I handed back the self-portrait assignments my photo students gave me last week, and, with permission, posted the top four on the bulletin board in the student union. One is of a student in her T.G.I.Friday's work regalia, complete with “Can I take your order?” cheat sheet and a sly look in her eyes; another is of a woman in full Patriots regalia, head down, in mourning; another is of a woman under an industrial-salon hair dryer, green foils in her hair, and a sickly green cast across the entire picture. But my favorite is of the woman who put on big sunglasses, lit herself with orange gels, and snarled her face so you can see the c-word tattooed on the inside of her lower lip. Honest: c-u-n-t (not hyphenated!) is TATTOOED inside her lower lip. Talk about hardcore!

“It only took 30 seconds and didn't hurt a bit,” she told me. “It was the easiest tattoo I ever got.”

I printed an extra copy of the photo for my collection. I'm going to ask her to sign it once class is over. It's awesome.