Tattoos (maybe a trivial topic!)

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This may strike some as a trivial topic, but how many people on Wrongplanet have tattoos?
I am perhaps older than many people here (and i am female) but some four years ago I had my upper left arm tattooed with the opening bars of a piece of music that happens to mean a lot to me. It is quite decorative, although my motive was not decoration, but a 'statement' of meaning.
Some of my friends and family were horrified (I guess because it is a permanent thing) but most reactions I have had are facourable, even though the tattoo itself is seen as a bit "unusual'. (Once, when on holiday, a guy leading a bunch of photographic students in a park insisted on photographing it. I doubt any stranger would ever think to photograph my face !
So what tattoos do other people have? And are they simply decrative, or do they have some other (maybe deeper) significance?

Glenn, how COOl is that! yay!

i have 3: a huge butterfly on my left hip (purple and green = suffragist colours); celtic knotwork on my right shoulder (which i'm going to have made bigger, one of these days); a welsh dragon (although green rather than red - i really don't need a red dragon on my kundalini, ta), just to the left of the base of my spine. trouble is, they're addictive, and i keep wanting more. it's only money which stops me.

I would love to get a tattoo- I'm just waiting until I have the money and I'm 100% sure what I want.

Mel

Vetivert, they sound great!
You're right about it being addictive ... I would like more tattoos and with me, too, its the money that stops me! I would like more music, and at one point I thought of having a Buddhist Wheel of Life, maybe on my back (but that is complicated and would be desperately expensive, so it will probably remain a dream)... I also have drawn myself a caricature of Glenn Gould at the piano (quite colourful) and since he is my icon, would like that tattooed somewhere (it wouldnt have to be very large) but i am not sure if I have the courage, as it might take a bit of explaining! (But hey, its MY skin!)
Oh well, I can dream. One thing I'd like to know; my "music" tattoo - which necessarily has thin black lines - is beginning to be a little bit "blurry". Is there any way a tattoist could "tidy it up"? When it was new, it was brilliantly clear, people commented how skilful my tattoinst was.
I hope other people will now let us know what tattoos they have!

Last edited by Glenn on 20 Jan 2005, 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

oh, i hope they do! i love hearing about tattoos.

i think a good tattooist COULD sharpen up yours - darker ink and re-doing it should work. i could be wrong, though.

and mel - jim is your tatto, obviously

Sorry ,Vetivert .... that was a typo in my last post ....I meant to say "I hope other people will NOW let us know what tattoos they have! " (I have amended the mistake, changin 'not' to 'now'!)

Yeah- but what picture to get?? Plus I want something spiritual too.

What is the piece of music Glenn?

I'm guessing it's Bach but I might be wrong.

My choice would be the C sharp minor fugue from book 1 of the Well Tempered Clavier.

I don't have any tattoos but the idea of having music sounds great.

I saw a film once called 'The Illustrated man' with Rod Stieger ~ It was about a man who had every part of his body tattoed and every tattoo had a story behind it ~ It was very good.

I have a tattoo on my back, up near my left shoulder. The design is from a pen and ink drawing I have (one of my personal favorites). It is the head of a female lioness looking quite intense as if ready to pounce.

The tattoo is done in black (as is the drawing) except for the expressive eyes which are yellow. I had this tattoo done when I was in my late 30's. I had always wanted a tattoo but never could decide what I wanted. The lioness seemed "right" as if it were meant to be a part of me.

The Native Americans used to have animals as their Spirit Guides and so I suppose I've always felt a lioness was the proper Guide for me. I am so much like a lioness anyway....quiet, watchful, fiercely protective of my pride (family). I have never regretted getting a tattoo. It is a very personal thing (to me) and I do not show my tattoo to very many people. The ones that have seen it think it's great though.

You're right - it is Bach but not anything from the WTC. It actually the opening bars of the Goldberg Variations.

I don't have any tattoos, but would like some zelda tattoos.

I want them in a place that isn't overpowering and very small. I'd like a triforce and the three spiritual stones.

For those of you who have tattoos- how do you go about checking out how good the tattoo artists work is?? The reason I ask is that on another internet forum someone posted a pic of a Jim Morrison tattoo they were having done and it was terrible- he looked like he had a severe case of mumps


Mel

I'm not a big fan of tattoos. If they were temporary, then I would be fine with them, but every time I see an older person with one, it just looks stupid. They obviously got them when they were younger, but all the young people getting them now are going to be old one day. I am not against them, but I would never get one. (Saying this makes me sound like I'm old, but I'm only 17.)

I have 10 tattoos - I'd be covered with them if I could afford it - and eventually I will be - I have faith!
Well, only the bits of me that I can cover up at work would be covered, but that is most of my trunk and all of my legs . . .

I also have 10 piercings . . .

From the top down:
1) autism puzzle piece ribbon on my chest - right where you would wear one if you had a pin on - self explanatory . . .

2) rat and cat sleeping together under a cross with the verse 'Isaiah 11:5-9' quoted above it on my spine - this is my ideal - peace for all species - sort of my verison of the lion and the lamb (which is what is quoted in the verse) - this is my most spiritual tattoo

3) rat holding a purple flower - under #2 - this was my first tattoo - I love rats . . .

4) grey cat to the left of #3 - this is my furry son Gideon

5) lion and lamb to the right of #3 - sort of related to #2 - but more traditional

6) shark on left thigh - sharks are the ideal animal to me - the only perfect species - perfectly adapted to what they do - so much so that they haven't changed for millions of years - sort of the opposite of humans, who have no ecological nitche . . . they are the symbol of beauty and perfection to me . . .

7 to 9) these can all really go together - I got them in one night but they are not connected, so, technically, they are different tattoos - on my right thigh - a Chinese styled cross followed by a Chinese symbol for vegan followed by a really great starfish - this represents for me my primary beliefs being Christianity (as actually stated in the Bible, not by churches), veganism, and then the starfish represents doing good for others . . . if anyone hasn't heard the starfish story let me know and I'll tell it . . .

10) ivy on my ankle - this is my very favorite tattoo, but I would also discourage people from getting them on your ankle if you are at all pain sensitive - I literally couldn't walk on it for a good week . . . it felt like I had a sprained ankle . . . conversely, if you are interested in wierd sensations, there were spots where it hurt on the side opposite to what he was working on - I guess the nerves all run together there . . .
Ivy is eventually what I am going to be covered in . . . I have this thing for ivy . . .

For me, the whole tattooing thing is a combination of a very real rush I get when I get a tattoo, but also the fact that I have a very disassociative way of seeing the world and while I know that I control my body I don't feel connected to it - so I figure if I decorate it then I will know it is mine . . . like putting pictures on your walls . . . same with the piercings . . .
My psychiatrist says that they also force me to take care of myself (after care on modifications takes a while and is VERY important) - but I think he is full of various substances . . .

Anyone who is thinking of getting a tattoo make sure you mean it - and don't ever get one on a whim - always get ones that are important to you . . . don't get something stupid you will regret . . .
Never, ever, ever, ever tattoo your face/neck or hands (some artists also include private parts in that warning, but for my purposes that doesn't matter) - because if you tattoo these parts of your body you limit yourself based on your appearance and we are already so limited by our behavior that we don't need to add anything else!

I used to teach an HIV education class and it is really important to ask about sterilization of ink wells and needles just to keep away from HIV and Hepatitis . . .
As for decorations, my artists (I have two - they are both very moody and so if one is being mean the day I want a tattoo I go to the other) have huge books of their pieces to look at . . . if you don't like what you see, don't get it done . . . sometimes the artist gets mad, so go to another shop . . . remember it is your canvas, not theirs . . .


Oh - and enjoy the rush while you are having it done

Well, I don't know what other people do, but as I am no expert on the subject I was advised to go by personal recommendation. My tattooist (a woman - apparently this is unusual) was recommended by people who had seen her work. If you know people with tattoos, have a look at them . You can also visit the tattooist before you decide to go ahead to discuss what you want; maybe he can show pictures of his work. in my case, because I wanted some music tattooed on my arm, I was advised by someone (who also had tattoos) to check they were skilled at tattooing straight lines , which apparently is difficult and requires experience to do well!
A professional tattooist also uses sterile equipment, with disposable needles. I have read that this might not be true of amateurs so it is perhaps not a good idea to ask an enthusiastic friend to have a go!
Incidently. I expected that having a tatto would hurt. I am pleased to report that I didnt find the process at all painful . And I was very pleased with the result. (You should be given instructions how to care for the tattooed skin for the first ten days or so .... you are not supposed to get it wet, for instance; but after that, you can forget about it!)

And Bec .... obviously many people, like you, don't like tattoos, but I am puzzled why you think that "older people" with tattoos look any sillier than young people. I am perhaps one of the "older people"! And I didn't have the tatto done when I was young; I had it only four years ago. And you know, although some people were durprised at my decision, most people who have actually seen my tattoo think it looks just great!



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nope. i was in my thirties when i had my first one, and i'm 43 now, and fully intend to have more.

i don't have much in the way of piercings, just several in each ear and my nose pierced. when it became trendy to have belly buttons and eyebrows and tongues and lips done, i went off the idea. i like to be different.