Whee!!!!! Today was a fine day to get inked! It started off extremely sleep deprived, but ended in awesomeness!

Over slept so I had to skip out on my bone crackage appointment (again). Drove down to Fresno, Picked up Sosei, and drove to the Convention Center. Got there early like I had planned, was the 45th person in line. YAY! When they finally let us into the center, I immediately started roaming around, trying to find an artist. I was hoping the guy from Ink Zone (the one who did my first tat) would be there, but wasn't. I interviewed artists and quoted prices. One guy was looking at a $300-$400 range (me thinking: "HELL NO!"), another said $120...but I quickly realized he'd tacked on 'PER HOUR' at the end of that. I finally found an artist who was within my price range and was willing to compromise. I said my prefered limit would be $150-$180, but for what I wanted, he'd request at least $250. I went along with it. I showed him the pic of what I was aiming for, and he said he'd tweak it a bit. After our deal, Sosei and I left for food.

The restaurants around the convention center are getting wise. If there's an event going on, BE OPEN!!! We ate at Sushi Hana and I had my usual avocado maki and kappamaki (Sosei had normal sushi). Delicious!!!!!!! The avacado maki especially! Tastiness!!! After 45 minutes, we went back to the C-Center and my artist, Little Chris, was all set. Started off with laying down the tracings.



Next came outlining. I did fine at first...but I kinda fainted after six stars on my left side. It wasn't like I fainted from the pain. Getting Tattoos doesn't hurt to me. Hell, I'm pretty much the world's biggest sissy when it comes to pain! To put it into prospective: I would rather get tattoos every month instead of my...yea. In my opinions, tats hurt wayyyyyy less than that. So, I fainted and had to sit to the side for a bit. I've never fainted that badly in public before. My hearing went pretty much bye-bye, as did my vision. It was like seeing through extremely dim and blotchy sunglasses. It was strange not being able to hear all the tattoo guns all around me buzzing. The crew of Legacy Tattoo knew what to do and took care of me. They said the fainting spell was completely normal: I had a lot of endorphines flowing around in my blood and it was too much for my body to handle. Once I recovered from fainting, we finished the stars off...well. Most. All but four on either side. It was weird...I hardly felt the needle after recovering. Actually, I had a bit of trouble trying to laugh! The closer he inked toward my shoulder, the more ticklish it became. Its supposed to hurt more when you get close to the bone, NOT tickle! *shrugs*



By the time we were done, I hardly felt the needle. I didn't really need to kill Sosei's hand anymore. I traded filling in the stars time for more outlining, hence the stars are just blank inside. It also gave me a reason to go back next year. If I want the stars filled in, it would be a super easy task.



So LiL Chris (my artist) wrapped and taped me up when we were done. You have to protect new tattoos for a few hours. Basically a tattoo is an open would and subject to all kinds of airborne bacteria.  I went walking around like that and as I watched Sosei get his helix piercing, people kept coming up and making comments about my new tat. I dold them where to go find the artist and one woman rushed off to Legacy's booth. I'd like to think she requested an appointment.
Sosei and I went for StarSchmucks afterwards and we waited a little while until my parents came to the rescue. I had Sosei call them while I was still woozy. I wasn't sure how I'd be with driving and what-not. Turns out I overreacted a bit. I think I would have been fine, just extremely sore.

So now I'm just chilling out at home. I've already washed and applied ointment to my tat. It no longer stings. A lady from Fresno Famous said she was putting pics people's tats together and took a pic of mine. O_o Neat!

Think I'll go to bed super early tonight. Dunno if I'm working tomorrow or not. Bottom line is, I want/need some sleep. Sleepy....

People of faith usualy question me in regards to what I believe religiously. They tend to not like my answer and then hound me relentlessly for it. This little rant is borne from being harassed for deciding to NOT go to church tomorrow.

Yes, I realize tomorrow is Easter Sunday. A CHRISTAN holiday. Okay. Good. Happy for those who find this day meaningful. Me? To me its just another day. Sure, that reaction will piss some people off and that's fine.

Earlier in the week my neighbor started nagging me about going to church for Easter. I politely declined and held my tongue to hold off a would have been potentially messy verbal arguement (and neither of us would have ever enjoyed each other's company ever again). Tonight, I got grief from my parents. *chews on tongue* My mom's all like, "You should go to Wolfe Lakes." That's a sneaky way of suggesting going to church. Wolfe Lakes is where this one...er...church group meets....eh..

My declaration: I, me, person who is typing this is NOT the church going type. I have not been for many a year!!! I do NOT appreciate having religious values thrown/pushed at me and then harassed as I resist against it!!!

My religious background: I was born and raised as a strict Irish Catholic. I know what Christianity is alllllll about. To this day I still have allll the Catholic prayers memorized and can recite upon request. Really, I can't get them out of my mind!!

I am really sick of the people who stand on street corners or in the island at the start of intersections in roads, holding up homemade cardboard signs, SHOUTING on the top of their lungs, "JESUS IS LORD!!!"  Really? You don't say? And what is that you ask? Have I found Jesus? --- No, I haven't. I didn't realize he was missing!

Why am I angry at Christianity?? Basically my eyes opened when I was in jr. high, when I was first introduced to Wicca. Now I look back on that time and question my maturity (I went walking around I like was some bad ass from the movie The Craft). I liked the principles of Wicca, the lack of HARASSMENT, etc... I still like those principles. When I moved to no-man's-land and started at that oh so alien mountain HS, I was harassed so badly by that so called. "SAINTLY" BELIEVERS CLUB to the point that I am, to this day, STILL afraid to wear a penticle in public!!
We used to have a church youth group come up for a week a couple years ago. They'd rent one of the sites and had a ball surrounded by nature. I was invited to sit with them over a campfire and sing, whatever, with them. I sat with them, but did not sing. The group went on about how it was their duty as GOOD CHRISTAINS to tell people about Jesus and how the people who did not believe in him, should, to save their souls from eternal damnation. And the lecture went on and on... I kid you not. That group had to be the most cruel and prejudice....I got up and walked away, crying, biting my lip to the point it literally bled. I to this day can not see how a group like that, who claim to be good people, can be so horribly mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To put it simply: they were bullies wearing angelic masks.

I realize not all Christans are sadistically evil religion nazis. Its the crazy ones that do the most social damage.

What I think about some of the beliefs.
-If you have to harass someone using horrible words/sentences like, "You don't believe in this, or that, or the other thing, but basically you're going to burn in hell while the rest of us roam free and happy in Heaven...............Then you are an extremely insecure person and are terrified to think for yourself.

Isn't that the supposed gift 'god' gave us? Free will.

How about this: I'll go back to being a full Believer if/when the ENTIRE planet goes vegetarian and the evil crazy religious nazis pull that enormous stick out of their asses and start begging for forgiveness for acting like jerks.
Maybe the attempts to 'save my soul' are all done with good intentions, but really, is it possible to look outside of the box? Flip the situation around and see it from someone else's point of view! What if someone from another heavy religion came up to you and constantly shoved their beliefs down your throat. Wouldn't you feel like shit, irritated, and angry????

Some people go to church. Other people do not. Some people are seriously religious. Other people are not.

Do I believe in God? Maybe. I have my own ideas about it (I refuse to believe god is strictly male). Were we created by some supernatural being or were we created somehow by some mysterious galactic event? Do we go to paradise after we die or does our souls get recycled? What is our purpose here? Why are we here? Again, I have my own ideas on all that.

*sighs* I'm exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. If I were ever forced to go to church, I'd have to dig out all my great gothic clothes from my M. Manson worshiping days and carry around PETA like signs like, "MEAT IS MURDER! Y'ALL BROKE THE RULES OF THOU SHALL NOT KILL!!! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HELL!!!'

The background story:

So back in December I came across this store in the Sierra Vista mall called, Heavens. It was the day after Christmas and I had gone there with my parents to return some clothes that didn't fit. My parents went to Anchor Blue and I lagged behind to press my face into the windows at Heavens. The store hadn't opened yet and I left many facial boogers (the oils your face leaves behind when you press it against glass) and drool as I gazed at all the wonders at the store.

While I waited for the store to open, I had gone over to Borders to kill time. By the time I returned, they were open and a girl working there said she noticed me gazing through the windows and knew I'd be back. *laughs hysterically*

The store specializes in all things astronomy and glow in the dark!!!!!! Suns, moons, stars, planets, etc... are absolutely everywhere!!! There's a gigantic model of Saturn above the cash register and I was absolutely mesmorized by it!

A week after the first exposure (and longing to buy everything in the store), I returned with some friends and inquired if they were hiring or not. They weren't, but said it was fine if I left my information if I wanted to know of any future hirings. Obviously I did want to know.

Yesterday I got a call!! Of course my parents were smart and didn't tell me about it until AFTER I was done with my math class (would have totally ditched class to submit my resume). I submitted it today and made sure to wear my celestial themed accessories. I wore my favorite t-shirt: Its black, has all sorts of celestial bodies on it (all 8 planets--Pluto not included, our moon, several popularly known nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters, and there's a close up of Earth with writing underneath it plus an arrow saying, "You Are Here."), my star earrings, and I would have worn my All Stars sneakers (has star patterns on it), but I still haven't completely broken them in, so they hurt my feet.

So, I gave him my resume and we chatted for a bit. I really wouldn't care if I made basic minimum wage. The fact I'd be working where I'd be surrounded by things I adore, is soooooo tottally worth it! *faints with happiness* I have a feeling that several of my pay checks will be going right back to the store. The ceiling in my house is too bare. Need more glow-in-the-dark stars! *enter evil laughter* Mwahahahahahaha!!!!

As I was leaving the store, I glanced over at a display and gasped! There hanging from a rack was a geode chime just like the one I accidentally dropped a few years ago. Years ago I bough a chime at the fair; it was strung on fishing line, and had cut outs of stars and moons of various types of onyx. While I was packing to move, I was taking it off its hook and it slipped from my fingers, and crashed. I lost a moon and I think two stars. Broke my heart. I was excited to find this replacement. Sure it isn't colorful like my last one (had pink, green, etc.. colored onyx), but the onyx on my new one is brown-black and still very pretty. I know where I want to put it, but am having a hard time getting a hook screw through the ceiling. *pouts*

So here's hoping I get this job. I will be one of the happiest employees the world has ever seen! *___*  YAY! I stressed my obsession with astronomy on my resume, but I have a feeling the owner already knows I'm a total astro-nerd. *snorts*