One Day This Will End Up In a Book

Well, I finally did it, and looking back on it a comment Bethany once made about doing strange/ random things and them ending up in books popped into my head. I did it for me and for my grandmother, but I can already tell that somewhere down the road one of my characters is going to walk into a tattoo parlor, take a look a at the woman at the counter with her half dozen visible tattoos, and wonder if they're doing one of those stupid college things they'll regret later.

Because that's exactly how my visit started. Then when she asked why I was there I managed to stammer out that I had an appointment to at 11:00 at which point she said "the tribal hummingbird? Everyone's been talking about that one."

The fact that everyone had been talking about it should have registered, but all I could think was "tribal hummingbird" but I'm not Alaska Native! Is it alright to get a tribal tattoo if you aren't native? No body there seems to mind, so I nod and try a smile even though I'm barely registering the conversation that I'm taking part in by that time.

I can't even manage to explain that my down payment was already made by a friend as a graduation present. All that comes out is "he already has the money." At which point she just stares at me until a skinny guy with a giant beard and tattoos all the was down to his knuckles comes out, hands me the down payment my friend had given him, and tells me he needs a smoke before we get started.

Okay... so I sit down and alternate between reading and checking out the display of colored "Gothic" contacts.

When it was finally time to get started it was a lot different that I thought it would be. Everything was really clean and the guy was really nice. When he saw me looking at all of the equipment he took the time to explain what everything was and how the whole process would work and he also gave me a heads up to breathe normally and not to hold my breath while he was working on my back, which came in handy later. He even did a test line so I'd know how it would feel and could have one last window to change my mind.

The only strange thing in the whole experience, apparently, was me. Although, in my defense how was I supposed to know that reading a book while getting a tattoo was out of the ordinary? It's not like there was a sign! But apparently reading 40 pages of a book while getting a tattoo is "bad ass." At least that's what the tattooed woman at the counter paused to say when she heard me laughing and came to see what was going on: Shane and Rhett had almost been blown up and then Rhett was howling because Shane wouldn't roll down the truck window for him.

Note to self: I'm bad ass. I'll have to remember that the next time I face off with a stuck up 5th grader. Then again considering what it took for someone to call me bad ass it's a fact that'll be hard to forget, and if I ever do all I have to do is look in the mirror.


-Aaron