I woke up early and rather abruptly this morning to my phone ringing from an unknown number, which I let go to a voicemail. It was my landlord calling to ask about paperwork they “hadn’t received,” and it turned out to be actually already at their office. Grrr. I couldn’t really fall back asleep, so I got up a little later to call the Inner Balance Center to schedule a massage. Thankfully they took us so we prepared for a day of relaxation. Aimee drove us to Pacific Beach, CA and dropped us off at Café 976, which was this really cute coffee shop. We got some sandwiches there before heading off to Inner Balance. We were a little early, but both of our therapists (although magical healers seems like a more appropriate title) were there already so they took us when we arrived. It was terrific through and through, and my person actually told me a lot about various issues within my muscles, all of which made perfect sense (i.e. I have a lot of “holding” in my right leg, probably from my injury 2 years ago.)
After our nirvana-like hour, we greasily slid to the rest of the downtown area. We went in lots of little shops, where I bought a new dress/shirt thing and a pair of black gladiators, which Tracey affectionately calls my S&M shoes. They do look a little dominatrix-y by I promise I didn’t think of this until after I had bought them. All this time I had it in my mind that I wasn’t leaving until I got my tragus pierced (which sounds a lot dirtier than it really is.) While I continued in my indecision, we made a stop by this story called Pangaea. Pangaea was a rather eclectic mix of nearly everything in one store. When we walked up to the entrance, there was a man sitting there with a pig. A pig.
The pig’s name was Barbie Q., and the man had little business cards with her picture on them. Later I was taking pictures of her, when he picked her up over his shoulder so I could get a good one of her face. 
When I could put it off no longer, we made our way to a row of shops to find the least sketchy tattoo/piercing place. I settled on when and went in almost-bravely. I tried to calm myself as best as I could, but I was shaking and all googley on the inside. I asked my very pregnant piercer lots of questions and finally picked out my jewelry. I paid; so it was final. I was leaving this place with a piercing come one thing or another. I went inside my little room and sat in the chair, shaking like a leaf. I got a cup of water going in so that I was prepared. The lady started preparing everything. When I began to see long silver things, I looked away immediately. I didn’t want or care to know what was about to be shoved through my ear. She put the clamp on my ear, which was slightly uncomfortable at most, but freaked me out nonetheless. Then she counted down and BAM. I had a 3 inch needle stuck through a clamp in my tragus. It sat there while she got the jewelry ready, removed the needle, and then put the jewelry in my ear. All the while, I was clutching Meghan’s hand for dear life. I’m not really sure what color I turned, but I’m sure it was quite a shade. I started feeling a little light headed at this point so I released Meghan’s hand and settled a little further down in my dentist’s office-like chair. The lady asked me if I wanted some water to which I apparently replied yes. Next thing I know, I’m face down on the floor, one leg propped against a wall, with my face held off the floor by somebody’s jeans-clad leg. Wait… what?? How did I get here? Apparently I passed out and remained out for a solid minute; and according to Meghan there was some twitching involved. Great. For this to happen, I had to lean forward out of my slumped position, bypass the armrest, and fall out of the chair. Of course, the poor thing is freaking out and wanting to call an ambulance. All the workers are calm and say, “It’s okay, this kind of thing happens all the time.” Oh really? That would have been nice to know about 5 minutes ago. The pair of jeans holding me up turned out to be one of the male tattoo artists. My pregnant piercer couldn’t bend over to get me up. I told him thank you for holding me and rubbing my head (despite my not knowing him), and he made some smart comment like “What… you never wake up in a strange man’s arms?” Sick. He claimed it happens a lot to him. So I had to ask, “You wake up in strange men’s arms?” He was quiet after that. I’m sorry. You put an OCD germ-phobic person face down in a tattoo shop? She’s not gonna be in a good mood.
Meghan called Aimee to get her to come pick us up. Unfortunately Meghan told her I had my trachea pierced, which sent off a flare of concern as you can imagine. She got there and realized we were all in one piece, and I had to inform her of my tragic story. I sat there for a good while trying to get my blood pressure stabilized. Finally, with a friend on each side, I wobbled out to the car. We went through the McDonald’s drive-thru to get me a coke. Aimee wanted me to eat, but I didn’t want anything to eat for fear it might come back to get me.We got back to her apartment and rested for a while. Thankfully everyone had sympathy for my not wanting to go anywhere, and we ordered pizzas and watched The Wackness. Finn and Otto came over to visit, which is always fun. After a big day, I was more than ready for some good rest. Unfortunately, it was our last night in California.
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