it meant, so I explained that in English, it meant "Death's lover." She laughed and remarked that it was a bit dark and I shrugged and said yeah. She asked why and I explained that I've always been fascinated/obsessed/intrigued with the personification of Death, in literature, art and other media. Which is completely true; I've always been obsessed with the personification of Death, it just happens to be that there's a character I love who calls himself Shingami and is in Japanese... which influenced the look of the tattoo, but not the meaning.

Later, Aisha (another co-worker, she's younger/cooler/less serious than most of the other people who work here... she has a tongue ring and a tattoo by her navel) went into Cathy's office and a few minutes later, left. Cathy then came out to me and asked (in a whisper), "Is your tattoo a secret?" "From who?" I anwered. "Aisha," she said. I replied, "Oh, of course not." She answered, "Good, because I think she'd like it." So apparently, she mentioned it to Aisha because about an hour later, I was by the filing cabinets on the other side of the floor and Aisha passed by me, backed up, and said that she'd heard I got a tattoo for my birthday.

So I showed it to her. We went through the same routine, only this time she asked how much I paid for it. I told her about Chris being Angelica's mom's friend and doing it cheaper than usual ($50)... but I also mentioned that the place I get my ears pierced quoted me $70. She mentioned that she wants to get her tattoo touched up because it's fading and maybe get something else, but she doesn't have the money right now.

Angelica suggested that I give her Chris's business card. I would, but I only had one so I wanted to keep it for myself. Chris did give Angelica quite a few, though, so I'll just get one from her and give it to Aisha on... Tuesday.

Oh, and Angelica's going to give in and get a kanji tatto also! When I started looking for the kanji for my own tattoo, I came across the kanji for "ran" (which means orchid), and sent it to her because I know how much she loves Aya/Ran from Weiß Kreuz. LOL. So last night, when Chris was there, I kept telling her to get it done... and today she finally gave in about it (apparently, Chris called her and thanked her for recommending him to me, and told her that when she's ready to get hers he'd give her a "special discount" -- sounds hentai, doesn't it? ^_~). She's going to see her Japanese sensei tomorrow and she's going to ask her to write out ran for her... and possibly "takai ran" (which means "expensive orchid"... a joke on poor Ran). Kawashima-sensei wrote out the kanji for me (I provided her with a rectangle of the size that I wanted the tattoo to be), so Angelica's going to ask her to do the same with the "ran" and "takai" kanji tomorrow. (Ganbatte yo!) And then I'm going to get her the tattoo for her for her birthday (July 29th).

I got the kanji from www.kanjitattoos.com. Although they don't have takai, this is what ran looks like.

Oh! Last night, I don't remember how it came about, but someone mentioned that my sister was a good artist and Chris said that if she came up with some good designs he'd buy them from her. She's so lazy about drawing and all, but I think if she really works on them, she could make a little money off of it, and it might get her foot in the door to something bigger. Wouldn't that be kakkoii? To have a sister whose art is permanently on other people's bodies?!

Oooh, I can't wait. I'll really have to push her into working on it!

Oh, and I have to remind myself later, to say thank you to Louie for giving me a beautiful drawing/painting of Mana for my birthday! I totally wasn't expecting anything from her and what she gave me was just amazing -- it's so unbelievably realistic!!! ::pouts:: It's SO unfair, I would so love to be an artist, but I just can't make my hands do what my mind pictures! Grrrr