Holy Knee-Brace Batman!

Happy birthday to the best Batman ever - Adam West!

Nobody beats Adam West as Batman and as today is his birthday, he gets fist dibs on this blog post. SO - thank you Adam West for being an awesome batman!

I also adored Eartha Kitt as Catwoman. Oh, and T and I get into way too long conversations about which is the better Joker - Cesar Romero or Jack Nicholson. Jack is seriously creepy, but Cesar is a great camper and works really well in the context of the show...see how this can go on?

Well, as much as I'd love to, there's no Batusi dance for me today. I already twisted my knee and so those Batman knee-bends are out of reach for me for the next few weeks at least.

You'll never guess how I twisted my knee - okay maybe you will:

Option A: Lifting a dog out of the car.

Option B: Digging in the garden.

Option C: Playing round in a giant bounce house.

If you guessed Option C, well, then there's nothing more to say. Your snickering is heard loud and clear.

It happened exactly as you might expect. I saw the advertisement for the bounce house and thought to myself, "why aren't there more options for adults to play around in bouncy houses? When was the last time I was in a bounce house? Oh my! I MUST GO!" I gathered some brave souls to go with and we all took off our shoes and pretended we were 10 again.

The bounce house was huge. This is the world's biggest bounce house! It advertises itself as 10,000 square feet of bouncey air-filled fun. There is a live DJ at the center playing music, beach balls, a ball pit, inflated slides and obstacle courses, lounge areas, and a giant pink gorilla...because why not have a giant pink gorilla?

Our tickets were for the 60 minute adult session. That might not seem like a lot of time. I know when I bought the tickets that I was a little let down that we only had 60 minutes, but after the first 10 minutes of non-stop jumping...I understood why. Jumping is a work-out! I tried the obstacle courses, fell into the ball pit, tried my hardest to get on top of the giant balls in the giant ball pit, and merrily hopped to the beat the DJ laid down.

I made it a full 58 minutes.

When minute 58 came I was preparing to wallop a friend who was coming down a slide with a beach ball. I had my right leg out and my arm raised with the ball. He rolled at the end of the slide...slamming into my knee. I heard an epic 'pop' and grinding sound in my ears as I fell to the floor.

The next couple of minutes are a little blurry, but I was carried out by a lovely Scotsman, ice was brought, and some water and Tylenol came my way. My friends brought me to urgent care and we spent the evening talking about how cool my new prosthetic leg would look, discussing our hiking plans, and laughing through the pain.

I can tell  you - that shot they give you in the butt - that HURTS!

I'm happy to report that my ACL is not completely torn! I was on crutches for a bit, but I'm improving every day. This week I stopped using crutches and so now I'm just on the knee brace. I'm also doing some self-imposed physical therapy with yoga and swimming on top of RICE.

With any luck, perhaps I'll be doing the Batusi for Adam's next birthday!

Tattoo ReDo

This is a seriously great before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

Short story -

I drew the design and brought it to the artist my husband used.

The guy seemed friendly and it was a small thing so he said it wouldn't be an issue.

I specifically asked him not to use black - I wanted it pale and subtle.

He agreed.

I got the tattoo.

He used black..."to make it pop" and couldn't figure out why I was so upset.

I felt really disrespected, hurt, and haven't had a tattoo since.

I have always hated and tried to hide it.

Then, on a particularly nice day when I was walking somewhere new, I happened to notice a small tattoo studio Ink and Paint on Stone way. I emailed the owner and operator, Nina, and shared my story and inquiry on if she did cover-ups and asked her opinion on what might be done. She immediately put me at ease with her calm, professional, but caring demeanor. Her shop felt really comfortable - a mix of eclectic cartoon cells, dinosaurs, and current projects but everything still clean and organized. It felt like the shop of a working artist.

We came up with some ideas and since I really like camellias I did a few drawings and she did one and we tried but couldn't make it work. The star shape, single color, and tight proportions weren't working out.

I started to look for star-shaped flowers figuring that if we couldn't easily hide the lines it might be better to accentuate them instead.

Some possible options were: fuchsia, bittersweet nightshade, morning glories, and lilies.

Bittersweet nightshade was my favorite.

I like it because it grows in the East coast where I grew up and it grows on the West coast where I live now. I like it because it is a very pretty flower, but also one that isn't as showy - it isn't a lily shouting out front and center, but its flowers and berries are bright little stars against a green backdrop. I like it because although it is small and pretty, it is also strong. Bittersweet nightshade can make a person ill if they aren't careful. If you don't treat it with respect it'll get the better of you - that's a sentiment I much prefer (literally) over the one where a man made decisions for my body without my consent.

Nina was great, loved the images I sent her, and worked up a second drawing that aligned much better with the existing ink. The colors were also much more flexible - shades of purple and green that could blend into the stars as opposed to a flat red that would have been for the camellias.

It took about a month to find time in Nina's schedule - which was perfectly fine, I wasn't in a rush.

On my actual tattoo date we went through the placement, she double checked the colors, and it went fairly smoothly. Getting a tattoo on the space behind your ear is painful and LOUD and I didn't want to talk or move my jaw in any way for fear of warping the skin behind my ear. So I passed the time staring at Nina's dinosaurs and still-cells from different animations.

After the tattoo was complete she went through the normal post-tattoo review for care and gave me a sample of Aquaphor and a card with aftercare review. It has been healing lovely and during a bike ride with D we even stumbled across some bittersweet nightshade growing wild along the Burke Gilman bike trail.

What do you think?