Who knew that ears could be so much trouble?

Well. My tat's doing better -- no more flaking/scabbing, it doesn't bother me to lay on it anymore. However, I've woken up in the middle of the night on two separate occasions because I scratched it in my sleep -- and while it didn't hurt, it was sensitive enough for me to wake up. It itches every so often, but I haven't been scratching it at all (except those two times in my sleep). One of the annoying things about it is that I can't exactly tell where the tat ends and where the normal skin begins, so when anywhere near the top/center of my back itches, I'm afraid to scratch 'cause I can't tell if I'm scratching the tat or what. I mean, I can tell where the center of the tat is, but not the edges, so... ::sigh::

And I really wanted to get my right ear pierced in two spots of the cartilage (as an Industrial, with the barbell to replace the CBRs after the piercings have healed), but I'm not so sure I can afford it right now... it's so disappointing, 'cause I really did want to do it! In other news about my ears, the third cartilage piercing from the top (of my left ear) has stopped being irritated/infected. But apparently the fourth from the top (the one right in the middle) doesn't want to be left out, so is now acting up instead. That's the one that has always been sensitive, but now it's very sensitive, slightly red/swollen... Not to mention, I really want to stretch my second and third lobe piercings so that they're at least an 18-gauge. Right now, I think they're a 20ga ('cause they were pierced with a gun); I'm hoping the 18ga hole will allow for more drainage when they get annoyed, and so help them to heal fully.

I was looking through a few tat/body mod magazines recently... and in one of them (Extreme Body Mod), there was a profile on a piercer who specialized in ear projects. Ooooh! So cool! I love ear projects! They're so pretty -- I like ear piercings more than any type of piercing (which is pretty ironic, considering that ear piercing is so common). But anyway, there was one that really caught my eye -- it was a CBR (Captive Bead Ring -- a hoop with a ball that is pinched between the two ends of the ring) pierced through the helix (outer rim of ear) closest to the head. The ball/bead of the CBR was actually one of the ends of a barbell. The barbell then went through an inner-conch piercing (basically, the cartilage that's right behind the lobe). It was just sooo pretty! I'd love to get that done, but I'm sort of nervous about the bleeding involved with a conch piercing. I'm not squeamish about blood by any means, but... more bleeding indicates more safety risks than a normal lobe piercing, helix piercing, or even a tragus piercing (that little nub of skin in the middle of the ear that extends from the skin of your face)... 'cause there are actually veins in the conch of your ear... and although there are a lot of people who have them... I'd still have to think about it quite a lot before really considering it.

Then again, I don't think I'll get the project I described above. Since I'm going to have an Industrial in my right ear (a barbell through two points of the cartilage), and since my left ear is pretty crowded (for my tastes), I wouldn't have anywhere to put it that looked nice (again, for my tastes). So I think that after the Industrial in my right ear, the only thing left to consider (on my ears) would be... a conch piercing in the middle of my ear (where my fourth piercing is on my left ear). If I do get it, I'd probably end up getting it in both ears... in the same spots.

But this is completely future planning. I'm no where near doing this right now. All I want now is the damn Industrial!

::eyes glow green:: Money, I need money...

I've also been thinking about what to do for my next tats... but I'm not decided yet. The ideas are still fluctuating; the only thing I definitely know I want is a faerie. Ah, the decisions...

god, can you tell I'm bored... o.O*

Recent readings. (oooh, look, it's an alliteration!)

What I've read recently:

Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick:

It's interesting, she's sort of following in the footsteps of Nora Roberts, Iris Johansen, Catherine Coulter by taking two characters and extending their story into a series rather than just one stand-alone novel with perhaps a sequel or two that focus on different characters, but where the two original characters have a cameo appearance of sorts. I think it's cool. I've always been more inclined to read a series of books about a main character rather than one novel with a cameo appearance in other novels. Not that that sort of thing is bad -- not at all! Many times, it's unexpected, and then you go, "Ooohh! I missed him! I'm so glad I got a chance to see him again!" But sometimes having the same main character throughout several books is cool too.

So anyway, it's the second book in the series with the same main characters, and though it is a historical romance, Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz's historical romance nom de plume), it's not a yucky bodice-ripper thing. I've always enjoyed Quick's novels -- they've always been historical romantic suspense, and her mysteries are always amusing and intriguing at the same time. And while it may seem like Quick's only now beginning to follow in the footsteps of the authors I mentioned above, it's actually sort of a mutual thing... they've only recently crossed over into the Mystery genre, but all of Quick's novels have been mysteries... none of them were "purely" romance, and in my opinion her writing is much more enjoyable. It's odd, because I tend to dislike Krentz's writing (her contemporaries), but I immensely enjoy Quick's writing (her historicals). Which in and of itself is odd because I greatly prefer contemporaries over historicals. Gah. It makes no sense.

Okay, so I didn't say anything about the actual book. ::shrugs:: But this is already too long; I'm moving on.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn:

Quinn and Quick are actually the only two historical romance writers that I will still read -- the rest are just atrocious. I was never a fan of historicals, but at least these two have some decent stuff! This latest by Julia Quinn is the latest in a series about interconnecting characters from the same time period (early 19th century) in London's ton. And in this last book, we readers finally get to see who the mysterious, scandalously blunt columnist, Lady Whistledown is! And it was a pretty good story too. One thing I love about Julia Quinn is how the male and female leads actually become friends before sort of falling into a romantic relationship. Especially in the historical subgenre of romance, friendship between lovers is quite rare, and I think it's such a shame because really, friendship is what makes relationships (romantic and otherwise) special. The reason there are so many historical romances out there where the main couple is dominated by the aggressive man (aside from the fact that the stupid authors write them that way) is that there's no friendship between the couple. When there's a true friendship, there's more equality between the relationship -- because a true friend wouldn't want to dominate another true friend.

Mistress of Instruction by... Christine Kerr?:

I think that's the author's name... I don't quite remember at the moment. I happened to be passing by the erotica section and I saw this book and started reading it. I couldn't help but buy it 'cause I was hooked -- unlike many other "historical" erotica, it doesn't only vaguely describe the acts of sex, nor does it try to shock the reader through vague references to supposedly depraved forms of sex (scat, golden showers, S&M type stuff, etc.). In fact, all the sex that's described (and boy, is there a lot of it!) is pretty normal -- straight, gay, lesbian, multiple partner, anal, vaginal, oral... but it's not anything most people would think is "out there." And... it's actually hot, descriptive, graphic! I was so impressed! It was like reading a really long, continuous, deliciously lemony Plot?-What-plot?-with-a-plot! It was grand!

Purity In Death by J.D. Robb:

I was very impressed with this latest installment of Nora Roberts' In Death series. Roarke was satisfyingly non-overly-intrusive. He wasn't being a big fat pain in the ass who overrode Eve's orders on a whim. McNab was injured, so Peabody was by his side during most of the book, and therefore she wasn't as annoying as she usually is. Feeney came out a bit more, so enjoyed seeing him. And something that McNab said to Peabody made my really like him, instead of just liking him and thinking that he's cool. Basically, it went back to the more coppish/mystery stuff and veered away from the relationship stuff. Not totally, of course, because then it just wouldn't be Nora. But enough that I thought it was really cool and not stupid and boring and purple with prose. Nora has a tendency to go purple quite often. Especially when her characters are Irish, which is (nowadays) about 90% of the time, if not more. Not that I don't love Irish characters -- they're one of my favorites -- but sometimes you need a break, y'know?

Worlds of Honor, edited by David Weber:

It's actually an anthology of five short stories related to Honor Harrington, or at least the world that Honor's set in. So far, I've read the first one, The Stray by Linda Evans. It was good, but... not great. It was interesting because a lot of it focused on the treecat culture that is so mysterious in the canon, but... it just didn't pull me in. And not because some of it was from the treecats' points of view, either. I think it was just a bit disconcerting to read something about Honor's world by a writer whose writing style is nothing like that of David Weber's. Really weird.

I know there's either one or two more Honor anthologies out there, which unlike the canon series, I don't own. Even this particular copy is borrowed from the library. I haven't read them yet, and I think one of the only reasons I'm reading this one is because I am in desperate need of an Honor fix, but the newest book War of Honor will not be out until October. And I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to buy it or not -- after all, it will be coming out in hardcover, so it'll be a bit more than I usually like to spend on a book. The only reason I'm even seriously considering it is because it comes with an exclusive CD-ROM. I've heard rumors that it has the whole series on it, which is certainly possible, considering Baen's openness toward free and inexpensive e-books, but those were just rumors and I won't really be able to decide until I know for sure what's on the CD-ROM.

Meanwhile, I'm also awaiting the release of Mercedes Lackey's new book Exile's Honor, which is supposedly Alberich's story. But nothing's coming out right now, so I'm going through withdrawal. Nothing I've read -- although very good and entertaining -- seems to be satisfying 'cause it's not what I really want to read! I want fantasy! I want sci-fi! I want Honor! ::sobs::

Even one tear is too many.

I'm one page away from the end of the second short story in the Honor Harrington anthology Worlds of Honor. This one is called What Price Dreams? and it is written by the man himself, David Weber.

And it's only after reading it so soon after describing my dissatisfaction with the short story that preceded it, that I can tell you the difference between David Weber and so many other writers. He really touches you -- your mind, anata no kokoro... it's so pathetic, but the waterworks were having a field day (and the music isn't helping any, either).

Really, it's having a character group -- like Weber's treecats, or Mercedes Lackey's Companions, who can see beyond the facade -- that make one realize the absolute pathetic loneliness of human existence.

I think I've written way too much for today. Somebody stop me.