I live in Texas but I work for a government contractor and sometimes I have to travel different places to work. Recently I was in Minnesota for 5 weeks. The first thing I do when I go somewhere new is check out all the local tattoo/piercing shops to see if I can find a piercer I'd trust to do a little bit of steel work on me. I was dragging a whole bunch of my coworkers around with me all of my coworkers look up to me as the resident piercing and tattooing expert/freak.
At A Glance Author baby bandit Contact baby_bandit@yahoo.com When A week ago Artist Steel Studio Cloud 9 Location St. Cloud, Minnesota I had been thinking about getting nape piercings for about two years but I live in a small military town and there isn't anyone here I trust to do something like a nape. Big business around here is in tongues and navels.
Anyway, I had had crappy luck so far that day. I had been disappointed in the other two shops I had already visited. One of them didn't even have a single portfolio! I was about to give up on Minnesota tattoo shops entirely. When I walked into Cloud 9, I was prepared to be disappointed but I was pleasantly surprised. Jim Sens' portfolio had some of the coolest surface piercings I had ever seen.
I didn't have the time to get the napes that day but I made an appointment to come back that weekend and get two napes done. Besides I had a few coworkers I knew wanted to get some piercings done so I had to bring them back with me when I came back.
I was totally psyched for the next couple of days waiting for my appointment to roll around. I could barley sleep! All my friends were telling me I was crazy for even thinking about getting a piercing in my neck but I didn't let them get me down.
Finally the day arrived. I showed up at Cloud 9 with six people in tow. They were all more nervous than I was. It was totally funny. My friends were only getting a set of ear lobes, a nostril, and a tongue respectively and they were all insisting that I go first so that if they changed their minds they could back out.
I filled out the consent form while Jim started prepping all of his equipment. We used 14g one-inch stainless steel barbells that Jim had bent the ends up on. He had me lie facedown on the piercing table while he cleaned the area. I was a little nervous because I had an audience. All of my coworkers were looking over Jim's shoulder and generally being in the way. I felt a lot of pressure to be tough and not to jump or anything so I started cracking jokes and basically cutting up. I have a reputation for being a tough b*tch to uphold.
When the area was cleaned Jim marked me and had me go look at the marks to make sure I liked the positioning. It's a big pain in the butt to try to see the back of your neck let me tell you! I was totally pleased with the placement so I said it was cool and got back on the table.
Then Jim started to play with the skin on the back of my neck, rolling the skin back and forth and stuff. When Jim picked up the needle I knew it because all of my friends started to squeal and whisper. Jim asked me if I was ready and I said, "Yes." He asked me to take a deep breath and on the exhale he ran the needle. I had psyched myself up for murderous pain and I was almost disappointed when all I felt was a little prick. Jim quickly ran the needle and "Presto!" the first one was done. It didn't even bleed! My coworkers snapped a whole crap load of pictures and commented on how crazy I was while Jim screwed on the ball.
Jim asked me if I was ready for the second one and I said, "Yes." I breathed in a huge breath and "Bam!" there went the second one. Easy as pie. More pictures. More comments about my sanity and then I got off the table to check out my new piercings. I was completely happy with them! I also decided I had to have a third but I figured I'd go back in a few days and get it because I didn't want to stress out my body too much all at once. Besides, my friends looked like they were about to bail on me.
I ended up going and getting a third nape 3 days later and a triangle 2 days after that but that's another story for another day. It's been almost 3 weeks now and the napes are doing great. No infection, pain, etc. I get stopped by people all the time when I go out anywhere. People that want to ask me all kinds of questions. "Did it hurt?" "Why did you do that?! You are going to HELL!!" All my close friends adore them though none of them are brave enough to get any themselves. Funny how that goes huh?
Now that I am back in Texas I really miss Jim and I wonder who I can find next time I want an interesting piercing. I might have to rack up some frequent flier miles to go and see him again. *wink*