Tattoos

[Biaxin]

Hey.

The local newspaper columnist made reference to tattoos in her column, today, which reminded me to document some things I've had bouncing around in my head for years. Hence:

Your column, today (7/21), touched near to my heart. As a moderately tattooed person, a good friend of a tattoo artist, and in conjunction with a colorful history, I've formulated several fairly sure guidelines for those who might be considering a tattoo on their own selves. I pass these on to you, merely, because I was inspired to.

1. Do not put anyone's name on your body. Not even your own (I can think of a number of circumstances... but, I have a colorful history). I might, almost, make a dispensation for children's names, but, things change.

2. Consider, if you will, what you might think of the design you are deciding on when you are a fifty-year-old of some responsibility and standing. If you don't think that you'll be able to pull that off, then you might look around some more. I know that might be a tough thing for younger folks to imagine, so, maybe you should look at the next fifty-year-old you run into and imagine the tat on them. If it makes you giggle, then think again.

3. Any tattoo placement that allows for casual viewing, when you are wearing the kind of clothes that your parents usually wear, will alter the way other people view you, and not always for the good. Sorry, but it's true. So, placement that allows you to decide who can see it and who can't gives you the power. Yeah, sure, it shouldn't be that way, and times may change, but, in the meantime all of mine can be covered with a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

4. Take a good long look at the guy that's going to put the needle to you. Does he have tattoos? Boy, Heidi, he'd better. Do his look good (some of them should be his own work)? Is the shop clean and orderly? Look at any pictures he may have of his work, look for the cleanliness of the lines, the smoothness of the curves, look for breaks in lines and bleeds between colors (that's my Native American name, by the way, Bleeds Between Colors). Once you have decided to entrust your flesh to this person, sit down, shut up, and let him do it.

5. Do not piss off the tattoo artist or the nurse, as both can make the situation so much worse. Just a general observation.

[Sagar]

You know, the only time I begin to feel old is when I see young people with tatoos and body piercing. Its just NOT something I can relate to at all!

It probably has alot to do with my needle phobia. :( I really really do not like disrupting the continuity of my skin by voluntarily sticking a big hole in it. Nope.. doesn't sound like ANY fun to me!

It also has to do with the time I grew up. Back then, only the most radical of rebels or gang members did body piercing or got tatoos. Then, as being a rebel became more mainstream (now isn't that an oxymoron), more and more people got them. Some where along the line, tatoos and piercing became "cool". It seems kindof a fad - like Izod clothing or turning your sweatshirt inside out - except this fad will never, ever leave you once you've partaken.

A friend once told me that a tatoo is permanent proof of temporary insanity. I don't know that I think of it in that extreme, but I do think its something you damn well better think about before you do it.

And I guess that is what really bothers me about it. So many people do it 'cause its cools and its in... but when this fad moves on, they will have to face the stigma's attached to that piercing or tatoo for a long long time. (Unless those stigmas change, which may happen, albeit slowly).

I like your advice, Biaxin. I wish everyone would put as much thought into it as you did.

[Shiz]

I expect tattoos and piercings will fade in popularity with teenagers, but slowly. As it becomes more mainstream, it loses its "rebel" appeal. I won't freak if my kid gets a tattoo if he follows Biaxin's guidelines. I am much less sanguine about piercings. I hope I am not insulting anyone here by writing this, but to me, piercings suggest low self-esteem. It is self-mutilation after all.

[Asharad]

Really?

I think there is nothing better than a woman with a pierced belly button.

[Shiz]

Well, I don't find it a turn-off, but it always raised questions in my mind about potential stability.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Really?
I think there is nothing better than a woman with a pierced belly button.
I think the belly-button itself is cute enough (and the rest of the female form for that matter). Shiny baubles are distracting. :lol:

[Caranthir]

All I know is nothing detracts from a beautiful pair of green eyes like an ugly steel pin driven through the eyebrows above them.

[Asharad]

Well, I don't find it a turn-off, but it always raised questions in my mind about potential stability.

Ahh..well...hmmm....

You may be onto something there.

[Biaxin]

Hey,

Piercings... Hmmm, I have to say that I'm not the biggest fan of them. Then, again, it depends on the peircing. Ears are a social standard, now, even amongst guys (I got my ear pierced, the left one back when it mattered, because it was 'punk' :shock: It was 1981, in Lubbock, TX for gwads sake, in a damn mall. I quit wearing it a long time ago.) Body piercings I don't mind so much, as, for the most part, they are fairly private and personal. It's the facial piercings that make me a bit judgemental, mostly because it seems like it's a bold affront to society in their minds, and, dangit, while I support challenging society, I am still part of society and if someone stridently flips off the whole bunch of us I feel like I should take it a little personally. That, and most of the facial piercings I run into are attached to drug overdosed idiots.

I feel the same way about facial tattoos (excepting cosmetic tats, i.e. permanent eyeliner). Otherwise, I find tattoos to be a viable form of self-expression, whether it be an enhancement of one's body image, or an expression of personal feeling, or symbolic representations of important life events (I have a big black caduceus on my left shoulderblade), or whimsy (a mother and daughter came into my buddy's shop and asked him to tattoo a little guy pushing a lawnmower on the both of them, they wanted him to shave about a half-razors width halfway through the top of their pubic thatches and put the little guy there :lol: ) Granted, there are people who get big F-you tattoos and I think of them as just as big jagovs as the guy with the bone through his nose.

[Draknor]

I'm not a huge fan of body piercings, I tend to view it as self mutilation. Ears are slightly different being more socially acceptable, but it's still mutilation. Tatoos (on women) that are smaller and generally hidden by clothing I don't mind so much for some reason. Tasteful tatoo work on men doesn't bother me.

To each their style of self expression, though. I suspect that many don't think of the permanent nature of tatoos. I had a roommate in college who got one on his upper arm - and it was done pretty badly. Not that he was disfigured, it just didn't look too professional.

[GravenStone]

Really?

I think there is nothing better than a woman with a pierced belly button.

*nods* pierced navel (especially with belly chain) tends to strike a positive chord with me.... more intimate piercings.. those tend to be received less positively by my practical mind :P I mean, they tend to either adversely affect sensitivity, or are just plain in th damned way!! What's the fun of that? :?

[Raveneye]

I respect tattoos on people who've obviously chosen them carefully as part of their own self-image, such as Biaxin's examples of his own tattoos or those worn by many military personel that convey the bond they share with fellow soldiers.

I do not respect tattoos that are simply meant to shock, offend or send a big F-U to authority or other people in general. Tattoos as rebellion is about the dumbest thing I can think of short of amputation as rebellion. "Hey man, I hacked off three of my toes! Screw the man!! Yeah!!" (see how silly that sounds?).

A great example of useless tattoos that are more popular than ever are the small sunbursts or tribal symbols many women like to get done right above or below their waistlines in the small of their backs. These are meant to draw attention to what is alreay a pretty titilating area on a woman's body. Well guess what, if I find that area of your body attractive, it doesn't matter a bit if there is a tattoo there or not. However, if your not an attractive woman to begin with, putting a tattoo their does not make you into Shakira. In fact, seeing as how I'm a man, and we're all pigs anyway, I'm going to look at the parts of your body I'm partial to looking at regardless of any bodyart you may have there, so in essence it's pretty much a waste of time and money on your part. :)

Piercings are about the most useless fad I've seen yet. Not only does it do nothing to enhance any body part (remember what I said before about you either have it or you don't?) but it can actually detract from otherwise attractive appearences. Nothing turns me off like a bar through the nose or a bunch of silly studs in the eyebrows. People think they look shocking, cool or dangerous with this stuff, when what they really look like is someone in desperate need of being noticed and paid attention to, and if they can't achieve that on their own merits, then let piercings do it for them.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I'm a person with no tattoos, no piercings, hell I don't even wear jewelry other than my wedding ring (even watches make my skin crawl for some reason). I even wear fairly ordinary, understated clothing that won't win me any modeling gigs or get me stared at. When people notice me, I know it's for who I am, not what I'm wearing, what I have sticking out of me, or what is painted on my skin, and that's just how I like it.

[Greebo]

Well guess what, if I find that area of your body attractive, it doesn't matter a bit if there is a tattoo there or not.
True, true.
In fact, seeing as how I'm a man, and we're all pigs anyway, I'm going to look at the parts of your body I'm partial to looking at regardless of any bodyart you may have there, so in essence it's pretty much a waste of time and money on your part.
Shut up - if it encourages them to show OFF that body part because they have the tattoo, then we get to see more of them, don't we!? Honestly - stop spoiling it for us! :twisted:

[DinbinFanfoom]

Forget tattoos. Make "belly shirts" mandatory. Mmmmmm...

[Kiir]

Really?

I think there is nothing better than a woman with a pierced belly button.

Both my didsters pierced their belly buttons because they liked the look, and my brother pierced his eyebrow, he figures that when he gets out of college he can get rid of it, but till then it is kind of fun. I think it looks silly, but it is his body and it is way better then a permenent tattoo.

[Asharad]

Raven, you know that Charisma Carpenter has a tattoo on the small of her back, right?

[GravenStone]

Forget tattoos. Make "belly shirts" mandatory. Mmmmmm...

Mmmm... only as soon as someone mandates an approximation of "fit" bellies to wear them. I'm a firm believer that "fat people shouldn't wear Spandex" (and count myself clearly among the proscribed) so this is simply a reasonable corollary.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Mmmm... only as soon as someone mandates an approximation of "fit" bellies to wear them. I'm a firm believer that "fat people shouldn't wear Spandex" (and count myself clearly among the proscribed) so this is simply a reasonable corollary.
I'm willing to take that risk. One "good" one is worth 100 "bad" ones. :lol:

[Greebo]

Both my didsters
What is a didster?

[DinbinFanfoom]

What is a didster?
I figure it was a typo. Sounds kinda, ahem, "slutty" though... :lol:

[Kiir]

Both my didsters
What is a didster?


a bitchy sister?


blegh :p



Actually only one of my sisters is a bitch, the other one is perfect.

[Greebo]

Actually only one of my sisters is a bitch, the other one is perfect.
Ok, you walked into this one:

So the "perfect" sister says, "Both my sisters are bitches", right? :wink:

[Kiir]

Actually only one of my sisters is a bitch, the other one is perfect.
Ok, you walked into this one:

So the "perfect" sister says, "Both my sisters are bitches", right? :wink:

Nah she doesn't, i told you she is perfect.

[Raveneye]

Raven, you know that Charisma Carpenter has a tattoo on the small of her back, right?

Yeah, and it's totally unneccessary as it's a damn good "back" to begin with.

What the hell happened with her anyway? Last episode of Angel I saw, not only was she sporting the chopped and badly colored hair, but she was wearing dumpy clothes and looking like she hadn't seen makeup in a week, then she starts ascending into the heavens like she's leaving the show for good or something? I was starting to wonder if she was pregnant or sick or something, the way they turned her around from sexy femme warrior chick to dumpy rag-on-the-head cleaning woman......

[Aananla]

What the hell happened with her anyway? Last episode of Angel I saw, not only was she sporting the chopped and badly colored hair, but she was wearing dumpy clothes and looking like she hadn't seen makeup in a week, then she starts ascending into the heavens like she's leaving the show for good or something? I was starting to wonder if she was pregnant or sick or something, the way they turned her around from sexy femme warrior chick to dumpy rag-on-the-head cleaning woman......

Thats what happens when you ascend... The hot chick turns into the cleaning lady 'cause makeup isn't allowed in heaven. :P

[Raveneye]

Thats what happens when you ascend... The hot chick turns into the cleaning lady 'cause makeup isn't allowed in heaven. :P

Hmmm...I wonder if it's too late to convert to ancient Norse? In Valhalla, you supposedly get to bust the chops of evil all day and enjoy the company of lusty wenches all night. Not a bad way to spend an eternity.....

[Sir Rubi]

I have my left ear pierced. I got it done several months back to do something that I'd always wanted to do but never got around to doing (and didn't have any backing to do *mutters about ex's*). My dad claimed that he'd disown me if I did, but he didn't (not that we really talk that much anyway - he doesn't approve of my life and it's turns that it's taken) and my mom thought it would look good on me.

I have a stud, a silver loop (which I'm wearing now) and will have an emerald stud in my ear for the wedding in August.

I can't stand people who feel the need to pierce every appendage on their body, but tasteful (emphasis on tasteful) piercing can be artistic, IMO.

[Drax]

I personally have always like Tattoo. I found funny because he's short and talks with an accent. :shock:

As for piercings ... I have no problem with piercings in general. Ears are socially acceptable, o'course, and belly buttons are getting there. In fact, about 2 weeks before I started dating my GF, she got her belly button pierced. It took weeks to heal, and still gets infected rather easily. Still it looks good, generally, and she likes it quite a bit. I'm sure, ina few years, once we're married and are thinking about having children, she'll remove it for good. Hopefully. :roll:

Other piercings, I'm not too fond of but have the attitude that, if you want to mutilate your body, you're more than welcome to do so. The eyebrow studs, I find pretty bad taste, tho' plenty of people and some wrestlers too (after all, everybody knows wrestlers are fake) have them. Piercings where you can't see them do not sound very pleasant either.

One of the freakiest experiences I've had was going to a Nine Inch Nails concert, when NIN came through St Louis a few years ago (Perfect Circle, with lead singer Maynard from Tool, for those not "in the know," was the opening band). The concert was absolutely awesome, and I'd gladly go to another if they come close to here. But ~60% of the audience freaked the hell outta me.

I saw a couple girls wearing nothing but ducttape above their waist. I saw this one guy with an earring that caused this ear lobe to droop half an inch. Hell, his earring opening was a quarter inch open. :o

I'm not trying to judge. I'm usually pretty good at being objective. I guess because I've never encountered that lifestyle and mindset before, it just made an immediate negative impression on me. Not a big deal, really. Still...
*shrug*

[Greebo]

I have a stud
This post shall serve as Formal Notice Of Relevant Discussion! (FNORD) The above quoted statement is not repeat NOT to be misconstrued in ANY way, whatsoever.

ESPECIALLY by SERANI!

[Asharad]

I saw a couple girls wearing nothing but ducttape above their waist.

That is so damned cool.

[Sir Rubi]

I saw a couple girls wearing nothing but ducttape above their waist.

That is so damned cool.

Yah, it's cool until they go to remove the duct tape.

Looks like their kids will be bottle-fed... :shock:

[Asharad]

Bah, as long as you are careful...

[Drax]

I saw a couple girls wearing nothing but ducttape above their waist.

That is so damned cool.

Yah, it's cool until they go to remove the duct tape.

Looks like their kids will be bottle-fed... :shock:

I don't think these girls will have to worry about that for a while...
I don't think they were above the age of 16, which I think, in most circles, makes it illegal to look at 'em in most ways you would like to look at someone wearing only ducttape over their moobs. :shock:

Edit: Very disturbing, in any case.

[Aananla]

That is so damned cool.

...but how do they get the duct tape off???

yeouch!

[Serani]

I have a stud

Have? HAVE??? Who is he and should I be worried?

I think you meant AM, dear. ;)

Seriously, I have a cousin who's a stripper - I'm sorry exotic dancer - That has more than a few piercings. She never tattooed herself, but she does have more than the "socially acceptable" piercings.

I don't have a problem with earrings - in either men or women. But more than that for piercings isn't my bag. I don't get offended by it, but it's certainly not for me.

[Asharad]

Seriously, I have a cousin who's a stripper - .

Oh yeah? is she coming to the wedding? :twisted:

[Serani]

I'll invite her if you promise to be there. :twisted:

[Sir Rubi]

Look her up on the net. Her stage name's Reno Lynn.

And if that's all it takes to get you to be there? I'll tell you about the abundance of single, young females that have already said they'd be there for the wedding :twisted:

[Zyzzyx]

I'll invite her if you promise to be there. :twisted:

:shock: :shock: :shock:

[Caranthir]

I'll tell you about the abundance of single, young females that have already said they'd be there for the wedding :twisted:

Man, why is it when I go to weddings, it never works out that way? :cry:

[Sir Rubi]

I'll tell you about the abundance of single, young females that have already said they'd be there for the wedding :twisted:

Man, why is it when I go to weddings, it never works out that way? :cry:

Because you don't come to the right ones :wink:

[Raveneye]

Look her up on the net. Her stage name's Reno Lynn.

OK, I took the challenge. I found an especially educational webpage where she apparently "romps" with another chaste young maiden by the name of Larissa. Very interesting. :shock:

So, she's your cousin eh? She apparently travels quite a bit, as she had several upcoming "public appearences" listed. Would she be in need of a personal valet by chance? I've been thinking of switching careers..... 8)

Seriously though, she's very attractive, and only goes to prove my point that piercings do nothing to enhance a beauty that's already present.

[Serani]

So, she's your cousin eh?

Now if I wasn't afraid of the response I'd get from Rubi, I'd make a comment here along the lines of how it's obvious (and too bad) cousins don't usually look alike...

Anyway, I agree with you. Not that I spent a lot of time looking at other females or anything, but the same goes for men, too. If it looks good, it looks good. If it doesn't, a new hole with a piece of jewelry sticking through it ain't going to help.