The down side of the upcoming liver donation test appointments - one of them falls on the same day as my 2nd sitting for my tattoo =P
Oh the things I sacrifice! lol but serously, there's work to be done on my basement, so I was gonna have to cancel anyway. Damned responsibilities of homeownership!

Welllll, finally the hospital gets their ass in gear! I got a call back regarding the MRI I had on Decemeber 27th, and despite my best efforts to binge drink, I have enough liver to be a donor for my Uncle! Yay! I have appointments on Feb 9th and 15th for more testing and meeting with various doctors including a shrink (lord knows what he'll find huh? muahahahhaha). All this before we even schedule the surgery - so it's looking like I may potentially get sliced open for my 31st birthday present this year lol whee - no heavy drinking this go round! Ah well, the reward will be extending and enhancing my Uncle's life ;)
I'm so happy to get this good news today!

I think I'm gonna try a yoga class next week. So if you don't hear from me past next Tuesday, I broke my neck.

I'm off to dig my car out of the snow, drive to DC, play D&D, and cook some bbq out on the grill. Yeah, my friends are nuts. *shiver*

Well, that whole Mary Kay thing wasn't bad - it was kinda hokey hehheh but hey, they gave me cookies and soda - yay! And my face feels all soft and I did buy this stuff called Satin Lips - it's like an exfoliator for your pucker and it makes your lips all soft and kissable. =}

There's this woman that works at the florist my B&B uses every week. Her name is Lisa. Lisa is from the UK and has bright red, short cropped, occaisionally spikey or sometimes smoothed down hair. Her husband is in a punk band and has lots of tattoos. The other day I heard 10 words I never thought I'd hear come from Lisa.... "Do you want to come to a Mary Kay party?" Isn't that for old ladies? I remember vaguely my Mom did that in the early 80s. Her bedroom closet stocked floor to ceiling with pink boxes. Would she win the coveted pink Cadillac? I could only wait in horror. Anyway, after a moments pause, I thought, "What the hell." I could get some stuff to wash my face or moisturize - I only wear makeup on the rare occaision. It'll be an excuse to get outta the house and maybe make some new friends. *shrug* Or maybe I am just turning into an old lady =P 

Passed on to me by [Alfirin Lindlea]...the proud mommy of a gorgeous whippet/greyhound pup named Jude ^^

This is so freaking cool... you have to do this...
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/supercoolpicillusion.html

Last night began my backpiece tattoo - it was a walk in the park. Four hours under the needles and we had the cherry blossoms framing the top, and some branches and top of the tree trunk which obscures the old dragon tattoo I had on my shoulder. The leaves are colored green, but that is all the color we got to so far. I was pretty tired when I got home, though my back was only mildly irritating - like a case of sunburn. This morning was a little more painful, a little tighter, so I know I've got to hop in that shower and then moisturize soon - they recommended Curel Fragrance Free lotion. 
Hey, I need someone to help me reach my back! ^^

Aw shit. My buddy Jason just called me at 4pm informing me that Infected Mushroom is playing in WAshington DC tonight. I better get in the shower. Looks like it's gonna be a rough day at work tomorrow.
PARTY ON, PEOPLE.

BAH, screw that - Im a trooper but I can't handle this. Jason just called back and said IM would probably not even hit the stage until 1AM! I gotta be at work by 7 =( Stupid responsibility. Aw well, we may still go out for some mayhem tonight. 

http://www.nootrope.net/koi/tattooing_in_japan.html

ORIENTAL IREZUMI AND OCCIDENTAL TATTOOING
IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
by Helena Burton, Oxford University
helenaburton@hotmail.com
© Helena Burton 2003
reprinted on www.nootrope.net with kind permission

http://www.irezumi.us/eg/index.html

Oukoshisei - Japanese Tattoo (irezumi) site

Appointment made to start my backpiece tattoo... Monday, January 17th at noon. Let the pain begin ^^


Kanji Design for my backpiece tattoo
"Nintai" in black (patience)
In red, on the right, "bijutsu" (art)
top left, "inochi" life
bottom left, "ai" love
to be surrounded by cherry blossom branches and flowers, and petals fluttering about in grey and black swirling wind patterns

File this under To Good To Be True? *Disney Eyes*

http://www.skype.com/products/explained.html

Regarding my ninja drawing: my friend, Jason, told me that the person entering the room where the ninja is hiding, looks very androgynous (sp?), meaning he couldn't really discern if it was a male or female. Then we started joking about maybe how he was an actor in kabuki. But, anyway, I was really just trying to make her homely because the world is not populated with perfectly conforming, attractively uniform looking people. Right?
Also, well, it did start out as a guy, but I couldn't get a good hairdo on him, and HE looked very feminine to me, and I suddenly preferred a homely woman over a girly boy.

My most favoritest song in all creation...

Echoes (Waters, Wright, Mason, Gilmour) 23:27

Overhead the albatross
Hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
An echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine.

And no one called us to the land
And no one knows the where's or why's.
Something stirs and something tries
Starts to climb toward the light.

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me.
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand
The best I can.

And no one called us to the land
And no one crosses there alive.
No one speaks and no one tries
No one flies around the sun....

Almost everyday you fall
Upon my waking eyes,
Inviting and inciting me
To rise.
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning.

And no one sings me lullabyes
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky....


*lyrics courtesy of
www.PINK-FLOYD-LYRICS.COM
Your Source for Pink Floyd Lyrics, Songs, and Albums

Just ordered a commission for my backpiece tattoo.
*giddy*
http://www.shodokai.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=47&products_id=133&PHPSESSID=8393b513fd56a48c294a1173f2a7ff3c

I bought Muse - Absolution yesterday and think it's a fantastic album. Kind of a mixture of Radiohead, and Queen. Bloody lovely. A bit overly dramatic at some points, and one might say a tad redundant from song to song but I really like the style so redundancy is okay in my opinion. 

Rock the hell on - new computer being ordered today. Thank you, Daddy! Merry Christmas to me ^^

My horrorscope - sounds promising =)

In 1874, a fire broke out in an underground coalfield in western China. It burned nonstop until 2004, when firefighters finally squelched it. In the intervening 130 years, 200 millions tons of fuel went to waste, spewing out copious amounts of polluting gases. I nominate the denouement of this long running drama to serve as your personal metaphor for early 2005. In January and February, you will finally douse a smoldering inner fire that has been a poor use of your ambition. This will set the stage for a fresh start. No later than your birthday, you will ignite a new blaze that's both more efficient and more worthy of you.

Watch out, world. My phoenix is rising.

I suffered through "Van Helsing" the other night. It was begging to be MST3K'd. Then I watched "Plan 9 From Outer Space" - in comparison, a cinematic tour de force. 

I love this... from "Diary: A Novel" by Chuck (Bloody Brilliant) Palahniuk

p.62
  Peter gave her the blank canvas and said, "Paint something."
  And Misty said, "Nobody paint paints. Not anymore."
  If anybody she knew still painted at all, they used their own blood or semen. And they painted on live dogs from the animal shelter, or on molded gelatin desserts, but never on canvas.
  And Peter said, "I bet you still paint on canvas."
  "Why?" Misty said. "Because I'm retarded? Because I don't know any better?"
  And Peter said, "Just fucking paint."
  They are supposed to be above representational art. Making pretty pictures. They were supposed to learn visual sarcasm. Misty said they were paying too much tuition not to practice the techniques of effective irony. She said a pretty picture didn't teach the world anything.
  And Peter said, "We're not old enough to buy beer, what are we supposed to teach the world?" There on his back in their nest of weeds, one arm behind his head, Peter said, "All the effort in the world won't matter if you're not inspired."

then on p.64...
 
  "Plato," Peter says, and he turns his head to spit green slobber into the weeds. "Plato said: 'He who approaches the temple of the Muses without inspiration in the belief that craftsmanship alone suffices will remain a bungler and his presumptuous poetry will be obscured by the songs of the maniacs.'"