This was my first piercing, aside from getting my ears done with a gun in the mall when I was 12, and I was nervous as hell. I've always been fascinated with the culture and experience of body modification, and I'd wanted to poke a hole in something for quite a while. I do have other body mods; I got my first tattoo a few months after I turned 18. My parents completely freaked out when they found out about it, and threatened not to pay for college. When they finally relented, it was with the provision that any further body mod would be more than enough reason for them to pull me out of school. So, with the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head, I embarked on my first piercing journey.
At A Glance Author selfdeprecaition Contact selfdeprecaition@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Mikel Studio Andromeda Location St. Marks Place, NY, New York Actually, I wasn't really planning on getting anything done this year at all. I sort of made the decision to do it based on a lot of outside factors, something I'm not usually a proponent of when it comes to body mod. I've always felt the decision to permanently change your appearance should come completely from you. Luckily, I'm extremely happy with my piercing, so on with the story.
My girlfriend broke up with me a few weeks ago, but we've remained close friends. Her new boyfriend was visiting last week, and the two of them were planning on going to a ply in the Village. Neither of them can navigate the subway system to save their lives, however; so I volunteered to escort them in, planning on bumming around St. Mark's and Christopher St. for a few hours before taking the train back to school. I'd been feeling a little depressed (seeing your ex with the new significant other will do that to you), and when I feel depressed I tend to make drastic changes to my appearance. I had just shaved my head a few days before I got pierced, but that wasn't really fulfilling my need for change.
I wander up and down St. Mark's for a little while, and kept passing Andromeda. I'd taken my ex there to get her lip pierce a month or two earlier, and we'd had a very pleasant experience. After the third time I passed the shop, I figured what the hell? I climbed the stairs and went in.
My previous impression of Andromeda had been of a clean, well run, friendly shop, and this experience only confirmed my initial assessment. Mikel, a tall guy with dreds and heavy facial piercings and tattoos, asked what I wanted, checked my ID, and quickly ran through the "yes, we have an autoclave, here's what you do when you get home," bit with me, and took me into the backroom to pierce me.
I felt like I was going to wet my pants as I sat down in the chair. I don't mind the pain associated with body mod, but I do have a morbid fear of needles. The last time I had to have blood drawn at the doctor's office, it took three nurses and my mom to hold me down. The fact that I was able to sit still through both my tattoo and this piercing are matters of great pride to me. Mikel was really professional to work with, though, and that helped a lot. He was brusque, but very kind, especially when he found out it was my first piercing. He narrated all the steps for me, procedures which I remember from countless excursions to other piercing studios with friend while we were in high school. The actual piercing was relatively painless, almost nothing when compared to the tattoo. The insertion of the jewelry, an 18 gauge captive bead ring, pinched a little but was really nothing. Soon I was out on the street with a fun new facial piercing and a bottle of bactine in my purse, and feeling much better about life in general.
It's been about a week and a half since I got pierced, and the little bugger is a bit infected, but that's only because I keep playing with him. Despite my aversion to spur of the moment body mod, I'm really happy with the little guy. Most of my close friends took a day or two to notice I'd even gotten anything pierced, they claim I was born with it and it had just yet to manifest itself. That'll teach me to be friends with the vegan-Buddhist-neo-hippies that abound at my campus. Anyway, if you're like me, and changing the way you present yourself to the world helps you deal with any and all issues that may arise in life, go out and get a piercing. And if you live in or a round NYC, check out Andromeda, if just to see Mikel's awesome tribal face work. I'm really glad I got this done; closer through body mod is a wonderful thing.