Bad Astronomy

We who are about to dye

So on Monday I take the plunge: I’ll be getting my tattoo. The design is pretty much set, the body part has been prepped, and my appointment is on the docket. The terror and panic I felt yesterday has mostly subsided, and I’m ready to go.

Except… I’m not sure what to do beforehand. I’ll be in a hotel the night before. I’ll get up, have a normal breakfast, get coffee, the usual. But I wonder. Should I go to the hotel exercise room and do a few bicep blasts so that my arms will look good in pictures? Or will that stretch the skin too much?

And do I need any special food? Orange juice, ginger ale, water? What about acetaminophen or ibuprofen? I know aspirin is a bad idea, but FSM, who uses aspirin anymore? Being a wuss, I worry a bit about how much this will hurt – it’s on my upper arm, which I’m told isn’t too bad, but the whole thing will be about 5x8 cm, an alarming amount of surface area.

I know a lot of BABloggees have tats. What’s your advice? Warning: anyone suggesting anything alt-med will be forced to take 100,000 doses of 30C gingko. And acupuncture jokes? Too obvious.

So whaddya got for me?