Traveling to Rome

I'm planning a trip to Rome this winter by myself. I've haven't been to Rome before and was hoping to possibly have some correspondence with people that live there with similar interests. I'm not really into touristy things, although I know there are some things in Rome that you must see, I'm looking for more authentic places and activities. If anyone on this who posts on this forum lives there and would be interested in possibly showing me around or at the very least some suggestions I'm willing to pay for meals and things to do (although I will be on a budget) and would be very grateful. My Italian is pretty much non-existent so you must be willing to put up with me possibly butchering the language. I also plan/hope to get some work done while I'm over there so if any artists post here send me a link to your work. I plan to travel there around the 14th-29th of December. Thanks in advance.

I've heard that alot of people in Rome speak english too.You can also meet alot of tattooers from Italy on myspace. http://goitaly.about.com/ http://www.tattooexporoma.com/artist.html ninatattoostudio.com swansongtattoo.com evilmachinestattoo.com cherrytattoo.it soulside-tattoo.it myspace.com/salviotattooing http://www.missarianna.com/