I wanted to say thanks to everyone that persistently commented on my Bed & Breakfast set that went up after about 11months in Member Review. It's a hard wait sometimes, wondering when/if your photos will be picked up by the site. With each submission I've ever made to SG since 2003, I've had 100% confidence that my photosets would be purchased. You win some, you lose some. I'm going to pull one of my sets from Member Review because it seems clear to me that it won't be purchased, Loves Lamp!. History lesson is: It was purchased, then replaced with another set, and the lamps went into MR where they've had a few laughs with the members. Laughter, unfortunately, isn't free. I am, however, really really hopeful that The Pleasure Principle will see the front page. Someday.

There are some people that I would like to say some words to, people that have made my membership to SG really special. Being here has been a huge part of my life, I've made a lot of friends, taken thousands of photos, and have A LOT of stories. It's been crazy to have had the internet be such a prevalent part of my life. Its been crazy to have had so many usernames turn to faces turn to handshakes + hugs. And I'm not complaining.

Destro bought me a gift membership back in 2003, when I was 'evilnicole' - a hopeful. Destro and I were avid beer drinkers + Jager shooters + 80s night attenders. SG was really fun back when SGPittsburgh was cranking. And I can clearly remember Stacie and Synnove being two of the first SGs on my friends' list. Brie was always my number one.

If it wasn't for ymonster, I wouldn't have this amazing chestpiece, my brutal cockfight, the one tattoo that people remember me for, and with which I've proudly carried since 2005. We started it at the ass end of the day at the Detroit tattoo convention, I remember meeting Benni the next morning, we posed for a picture with James. JOVANKA spent a good...

I wanted to say thanks to everyone that persistently commented on my Bed & Breakfast set that went up after about 11months in Member Review. It's a hard wait sometimes, wondering when/if your photos will be picked up by the site. With each submission I've ever made to SG since 2003, I've had 100% confidence that my photosets would be purchased. You win some, you lose some. I'm going to pull one of my sets from Member Review because it seems clear to me that it won't be purchased, Loves Lamp!. History lesson is: It was purchased, then replaced with another set, and the lamps went into MR where they've had a few laughs with the members. Laughter, unfortunately, isn't free. I am, however, really really hopeful that The Pleasure Principle will see the front page. Someday.

There are some people that I would like to say some words to, people that have made my membership to SG really special. Being here has been a huge part of my life, I've made a lot of friends, taken thousands of photos, and have A LOT of stories. It's been crazy to have had the internet be such a prevalent part of my life. Its been crazy to have had so many usernames turn to faces turn to handshakes + hugs. And I'm not complaining.

Destro bought me a gift membership back in 2003, when I was 'evilnicole' - a hopeful. Destro and I were avid beer drinkers + Jager shooters + 80s night attenders. SG was really fun back when SGPittsburgh was cranking. And I can clearly remember Stacie and Synnove being two of the first SGs on my friends' list. Brie was always my number one.

If it wasn't for ymonster, I wouldn't have this amazing chestpiece, my brutal cockfight, the one tattoo that people remember me for, and with which I've proudly carried since 2005. We started it at the ass end of the day at the Detroit tattoo convention, I remember meeting Benni the next morning, we posed for a picture with James. JOVANKA spent a good 15minutes spanking my bare bottom until it turned blodd red, just for kicks. Then she choked Tim. Haha. Tim's been a great friend on top of all his artistic wonder.

One of my best best friends I met through the site. BroadwayBee is like my twin seestur in more ways than anyone I've ever met. Going to see her in NYC + her coming to Pittsburgh to see me were experiences like having a sister. We're still close, but without the site to hold us together. Without being near one another, we've each had our Saturn Return in the creepiest parallel fashion and have lived to tell. She's the macaroni to my cheese, literally.

Whenheroesfail is an awesome friend that started talking to me when he was on tour in Germany. Meeting him was a blast + I'll always go to him for advice and his opinion on whoever I'm dating/marrying/whatever, he has never bitten his tongue to spare me what he's had to say. Great friend.

oJAEflo couldn't be any sweeter. We email, talk about family stuff, exchange photos and texts... kinda as if we grew up in the same neighborhood. I respect him, admire the love he has for his wife, and he also has the biggest comic-brain ever so see him for all your fan-dom - especially in the Batman Group. I can't think of Chicago without wanting to hang out (do the pot? haha)

crispy is a sober-minded and sober-living buddy of mine who will send me football updates while I'm at work without a TV. We bet on a game together once, and the loser (me) had to donate to a charity. It was a neat way to lose $50 on a Steeler game.

supervillain shot three of my sets for me, and we smoked a few blunts in there while watching Monday Night Football, too, huh? You still have my pitchfork, Torre!
Akro secretly shot three sets for me as well, then hid in the cave where he currently resides. You've seen two of them, while the other was replaced by a set shot with Lorelei.

Kyklops Tattoo is my favorite hometown shop in Pittsburgh, PA. Owned by my buddy Evan Gealy, with some great artists who will befriend you + show you a wild night in the SouthSide.

futureastronaut is the man responsible for my forearm (aka- Flamingo de Guatelupe) tattoo: Rodney Raines. I get at least half a dozen compliments on this piece every day. AARONIS also happened to tattoo me once, he's responsible for the Michael Jackson portrait on my thigh, my favorite zombie.

CraigClevenger is a damn good fiction writer and also happens to love the Joker. He told me once or twice. Then I listened to him mimick the voice when he read his own fiction-noir piece aloud. Gave me chills.

I'd want to read anything by LX1. That's one blog that is frozen + cold, but sprouting with green and life under its icy shield. Read that shit.

To the old members of SGPittsburgh, when we would head to Casey's for Midget Madness every Monday, made fun of the long-hairs, and entertained Hel as our one and only SG - 2003 was damn great drinking fun with Adeline, Stiles, Destro, yebutz, Tinfoilhalo, Kira, Max16Characters, norritt, Dolorian, and the one girl to ever get my affection and attention: D.
Soon after the 2003 SG Halloween party (remember Pip dressing up as a pink bunny? he never did live that down), my friendships grew to Shera who was over in Philly, and people in Ohio like Alisa, Stirfry (who also held THE BEST "Pink House Parties" for the East Coast in his pink house with the huge porch... I "tea-bagged" Max16Characters there once, and slept under the dining room table with Hypercrew before he went to Iraq). doctashock and I drove to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat with Contraband during a Steelers game once, after I modeled for his clothing line (in Stirfry's house, holding pistols, OMG). I met kevykev in 2003 and he became like an older brother to me (STILL IS), him and his (then) girlfriend, who is now an SG herself, Ally. MistressMissy was the owner of the SG Ohio group and organized tons of events for us all. Now she's off in Michigan with her husband, EvanX, whom she met through SG. I called him a douchebag once, in a nice way.

In 2003, I flew to Minneapolis + was greeted by thecowboy + NatasKaput for a weekend of partying in the Twin Cities. We slung Summit with Xaquary + galen, did a brewhouse tour with blasfemme + neodrunk. Amazing time with those boys' drinking, smoking, seeing, exploring, smoking again. And even Smitty was able to scoot me to the airport. I LOVE those boys + will never ever forget that weekend. Not ever. When I got a call from Drew telling me that Paul had been badly beaten - my heart dropped as though it had been a member of my own family.

2004 introduced me to Ohio, where I lived with a guy that I met from SG. I became friends with kellyjanice + tightened my friendships with others. Including Seven_C4 who probably changed his name a bunch and might not even be on SG anymore. The then boyfriend? He's been zotted for a long time, after his temper turned into a physical thing one too many times.
In 2005, I moved to Columbus by myself and scored friendships with Drama, Tikki, vectrexx, shabbydo, Patch, missbernie (who drove to NYC with me once), orez, kellyjanice, the wonderful cream in my coffee illmaticdove, Lloyd (who changed his SG name too many times, but we all knew who he was), RedViolet, heidiness, Lexie, Madison, Meow (back in her pre-SG days) + Ally all frequented bars, house parties (like the one at my friend Catie's house, when orez dressed up like a fat lady, and all got really insane once we started doing shots). Once, I drove to Cleveland to see Whenherosfail at the MyChemicalRomance show with Avalon and got pulled over speeding. It was so scary because I didn't have my license + we had packed a bunch of booze and I had weed on me. Yikes. You'd never think that it bothered me, hours later I was slugging JagerBombs + shooting a set with Lorelei based on a certain Prince song. Cherries sent me a handmade scarf that year for Xmas in a little SG-gift-exchange thing, still have it somewhere.
SG really seemed to be growing, I was meeting more + more people from the site. Stirfry had those Pink House parties, we all traveled to Detroit for Kira's birthday (where I met Les, Bathory + her brother Dane, Vanden, Hypercrew was there, + I drank fuck stupid. In fact, we got stupid drunk a few times together in Columbus. Jamey was really really special to me, but in my heart of hearts I don't think it ever would have worked. Back in those days, I was working at a bar and Sunshine+hubbs would come in for drinks. They were super fun back then, too (girl, your hair used to be SO long!).
Going to NYC to stay with BroadwayBee on a few occassions scored quality time with JaiDee, BKWill, NBK66, Krrrn, CeCe, and always with ymonster. I often traveled with CDs that theyerg had burned for me (CitizenCope=so rad).

My time in Columbus ran out, I came back to Pittsburgh + met the other yinzer-SG, Monroe. We hit it off immediately at Warped Tour (got really really sunburnt) + hung out every now and again. I met panda_eyes this way, and was surprised to see that the SGPittsburgh group had kinda... stopped being as rad. We still threw Halloween parties (otherwise, I'd have never met Siv), but meh. Antietam + her friend Jinx were SGs in my hometown, too, + Iso didn't live very far away either. Getting everyone together like "the good ol' days" was like pulling teeth. Still is. Every once in a while, you'll come across someone, like how I always see StarDiva + SailorHarry at the Pittsburgh Meeting of the Marked Convention.

Wow, I went to Detroit the weekend that the Steelers played there for SuperBowl XL. SG was able to get a small handful of us on a guestlist to hang out with the guys from Miami Ink and to see George Clinton perform in an exclusive loft party in downtown Detroit. My (then) boyfriend and I drove up, met up with Whenherosfail, then drove in where I danced all night to chronic grooves with Wendy, Campbell, Helena, + Anberlin. Photos of some of the girls were in that strange "Ink" magazine. I remember that was the year that Beadman sent me a vintage Steelers SuperBowl pin.

Conventions were the best way, at the time, to meet a whole buttload of SGs from around the country at once. Especially if it was the Hell City convention in Columbus, run by the infamous DURB. More sets would be photographed than usual because people like tmronin would fly/drive out. I had a few sets shot this way (like 'Sideshow Madame' -the first set AlissaBrunelli shot for SG!- and 'Cinnamon' -my first multi set- with Chanel). But hanging out with the ladies was the best part. I met Pistolita, Taye, Twwly (who was pregnant with her first lil'one), Odette, Calamity, Gatsby, lounged in a hotel room with Fractal while her (then) love interest nak tattooed my leg, + I remember cursing with Amina. If I spoke to someone, then I made sure that it would count. I met so many SGs that way, for sure.

Soon after, I was stuck in my house for a long time on house arrest for getting a handful of DUIs. Its very humbling to have written so much about my struggle with being in that situation, to have been open about it as much as I was, and to NOW have members write me letters telling me that they thought about me, they want advice, they respect me. Maybe that's why I shot a set with my ankle bracelet strapped on me. Maybe because it was part of me.

When I couldn't come to see halsparks perform with her, James came into my workplace (an Irish pub) + hung out with me for an afternoon eating vegetable curry + french fries while I worked. Hal came in too. I tried to convince him that HP Sauce made everything "taste a little more English" haha.
AlissaBrunelli + Ally drove to my house where we shot a Michael-Jackson themed set. I've still not seen all of it, but it was a bunch of fun shooting. You try flipping a coin into a cup while standing on your tip toes. Hell, those girls came to see me TWICE! It was also Alissa who shot the 'Loves Lamp' set while I was on house arrest -we did that on a whim while my (then) boyfriend was at a Vanilla Ice concert haha. Ally + I had gotten bro-tattoos that afternoon. Heart gems. (And now those two broads have bro-tattoos of Tiki-Mask Mugs with umbrellas, in honor of the Tiki Lounge bar in Pittsburgh)

The ladies that I have grown to know through SG have been a joy to communicate with: Annisa, Sydni, + Thistle are two of the most strong minded women that I know. I respect the hell out of Alyk, KikiBH, + unraveled, anonymouse, BellJar, Azula, Charley, Morgan + Alexis (I met those two at SGHelloween 2003!), Dotty, incorrigible, the down ass bitch named Havana, MissTyrios, + Venice. brideofspanky and I were able to rekindle our friendship from a distance. On one occassion in LA, I had a 12hr brunch with Shalome, Manda, Cedar, Sloane, and they dragged Bean + Maxx along for it. We chanted along to Queen at the Piano Bar + had quite a few Bloody Marys that day, haha. That was the 2nd time I had seen Sloane, several months prior (on my first trip to LA), we'd gone out + slugged a few beers with Lizzi who also tempted me with tequila. Note: tempted. I met MissTruthHurts that weekend, too, at a Slayer/Manson show in Irvine County - from there she asked me to be a part of her book: Cherry Bomb. Poof! Name in print, for dishing out a pro+con list on piercings. lilviciousone sent me a book on Buddhism once. Stephynopants + RizzoFord keep a smile on my face (that's a hint, ahem). Mylf + LucieFurr are two women that simply know what they are talking about. BrightRedScream will greet you with a brightwhitesmile should you ever meet her. Brooklyn + Emma are two women that I have never met, but would love to. Someday.

I threw an SG sponsored party in Pittsburgh, PA in June 2008 that brought 1500 people through the door. Gidgette, Fraiya, Seizure, ParkerP, GOUGE, Blondie, Sassie + Shotgun danced with me all night long in a sweaty venue with a broken air conditioner - but I think they'll all agree that it was damn fun that night.
On the road, I've also grown fond of Solace, Mneylu, Smythe, Yoyo, Luscious, Lainey + the clever Warning, the sweet Karma would bend over backwards for someone she loves, + Ajilee's blue eyes. That was the weekend that like, 40some SGs headed to Columbus so that we should shoot for "PinUps For Soldiers." I met Cherry, Cain, + Rigel that weekend, too. I drove out to Ohio with Wendy (I think she neglected to mention that in her blog), we roomed up with Karma + Taye for the few days we were in town. We all (the SGs) went to different bars to raise money + ultimately sent prints to hundreds of soldiers fighting overseas. It may not have been much help in the long run, but it felt really good to have made $150 towards the project for just showing up one night at BoMA. That venue was graced with naked girls all afternoon and 11 sets were shot there (like my set 'The Pleasure Principle' with Taye and hopefully the one that I shot with Sawa will turn up for you all to see!).
It wasn't until after having a French-cuisine dinner with Hypercrew after he'd returned from Iraq with pieces of schrapnel lodged in his skin that made me really appreciate what people go through in order to protect our country.

At the end of 2008, I moved away from home. That was huge for me. Years have gone by and I've been saying "I'm going to leave Pittsburgh," and it never happened. Not long term. It was after an intense loss by way of a relationship turned wrong. Make sense? I was with a person that hurt me + hurt a part of me that I can't get back. I hit rock bottom, not knowing who I was, where I had been going - even though it seemed like I had some kind of idea for a while. There was one night where I was up late, picked up the phone, and listened to a particular voice I hadn't heard in a long long time where I finally knew what would make me happy: hearing the same voice every day. Vacation happened. Then I hopped on a plane to Hawaii where I live with that voice.
shaboy is my best friend turned lover turned provider turned fiance. I'll never love someone the way that I do him, he's given me so much. I'll be so happy to call him my husband - whenever we decide that will be.

Thanks everyone for all the memories + stuff that's lead me to where I am now. It truly means a lot.