here we, here we go again…

If you’ve read the main post to this blog, you know that once upon a time, I had an NKOTB tattoo. If you’ve read it all, you also know that I got it when I was young and out of insecurity, once covered it up, too. As you can imagine, given the sentiment of my post, there were times over the years since I made the decision that I wanted it back. After the reunion, I was ready: bigger, bolder, blacker, better. Inspired by the lyrical beauty of “Close to You,” I decided this time it was going somewhere sexier – close to my hips. Well, on my hip, specifically. I knew that my friends Jen and Tera also wanted NK tattoos, so I tried to arrange with them for us to all do it together. Jen wasn’t able to make it work, but I set up with Tera and Ziggy for us to go together. We wanted to go on New Kids on the Block day, but it didn’t work out. After getting my peace sign on Donnie’s birthday, I hit the calendar and the internet trying to find a day in the near future that had some NK relevance.

We settled on September 6, 2009: Hangin’ Tough’s 21st birthday. (What else do you do for a 21st bday but take it out and get a tattoo??) Though I’ve already posted about this on my travel blog, Travels with Toaster, my NK blog wouldn’t be the same without the update and a few pics. (And also, my memoir specifically talks about covering it up, but there’s no mention of having done it again in a much better way.) :)

Without further ado, here we are waiting our turn…

(Left to right, Tera, Ziggy & me.)
Here are our results:

Tera’s tattoo – by the way, her first tattoo, to be specific! I’ve heard ankle tattoos are no walk in the park, so I’m doubly impressed with her – she took it like a champ!

Me under the needle, relying on Donnie for moral support, and my final result:


And Ziggy’s NKOTB butterfly on her foot – so pretty! Initially she wanted to use the same logo I have, but I really wanted a unique one (and this is the exact same one – except bigger and all black – that I covered up years ago), so we found her this gorgeous font instead.

Several hours later, we were done, happy, and ready to celebrate HT’s birthday (and drown our pain) the right way – with cocktails!

Cheers to loving the New Kids forever!

Edited: August 16th, 2010

just straight to business…

Maybe it’s just me, but… I always get this nasty, sick-to-my-stomach feeling all day when I’m waiting in line for a general admission event. Do you guys know what I mean? It’s the worst. I’m old school; I’ve never paid for a meet & greet with anyone in my whole life. I don’t plan to start now, so I’ve managed to do without 4/5 star events just fine, although it often means sacrificing an entire day (in Vegas, in some cases) to wait in line. All day while I’m there, aside from often suffering extreme bouts of boredom, is this sick feeling of anticipation. Partly, I think it’s just excitement for what’s about to come. Partly, though, I know I’m dreading the drama that will inevitably ensue when someone tries to (or manages successfully to, whichever the case may be) cut the line toward the last minute, pissing off all those of us who’ve been there alllllll day, often resulting in a lack of much sleep, food, water, and definitely any real entertainment. Anyway, maybe it’s just me, but it’s an awful feeling. Its only remedy? The typically great big payoff of finding yourself only a handful of rows away from the stage…nothing like it. And suddenly all the boredom, having to pee, lack of sleep, tired feet, etc, all vanish from your mind and the world is right again.

Why am I rambling about this? Because I’ve had that feeling all week in anticipation for the onsale of the 2011 cruise tomorrow! This is the first chance I’ve had to go, because Cal had designs on me (translation: finals in ’09, finals & graduation in ’10) both of the previous years. This year, though, wild horses couldn’t keep me from doing everything humanly possible to get on that boat. I’ve stalked the amazing thread of Q&A on Ning, as well as pored over every last post of Katie’s NKOTB Summer Blog from the past two years. This year, she’s not going. Bummer – I feel like I know her after all that reading! In her stead, though, I’m told several of us hope to blog the experience. I’m hoping somehow we can meet up on the boat and kind of compile our stories/link each other’s sites so that anyone who has to miss the cruise will have a really amazing, comprehensive play-by-play and will be able to feel like they were there, too.

Suffice it all to say that I’m beside myself with excitement about the thought of getting on that boat. I know it’s nine months away, but it’ll go fast, and there’s no guarantee that there will be a cruise in 2012 (but here’s hoping, of course). This time, I’m not messing around; I’m not taking chances. I live my life by the principle that the only things that are worth regretting are the chances we didn’t take; that things we’ve done have taught us and so they’re always worthwhile in the end. It’s the things we look back on, wishing we’d gone for, that bring the most sorrow. In life this is true – when it comes to the New Kids, even more so because you never know how much longer we’ll have them (as a group, I mean). Hence the reason for the title of this post: I had reasons that caused me to miss the past two cruises, and they were good ones. This year, though, I have my BA and I mean business! Let’s get to it (or should I say, let’s get this)!

I’d love to meet some of you guys! Please leave comments and let me know if you’re planning on going (or if you’re reading this after the onsale, if you’re confirmed). I’m so excited! Good luck to all trying to reserve tomorrow – keep keepin’ on!

Edited: August 12th, 2010

been away for a long time… but we back!

I haven’t posted anything new on this blog in nine months!! Inspired by Katie (@ktsummer), I’m going to see if I can’t blog a little more regularly from here on out. This is just a quick update to stimulate the curiosity (and RSS feeds) of my readers. Also, that’s another thing. This summer I created Facebook pages for my blogs: Life on the Block, she’s write on time, and Travels with Toaster. In addition to gaining readers, I’m ultimately trying to catch the attention of people in the publishing industry. (As you might imagine, however much I enjoy writing, I really do want to be able to make a living at it, however modest that may be.)

Truth be told, this is where you can help. As posts start rolling in (or now, if you already have faith in me/enjoy what you’ve read so far), please follow me on Twitter and retweet anything that interests you. Please join the FB pages and share freely! It’s like this: the more people that “fan” the page, the more people I wouldn’t otherwise have access to will be able to see my page. The same, of course, holds true for Twitter if you RT something. I’m just asking for a little BH sista love! ;)

(And if you’re interested, the other Twitter accounts are @indiestace – my personal account, linked to she’s write on time and @adventuresoftnt – linked to Toaster and the Tampon.)

One last thing, and then I can post things that are interesting to those other than me: I’m entering my NK memoir (this post) in a personal essay contest. First prize takes $5K, a meeting with a top literary agent, and a chance to be published in Glamour! (Read: my first pick if I could have it published anywhere!) Wish me luck, and if you feel so inclined, pass it on to help promote!

Edited: August 12th, 2010

Stop SOPA