I have, for the second year in a row, signed up to participate in the AIDS Walk this year! I know these are hard times, so if you can't help, UNDERSTOOD. :-) However, if you CAN donate, even as little as $25 (the mininum), please, please, please do! Last year I was able to raise $1600, this year, my goal is $2000. Help me achieve this!
Also, I'm walking with team Marvel, of course. Help us beat DC! haha
Seriously, though, anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated. OR sign up yourself! :)
I had a party the other night, during which I decided to have my friend Tara pierce my ear! I'd blame it on the car bombs, but no, this was premeditated, I'd asked her before she came. This wasn't one of those home piercings with like a safety pin and ice. I actually had a professional piercing kit with sterilised needle and Tara was once a professional body piercer. In fact, she did all but two of mine (OK, four, I wasn't counting my first pair or earrings I got when I was 7.)
Doing this at all, let alone with a house full of people, made me feel like a teenager again. Ha! I haven't gotten pierced in YEARS. I think my last one was my nose and I was probably 23... but most were done between the years of 18 & 20.
I took it like a trooper, according to Tara, the best I've handled it ever. Though, I remember the lower earlobes being the easiest to deal with, what with there being no cartilage. But as I've mentioned in my tattoo posts, I do tend to get sick. The worst one being my tongue ring, second piercing she'd given me after my belly. I instantly threw up in her hands (bless her) and passed out in her arms for a second before she was able to get me to the couch. haha What a wuss... But it didn't stop me from getting tons more. Anyway, here's some pics.
Notice the look of anguish. Seriously, though, do you see the industrial piercing I've got across the top of my ear. I did THAT, and yet I'm making this face over a regular piercing in the lobe. LAME. ;-)
Man, Tara's hair is such a nice bright red... jealous... ;-) (She's actually got like three layers, red on top, blonde under that, then like black under THAT. Awesome.)
I still want ONE MORE earring. Another one on the top of my right ear (I've got two there). But cripes, that one's gonna hurt. Cartilage. Ugh. And if cleaning this one is any indication, that one's gonna hurt like balls. (Balls hurt?) First I'm going to let this heal up, then I'm going to get my hair done, THEN I'm going to ask Tara for one more. (My earrings get caught in hairdressers' combs all the time, I do NOT need a fresh one getting pulled...or getting dye in it. Ew.)
Ok, that's all.
The End.
PS I notice the bottom of one of my kitchen pictures peeking out in these pics. One day I'll have to show you guys the collection of autographed photos I have hanging up in there... mostly bought on eBay, but two I acquired genuinely. :-)
Hey! It's been awhile, huh? Well, that's because I've been away. As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to North Carolina to do a signing for the AWESOME comic shop in Greensboro called Acme Comics! And I had a GREAT time! Those guys over at Acme are THE BEST! They showed me around, fed me well and were just fun to hang with! They even drove me over to Carrboro on Sunday so I could spend the next few days with a good friend of mine who recently moved there to get her Ph.D. (smarty-pants)! Here's some highlights of my trip!
Stephen & Jermaine picked us (Jim McCann & Chris Giarrusso included) up at the airport and our first stop was KRISPY KREME! Woot! Love those donuts...and as you can see, I also like souvenir hats and trucks...
That night they took us to a restaurant called "Phoenix" and it was delicious. Here's the sushi roll I had that was awesome...and the "dessert" I made from Chris' duck sauce, broken up fortune cookies and some other stuff that came with the lettuce wraps! haha I was just playing with my food, but it would've been awesome if I could've tricked Chris into eating it...
Saturday was the big signing day at the store, I sat with Jim on one side and Chris was on the other with a much longer line. haha He was awesome drawing mini characters for everyone! These are the only pics I've got so far from the signing. Photographer Julie was kind enough to get me these quickly so I could show my mom. ;-)
A few highlights of the signing where a) the homemade cookies one customer brought us, b) the Cheerwine I got try (local soda) and c) Meeting Chris Daughtry!!!!!
Now I'll admit, I did not know who he was at first. I don't listen to the radio really and I've only ever watched the embarrassing try-out episodes of American Idol. But then I remember that my mom liked him and called her up. She requested the following picture. I will say, though, that he is one of the NICEST celebrities I've ever met. Super friendly and he LOVES comics...even if he's more of a DC guy... (his son asked for a Marvel sketch from Chris though, so hopefully that DC love ends with him...haha). And I have to admit, he's quite handsome! I will henceforth be buying all of his albums. :)
So after another fun night out Saturday night, Stephen & Jermaine drove me to Carrboro to visit my friend. It was a day of a big basketball match between bitter rivals University of North Carolina (The Tarheels!!) & Duke. Unfortunately we couldn't get it on stand-by tickets as it was quite a popular game, but we watched in a nearby bar and UNC won! Fantastic! There was a "riot" after in which a bonfire is created. Apparently when there's a bigger game (like a championship or something) and if it's at night, these riots tend to get much crazier with car-tipping and such. As it was, there was just the fire and chanting fans...
I got a few fancy drinks while there. The Tarheel chocolate martini was at the bar during the game. That pretty latte was made for me at Open Eye Cafe the next morning.
I found a couple of funny things around town. At Alana's school they have these water-saving toilets. I find the #1 and #2 flushing distinction quite hilarious. The other picture is of a local eatery where you can buy either a breakfast or a lunch plate. And that's it. Also, who knows how much the lunch plate is?!
This is my favourite pic of the trip. I love this statue. I'm building a collection of me with people statues. I'll have to post them soon...
In North Carolina, one must become a member (or be a guest of a member) of bars in order to drink at them. This, of course, made me want to be a member of all of them. I managed to get four. Two in Greensboro and two in Carrboro. The first one in Carrboro was the Orange County Social Club. Strangely, when we got there, they were giving haircuts at the front! (Apparently it's a promotion on the first Monday of each month...) The bartender there was quite nice and he likes hockey!
The other bar I am now a member of is Reservoir. I liked this place a lot. It had a cool USSR-style mural and the bathrooms had these cool girls on the stall doors! This is the only place that gave me a temporary card, and I'm hoping they let my friend pick up the real one for me...
Apparently, there's a band that plays there often called Fin Fang Foom!!! They're lucky Marvel's legal department hasn't found out...though they might, now!! :-P
I made a bunch of new friends (thanks to Alana having good taste in people) and I allowed them to share the frakkin' delicious red velvet cake Alana made for me. haha It's a good thing I did b/c this was how much was left by the time I had to go home! (How good does that look?!? Mmmm...I wish I took some home...)
And lastly, I have to mention the BEST friend I made on the trip...CLAUDE!!!!! Love you Claude, thanks for hangin' out with me!!! ;-) (Thanks for sharing him with me, Alana!)
There was more, of course, I went and bought a ton of stuff – including a UNC shirt and lots of rings for some reason – ate a lot, laughed a lot, saw some nature and learned about Ph.D.s. But the greatest thing I learned was all about Carrboro (this place is like a mini Portland (Oregon) with a bit of Williamsburg (Brooklyn) thrown in. A great place that has it's own rap about it, which is where the title of this post came from). Let me leave you with that, because I LOVE it:
Yesterday, I went to see an off-Broadway play called Becky Shaw at 2nd Stage Theater on 43rd St. I liked it. The End. Haha No, that's not all.
But yes, I did enjoy this play. It was basically like a family drama sort of thing, but with a lot of funny bits. Particularly the character of Susan, played by Kelly Bishop, more commonly known as the grandmother on Gilmore Girls! (Here's an interview Kelly did about this play.) She played a similar part in this, but even more mean. And she was fantastic. The rest of the cast — all four of them — were also very good. I liked the Max character a lot. I'd say check this out if you've got the time and money, it runs until the 15th.
A nice day out at the theater, I'd say (I had a lovely brunch beforehand at Film Center Cafe, as well). ;-) But the best part: I was able to meet Kelly! My friend works at the theater and was kind enough to ask her to meet me! We only briefly said hello, but she seemed very sweet and she let me take a picture!
