Tattoos

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, this is a little bizarre for me to be asking (at least I think it is), but anyways, here goes:

Out of the past 8 women I’ve been attracted to (and/or had a relationship with), all but 2 of them have had tattoos(and one of those 2 has probably gotten a tattoo since I last saw her). Now, I haven’t been attracted to them because they have tattoos, it just happens to be a coincidence, still, the thing I’ve noticed about them, is that they seem to really dig guys with tattoos (and I don’t have any). So, finding myself “back in circulation” again, as it were, I’m wondering, should I get a tattoo?

Yeah, I know there’s the argument that if a woman only digs you because of your tattoo she ain’t worth bothering with, but then again, a peacock’s tail is what gets him noticed to begin with. And I’ll have to admit that one of the reasons I’ve never gotten a tattoo is because I really can’t think of anything that’ll look good on me when I’m 80. (Wonder what’s going to happen to all those guys who’ve gotten the I’ll-kick-your-ass-type tattoos when they get to be old farts?)

Then, of course, there’s the question of what kind of tattoo I should get. I mean, I don’t want one of those “me too” tattoos of the barbed wire, dream catcher, or celtic rings around the arm. If I’m gonna shell out bucks for one of these things, it oughta at least be something that not too many other people are sportin’.

As for the location, I’d probably get it on my arm in a spot easy to conceal, but no trouble to show off if I so desired.

And no, I won’t get one just because everyone says I should or shouldn’t. I’ve heard that whatever pain one goes through to get a tattoo applied, its nothing compared to the pain ya gotta go through to get it removed.

So, any thoughts?

2

I really like a good tatt. But I’ve yet to see or think of a design I won’t get bored with. You can change the pictures on your wall, you can change your taste in clothes, but a tattoo is permanent (more or less). I’d like one, but I enjoy not having one more.

3

If you’re going to get a tattoo, sketch out your own design of something that actually has some meaning to you - do you REALLY want some cheap design (that thousands of other people have) permantently drawn on you just because it looks cool? Don’t just get a tattoo for the sake of having a tattoo.

I don’t have any professionally done tattoos, but I have one I did myself out of boredom of a crescent moon on the inside of my right ankle, and it means a lot to me. In 20 years I might hate moons, but it represents who I was at the time so I’ll never regret it. Same for the designs I have picked out to get done in the future.

So I say, no. If you only want one to pick up chicks, don’t get it.

4

I’m planning on getting a tattoo, as soon as I find the courage to. I’m a Cameron on my mother’s side, and I plan to get the Cameron clan crest on my bicep. Or at least, on what passes for my bicep.

Its a neat design, and it symobolizes something that will always be important to me.

I’m also thinking of getting the Cameron battle cry somewhere on my bod, probably in gaelic. I can’t remember it off the top of my head in the original, but the translation is, “Sons of ye hounds, come here and get flesh.”

Or, “Bite me, you sons of bitches.”

5

Speaking as a pretty heavily tattooed person (about 35 or 40 hours’ worth I think) (see, heavily tattooed people don’t bother to count individual tattoos; it sounds cooler to give a number of hours), I have to say that most tattoos that I see are really stupid-looking. I don’t care how much you’re into a rock band, it seems unlikely that such an infatuation will continue throughout your life. We do grow up eventually, most of us. Are you always going to be cherish the memory of that Stones concert?

That said, I love my tattoos more than I can describe. I keep them covered most of the time, because they are sort of personal–I was never very shy about being naked, but with a lot of tattoos, if they are well-chosen tattoos, one is * more* naked when covered with tattos. I don’t want just everyone to know that much about me. Also, I live in Korea, where tattoos are not well accepted even among college kids, and I wear long sleeves throughout the sweltering summer. (I can roll them up one or two turns.) But I have never had a regret about my tattoos, except that I wish they were bigger. (They’re pretty big as it is.) I got the last one 3 years ago, and I doubt that I’ll get any more, but I love them.

My tattoos look right on me. I wouldn’t look right without them. They do represent something to me, something that won’t change, because it’s the one thing that doesn’t change: change. But I don’t intend them as a message or an advertisement. For those that see them on the rare occasions that I go to a beach or wear shorts, they are just decorations, but very carefully chosen ones. An art collection. I have to admit that it’s a little narcissistic. But my wife likes my tattoos a lot, and I love them.

I don’t recommend getting a tattoo in order to get babes. But you should understand that you will be in a somewhat different class with tattoos, and you will be acceptable by different people, to an extent. (A small, tasteful one is almost always acceptable, but big ones–and especially, trashy-looking ones–will really limit you.) For me, I like the fact that it keeps timid, narrow-minded people away from me. I didn’t want to talk to them anyway. (Not always true–I like some timid people, and it has been a bummer once or twice to scare them away. Still, I love my tattoos.)

But if you get one, choose it carefully. I love my tattoos, but remember that they are hard to get rid of, though not always impossible. And if you cover it up, it will have to be with a bigger, darker, harder-to-conceal tattoo.

I think it’s important to get some water-based felt-tip calligraphy pens, and as well as possible, draw the thing on you. Live with it for a day (when you’re at home alone, or something). Most of mine were done in Japan, and my girlfriend was pretty good with a brush, so she drew my designs on my back, as a practice run. And I loved them, and still do. That was almost 10 years ago.

Choose the artist carefully too. Make sure you trust the person, as well as admire his or her work. I liked all of the artists who worked on me, and I love my tattoos.

Like you said, you’ll decide what to do. I love my tattoos, but I’m inclined to say that if you don’t actively want one, you shouldn’t get one. Or at least you should examine pretty closely your motivation for getting one.

Did I mention that I love my tattoos?

6

One night when I was 19, I had a massive concussion (long story) and was wandering around Hollywood with my college roommate who I’d only known for about a month. She doodled a small line drawing of a dove with an olive branch on the back of a receipt. I thought it was cool - so we walked across the street to the tattoo parlor and had it inked on my back in black and green.

That was ten years ago. It’s a litle faded now, and sometimes I forget it’s there. It is on my left shoulder blade and every once in a while I’ll catch it in the mirror and think there’s a bug on me.

I love it. It definitely reminds me of who I was that night, and the girl who doodled it has now been my best friend for 10 years. She is a graphic artist, and I think it’s pretty cool to have an original piece of her art work on my back. If I ever have another random inspiration like that, I’ll probably get another one, but I can’t imagine doing it just for the sake of having a tattoo.

7

I second the notion about NOT getting one of those trendy tattoos.

So far I just have one…a blue dolphin in midleap about four inches long on my right shoulder. I’ve been fascinated with dolphins ever since I can remember,I collect dolphin figurines and my childhood nickname was Flipper so I HAD to get it.

8

I am sure the information is of little to no interest, however I am compelled to inform.

Populations of persons with tattoos have nine times higher incidence of Hepatitis C (an incurable, and potentially fatal disease) than populations of persons having no tattoos. This information comes from NIH, and has been verified by CDC. Your assessment of how much you want a tattoo should include that information.

Tris

“I believe in general in a dualism between facts and the ideas of those facts in human heads.” ~ George Santayana ~

9

Really, I think the main thing that’s holding me back from getting one, is as, I said I really can’t think of anything that would look good on me when I’m 80.

I tell you what I’d like to have as a tattoo, but it’d be just so honkin’ big that it make me look like the dude from Memento (for those of you who haven’t seen the film, the central character suffers from a strange form of memory loss, so in order for him to remember things for a long period of time he has tattoos made), and that’s a quote from a children’s version of The Odyssey, “The gods reward bravery and courage, but punish pride.”

If I could think of some kind of illustration which symbolized The Odyssey to me, I’d get a tattoo of that, as the book has probably been the one thing that has had the greatest impact in my life. (But the only thing I can think of is the Trojan Horse, and that’s not what I want. I want something to symbolize Odysseus’ stamina in standing up against the forces opposed to him.)

I also realize that getting a tattoo can be dangerous and I’d have it done professionally, and not in some hack’s shop.

10

No. Why, do you love them?

:wink:

11

Okay, maybe I don’t * love* them. But I like them a lot.