http://www.writerq.com/mobile/queenie/ Latest updates from Stephanie Craig http://www.writerq.com/mobile/queenie/ http://www.writerq.com/mobile/queenie/ Sat, 06 Sep 2014 04:51:11 +0000 Stephanie Craig http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/667/my-tattoo/
Fast forward to this January (2001), my 20th birthday, when two of my friends were going to a local tattoo and piercing shop they liked a lot; one to get an existing tattoo touched up, another to get a new piercing. I told them that I'd come along, and maybe get a tattoo if I found the right picture. I frantically started searching on the internet again and found a wise but fierce looking dragon sitting down and decided to bring it as an example of the look of the dragon I would want. It would be my birthday present to myself.

The day came and I went to the shop, but much to my dismay the first guy I talked to at the tattoo place said the type of image I showed him would have to be far bigger than I wanted for it to look good. (I was initially thinking something that would be around 4 inches long by 3 inches high). He then pointed to a piece of flash the shop carried that was a dragon with its wings spread as if it just lifted off the ground looking very fierce. It was much bigger but I fell in love with it. As my one friend got her nose pierced I stood in front of the dragon trying to make up my mind - it was bigger than I expected, but from my searches I should have realized in order to get what I considered a cool dragon, it had to be bigger than I imagined.

I finally decided to get the dragon and have the artist color it red like the one I originally wanted (from the beginning I wanted a red dragon even when I first started thinking about it). It took a few tries to get the [transfer] on my back right but when he did it looked wonderful, even in purple and not inked. My friends (who were very nice about not pushing me into anything up until this point) said they thought it would look really wonderful. The tattoo artist (who I was happy to find out had 10 years of experience) sat me in this chair and began inking the outline.

I don't know about people who have really high tolerances, but let me tell you, it HURT. I could manage not to squirm or yell or cry, but it took most of my concentration at first not to flinch. The worst was the bottom which was right above my ass - not in the center but on some sensitive nerve endings, evidently. After the outline we talked about the color scheme and with the help of the artist decided against a gold belly and just to do the belly shadings in grey. Unfortunately for me, I was not one of those who found the shading much easier than the outline - it still hurt a lot, although now I was at least used to holding myself still.

The entire process took between 1.5 and 2 hours, and the finished dragon is about 4.5 inches high and 7 inches long (when I wear low pants the top inch or so shows). It's been a month and I'm still not quite used to it - it's a big change, and people who are used to a female tattoo being something tiny are often surprised by it - but he turned out even better than I expected. I don't think I'm going to get another tattoo anytime soon, since I don't have anything else significant to get put on my body - but overall this has been a great experience. Sometimes I still wonder if people will look at me strangely or judge me harshly by my tattoo, but I haven't had that happen at all: people either love it or are neutral about it.

I think the most important thing about my tattoo is that I put it in a place where I don't have to worry about stretching (my lower back) and I thought about it before getting it. Even though I picked it off the shop wall, I knew I what I wanted for a long time. I hope that I will continue to love it this much as time goes on.]]> http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/667/my-tattoo/ Thu, 04 Sep 2014 22:05:42 +0000 Stephanie Craig http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/276/mermaid/
I forget how this thing is suppose to begin. I mean, this is just a test story anyways.xxxxxxx]]> http://www.writerq.com/mobile/library/276/mermaid/ Sun, 30 Mar 2014 02:35:54 +0000 Stephanie Craig