Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell An Intimate Author Experience
Have you ever read my book?
I haven’t, either.
On June 21, 2017, I worked my last day in an office job, out in the world.
I was losing my ability to walk. My steps were becoming smaller and smaller until I could only shuffle my feet a few inches at a time. Unfortunately, doctors didn’t believe me about my pain and other symptoms, so it took 2.5 years of fighting against medical gaslighting to discover that my spinal cord was being crushed by a mass of cells in my spinal canal.
It would take another year and a half to discover the “worst case of endometriosis my surgeon had seen in her entire career,” which was invading my abdomen, pelvis, and lower spinal canal.
From December 28, 2018, to October 2022, I survived six major surgeries. I had four neurosurgeries and two abdominal surgeries, including a medically necessary hysterectomy.
While navigating it all, I wrote a book. It was published it on June 1, 2019.
Five days later, I got the news about the mass in my spinal canal and two upcoming neurosurgeries. And from there, well, you can imagine how hard it was to go out and promote the thing.
I am reading my memoir with you, my audience, for the first time in its entirety.
Much of it I don’t remember writing.
Join me for the highs and lows, rediscoveries, tears, and laughter.
It’s everything you want in an author reading, without having to leave your home.
Episode 8: Chapter 9: The Story of Us
“I texted Brian with the Pompadour and asked him if I could drive out and meet up with him after work. I needed to talk to him…we drove around Jackson, Michigan. He was driving my car, and we’d just gotten gas and cigarettes. By this point, I wanted to throw up, and I couldn’t figure out how to tell him. Finally, I said, “So, a funny thing happened today...turns out I’m pregnant.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 5
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 7: Chapter 8: The Sleeve Part II: Framily
“My friend Mark was unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. He grew up in a hyper-religious and conservative family but was one of the most open-minded and accepting people I’ve ever known. He was a Marine, and by the time I met him he had served two tours in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He’d also been in a serious relationship with a registered member of the Communist Party, which always cracked me up.
...
“For the record, I thought Mark was a total jackass on first sight. He wore tweed suit jackets with suede elbow patches to school every day. He laughed at his own jokes—a lot. I was perpetually rolling my eyes at him. I also wasn’t impressed by the Marine thing — I hated the war in Iraq. I was scared to death of losing my friends who were on active duty overseas throughout the conflict.
But Mark always had thoughtful questions and responses to lectures which intrigued me about him. After a while, I softened up.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 5
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 6: Chapter Six Cont.; Chapter Seven: The Sleeve: Part I; Chapter 8: The Sleeve: Part II
“I texted Brian with the Pompadour and asked him if I could drive out and meet up with him after work. I needed to talk to him…we drove around Jackson, Michigan. He was driving my car, and we’d just gotten gas and cigarettes. By this point, I wanted to throw up, and I couldn’t figure out how to tell him. Finally, I said, “So, a funny thing happened today...turns out I’m pregnant.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 5
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 5: Chapter 5 Cont. and Chapter 6: Salud, Amor, & Pesetas (Health, Love, and Propserity)
“I texted Brian with the Pompadour and asked him if I could drive out and meet up with him after work. I needed to talk to him…we drove around Jackson, Michigan. He was driving my car, and we’d just gotten gas and cigarettes. By this point, I wanted to throw up, and I couldn’t figure out how to tell him. Finally, I said, “So, a funny thing happened today...turns out I’m pregnant.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 5
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 4: Chapter 5: The Midnight Train
“My stepbrothers, who were twins, were almost exactly one year older than I was. They were the closest thing to pure evil I have ever encountered. Our parents hadn’t even married yet when one of them strangled me until I was nearly unconscious, a friend intervening and pulling him off from on top of me just in time.
I was 15 when that same twin held a butcher knife to my throat and, again, a friend intervened.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 4
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 3: Chapter 4: Greenish-Brown Female Sheep, or Olive Ewe
“Fast forward four years. I was in my college dorm pulling an all-nighter writing a paper when I heard from Angela out of the blue on Myspace. I remember actually holding my breath when the message came up as I tried to think of a way to respond. Was this a setup? I mean, you never knew with her. Within a few minutes, we were talking and catching up as though no time had passed at all. She told me that she and her husband (the boyfriend with the knife) now had two boys, who were two-years and one-year-old, both born in August, their birthdays only a few days after mine.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 3
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 2: Chapter 2: Honor Thy Father & Chapter 3: Beautiful Disaster
“It was three days after my fourth birthday, August 11, 1986, when my father, Jay Y. Mendenhall passed away from esophageal cancer. Several months prior he had gone to the doctor because he was having difficulty swallowing. X-rays showed a large tumor in my father’s esophagus.”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 2
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
Episode 1: Introduction & Chapter One: My First Tattoo
“I got my first tattoo when I was 17 years old. I had just barely turned 17. My poor mother never stood a chance. Once I decided I wanted something, I went after it relentlessly, and my first tattoo was no exception. I remember saying things like, “It could be worse, Mom, I could be doing heroin.” Another gem was, “I’m not asking for genitalia piercings, Mom, I could be asking for that!” I also used my stepbrothers to guilt her. “Mom, Thomas, and Travis smoke crack, steal cars, and set things on fire. All I want is a tattoo.” As I said, I was relentless.’”
Excerpt From
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell: An Intimate Author Experience: Episode 1
Written and performed by Kelly J. Mendenhall
This material is protected by copyright.
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