Most of my piercings have been done by Nick Jarmolenko formerly of Visual Addiction Tattoo & Body Piercing, 30 W. High St., Carlisle, PA 17013. Phone (717) 243-9799.
Tongue: I've had my tongue pierced twice. Both by Nick. The first time was during the summer of 2001. Lasted six days. Second time lasted longer, but was retired (removed) also.
Labret: I had wanted a labret piercing for awhile. Nick pierced this on July 23, 2002 and again in 2004. Removed it both times, though.
Navel: Pierced at Wicked Ink Underground Tattoo & Body Piercing on July 20, 2002 by owner, artist and piercer Mandy Davis. The shop is located at 122 West Main Street in Mechanicsburg, PA, USA. Pierced at 14 gauge with subsequent stretches to 12, 10 (cbr), 8, and 6 (using a 6 gauge taper from Nick) as of November 2004. June 2005 saw me swap back to a 10 gauge barbell for my navel. And September 2005 saw me retire this piercing. BMEzine.com post:
Navel - expanded story.
Nipples: 8 gauge circular barbells (retired 2006)
Tragus: Frank did the initial piercing at Visual Addiction and Melanie at Transcending Flesh in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, swapped the jewelery for me. Update: (retired 1/31/02)
Lobes: These are my favorite piercings. They were originally 2 gauge bullets with O-rings. They were dermal punched to get rid of some scar tissue from three previous cbrs that didn't heal properly. I bled like a stuck pig! I had them punched in October 2001. Nick did the punching. No more scar tissue and cool see through your ear lobes holes! Updates: I purchased 2 gauge silver tunnels from Checkered Past in February 2002. Stretched to 0 gauge silver tunnels - also purchased from Checkered Past. Stretched (September 2003) to 00 gauge tunnels - again purchased from Checkered Past. BMEzine.com post: Dermal Punch - expanded story.
Conch: This piercing, like most of my piercings, was more of a pinch than pain. It's not a typical piercing - at least for this neck of the woods - and I've had several people ask, "Did that hurt a lot?" It really didn't hurt to have the initial piercing which was done by Nick. My conch was at 10 g before I removed this jewelry (the same time as my navel downsize - June 2005).
Cartilage: I'd had this done before, but the initial piercing was with a gun at the Piercing Pagoda. I bought a cbr to replace the stud that PP had zapped me with and that's when things got interesting. The cbr was bigger than the stud, the jewelry was impossible (for me anyway) to get through the hole, so I put the stud back in the entry hole and made a brand new exit hole. I removed that piercing eventually, but got the cart repierced by Nick. (retired February 2002)
Frenum: Pierced at 12 g in August 2003 by Melanie at Transcending Flesh in Lancaster, PA. Melanie was the piercer who pierced my nipple for the first time back in June 1998. Mandy Davis at Wicked Ink Underground Tattoo & Body Piercing stretched this piercing to 10 g for me in October 2003. I stretched to 8 gauge prior to removing this piercing in June 2005.
Septum: Pierced at 14 g on January 2, 2004 This piercing was a breeze. Stretched to 12 g. Suffering from a headcold, I blew my freaking nose and unintentionally retired this piercing either on September 16 or 17, 2005. While showering I reached to adjust the horseshoe and discovered it was missing. Rather than sift through literally yards and yards of snot-filled toilet paper - "This is just not worth my time." - I chose to let the piercing go.
Piercings are decorative and enjoyable, in my opinion. I can remember asking my mother to actually tape my ears to the side of my head as a child. She can be a very patient woman. My best friend in grade school had Ye Olde streamlined look and I sported (and sport) more of a Prince Charles ear trajectory. I wanted my ears to lay down instead of sticking out. With the piercings I've actually come to like the look of my ears.
Some Links:
BMEzine.com - Body Modification ezine.
Home - http://curtjames.com/
The RABbit Hole - FAQ for Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.bodyart.
Tattoos dot com - Links to a variety of interesting sites.
The Chain Gang - Body Jewelry by the Chain Gang. (retail site)
Anatometal - Anatometal Inc. (retail site)
Glasswear Studios - Art Glass Body Adornments by Ryan. (retail site)