Monday, September 24, 2007
A matter of tats
I would like to share something with you, dear readers, and I invite your comments on the matter, should you care to share them.
I am seriously considering getting a tattoo. Now this may be a mild mid-life crisis, but it is something I've been thinking about for a number of years. My friend Lydia has just come back into my life as she does once a year for a few glorious weeks. Lydia is, as the song would have it, a "tattooed lady". She has tats on her legs and back and she sports "sleeves", whole-arm tattoos on both arms. When I see her we talk tats, because they are one of the things she's into, and I'm interested in her and I really like her tats. They are a part of her.
Despite having been a hardcore punk for many years of my life I never wanted to get a tattoo in my teens, twenties or thirties. I was never the type to feel peer pressure, so while I was surrounded by tattoos and piercings I remained clear-skinned (well, except for acne) and un-pierced (except for the standard ear-piercings, but even those I only got when I was like, eighteen).
I want a tattoo now because I think I know who I am now. Also I feel quite certain that my future is not going to bring me into a conservative, conventional job or circle of friends where my tattoo might be a source of embarrassment -- a youthful indiscretion that needs covering up or removal.
It's not going to be very discreet. It will be fairly big and it will be on my shoulder and upper arm. It will symbolize my 3 children.
What do you think? Will I regret it?
I would like to share something with you, dear readers, and I invite your comments on the matter, should you care to share them.
I am seriously considering getting a tattoo. Now this may be a mild mid-life crisis, but it is something I've been thinking about for a number of years. My friend Lydia has just come back into my life as she does once a year for a few glorious weeks. Lydia is, as the song would have it, a "tattooed lady". She has tats on her legs and back and she sports "sleeves", whole-arm tattoos on both arms. When I see her we talk tats, because they are one of the things she's into, and I'm interested in her and I really like her tats. They are a part of her.
Despite having been a hardcore punk for many years of my life I never wanted to get a tattoo in my teens, twenties or thirties. I was never the type to feel peer pressure, so while I was surrounded by tattoos and piercings I remained clear-skinned (well, except for acne) and un-pierced (except for the standard ear-piercings, but even those I only got when I was like, eighteen).
I want a tattoo now because I think I know who I am now. Also I feel quite certain that my future is not going to bring me into a conservative, conventional job or circle of friends where my tattoo might be a source of embarrassment -- a youthful indiscretion that needs covering up or removal.
It's not going to be very discreet. It will be fairly big and it will be on my shoulder and upper arm. It will symbolize my 3 children.
What do you think? Will I regret it?
# posted by becca : 11:12 AM
Comments:
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An arm and shoulder tan can look great...but you're committing yourself to maintaining good delts for the next few years!
So long as you're absolutely certain you like the pattern and colour scheme (and the tattooist, since you'll be spending so much time together!), then you won't have cause for regret.
How about taking a temporary tattoo for a test spin?
So long as you're absolutely certain you like the pattern and colour scheme (and the tattooist, since you'll be spending so much time together!), then you won't have cause for regret.
How about taking a temporary tattoo for a test spin?
That's a good idea, and I do have to think about the inevitable upper arm "swelling" that will come with age. The nice thing about that location is that I can show the tatoo or not, depending on sleeve length. Thanks for your input, Steve! I thought I might be whispering into the void...
It sounds like you've given this a lot of thought and that you believe that you're ready for it.
If you're confident in the quality of your tattoo artist's work and if you're prepared for the inevitable "flabby" years (when you're in your sixties or seventies for example), then I say go for it!
I have to admit that I’ve been toying with the idea of getting one myself…
If you're confident in the quality of your tattoo artist's work and if you're prepared for the inevitable "flabby" years (when you're in your sixties or seventies for example), then I say go for it!
I have to admit that I’ve been toying with the idea of getting one myself…
# posted by 
: 4:16 PM
: 4:16 PM
Hi!
As fate would have it, I just got my first tattoo a few weeks ago! It was a 40th birthday present, so I guess you could say I "waited."
Here's my experience: I have had all kinds of great designs planned over the years, but I was never quite ready to implement them. The big thing for me is that each image has a connotation that maybe I don't like. Images have their own language. Also, I wanted my design to be original (not off a tattoo parlour wall) and well-done, etc., etc.
For my first tattoo, I got something very small. It took all of five minutes! It's the fish Swimmy, from the children's book of the same name by Leo Leoni.
It's not at all related to all my more grandiose plans, but I knew I'd only have time for something small, and I wanted to do something to celebrate.
The thing is, the one tattoo has changed the whole thing for me. I LOVE MY SWIMMY TATTOO. And I still have big plans, it turns out. But they're different. It's hard to explain, but I have a new kind of focus on what I'd like to do next, with a tattoo.
So I recommend you pick something small - something separate from the tattoo you're planning, or some small element that would stand alone OK, plus ultimately be part of the larger work if you decide to go that way.
And then enjoy it. And see what you want to do next.
Nice to meet you. :)
b
As fate would have it, I just got my first tattoo a few weeks ago! It was a 40th birthday present, so I guess you could say I "waited."
Here's my experience: I have had all kinds of great designs planned over the years, but I was never quite ready to implement them. The big thing for me is that each image has a connotation that maybe I don't like. Images have their own language. Also, I wanted my design to be original (not off a tattoo parlour wall) and well-done, etc., etc.
For my first tattoo, I got something very small. It took all of five minutes! It's the fish Swimmy, from the children's book of the same name by Leo Leoni.
It's not at all related to all my more grandiose plans, but I knew I'd only have time for something small, and I wanted to do something to celebrate.
The thing is, the one tattoo has changed the whole thing for me. I LOVE MY SWIMMY TATTOO. And I still have big plans, it turns out. But they're different. It's hard to explain, but I have a new kind of focus on what I'd like to do next, with a tattoo.
So I recommend you pick something small - something separate from the tattoo you're planning, or some small element that would stand alone OK, plus ultimately be part of the larger work if you decide to go that way.
And then enjoy it. And see what you want to do next.
Nice to meet you. :)
b
Thanks for that, b. It's a very good idea. I will probably wait a while before I really do wade into this, and you've given me somehting to think about as a first step! Nice to meet you too.
I say go for it! Forget the possible flabby arms - as you get older it's suppose to happen and the first people who started tattoo didn't worry about flabby arms, sagging breasts, or falling buttocks. A tattoo is a symbol and the image will continue to be a symbol no maytter what.
I say go for it!
I say go for it!
# posted by : 4:23 PM
: 4:23 PM
Thanks Squirrel. Thanks for saying "possible" flabby arms. And it's true what you say about the origins of tattooing, and that's what I'm thinking about in doing this -- wearing a symbol of my connections on my body at all times.
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