Small Joys and such else

That awesome feeling when you fit into your old LBD and it looks good on you? Well if you are a girl who is nearing her 30s, you would know exactly what I mean. Ah it feels weird to even write this down. Dress and me? That too an LBD? Ew, that's too feminine. But I have to attend a party in some fancy pub and I was looking for an appropriate outfit for that. Finally found one and it fitted perfectly. Ah, talk of small joys.

And talking about joys, today was Australian Open Semi Final between Nadal and Federer. Nadal won the match and what a game it was. After Federer winning the first set in a tie breaker, Nadal won the next three and won the game. Most of my friends are Federer fans and some who are Nadal fans, they started following him after he started winning the matches. Very few have actually followed his matches when he was rising on clay court. But well, that's another story.

Another update - I got my third tattoo done. It's on the wrist - a kanji symbol of love. The meaning of my name is love, and I wanted a pretty simple one, thus went for it. Here is the image:

Ah I always have so much to say, but I lack patience most of the times. Another vacation awaits me *fingers crossed*. I hope that materializes too. But all these things are too trivial to even bother about unless you love me and stalk me and want to know what's happening in my life and want to follow me wherever I go (ah, sounds flattering!), so well my life story info can simply be summed up.

In other news, most of you know about me and Guria by now. The bond, friendship, love, ass licking - whatever you want to call it. And it so happens that these days we rarely get time to talk to each other. We miss that and we keep mentioning it on facebook all the time. Both of us read the old posts we wrote, or some mail thread, or chat discussion just to remember and to smile. We need that daily to go on in life.

And each time while reading those old writings, we realize that nothing has changed between us while everything has changed around us. Be it circumstances, timezone, lifestyle, priorities (no, we ain't each other's priority. We are well above that) - and still, everything between us is the same. No I don't have to blog about it and flaunt, but I want a record of everything. It can be done over e-mails, but this is the place from where it started, where we met and the bond grew stronger. This blog and her blog will always remain the dearest to both of us for many reasons. One of them being us.

I miss her being in India when we planned so many blog posts over phone, we talked for hours, small things hurt us, smaller things made us happy beyond imagination, our lives - so different yet so connected. We faced many challenges in the form of people. They made fun of us for saying these things aloud; but I don't blame them. Narrow minds cannot be changed. We might have given them explanation too if it affected us, or if we knew what it was exactly. Thus we ignore.

And she says that I inspire her to blog. I love to read her, and I intend to inspire her all the time if she becomes regular here. So G, here is another inspiration for you!

Getting Inked

I got my first tattoo done in June 2009. It was pretty late for me as I wanted one for quite some time. But getting something done on your skin which is permanent - it takes guts. And there are many myths about tattoos especially when it comes to the pain part. Who would want to get a permanent design done on body and bear pain too? The thought itself is insane, or so says my mom at least.

One of the most important things you have to remember before getting a tattoo done is the selection of design or the words/phrase/name of the person and such. Since it's a permanent thing, it's utter foolish to get the name of your spouse tattooed. People these days get divorced at the age of 45 too. Imagine having the name of your divorced better half on your hand! Always be very practical and remember that nothing but a tattoo lasts forever!

Selecting a design you like, or you can associate yourself with is very much required. When you ask a girl what kind of a tattoo she wants, her first answer will be - I want a fairy/butterfly/star done. And 6 out of 10 girls will have at least one of these objects tattooed. Their imagination does not go beyond shoulder and ankle when asked about where they want a tattoo done. And last but not the least, their fixation for coloured tattoo. They want all bright colours in their tattoos. They forget that we Indians usually have wheatish complexion. Colours become dull/light after the tattoo settles down on our body. You need a flawless white skin tone to carry off coloured tattoos. Or select colours which do not have to remain bright to look dull - like maroon, green - which happens to be the basic colour of the ink.

After taking out all my frustration on the typical girly tattoos, coming back to the selection of design part - remember, this thing will stay on you forever. Get a tattoo done of such an object that you can relate to, or love (excluding lovers/husbands). Like your parents' name, face portrait of your child/sibling/yourself, a verse or phrase you swear by, a bird/animal you like - anything you know you will never hate or get bored of. 

Then comes the shape and size of the object. This goes hand in hand with the place of tattoo. How big/small the tattoo is, placement of which also depends on its visibility to you. Some people prefer to have a tattoo on their back, so that others can see those even when they wear a slight low back gown. or on wrist, neck, face, ankle - these are the places where you can spot it easily. I have two tattoos so far, and both are on my upper arm. they are placed in such a manner that I can show/hide them whenever I want to. My profession does not allow me to have visible tattoos, thus this arrangement suits me quite a bit.

The most important part - the pain part. People, tattoos are done by machine that has a needle at its end. This needle pierces your skin, goes deep inside till the fourth layer of your skin, while the process happens, you tend to bleed too - thus it pains. I would not say that the pain is unbearable; otherwise you wouldn't have seen so many people getting their whole body inked. The pain is there, and you can bear it. Initial 5 odd minutes, you feel a lot of pain, then your body gets used to the sensation. Wherever there is a bone, it pains more, less where there is flesh.

After getting the tattoo done, the healing process is equally important. Remember, it's a wound. Your skin is pierced thousands times. The ink has gone deep in and it is settling down. You need to take care of it just like you take care of your wound. Wash it with an anti-bacterial soap, apply the gel recommended by your tattoo artist 3-4 times a day. Keep your tattoo clean, let it breathe and don't overdo anything - sunlight or hiding it behind covers.

A tattoo heals within 15 days. The first layer of skin peels off, and the fresh layer comes back - on the ink that has been pierced in. This results into a bit dull effect of the tattoo, as the colour of the tattoo has been settled on your skin. That's why it's important to select colours wisely if you want a coloured tattoo on Indian skin. Remember not to pull out the peeling skin, as it may result into embossed effect of the tattoo which doesn't look so neat. The skin will come off on its own. And your tattoo will be a part of your skin in a few days.

Ah, that's about it - the whole lecture on tattooing. I have been thinking about writing on this topic for quite some time, but somehow this post never took a shape. Finally I have written the whole damn post on tattooing. If you have any other questions about tattooing, google it.