Research

   Before I left for Pennsylvania last Thursday, Lauren and I spent a few days together doing stuffs.

It's as though she forces me to become a normal, social, active person that would otherwise be... me. Despite her efforts, I worry that sometimes she finds my hermit side come out- in public- retreating into my silent, calculating mind, and feels like she's dragging a stubborn dog.

Yeah. It's nice to be taken out for a walk every now and then though. I view how different we are and it fascinates me, this attraction, how she tolerates me and reaches out for me. She pokes at my shell, like a curious child eager to feed his pet... mollusk.

I don't know what she sees in me. Or what a lot of people that end up charmed see in me. I mean I'm awesome, but I am also quite reserved and boring.

I am her mollusk.

One of the things that we did was to go get me hole punched in the face. It was a spur of the moment decision, sort of. It had been on my mind, but not anything I absolutely was sure of. Though because I'd be away from work for a little over a week I thought it'd be convenient for the healing process. So... onward! To Studio City!

This shop was really cute. I think the only other time I've been here was when Rot and I had stopped in looking for jewelry, years ago. The people there were really nice. 

I was dead set on what to get pierced. 

My job doesn't allow any (visible) piercings, aside from ones ears.

Their logic is that it's a health violation, because it could fall out and contaminate whatever.

That makes no sense to me, because the amount of times and velocity that we turn our heads, shaking already danging jewelry off our ears, it would seem way more likely to lose ear piercing jewelry than a stationary barbell implanted beneath layers of skin, adjusted and secured to specifically NOT come out, or risk exposing an open wound subject to infection and pathogen contaminations. 

If anything, taking a raw or not-completely-healed piercing out is way more dangerous and hazardous than a piece of steel ending up somewhere foreign.

so like... wtf.

Anywho...

I decided to have my septum done.

My biggest fear going in was placement. When I apprenticed as a piercing back in PA, I also learned about blind piercings. Septums are one of them. You're going by feel, and that's pretty much about it. You can't see the tissue, you can't see where the needle enters, or where it will exit, and you just have to go with your best geometry skills. Forceps (clamps) can help. There are some designed specifically for this piercing, however... you're still going on geometry.

The clamps were the worst part.

 

Veronnica, my piercer, was a sweet heart. She had a few clients before I was up. Immediately I liked her. Sometimes it's good to remember that if you find yourself questioning anything about the piercer, ask yourself why, get that situated, and if you still feel weird, just split. I take that stuff pretty seriously. Probably because I was trained to examine everything they do, but also because... what they do is kind of a big deal. If you're at a swap meet and see a kiosk that offers 10 dollar piercings, and you went there... never tell me that ever unless it's a joke.                           

Telling you right now. Don't do it.

So.

Guess what.

gross.

It wasn't as painful as I anticipated, and I thought it an adorable addition to my face bling, however...

It was crooked!!!! I noticed it sitting off perfect axis immediately, but in denial told myself it was the swelling. I got home, examine it more, and came to the conclusion that it was indeed crooked. It bugged the shit out of me. And I was really, really bummed. 

Aside from cosmetics, my facial piercings make me feel more attractive. So it's kinda like a house wife getting off the slab and seeing her boob job is ugly. 

This was exactly what I was afraid of. And it was doubly worse because going in I knew... I KNEW... it was a higher possibility. I even expressed this as she was prepping everything. Lo and behold. 

I called the studio and told them what was up. Veronnica said to come back so she could check it out, and she looked up my nose and it was funny, and gave me a few options. 

1. Massage the jewelry daily into place during the healing process so the channel heals at a different angle.
2. Let the swelling go down, see how it looks after two weeks- go from there.
3. Take it out now, let it heal and re-pierce it.

It was difficult to choose. My ego told me to keep the jewelry in, and tug on it while it healed, hoping it would heal at the angle I wanted. It was off by like... a milometer.  How frustrating!!! We left on that note.

Once I got home, I became even more bummed, and Lauren gave me some advice, mostly rooting to just take it out and get it re-pierced. Rot got home, and I showed him. He was less forgiving about the whole thing, which I understand. I wasn't angry, but I was incredibly let down. It made me feel better that he had the same experience though, which doesn't surprise me. Shortly after our exchange of ugghs, I went into the bathroom and removed the staple. Thankfully I still have the crazy strong stuff my boss sold at my old shop, and used that to clean myself off with. It sucked. Lauren could tell I was pretty upset. She's good at consoling. Even though I hate that stuff.

:3 thanks.

The next day at work I felt so sad, lol. I felt like I had lost something I treasured dearly. lol I was quiet, and sulky, and unmotivated to do anything. What a baby I was. But.. It's been over a week, and I haven't had any problems with it. The only downside is that the anti-microbial formula I was using the clean with leaves my skin very dry. Dry like... sunburn peeling dry. During my time here in PA I have had to keep my eye on the skin around my nostrils because it was peeling like crazy. That stuff is no joke. We used it to sanitize and prep everything! But it did it's job, and my septum is back to normal. As if it never happened.
I am excited to return and go at it again. Hopefully we can get much closer to an exact 90 degree angle. And I will do my best to hold my head just as straight. The only downside is... moving the jewelry up and down while in and out of work. It's lucky that I know what to expect, I guess.

Thank you Veronnica! I don't blame you, and I understand how it goes. You are a great chick, and have become my official piercer. I will see you in a few days for round 2. And thank you for the little collector's gift :D


 Wednesday -- Day of Departure

Lauren's dear friend Michael Tatum had flown into town, and she was anxious for us to meet! As per usual, I was a mollusk. I was cranky because of the piercing, and then a few days later I had gotten yet another parking ticket at my work. So come Wednesday we all finally got together.
HE'S SO FUNNY :D

He's also another VA and was in town for work. We went to Denny's to chat, which is where I learned that he voiced Doumeki in Holic! You know that manga I'm always trying to find volumes of in Little Tokyo? xxxHolic? There's also an anime of it, currently also on Netflix, and he dubbed Doumeki. I fan girled. And Lauren made me feel like a tool when she asked me if I wanted him to sign the volumes I had with me. lol THANKS. But I said yes, and he kindly did so. But how cool is that??

Lauren is picky about pictures.

Compromise?

We were later joined by Geoff, Samantha, and Rachel.

It was good times.

Sillies. Idk wtf they're doing there but I captured it. 

Later on they dropped me off back home, where I gathered the last of my things for the airport, said my last final goodbyes to my precious beloved, my computer, and waited for their return. We made it to LAX on good time. It was so nice to meet Michael. He's hilarious, and I look forward to seeing him again at... whatever con we'll find each other at. haha

I'm writing from my Netbook currently. If only it had the power my PC puts out, I'd be more motivated to write about my trip here, but that must simply wait until I get home.

Oh.

I bought this super exciting thing. Rotny loves it.

It's a little baby frying pan for eggs! ^_^ I found it in Little Tokyo for tree dorrar. So cute!

Oh and this;

BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME

let me to explaining you:

I can't go to Blizzcon with bias in my heart. I can't. So. I have to do some research. Research being at least a month's playtime of Mists so I can resent it legitimately, and not bias--ly. Duh.

So. It's for a good cause. And it was cheap. And I'll feel better knowing that at least I tried it past beta stages, and gave it a chance, and THEN resented it. 

Rot and I talked last night and he was telling me about a video he saw on youtube of this guy who used LFG and LFR to level all the way to 90. He then asked in chat what he should do moving forward, and they suggested he continue doing that to advance more in end game. So he did.

He did a social experiment. I LOOOOOVE social experiments!! 

He joined a bunch of random raids in LFR and contributed absolutely nothing to the synergy of the group or game mechanics. Nothing. He'd go in and purposely do bad. Like auto-attack targets, stand in the fire, and just... do bad lol. He was playing his rogue, and he mentioned that even while he auto-attacked, he still did more DPS than other players. But in the end, he still managed to achieve reaching end game content and got gear. 

The point of all this is to show how much World of Warcraft has changed, to where one doesn't even need to try at the game anymore, because people have such a whatever attitude that they don't care who they're playing with. And if this guy, who purposely did bad, was able to reach end game content imagine all the other bads out there that we have to face every time we log in? Maybe not if you're in a respectable guild, but if you're on your own, you're screwed. And this is the demographic that this game caters to these days. 

but... I've yet to experience it first hand. My bias is getting the best of me. We'll see. 

K I'm done. Omg my back hurts ya'll. My back hurts. UGH