So I've had a few piercings in my day... first my left nipple, then my frenum. A few months later, an apadravya that wouldn't quit bleeding. After a hiatus, I returned for a hafada and PA. Starting with the apa, they were all done by Danielle at Artistic. Mad props to you, should you read this, Danielle. I've always wanted to know – can I call you Danny?
At A Glance Author Niles_f1 Contact Niles_f1@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Danielle DeBonis Studio Artistic Skin Desings Location Indianapolis, IN Anyway, I enjoyed them. For a long time, they made me feel sexy and dangerous, especially while in the sauna. But after the excitement of having a piece of metal through my wiener wore off, I was still left with the work.
Wash, stretch, spin... all the maintenance associated with body jewelry grated on me. I was exerting tons of effort to clean and protect affectations that no longer made me feel good and actually repulsed my fiancée. It follows then that in the heat of an argument one morning, I took them all out and allowed them to close (which is a pain with a PA – you pee out of 2 holes for a while).
I promised at that moment that if I ever got a piercing again, it would be functional and imminently useful, unencumbered by the temporary thrill of arousal or visual appeal. I was specifically thinking of bicyclists involved in car accidents that had their legs held together with pieces of metal or the mechanically-enhanced six-million dollar man. Unaware of any such reason to get a piercing, I went for about six months with no metal in me.
Then one day, I was taking a shit in the public restroom down the hall from my office. It was a big heavy rock shit, and when the turd hit the water, it splashed up all over my ass. Groaning, I had to take my watch off to prevent contaminating the band with toilet water, then I proceeded with the unpleasant wiping process. I forgot to put the watch back on the rest of the week.
I HATE being without a watch. I consider it a part of my look to have a timepiece always there, available. I even passively collect the utilitarian works of art. So that night, it hit me.
I hated having to take my watch off to take a dump, then either forgetting to put it back on or reattaching it while exiting the bathroom with everyone in the lobby thinking, "I guess we know what he was doing." I hated forgetting my watch at home and then being without it through the day at my very time-sensitive job.
I would get a watch pierced to my arm.
Due to our financial circumstances, I had to wait for my fiancée to leave town on vacation so I could do it without fear of immediate repercussions. The day she left, I was back at Artistic to see Danielle.
But she wasn't there. The other piercer dude said that what I wanted probably wouldn't work, and he highly advised against it. Disheartened, I gave up for the day.
Still, I couldn't get it out of my mind. Wanting to know if it was really as bad an idea as the guy made it out to be, I spent the entire evening perusing BME and other web sites, finding no record of anyone having tried it before. But scores of people had gotten wrist piercings and seemed reasonably happy with them, so I decided it was worth the risk.
The next day I was nervous, knowing what I had planned for the afternoon. I went about a couple hours of chores with a large EMLA bandage wrapped around my forearm. When I was satisfied with the numbness, I put the dog out once more and left for Artistic.
Danielle was there when I returned, which relieved me because I didn't want that other guy that was a total buzzkill. When I told her what I wanted, she exclaimed, "I love you! You always bring me such interesting work."
We decided to go with two 14ga staples, one on each side of my wrist parallel to the direction of my arm and 40mm apart. This would give me (after healing) several different options for attaching the watch's spring bar posts.
As always, the actual piercing was uneventful. But I was quite impressed by Danielle's consummate professionalism. Because I had something very specific in mind, she used a micrometer to map out the area on my wrist, redrawing it several times so that it was exactly suited to my wishes. When the skin was too thick to clamp, she free-handed both piercings, getting them dead-on perfect on the first try.
There was no pain with the actual piercing thanks to the EMLA, but I experienced a weird rippling sensation when she inserted the staple. I feel a bit guilty about the EMLA – she's always been impressed by my pain tolerance and always praises me as her "trooper." This time it was unearned, and I felt like a charlatan. Still, I wouldn't have done it any differently because I didn't know what to expect.
It's been three days since then and I love these piercings. People display a broad range of reactions from utter disgust to curiosity and admiration. I received the watch I intend to use in the mail this morning and it's slightly smaller than I expected, but it should still work. Even though I know I should wait for the piercings to heal, I'm hella excited and really want to finish it.
In part two, I'll provide an update on the piercings and the watch fixture. Look for pictures – I intend to get some up as soon as I get my camera working again.