I did it my way!

At A Glance Author Marc Contact Master1936@AOL.com Artist Yours truly... Studio My home.... Location Yarmouth, ME

I did it my way...

In the summer of 1981, I was working as buffet chef for a disco club in my home town in Maine. For the first time in my life,I was introduced to piercings. At first I thought, "why would anyone want to do that to themself"? The thought of sticking a needle into my body was a "total turn off" to me, but the thought of having a steel ring hanging from my foreskin overhang did stir up some feelings that I couldn't really describe at the time. I tried talking about my feelings with other guys at the club where I worked, but was too "up tight" about it I guess. In any event, nothing ever came of it, and I finally stopped trying, but just couldn't seem to forget the whole idea. I still wanted to have a "ring" hanging from my foreskin but really didn't want to have another person perform the piercing.

I was doing some leather sewing at the time and felt I could do it myself using a sewing machine needle designed for leather, if I could just get up the courage. I looked up piercings in a magazine at the local "book store" and learned that it could be done using an ice cube! Wow! I was full "piss and vinegar" to think that I could actually do it myself! "Hot damn", I thought,"I just might be able to have my piercing after all". I continued to work at the club and allowed myself to think about actually piercing my own foreskin. It was at once, firghtening and excieting and I did a lot of "thinking". "What would I do if I did actually stick myself and I started to bleed"? Could I deal with that? I told myself that I could if I had to, but it was not likely to happen. Then I wondered, what would I do if I did pierce myself and then the piercing became infected? Could I go to a local Dr. and tell him what I had done? Not really a possibility! I mean really...this is a small, New England town and I've lived here for most of my life and I can imagine the the local gossips having a "field day" over that. I had pretty much given up the idea when I met my friend Bob. He's a little younger than I and, shall we say a "bit on the modern side"? We talked about piercings and tatoos and I began to relax a bit. I started to see that it is really up to the individual and that nobody has the right to "put you down" for your feelings. Bob and I became good friends over time and I began to think that maybe I should allow myself to do as I wanted, (many years of "no, no, don't do that, it's not proper") had made me very shy and I really had begun to think that I was not in control of my life.

One night, thanks to my friend Bob, after working a long shift at the "club", I made up my mind. "Damn it, I'm going to do this deed." I put a leather needle into a small, stainless steel sauce pan with half a cup of vegetable oil and brought it to a boil on the kitchen stove. After a few minutes, I took the pan off the heat and allowed it to cool a little. Once the needle had cooled I picked it out with tweezers and dropped it into a shot glass filled with 100 proof Vodka. I figured by that time there couldn't be anything alive left on the thing.

I then made a mark on my foreskin with a ball point pen (not very antiseptic, I realized later) where I wanted the hole to be. Using an ice cube, I chilled the area to pierced,took a shot of Scotch Whiskey , "Vat 69" while the ice cube did it's job and then proceeded.

The hole was to be made in the underside of my foreskin overhang so I placed a small cork stopper under the dot of ink, stretched the skin over the cork enough to line up with the dot and BINGO! (OUTCH) The sharp,three sided leather needle slipped right through the skin and into the cork in a flash.

I was surprised at the lack of pain and pleased at the lack of blood. I left the needle in place for a few minutes and swabbed the entire area with rubbing alcohol. This did smart a bit but it felt good to know that no bacteria were going survive to get into the piercing.

After about 25 minutes or so, I eased the needle out and followed it with a 14 ga. circular bar bell. Still no bleeding and very little discomfort. I packed my entire foreskin overhang in cotton balls saturated in 100 proof Vodka taped in place and went to bed. Next morning, I had a sore area where the ring was but no swelling or redness. I repacked after taking a shower and went to work.

That evening I told one of the guys that I knew at the Club, what I had done and he laughed. (he didn't believe me) I assured him that I wasn't lying and told him that I would show him the results as soon as everything had healed.

About a week later, the piercing had healed and was,and still is, very comfortable. I now have an 8 ga.,1 3/4 dia. circular bar bell in the piercing and am very happy with it. Some day I hope to "graduate" to a 4 ga. 1 3/4 dia. circular bar bell. When I manage that, I will be a "happily pierced man".

Marc