I got mine about 22 years ago when I was 18. My thought process at the time was along the lines of: “I will look cool, and will hence get laid more often.”
It hasn’t paid off yet, but I’m pretty sure it will any day now.
Would I get one now? Probably not, but I don’t mind the one I have.
I’ve been thinking long and hard on the tattoo I would like to get. I have settled on a design (yes I got it off a tattoo site but I am adjusting it a bit to be more what I want. I’m not a very good drawer but I can change it.)
Right now I guess I’ve been thinking about 2-3 years since I first got the idea. I still think a tattoo is cool and I plan on getting it done where no one will really see it unless I show them. The one I want to get is of a dragon (a small one) that is standing on a celtic knot, specifically a sidhe knot. The dragon is because I love them and because they are made up of dreams and fantasy reminding me never to forget mine and the sidhe knot is because I am celtic… love all things celtic… and it’s an eternal thing since the knot never ends…
Now I just need to save the money to get it done and hide it from my Grandparents. I have looked at places to go and am gonna go to either Bears or Golden Buddha both of which I have heard by people who went to them that are good. Both are expensive too of course.
"The dragon is because I love them and because they are made up of dreams and fantasy reminding me never to forget mine . . . "
[Bitter Old Woman voice] Oh, just wait till ya hit middle age and realize that none of your dreams or fantasies will ever come true. You’ll wanna forget 'em, alright, kiddo.
I’ve got three tattoos…a tribal cross on my right shoulder, the Japanese character for courage on my left forearm and strength on my right forearm. There are more I want to get, as the money becomes available. I wear them for personal expression. When my forearms are done, I will have Courage, Wisdom and Honor on my left arm; Strength, Knowledge and Loyalty on my right. These are personal characteristics I desire to have in greater quantity and my prayer to get them. On my back I will have a cross and the word Forgiven above it (reasons should be obvious). I’m pondering getting a snake with flames coming off of it coiled around my left leg, but am leaning against it. It just doesn’t mean enough to me. On my left shoulder I want to get an eagle, a wolf, and a dolphin. What’s the big thing with the tattoos? They mean a lot to me. I don’t have them for anyone but me. I don’t care what people think about them when they see them. They’re for me, no one else. If you’re going to get a tattoo, don’t do it because someone else did it. That’s stupid. After about a week you’ll feel like an idiot. And especially don’t get someone’s name on you. That’s a surefire way to break up with them about a week later.
Just my 2 cents.
I have one-used to have two…
I have a dolphin on my right shoudler about 4" long. I love dolphins and when I was a little girl my family nickname was Flipper-that was the 1st tattoo-got it on my 18th birthday.
2nd tattoo,since removed,was my exfiancee’s initials on the small of my back.
The saying about never get a SO’s name tattooed on you because you will break up shortly after? It’s true 
I have a beee-you-tee-ful Celtic-style gryphon on the left side of my lower back. His name is Harold. I got it becuase I love the way tattoos look, I had wanted one since I was 13, and I wanted a special way to commemerate getting the hell out of high school. I got it in a place that people can only see it if I want them to. And I figure the lower back is less likely to sag then say, arms, butts, or thighs.
Now I think he looks lonely, so I’m planning to get a similarily styled dragon on the right side of my lower back, so I’ll be symmetrical. 
[QUOTE}My first thought when I see someone with a tattoo is “Idiot”.{/QUOTE]
Why? Because you wouldn’t want to get one so no one with brains must like them? :rolleyes: Also, I didn’t get one for any of the reasons you stated. If I wanted to rebel against society I’d get one on my face. 
GARRR!!! Messing up the coding sure makes me look like an idiot!!
First, i realize you learned something, OP, but i will say, it’s nice to know i’m prejudged even before i’ve met someone. That said, glad you did learn something.
Second:
I’m neither in the marines (i’d tell them straight up i was gay anyway, and besides, my family is more AF), not in a frat, since my school doesnt have them, and most of my drinking buddies dont have tats (some do, many dont). I picked something that while the idea isnt necessarily original, the design is. It’s the chinese character for "to awaken, to understand, to realize, or in a buddhist sense, enlightenment (it makes up the Japanese word “Satori”). I wasnt going for something to make me fit in with a crowd. I did it as a visual representation of something important to me, to awaken (via knowledge), and to understand (myself and the world around me). Basically represents my love for learning and understanding things. I’ve never come across anyone with the same character, and yes, I drew it myself. Which makes it all the more special to me.
It took me a year to finally get it done. I think it took 6 months to finally decide on the right design and size as well. I never took the process lightly. I understood (and still do) that this is a permanent commitment. It’s also in a place not usually seen, my right calf, on the back. While it can be seen when i wear shorts, i dont usually wear shorts around, except to the gym. So it’s not like people would normally see it. I also plan to get tattoos in places i wouldnt normally show. Primarily because the places i usually have visible (neck, face, forearms), i dont want tattoos there.
I plan to get more. Each one will mean something to me, and all will be aesthetically pleasing to me. When i say mean something, they will be facets of me that i’m pretty sure i’ll cherish the rest of my life (like the next one involves the character for language, which is something I love. That one will also compliment the one i currently have on the right calf). I would never think of getting one on a whim, as these things are major descisions. Which is why i shake my head when i talk to people about tattoos they dont like, because, surprise, surprise, they got the damn thing on a whim.
I got my first one on my birthday, shortly after my father passed away. I had issues with him, so in a way it was an act of rebellion (or liberation). It’s on my left arm -St John’s cross surrounded by a ring of thorns.
I got my second one on my last birthday - a tribal rose on my right shoulder blade. And I’m planning a third for when I turn 28 this year.
For me, my tattoos are pretty much a private thing. I design my own. I don’t flash them. I go through a lot of planning and thought about what the tats mean to me. That way, I’ll be sure I’ll never get sick of them.
Btw, I don’t think it’s painful at all.
My SO wants to have his wife’s name tattooed as a wedding gift and sign of his committment when he marries. I giggle happily when I think of this.
Yes, I have a tattoo. It’s a small frog on the inside of my right leg, just above the ankle bone. (You can see it here)
A frog wouldn’t have been my first choice but in Feb. of last year my mother died. We were very very close and her death hit me hard. My mother collected frogs – she went nuts for anything frog. So I decided that I would get a frog tattoo in rememberance of her. And I did, the day after my 30th birthday, a mere two weeks after she died.
It was exactly what I pictured in my mind before I got it and I haven’t had a moment’s regret that I got it.
I have one on my sternum, just at the place where my cleavage starts. It’s of a heart with wings, a whip wrapped around it and hand cuffs hanging off one side. It has a small banner above it that says “(my husband’s name)'s pet”
I won’t agree with all of this post, but I do somewhat agree with this idea. My first tattoo was gotten when I was in the Air Force. My 3 buddies and I decided we should all get tats together as a male-bonding showing of our friendship type thing. We each got a type of cat. Kenny got a tiger, Tom got a leopard, Drew got a lion, and I got a panther.
After that, the other tattoos (I have a total of 6) were done as an expression of me. The Daffy Duck on my chest is symbolic of my youth and my love of art and cartooning (I’m working on a comic book as well as a novel right now). The comedy/tragedy faces on my right calf represents my love of the theatre (I belong to the International Thespian Society and did a lot of theatre before going into the military). The tribal design (which I drew myself) is symbolic of my religious beliefs. The dragon on my back (another one I drew myself) symbolizes my mood swings and temper and I have since started to think of it as symbolic of the drugs and alcohol problems I have since put behind me.
And lastly, the only tattoo of mine you can see when I’m fully clothed (and you can see it in my People Pages pic) is the tribalized yin-yang on my left wrist. This symbolizes my outlook on life. For everything in this world, there is something equal yet opposite to compliment it. For love, there must be hate. For acceptance, there must be fear. For pain, there must be joy. Because without one, we would not truly know what it means to have the other.
I have been thinking for about a year about getting a tattoo. I’m pretty sure I am going to do it as soon as I can save up enough money to get it done well.
I want to get a flower, because my last name is Flowers. I can’t keep my last name forever for a variety of reasons, and I’d like something to remind me of who I started out as.
Specifically I am going to get jasmine flowers, because when I was little my mother planted jasmine outside of my window. Every spring of my childhood smelled like jasmine. I recently learned that she did that because my grandfather had planted jasmine outside of her room when she was a child. It seems like a good way to remind myself of my family and my childhood home…which are things I do not want to lose touch with as I venture out into this world alone.
I havn’t decided entirely on where to put it. The biggest candidate right now is a ring of jasmine around my ankle. The alternative would be a single bunch of jasmine that could later be added to and turned into a ring of some sort if there is ever another time in my life where I feel like a tattoo would be the right thing.
I consider my potential tatto as a way to connect myself with myself. It’s a big crazy world out there and it is easy to forget who you are and where you started out from. I’d like something that will be both a part of me and mine forever
Brian Setzer once said, “The best advice my father ever gave me was to never get a tattoo any place where a judge could see it.”
Awwww Eve darlin I know they won’t come true. I’m not talking of my dreams and fantasies of the future I mean my dreams and fantasies of fantastical beings and such.
My future dreams I am going to work towards of course but I am also going to be a bit sensible about them. My future dreams consist mainly of being a fantasy author and travelling the world (definately travelling… being an author would just be icing on the cake). The dragon will just remind me that no matter what happens in life I will always have my imagination to escape to where I can BE a dragon or a goddess and live in a different world. That no matter what… I’ll always have that at least. Even if I don’t become an author and have others reading my stories.
That’s what I mean by not forgetting my dreams and fantasies. smiles I don’t want to lose that part of my life again. I nearly lost that before and I stumbled upon it again a couple years ago. Losing that wonder of imagination again would just be… devastating…
I know the self-selection thing is fully in effect here, so that people who are happy with their tattoos are more likely to show up and explain why they got them in the first place. Which is fine by me. My girlfriend’s got one, and I think it’s pretty darn cool (at least on her). Me? Not in a million years.
On the other hand, I do find it interesting that nearly everybody in here got their tattoo in the relatively recent past, i.e., the last decade or so. Purd Werfect is the obvious exception, and I’m sure one or two other posters have had theirs for a long time too.
So if I can throw a new question to the crowd, has anyone in here had a tattoo for 20 years or more, and how do you feel about it now?
As I think I mentioned in my earlier post, my first tattoo (small blue rose on my left hip) is over 20 years old - coming up on 22, I think. I don’t regret it, and I still love it. Not as fond of the hip, though.
Now that we have all these tattooed people, and we’re in the right forum for it, I’d like to start a poll: Where’s the most painful spot to get ink?
Mine is my back, between the shoulder blades or right over the spine. I have a very large and very intricate Celtic design on my back, of three hounds arranged in a circle. It wasn’t so bad at the outside edges, or on the shoulders, but once the needle hit the spine… EEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGG!!!
I was in the chair for two sessions of about six hours each. Let me tell you, I have four tats, and if my back piece had been my first, it would have been my last.
I got mine (a triangular one-eyed smiley face on my right shoulder) because the symbol has a personal meaning to me and because I thought it would look cool. I don’t regret it, and plan on getting more. It’s in a discrete location (I never wear anything that shows that part of my arm) and it doesn’t detract from my appearance at all. It didn’t hurt in the least, either, which surprised me (I was expecting SOME pain).
My wife has a lot more tattoos than I do. She has Hello Kitty on one ankle, a bizarre drawing of some woman who seems to be missing fingers on the other, a spider in a web on her chest, and a flower on a shoulder. I think I’m missing one, too…I think she might have some regrets about some of them - the spider one is visible if she is wearing anything halfway low-cut and looks like a jailhouse tattoo.