2003-09-14 - 11:56 a.m.

Oh yeah, I got my tattoo. It really didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, but then after a while it hurt more than I thought it would. I tried to concentrate on the pain--it's not very often that I have to endure much of it, and I wanted to remember what it felt like.

I learned that I don't really mind sharp pain. A shock. A blow to the stomach. Being cut.

What bothers me much more is annoying pain that won't go away. A sunburn, for instance.

The tattoo process started out as being nice, easy, dealable sharp pain, but quickly became pain of the annoying variety once she started rooting through the same areas for the third or fourth time, and my arm started feeling like hamburger.

But it's finished. I have to apply lotion a million times a day, and I'm not supposed to get it wet. My arm hurts like it would if I had been repeatedly and prolongedly punched there. Beer, as I thought it might, helps my arm feel much better. (The drinking of it, that is.)

But it looks so cool. I have a history of, at best, mixed success in all of my endeavours. It seems that every time I set out to do something, bizarre complications arise and I either don't finish the task or am met with reservations or a lack of pride in my eventual accomplishment.

Yesterday, I utilized the services of a professional, and am extremely pleased with the results.