Snoqualmie

The benefits of dot-hood.

I went to Gottsi today and got a labret stud put in my lip instead of the ring. Evidently my presence there wasn't much of a surprise; as soon as I walked in William said to me, "So, you're over that big ring?" It's been driving me nuts for a whole host of reasons, of which about half are healing-related and the other half are jewelry-related. Rings, especially super-big rings for super-big and newly-pierced lips, flop from side to side, rotate back and forth, and engage in strange capillary action with beverages. I can deal with the usual range of minor new-piercing-related inconveniences: the salt soaks, the crusties, the strange wait-there's-metal-there? sensations, the occasional accidental whap. But apparently I've grown less hardcore over the last few years and can no longer deal with those things in conjunction with fractious jewelry. I'll try a (smaller) ring again when it's healed.

Now, though, I'm thinking I could probably get used to this stud business. The tiny dot under my lip is considerably less rakish than my jauntily-angled ring, but it's also much less awkward. I kissed Jacob a few minutes ago without having to think about which side the ring was currently on. I'm eating yogurt at the moment and my spoon technique isn't causing any strange clicking noises. Mind you, I almost killed myself trying to have a Triscuit at my upstairs neighbors' birthday party, but that might have happened anyway. My chapstick and I are carrying on our passionate love affair without hindrance once again.

The only downsides I see are that a) I've just remembered how paranoid I get about threaded jewelry unscrewing itself and b) my protestations that I don't try to look like my sister, which ring a bit tinny at the best of times, are wearing even thinner now. Frankly, thin is precisely the thing that doesn't apply to Woolsey lips. I refer you to the words of a random stranger to my sister a few years ago: "You look like you stole the lips and butt off a black woman."

I must disagree, though. Pallid, yes, but we're quite capable of developing our own devastating pouts without resorting to larceny.