Good Friday?
Great Friday!
I'm on top of the world. Knackered, yes, but on top of the world! There's little that could have made today better. The only thing i'd have changed was that I wish Y had been down this weekend so he could have come with me. But never the less it was an amazing day. Everything went my way from the start. The weather was beautiful, so warm and sunny. One of those days that just makes you feel so good to be alive.
I had no trouble with trains, thank goodness - I'd been a bit worried that the bank holiday along with the aftermath of the strike may have caused a few problems - but no, it was an easy ride. I made my way to the tattooist's, avoiding a religious parade along the way, and R greeted me with a smile and some good news - she'd gone to France on Monday to post all the european brochures and yesterday she had the first order from abroad. A tattooist in Holland has bought a whole set of last year's sheets AND this year's sheets. That's fantastic news! let's hope we have more success like that!
A moment later, S came out and said that she liked my hair. I admitted that I make it a mission to have a different hair colour every time I go in :) Oh, the games we play in life for fun..... I went through while she got ready and the random bloke tattooist from last time that I didn't know was there, along with ANOTHER random bloke tattooist who I've never seen before but who looked like Bill Bailey! That's the thing with that place - you never know what to expect when you go in. New people appear all the time! I was disappointed that C was missing though, so the full set of girls was incomplete today :(
S drew out where the blue was going to go on my back. I'd had the original tattoo done almost 2 years ago, but it was the only one without any blue on so I wanted to make them all match. In a strange way the pen hurt my skin more than the ink needle did - I don't know why, I really don't! I always find the hardest part of having a tattoo standing still for the stencil to be applied or for the pen lines to be drawn. I always seem to start shaking or my limbs get really heavy and I need to sit down.
She started the tattoo. It took about 45 minutes and went really smoothly. It's amazing how the time just flies as the ink is buried beneath the surface. S asked the Bill Bailey lookalike to pass her an apron as she began, but he accidentally grasped about 5.
"Never mind," S began, "we can all have one! Let's have an apron party!"
Music flew around the room. I didn't know much of it, until Miss Jackson by Outkast came on and no one could resist joining in with the 'Forever-ever?' line :) I wanted to do an impression of the owl from the video, but sadly I had to conclude it was neither the time, nor the place..... *sigh*....
Maybe next time ;)
Then before I knew it, the tattoo was complete. I took a look in the mirror and I was thrilled with the result. I thanked S several times and hugged her excitedly. She asked if I'd like a coffee and I wasn't going to turn down the chance of some extra time there so I agreed and we sat outside in the sun, watching the world go by. She asked me how Y and I had met so I explained our story (a tale I never grow tired of :)) and then I took the plunge and added casually on the end, "And it's even more incredible considering the fact that I'm gay."
I just said it so easily. The words had never felt so natural before. I wasn't nervous or aprehensive. I never thought I'd get to a point where those words came naturally but it seems that I have.
S seemed pretty unfazed, just surprised.
"Really?" she said, "I really didn't have a clue! Well, I'm bisexual, and C's gay, so we're always talking about girls and about how we would like topless waitresses to come and serve us drinks!"
I knew it! I just knew it :) After that the conversation got a whole lot more interesting! It was also really good to have a conversation with someone who has such a similar relationship to Y and I, because she talks with her other half about girls the same way that Y and I do. It's good to know that this kind of relationship works for other people as well. Then she got her photo album of the tattoos she's done so far, and some of them were really so pretty and so impressive. Erm.... apart from one....
She'd had to tattoo a man's stomach.... and the top of his penis, too! Argh! Luckily there wasn't much of it in the photo but there was enough to make me pull faces of horror! There was more to the story as well, which involved white, fishnet boxer shorts, but i think we'll leave that alone for now! I'm going back in a month or so for my mouse, and I'm also going to get S to to a tattoo on my toe, like the one I saw a lady with on the underground once.
Finally it was time to leave. I said goodbye to R *sob!* and made her promise to keep in touch by email. And I got two hugs, two kisses and one blown kiss from S :) That's a pretty good score for one day! I texted Y as soon as I got outisde and then rang my mum to tell her my good news about the design sales. My good luck continued when I discovered Wimpy was open so I went in and ordered my lunch.
Afterwards, I had an hour to kill before my train so I went to the park. I hadn't been there for almost 2 years. I remembered, as I took a slow walk there, about the first time I'd found it by accident, wandering through the winding roads of the town I hated, where all the houses had "Say NO to Sainsbury's!" posters in their windows despite the fact that sainsbury's had already been there for 5 years.
The park was beautiful. The sun shone down and warned my shoulders. I watched children playing in the playground and wished I could join then. I saw a family walking their dog and watched a man flying an impressive kite. It was such a cheery moment. It was almost too perfect, as though it had been set up for a movie. I found myself a seat and sat by the pond watching the many ducks in front of me, and texting Boris things to Kass ;)
And that's when I saw it: The world's first pair of gay ducks.
Two mallards were, um.... well, let's just say they weren't fighting. But it got worse, because then I saw a duck m�nage-a-trois! What was this? Had I accidentally stumbled into the duck underworld? Then just when I thought things could get no worse, a dog who looked exactly like Colin from Spaced decided my leg was very atrractive and..... well, you know the rest..... ugh! And this is to say nothing of the family of ducklings and the drama than ensued over them when a young family wandered by and thought that they may be the missing family of a lone duckling they'd seen on the other side of the pond.
"There's a family of ducklings!" one of them said, "Does the mother look like she's lost one? Is she looking frantic?"
"What he hell does a frantic duck look like?!" the other parent wondered.
One of the Small Childs decided to help.
"Hey!" she yelled at the mother duck, "Have you lost a duckling? Because there's one over there! IT'S OVER THERE!"
Eventually I wandered to the station to wait for my train and I could hear strange saxophone music somewhere nearby. Where? I didn't know. It sounded like someone was practicing in their garden. It was pretty good, too. I walked slowly up and down while the music played, and my train eventually arrived to take me home.
And so ended my perfect day.
Oh, by the way, I told my mum about the gay ducks. Do you know what she said?
"You'd better not tell your grandmother about them - she'll think they've been to The Salon!"
All I can say is: :)
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