64. It's a new year, 2012.

It's pretty amazing that we have all made it through another year. 2011 taught me a lot about myself and other people, and though a lot of negativity was thrown my way, I'm still feeling positive and refreshed that a new year is here. And with my birthday only a few weeks away, this year will also be the last year of my twenties. Bring it on 2012!

In 2011, I kept to my simple resolution of not correcting people when it comes to their use of improper piercing terminology. I suppose it seems silly, but I do work in an environment where I experience such things like so every day. I started to realize however, that no matter how kind I was about the correction, people were often put off. Some people called me a know-it-all, and a snob. I even saw a review online that said the client felt like I was rude to them about what the piercing was called. I'm not an arrogant person, and I'm definitely not a know-it-all (though there is nothing wrong with education!)! And if it wasn't that, they just didn't care. People would actually say to me "so what?" I hated knowing that people felt this way, even if I went about it in all of the right ways. So I just stopped correcting people. Honestly, if you want to walk around sounding like you think you know what you're talking about, go for it! I'm not the one that sounds like an idiot is all. With all of the information so readily available to others, it amazes me daily how ignorant people are. You wanna ask me how big my "gauges" are? Sweet, they're 44.5mm. You want to look at "piercings for your nose ring"? Awesome, I've got some right here. You want to get a "dermal"? Where at and here is how much it costs. It has made my life not only easier, but I've found at this point, I stopped caring. :)

2011 gave me more patience, mental strength, and skill. I learned you cannot make everyone happy...and that it is okay! I've been accepting many challenges related to my career and pushed myself to become more piercing educated. I took over the official bodymod.org body modification event, which is now named Moddities, and even after much drama related to the event, I'm still happy with the outcome. I had to make some choices this year that were difficult and effected the lives of others, but I'm now stronger for them. I traveled, made many new friends, adopted a wonderful new little kitty, and started learning scarification. Over-all, my year was pretty great. :)

A 2012 resolution? My resolutions are generally not very serious, but I do want to strive this year to generate as much positivity as possible. I want everyone to see that life really is neat and there is so much to smile about. :) I also want to start wearing more skinny jeans. The latter... done. I wore skinny jeans today, that I purchased yesterday. Looks like the year is already off to a great start!

Take care everyone, and Happy New Year! I send my positivity your way!