ain’t that the truth.
I have celtic knotwork all around my right wrist. My wife got it for me after 12 years of telling me she’d never approve of my getting one… . I don’t know if I’d get another one mainly because I haven’t seen something I like enough yet. I think a couple of tattoos here and there are cool, but covering major portions of your body with ink is a bit much.
Avarie537, I was going to get the Earnhardt logo, but now that you mention it, maybe a black rhino with the logo on its side is something to think about… He had a tendency to move people out of his way like a charging rhino, so maybe…hmmm
I have a skull-batwing design covering my right shoulder, and a skull-spider design on my left pectoral. These are from when I was a young tough guy. "You see my tough guy tattoo? I am tough and so on! Look at the skulls and Halloween imagery. Grr! Grr, I say!! Okay, just kidding, I was never a tough guy. Think of the tattoos as eye spots on a butterfly.
Down the arms I have a couple more very large tattoos, half-sleeves. From my left shoulder to my left elbow I have a cartoonish scene of a tornado demolishing a trailer park. On the other arm, I have a large dagger tattoo from my right elbow to my right wrist covering the whole of the front of my forearm, the part you would see if I were saluting you. It has a banner across it reading “WORD.” i tell people it was supposed to say “sword,” but he left the S off.
As to whether they’re socially acceptable or not, definitely a lot more so than they once were, but I think some people do have a tendancy to look upon me as a plebeian for having very large tattoos in very conspicuous locations, or assume I must not be very bright for having done so, or that my job prospects must have been pretty limited in the first place. I think other people probably give them more thought than I do. To me they’re just part of my skin, and I don’t think about them much more than you would sit around thinking about your eye color. Like the old tattoo parlor sign says-
“The only difference between people with tattoos and people without tattoos is people with tattoos don’t care if you have any tattoos or not.”
tattoos=Parachute Pants. At least you can take the pants to the thrift store however.
I already look like the type of guy you’d see on the Jerry Springer show.
If I got a tattoo it would seal the deal.
I got my first one when I was in highschool. I knew what design I wanted, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to put it. I asked the guy doing it, and he said the words I will always remember.
“Gravity affects tattoos also.”
Words of wisdom to live by, as far as I’m concerned.
So, my magical butterfly found permanent residence on the back of my right shoulder.
Funny thing… Before my first one, I always told myself that I would stop at one. That I didn’t want more than one. One was plenty to get me through the rest of my life.
I now fully understand why some people are covered in them. They are as addictive as alcohol and drugs can be, and in most cases, far less dangerous.
I then memorialized my pet gecko on the back of my left shoulder, and found a heart and tribal arm band that I modified to become a bracelet on my left wrist.
Next? What I really want is the back half of a gecko disappearing into my hairline behind my ear, and the front half emerging from my hairline on the other side. Cute and quirky. My local artist thought the idea was so cool, he offered to throw it in for free when I came in for my next design. Alas, my husband, who doesn’t mind my other tattoos, really wasn’t thrilled with this idea.
Of course, I also offered to have his name, John, tattooed on my left butt cheek.
His response? “What if we get a divorce?”
My response? “If we get divorced, I’ll have ‘Can Kiss My Ass’ tattooed on the other cheek.”
Surprisingly, he wasn’t exactly amused with this. 
Don’t you think that’s kind of tactless? I mean, really!
Some of us might be wearing parachute pants!!
No, they’re not parachute pants - not tattoos themselves. Certain designs are at risk thereof, the faux-Celtic/Triba onesl folks mentioned.
I spent months thinking about mine and designing it. Finally got it done last june. It’s a fairly abstract cat, about 3.5" high x. 2.5" wide, on my right calf. Designed it myself based on a Japanese print that I found on the net. Picked that location because I have fairly large calves, and that’s a part that doesn’t tend to sag.
Needs a bit of a touch-up on the eyes, which were bright blue but lost a fair amount of color due to scabbing. Also thinking of giving the cat a bit of a habitat, but that’ll have to wait a bit.
Pain was mostly tolerable, except at the top of the tattoo, closest to the rear of the knee - lots of nerve endings there.
Haven’t regretted it for a minute. I spent too much time planning this.
My tattoo got me an OICU.
It’s definitely a unique tat!
so let me get this straight…
If I want some ink… I should get a parachute pant tat, then I’ll be cool, right?
Consider it done.
I have a red and gold koi fish on the right side of my back. Its tail goes a little under my usual waistband and its head is an inch or so below my bra. I love it, it’s custom-drawn from a similar design and didn’t hurt too much at all. I was uncomfortable, but I wasn’t revealing state secrets or anything.
I get a lot of compliments on it when people see it, but I do wish that I had gotten it smaller and higher, so that I could let my shirt ride up a little without comment. I will probably get it removed someday, but not for a few years at least. I think it’s beautiful and artistic, but if I went back in time, I would -not- get it. Just another lesson in life, I suppose.
To clarify: some days I love it, some days I wish I had more tats, and some days I wish I was ink-free.
I have a one eyed triangular smiley face on my shoulder, yellow and black. This was before I knew that the triangle was a gay pride symbol, hope I’m not sending the wrong signals! I was trying to imply I was a member of the Bavarian Illuminati!
Mine didn’t hurt at all…well, at times there was a very brief discomfort, comparable to a light fingernail scratch, but most of the time it just tingled. Of course, that’s because my skin there was very thick and there’s plenty of fat. I’ve heard tattoos on places where the skin is thin and close to the bone hurt considerably more, but not badly.
I had my first one done 21 years ago; it’s a small Pegasus against a rising sun and is located on the back of my left shoulder.
The second one I had done about 11 years ago; it is a turtle stepping off of a flower bank into a pond. The water is rippling away from the turtle’s foot and there is a lotus growing in the pond. That one’s about 8"x8" and is on my left thigh. It’s quite colourful.
Tattoos mmmmmmmmm.
I’m going to get one on my hipbone when I decide the design I want. I planned for 4 years to get a cross, and I still might, although my faith has been lacking lately. It’s good to remember what I beleive, at least in theory, and it’s a beautiful thing (a cross, that is), too.
I do, however, beleive that before a person gets a tattoo they should see someone get a tattoo done. See what goes into a sterile procedure, see the skin rise, and most importantly, see flesh go from flesh to permenant art. Both words are equally important. Tattooing is art, it’s gorgeous art, but it’s also quite permenant(everyone knows it, I know, I know, but it’s something that can’t be stressed enough). I went with my ex-boyfriend when he got his done. It took 3 hours. Turned out great. Unfortunately, that’ll always be linked to us breaking up, which happened an hour later, but that is neither here nor there. The tattoo artist was great, she talked to us the entire time, showed us her (30-some) tattoos, and talked him through the entire process.
I have a pointed cross on my left bicep, and a five-color Aztec eagle on my right. I have a small “S”-shaped dragon with a black body and red head on my inside right forearm.
I believe many of the stereotypes of tattoos are true. They’re just To painful and essentially useless to gain wide acceptance, and therefore ALWAYS signal the bearer as belonging to some sort of counterculture. Even if only in their own mind.
And I think tattoos make a halfway attractive women downright SEXY!
I have a heart with my wife’s name on my forearm. She has a bird with my name on her bicep. We’re pretty sure that it’s the real deal.
Mine is on a not particularly sensitive area. It hurt a little, but not in a bad way. My wife, who is, frankly, a big pussy, got hers on a tender part - the inner fleshy bicep. It hurt her a bit, but she survived. We both want more, eventually.
It’s addictive. Not just the feeling, but the idea of having this permanent thing on your skin is pretty amazing.
I recommend it, but be original. Get something meaningful, not just a boring bottom-of-the-back tribal loser tattoo or a tiny shoulder butterfly…
hrh
I have an upper case greek letter “Omega” on my upper left arm, solid black, a little larger than a quarter.
I wear this symbol for a specific reason, and made the decision to have it done as the result of having earned the right to wear it (I will not elaborate). I am generally against body manipulation, and do not plan on any further tatoos.
FK
I have a few. No regrets at all, though I do keep them covered when I teach.