hey, slithy tove, baron von raschke, the claw master, wuz still wrestlin in the late 80’s, in the AWA. just about the ugliest wrestler ever. there’s a parking valet down the street who has the playboy logo tattooed on his neck. i laugh every time i see it. and, heraldgwena, i too know a woman who encircled her navel with a tattoo and then got pregnant. never saw the aftermath, nor did i get to see it at its apogee. come to think of it, im glad for that. i cant see her without wanting to bust out laughin, neither. damn, people is funny.
I am still considering getting a tatoo, still thinking after 2 years.
Best advice I got was from a SDMB’er (some of you may remember - I don’t see her that much here anymore) named Suzanne (or something like that). I wanted one around my belly button but she said “Bad idea if you plan on getting pregnant”, so now I’m thinking about the small of my back, just above my bikini line. I would get the words “Carpe Diem” done in probably 1/2" high letters.
still thinking, still thinking.
A few months ago I got my first tattoo – a Celtic Cross on my shoulder that looks great. Anyway, as I was flipping through the artist’s portfolio, I came across a photo of a guy with the words “Made In The USA” tattooed on the hairline across his forehead. When the artist heard me laughing, he said he only kept that photo because it was the most ridiculous tattoo he’d ever done. He said he even tried to convince the customer NOT to get it, but the guy was stubborn. Sheesh.
I knew a guy who has a who castlecape on his calf, complete with a woman standing out in front, it was just weird. Another woman with a lion’s face tattooed across her chest. Her WHOLE chest. But the strangest one I have seen so far was a “F*** You” tattooed on the inside of someone’s bottom lip. It was fresh when I saw it and still bleeding.
Ewww Poysyn that sounds sooo gross shudders
But yah like BunnyGirl (and as I said before) I’ve been thinking carefully on what tattoo to get. Actully I think I will be getting a butterfly, or maybe a dragon (small one… like just the head or something) on the small of my back. I’ve thought about this long and carefully and when I finally get a job adn the money I think I’ll get it done.
BunnyGirl, not that you asked, but I recommend that you choose a phrase other than “Carpe Diem.” That one is overused well past the point of cliche. I’d pick something more enigmatic.
Five, thanks for the warning. ::sigh:: guess I’ll have to break the ol’ imagination. Unfortunately, that’s kind of been my “prime directive”, so to speak.
Dirty rats, taking all the good ones. Plus, the last thing I want to do is be a parody. I truly want to get one as an act of self-expression but I don’t want to be thought of as the cheesy, follow-the-crowd type person, which I’m not.
Ideas? Anyone? Anyone?
Well, BunnyGirl, since you asked: I have been considering getting a second tattoo for a long time, and what I plan on getting (in the center of the small of my back) was the Nazca hummingbird, which can be seen at http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/nazfig.jpg (at the bottom of the page, right hand pic).
At least, I thought it was a cool idea. Of course, if someone else gets it, it will no longer be unique. But hey, I’m a giver.
Worst tattoos I’ve seen: In a tattoo parlor I saw one in their book that was the pink panther mowing the top of some woman’s pubic hair. The other was one I saw IRL, (but it may have been fake I guess). It was a guy with a spider right in the middle of his forehead, legs splayed. I think that limits your career opportunities to either a) internationally famous rock star, or b) carny. Guess where I saw him?
Pretend this reads "break out the ol’ imagination!
That hummingbird is cool!
Why get a tatto if you don’t want to show the world what a non-conformist/rebel that you really are? I really admire the biker/carney types who are proud to walk around with their (visible) adornments staring you in the face!
My question: in the club i belong to, i notice a lot of guys who have these things where they can’t be seen and admired! (like areas hidden by underwear, socks, swimsuits etc.). What’s the point of undergoing the pain and permanent disfigurment, if you can’t/won’t show it?
BunnyGirl, the poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick pretty well expresses the Carpe Diem ideal.
Sure, it’s a bit long for a tattoo, but I’m sure you could grab a line from it. As for me, I’m still trying to think of a design. Probably something nautical.
Well, where I live, having a tattoo will get you banned from a lot places. At most gyms I’ve been to, rule #1 on the membership forms has been “No Tattoos.” Signs with this rule are also very prominently displayed at most public baths, hot spring resorts and capsule hotels.
I’ve sometimes thought about getting a tat, but it just seems like too much of a hassle. If I did get one, though, it would probably somewhere only my girlfriend and I could see it.
–sublight.
Some people’s tattoos are very personal and for their “personal reference”, so to speak. In fact, you are probably better off getting a tattoo that is important to you than one that you want to show off to others.
I didn’t get mine because I’m a non-conformist/rebel. If I did, it’d be a pretty lame way to go about it, since there are an awful lot of folks with 'em. I got mine because I think it’s attractive. BUT: I do need to be a viable job prospect, and while I currently work in a company with an extremely liberal dress code, other companies have not been so open-minded. If/when I leave this job, I don’t want to be eliminated as a job candidate because I had a visible tattoo (and I most certainly WOULD be). Where mine is, I have the option to display or conceal when it in public (in other words, it’s not on my crotch or anything). It’s not sissying out or anything - it’s prudent.
Where do you live? Sounds positively fascist.
I think the silliest subset of tattoos that I’ve seen are those on the heads of guys who have shaved all their hair off. Generally they’re pretty noncomformist (read: freaky), and the tattoos often look cool at the time. What I can’t help wondering is what it’s going to look like in 30 or 40 years, when they’ve let the hair grow back, but they have a piece of a tattoo sticking out into the middle of their bald spot.
Personally, I would never get a tattoo (I have one so far, more planned) that I had not drawn myself. Maybe it’s because I think of myself as artistic, but I can’t imagine going into a tattoo parlor and getting someone else’s artwork permanently attached to my body.
Call me a snob.
y post was inspired by a personal observation: this guy I saw in the locker room-he had a tatto of the Ralph Lauren" polo pony on his butt. I don’t know what this meant to him, but it was obviously no going to be seen 9at least if he wore a standard swimsuit). So why do it in the first place?
Well, call me a hypocrite and most others here, because any tattoos I get will be covered by clothes. Unless I get them on my hands, face or neck. And i’m not getting them there. But, whenever I wear shorts, the 4 inch square tattoo on my calf is in full view.
Anyway, i think the dumbest ideas for tattoos are the names of significant others. Also, any impulse tattoos (meaning no thought put behind them. Also, naked people.
But, a most clever naked person tattoo placement I saw was a pic of a guy who had one of Tom of Finland’s men tattooed near his hip. Whenever he had his underwear up it covered the tatt’s indecent parts, so you’d only see the torso and legs. But, underwear off, the whole tattoo was revealed.
Thanks, i’ll be sure not to show you mine. My view on Chinese charaters is, they’re stupid if you havent studied the character to make sure you know what the possible meanings are. Theyre also a bad idea if you use words that probably have a very negative connotation in Chinese/Japanese, such as one I saw for “pimp”. Obvious the girl in your example didnt study the character at all, nor did she seem to have any understanding of how the script works.
I checked several dictionaries to make sure the meaning was consistent:
- zhongwen.com: wù - realize, comprehend
- Digital dictionary of Buddhism: wù - (1) To awaken to, apprehend, perceive, become aware. Apprehension of reality. Synonymous with (jue). Enlightenment, realization; Japanese satori. (2) Theoretical understanding.
- CEDICT: wù - comprehend
- JDIC: wù - enlightenment; perceive; discern; realize; understand
- Unihan: wù - apprehend, realize, become aware
- Dictionary of Chinese Characters: wù- comprehend; realize; become aware of; awake to
So,to reiterate, i made sure the meaning was positive and consistent between several dictionaries before getting it.I have no problems with people getting tattoos with scripts or designs from other cultures if they have taken time to study and learn something about that script or symbol first.
Maybe we should call all Japanese youths with tattoos in English writing retards because they have no connection to that culture too?
I just remembered this one…
I got my tattoo done on a slow night at Fun City in New York, so I got a chance to have a nice chat with the guy who did it. He told me and my friend that he always makes people who want words tattooed on them write those words down so he can be exactly sure of what they want, and they can’t turn around and blame him for misspellings.
He said that one guy came in asking to have his name done on his arm, in large letters. His name was Kiki. Tattoo guy asks him how to spell it, Kiki says “K-i-k-e.” Tattoo guy makes him write it down. Asks him if he knows what “Kike” means. “Yeah, it’s my name,” says Kiki/e.
I guess it’s possible that his name really was spelled that way, but yikes, that’s unfortunate… I’ve always wondered how many times he’s had to explain the tattoo.