Sorry I haven’t written but I’ve been reading a great book on body modification that every student who’s ever wanted to make a point should have, as a reference. I’ll let you know when I’m done.

If you’re looking for something to read: What’s more exciting than having your co-editor’s adorable mug in a magazine? How about having her WORDS in a print magazine? If you head on down to your local magazine shop or Borders, you should be able to find the most recent issue of Skin Art’s Tattoos For Women (issue # 76).

In it, on page 31, you will see an article written by Lara Crocket. (They left off the last “t,” but it’s still Lara.) It’s about the INKED Inc project and is highlighted with some of Dave Kimelberg’s fabulous photos.

(He was at my brother’s wedding and I didn’t get to interview him about the project; Lara simply ROCKS.)

One of my few email subscriptions is to Women’s Wall Street. Like it or not, I’m working in corporate America, and not with the tattooed ladies who speak to my soul. I hate keeping my arms, hands, and throat covered, but working as a counter girl (I’m an archivist, not an artist) didn’t even cover a doctor’s visit, let alone health insurance. The daily tips frequently apply to life in the mainstream world in which I dwell, and, when I have time, I enjoy the articles.

Regular readers of Modified News have seen mention of my friend Libby, one of too many women that I know with breast cancer. Married to a piercer, Libby (IAM, MySpace, M-N1, M-N2) has helped to open the eyes of our community to the pitfalls of breast cancer beyond the physical. Even when breast cancer hit my home - hard! - we benefited from Libby’s advice and kind words.

Maybe a woman in her early 20s isn’t someone to whom you think you can relate. How about a 41-year old mom and fashion writer? From the blog of Kirston Mann:

Kirston Mann is a Hollywood costume designer and Stylist, who writes the Fashion Cents Column for WomensWallStreet. In October 2005 she got a little more personal with an article about her own personal struggle with Breast Cancer, just a few months away from being 5 years cancer free. By December 2006 she found a new lump she found a new lump and began the battle all over again.

Kirsten, in her post Punk Mom, writes about the upcoming loss of her hair, from the poisonous chemotherapy that will keep her alive. Her son was afraid he would be embarrassed, so she let him give her a Mohawk. That’s cool on so many levels.

In her post, Kirsten wrote two really awesome sentences, to which I think we can all relate: “From Cancer patient to Rock Star, with a few dirty looks from people who didn’t know any better” and

My big lesson for the week? Don’t judge a 41-year-old woman with a Mohawk or anyone else for that matter. Something I need to work on.

With breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed (thanks to mammograms, it’s not ignored) cancer, and the cancer with the second-highest mortality rate (after lung cancer) among women in the United States, you may have more in common with Kirsten than you know. Perhaps her crossover from fashion columnist to “Punk Mom” can educate people on both sides of her world.

Hi, all. I planned to write today, but I’ve spent much of the afternoon in line for prescriptions (gotta love it when they lose your prescription - “oh, it was on top,” apologetic giggle, “you’ll have to get it tomorrow”). When I was done with that, I was boxing packages and typing customs forms for anysoldier.com, a project that sends care packages to people in the US Armed Forces who are serving all over the world. (I’ve also got a lovely set of AnotherHole custom glitz plugs which need to go to England, but I’m tired of Customs forms and they’ll have to go out on Friday.)

Anyway. I just got an email from Amazon.com. Your purchases through the Amazon search box (upper right corner of this screen) have, combined with the misterart.com (did you see the artist’s backpack) sharperimage.com, overstock.com, and tigerdirect.com links on the left, have almost paid for last year’s web space. (I paid for 2007 out of pocket. Even though I said I wouldn’t. I love this site, and the people I’ve met who read it. Please, if you’ve got to spend money, and you’re using any of the vendors for whom we have affiliates, please click through Modified News!!)

Per Amazon.com:

Amazon Unbox is a video download store that has thousands of high quality TV shows, movies and more for you to purchase or rent. You can view these downloadable videos on your PC, your Portable Media Player, or your TiVo DVR. In addition, Amazon Unbox stores a copy of all purchased videos in an online storage locker for re-download at any time. So, videos do not have to eat up hard drive space, and no matter where you are you can download and play your videos.

To learn more, including how to get great deals on Tivo DVRs and $15 of free downloads, please visit our Unbox on Tivo page [www.amazon.com/gp/video/tivo].

I’ll start looking for videos to add to the right hand toolbar but, if you’re interested in this service, please search through Modified News. The commissions go toward payment of the site, not to my book funds. (I don’t ask you to pay for jewelry or books that we review, or for travel to events that Lara or I tell you about, but I sure wouldn’t mind breaking even on the web space.)

Happy viewing!

A dear friend of mine posted an open letter to Procter & Gamble about their newest marketing ploy.

The letter is circling the internet…. Seems that the original writer opened a package of her Always maxi pads and there, inside, was a notation that said…

“Have a happy period.”

A WHAT? A happy period of time that may be full of mood swings and cramps so bad one hallucinates? (Yeah, I’ve hallucinated from the pain. Young women in high school, at least back when I was in high school, weren’t medicated for our periods; we had to suffer or go on the pill. Alieve wasn’t on the market yet, and I had to practically collapse in pain, in the doctor’s office, to get the prescription strength.)

I couldn’t believe my friend, although she’s not only been nothing but brutally honest in the time that I’ve known her, she even sent me a hand sewn quilt for my birthday. She’s the cream of the crop. The kind of lady who won’t do you wrong. I couldn’t imagine her cross-posting garbage or spam.

Nonetheless skeptical (I mean, come on, do YOU believe it??), I goodsearched.

And I found…

Sign up now to get free samples, notepads, tattoos, and other fun stuff from Always Have a Happy Period. Just fill in the information below!

I fear the tattoos. If YOU want them, click here.

This post was brought to you by WTMI, giving TOO MUCH INFORMATION.

Tattoos in the mainstream have officially gone too far.

Author Gwyn McVay recently posted that “a bearded, not unattractive young man named Kevin Powe is participating in The World’s Greatest Shave.” Mmmm… not unattractive - I had to look.

Kevin Powe IS rather the comely young man, isn’t he?

World’s Greatest Shave is a fundraiser Down Under in which donors’ money goes toward the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia. The twist here is that, instead of using running or biking or walking as the means to solicit donations, participants are offering to shave their heads. The hairsuit hirsute Mr. Powe has offered to go a bit further, and will shave more of his person, the more he collects. With his permission, I am cross-posting his plea.

Hi - my name is Kevin Powe. If you’ve found this page, it’s either by dumb luck, or I’ve sent you this link because I’ve asked you to help me make a difference with The World’s Greatest Shave. On March 16th I’ll be shaving my head at the Pig and Whistle near River Side Centre in Brisbane for the Leukemia Foundation.Why?

Because, frankly, cancer sucks. Some good and close friends have lost loved ones to cancer, so the chance to do something to fight back feels good. You can’t really argue that leukemia is a disease of affluence - while losing someone to anything is tragic, when you look at the the documented contributing factors for leukemia, these people really are victims.

Plus, the Shave for a Cure event is something that I think is put together well. It’s not just one day of the year where plastic trinkets are peddled and worn with pride. I’ve seen friends do the shave, and it’s a fantastic combination of fun, and something that really asks something of participants in return for sponsorship. I firmly suspect that I have an ugly, ugly head. And yet, I’m going to bare it to the world. Please, don’t make that horrible sacrifice be for nothing.

If you’re interested in donating, you can either donate directly on my profile page, or give me a call/email, and I can arrange a pen’n’paper receipt.

On a lighter note, let’s have a look at where your money is going, and how through charitable donation you can flay the very dignity from my very frame. Hell - I’d get vegetables thrown at me in the stocks to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation.

(Click here for more… you know you wanna!)

So, he’ll be going from this

and this

to this

and I really hope his shaving skills exceed my Photoshop skills.

Leukaemia (spelled Leukemia in the US) is a cancer of the BLOOD and BONE MARROW.

Each year in Australia , around 2,275 adults and around 225 children (0 – 14 years) are diagnosed with leukaemia*. The most common types of leukaemia in adults are CLL and AML. ALL is the most common type of leukaemia in children, and the most common type of childhood cancer. (as per Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australian Associated Cancer Registry (2004)) Cancer in Australia 2001
- from the Leukaemia Foundation web site

Some United States statistics include

• Leukemia has the highest incidence rates in cancers among children aged 0-19 years.
• The mortality rate has decreased by over 15% in men, and over 17% in women, in the past twenty years.
• In 2007, the estimated new cases and deaths from leukemia in the United States in 2007:
  New cases: 44,240
  Deaths: 21,790

Please note, also, that Kevin could be spending St. Patrick’s day getting tattooed. Seriously. He’s planning on crossing over from pierced to pierced AND tattooed. Just, you know, not this weekend, when he’s putting himself on display and removing enough hair to knit a kitten, in the name of fighting cancer.

I really like this guy. If he lived in the USA, I’d buy him a hot cocoa since he’s losing his fur coat. And, since, he’s not, Modified News made a donation in his name.If you’re interested in donating in Kevin’s behalf, but don’t feel like reading all of the posts and articles, Kevin’s page on the official World’s Greatest Shave site is here - it’s an official site, so you know the donation isn’t going right to the pub. Should you donate, please tell him where you heard about this Shave-A-Thon. (This picture, on his page on the WGS site, is my favorite, but I didn’t get permission to swipe this one.)

(Thanks, Gwyn, for the heads-up. No pun intended. We’ll be telling readers about your freshly published book, since I met you on IAM!)