What follows are distilled quotes from a conversation in 2003 with body piercer Elayne Angel, who owned Rings of Desire in New Orleans at the time of the interview.

On moving to New Orleans

I had lived in L.A. all my life and then a friend of mine died. He was 28. He wished he’d been more places and done more things. His life and death inspired me to move. New Orleans really picked me. There was no piercing studio here. And it doesn’t snow. I don’t like cold weather. I love the summers here. I felt more at home here than I ever felt in L.A. in my thirty-three years there.

On the best parts of body piercing

I know very few people that have an equal passion for anything in their lives, even a hobby, no less what I get to do for my living daily. It’s a really great experience for me— to help people get pierced, realize their visions and get to know their bodies.

On the emotional affects of piercing

I’ve seen people jumping up and down in front of the mirror afterward shouting, “I’m transformed!” I mean how validating is that to my work? Most people come in very trepidatious about getting pierced. So they have to endure something, even if it’s just their own fears, and then they get it done and their bodies are forever changed and its very….serious. It breaks the skin barrier— your protection from the world. To have that kind of energy exchanged with somebody is very intense. I think that [body art] allows people to think for themselves about their own bodies. I mean, what do you really have that’s yours? Other than your body, nothing.

On how she’s chosen art for her own body

They’ve been basically like visions. I get this concept, and it sort of comes upon me very strongly and fully. Before I got my back tattooed, I thought about it every day for a year. That was back in 1985 or ’86. It wasn’t common for a woman to have large tattoos at all. And I thought about it a lot and I decided that was something I really did want to live with for the rest of my life.

On more life goals

I have to be careful what I ask for, I’ve found out. A couple weeks ago I had been looking at the internet at French Bulldogs. Some of my customers have French Bulldogs, and I was just fascinated by them. Then somebody lost one, and somebody found it and gave it to me. Ordinarily, they’re rare, extremely expensive pets. They put up notices and they had it for a month and nobody claimed it. Oh, she’s darling. Anyway, that came to mind because my dreams have manifested in my life more so than anybody else, I’ve ever known.

On what her child self saw for her future

I had no idea. My parents were like, “Well, what are we going to tell people you’re doing?” I’m like, “Well, I’m a professional piercer.” And they said, “Well, what is that?” Nobody had ever heard of that. Now, they’re proud of me and they realize that I was just a little ahead of my time. I’m a very optimistic person, and if you ask me what my favorite quote is it’s, “Don’t underestimate the power of positive thinking.” I’m really big on that. But I always had the sense that everything would turn out okay. I never felt stressed out about who I was. The first thing I did out of high school was study fashion design. And then I was a sign language interpreter for five years. I ended up with tendinitis in my arms and I had to quit. It was my career. It was my language. I lost everything. I had a very rough patch there for a while, but in hindsight I would say I’m glad it happened the way it did because I don’t think I could be happier with my life today.

On the sense of home New Orleans creates for newcombers

I had never moved away from home. I’d never opened my own business, and when I look back on it, I think it’s amazing that I had the nerve to come and do such a thing.

When I first moved here I was having trouble meeting people because I don’t really go out. I was online and saw this guy who was really hot. He was from L.A. He ended up emailing me. The next thing I knew, he came to visit and three months later he moved here, and now we’re totally in love. We grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same places and never met. Now, after meeting online from across the country, we are getting married. We have literally hundreds of people in common.

The weirdest part is when he came to New Orleans he saw a picture on the wall of my friend who died and 28 and he said,” That’s my friend Cliff.”