Rachael Hurt Me Badly Last Night
December 31st, 2006 by 
Rory Harper
She and I spent the entire holiday break together. It was one of the best breaks I’ve ever had.
We got to hang out with most of our loved ones, and made good plans for getting together soon with other members of our extended and far-flung tribe. Dinner with my sister and her boyfriend, an evening at Becca and John’s, time with Martha and Troyce and Megan. And so on. Lots of long days just being together.
But. She’d promised me that she’d complete a certain task for me, and it all came to a head the night before last. She spent a lot of time on it, but I was almost impossible to please.
Every time she thought she was done, I made her do it over, until it was just the way I wanted it to be. She was graceful about it, but it went late into the evening.
I thought she would put behind her any feelings she might have had about the process. But I was wrong.
We drove into Austin yesterday afternoon, and she cajoled me into going with her to her workplace. It should only take forty-five minutes, she said.
As soon as I entered the shop, I was surrounded by her co-workers. I knew that I couldn’t leave.
Within minutes, I was flat on my back and Rachael was bending over me with an implement that was sharp indeed.
I was brave. I didn’t cry or scream, or even flinch much. But it went on and on. For over two hours. I bled copiously. It’s entirely possible that I’ll be marked for life by this experience.
This was the result:
It’s 4-3/4 inches high by 4-1/2 inches wide. It occupies most of the left side of my chest. I say with no reservation that it is, in conception and skilled execution, infinitely better than I’d anticipated. Rachael’s careful, perfectionistic design work the night before paid off.
It’s fucking gorgeous to my eyes, and is the best present I’ve ever gotten.
It’s an entirely fitting capstone to what has been, for both me and Rachael, a year of transformation.
Have I mentioned that Rachael is awesome?
And that she is going to be a rock star as a tattoo artist?
It’s time now to go to the party at Becca and John’s. I’m hoping that there are a few people there who will be willing to witness the results of my ordeal.
Happy New Year to you all!
Posted in Art, Daily Life, Rachael is Awesome, Rory | 
18 Comments »
January 1st, 2007 at 12:16 am
ROWRRR!
Happy New Year to you too, Bubba. And congratulations!
January 1st, 2007 at 5:47 am
Happy New Year to you, Rachael, and the Lion!
January 1st, 2007 at 8:21 am
Hey! Roary Harper!
January 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
That is a gorgeous tattoo, Rory.
January 1st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
She did you good.
January 1st, 2007 at 5:41 pm
awesome! i want her to do my next one!
January 1st, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Nice tat, Rory.
Happy New Year!
January 1st, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Thanks, guys! I just got back in pocket after late party last night at Becca and John’s, and travel back to CS, and then some chores.
I’m still incredibly pleased with the tat. Should take about two weeks to heal up, is still pretty swollen and discolored at the moment. Honestly, the pain during the process wasn’t bad enough that it should put you off from getting Your Very Own Tattoo. From Rachael.
I actually smiled through the whole thing. It was an amazing father-daughter bonding experience, and felt like an extremely affectionate thing for her to do.
I kept flashing back and forth across our time-line together. From when I could, literally, hold her up in one hand, to carrying her around on my shoulders, to her first day at school. And so on.
And now she’s got a gun that shoots needles into your flesh.
Is cool.
…Remember — Friends get a discount at Dark Angels. And y’all are all friends. You should get tattoos as soon and as often as possible.
It hurts only until you pass out.
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:45 am
Now I was going to get a tatoo, but you beat me to it. Now it would be passe. Cest la vie.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:25 pm
You all may have noticed that there is suddenly a ‘Rachael is Awesome’ category for posts here.
I did not create this category, nor did Rachael. It’s my belief that the WordPress application has been monitoring this site and realized that such a category is both necessary and inevitable.
This is yet another reason for me to be pleased that we switched to WordPress from Blogger.
I will not be surprised if future releases of WordPress install this category on all sites. This should make it easier for them all to properly tag their entries about Rachael.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Hmmm, indeed it is an advanced and sophisticated software.
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Yes. And quite sensitive to nuance.
Incidentally, it’s occurred to me that we seven who post at EOB very much need to get a group tattoo, much like the ones that the primary cast of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy got.
Perhaps the EOB logo in some hidden place.
Or maybe just ‘Property of Caroline’ on our butts…..
I’m open to suggestions here.
January 2nd, 2007 at 10:14 pm
“Property of Caroline” works for moi.
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:22 am
I’m thinking on the group tatoo thing, maybe we could just go out for ice cream, instead.
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:16 am
i saw sean astin’s lotr tattoo in person.
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:25 am
Katie — So, how well did you have to get to know him before he’d let you see That Place on him? And where was it and what did it look like?
Steve — Don’t be a wussy. You know you want a tattoo. Everybody wants a tattoo. You can have ice cream after the tattoo.
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:27 am
Besides, I need an excuse to get another tattoo.
January 3rd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
he came to a&m when i was still living in bryan and presented his short film he made on the lotr set. someone asked if we could see his tattoo and he showed us. it was on his inside right ankle, i think.