March 13th

Misadventure must be my middle name because it loves to follow me around. Least it had a happy ending this time. Onward to the tattoo tale of Kate.

Kate and I decided to start off early today to ensure that we reached the parlor in time. See normally we wouldn't allow an hour to walk somewhere that takes thirty minutes but we didn't know where it was. Back in January we made our reservations in person at their old location. Since that time they moved elsewhere, close by but elsewhere. And the hunt for Tattoo Valeurs began. The middle parts (being lost) were mostly frustrating and included several attempted calls to the parlor to ask where the hell they were. The woman finally responded right at noon (the time of Kate's appointment) and successfully guided us to the new address. The worst part, we had walked by it twice.

Once inside everything went well. Kate showed the man what quote she wanted and where. The artist did make a good suggestion on splitting the phrase into two parts in order to fit better on her wrist. Not before too long the temporary outline was pasted onto her arm (similar to a kid's temporary tattoo) and the artist began his work. Kate did wonderfully. Yes she felt pain on some areas of the wrist (pesky nerves) but did no more than an occasional wince and squeak. It was pretty adorable. I was there as both a hand holder and a distracting conversation. Kate told me that it was much easier concentrating on talking since it distracted her from the needle. It was over very quickly which is to be expected from three words. It looks like this.

For those of you unfamiliar with ink her skin is supposed to be red or slightly pink afterwards. It becomes irritated since a needle had been scratching on it. The design is clean and beautifully done. The artist went through the whole "after care" process with Kate (in French of course) but that wasn't a huge concern. She had me for any questions about how to clean it and how to take care of any scabbing. I'd been through the same with my back almost two years ago. I think I even have the care sheet at home somewhere though I remember everything just fine.

We then ran a good amount of errands complete with Chinese food and DVDs. At the dorm we attempted to watch The Fountain but the disk was so badly scratched it was truly impossible. Rather we put in Billy Elliot (a film I recommend) and drank a few milkshakes.

Kate congratulations on your first ink. Be careful though, they can become addicting.

P.S. If any Americans watch the film "fanny" has a different meaning across the pond.