It occurs to me after much thought that I am one of the few people in my circle of friends with no tattoos at all... It was never a thing about fear of the needle, or the stigma attached by society, nor even the advice of my older family members with their home done tattoos. I don't even think it was really something I ever thought about.
I do however have a few things that I have given a lot of thought to over the years, in regards to getting ink done.
1. This shit is permanent... Like really permanent, well unless you have the money to get it removed, which if my research is correct is fairly costly. It can take 8 - 10 treatments and cost upwards of $3,000.00, in some cases as much as $10,000.00 ( source : http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/money/article/19910--tattoo-removal-can-get-under-your-skin )
2. The cost involved in getting a tattoo is rarely a small charge. If you go to a good shop, you're getting an artist. Not some jerk who likes to inflict pain... This is a person worthy of respect, someone who should be well compensated for their efforts on your behalf... Unless of course it's your Uncle Brutus who just got out of the joint and he's doing them from his basement / meth lab... Cost for tattoos vary somewhat dependant on where you live, which shop you go to, and the skill of the artist... You're not going to get a portrait done for $50.00 and expect good work usually...
3. Tattoos are intensely personal for most people, and I've never really thought I felt strongly enough about something to permanently etch it into my flesh... I mean there are things I feel strongly about, but nothing I really ever wanted to put on my body... Somehow a d20, a computer, or favorite character from TV & the Movies have never really struck me as something to emblazon on myself.
4. I'm fat... I don't intend to be fat much longer. I don't want to start by getting, say, a hula girl, lose a bunch of weight and have people ask why I had a tattoo of myself from before I lost the weight on me... So truth be told, I know that this is not REALLY an issue, but it is one of those weird things that run through my mind...
5. OK so my family does have a bit of an effect on me. I saw some of my family members that got tattoos in their youth and really regret them now.
So all this being said, at this point in my life I am thinking about a tattoo. I've got some ideas, but I'm not sure what yet. At this point there are some things in my life that I think would be sufficiently cool. They are... In no particular order :
1. The Green Lantern Logo... Something about the Green Lantern has always captured my imagination.
2. The Decepticon logo. It's overdone I know... Seems like every 30+ male has one now a days. But I really like the look of it.
3. The Thundercats logo, or the Sword of Omens... That was pretty bad ass back in the 80s, but after going back and watching some episodes, well... Lets just say they didn't age well...
4. Superman's 'S'. Kind of a no brainer there. Shane - Superman... who could resist the comparisons... :D
5. Pooh Bear with a bee or butterfly on his nose... This is the most personal to me. In a lot of ways I see myself in Pooh Bear. Kinda flaky, really into food, soft and squishy... And looks good in a red t-shirt.
6. The Federation Logo. The one from the new Star Trek... Kirk is cool again, Spock is still a douche and Bones is my hero... "
7. Cobra Logo. GI Joe was rebooted this year... And in a surprise move by the studio, they didn't make it suck... But Cobra is still totally wicked...
8. The Cobra Logo with the Decepticon Logo
9. Serenity. The ship from Firefly... How cool would that look... Or maybe just a quote from the movie Serenity : Shiny. Let's be bad guys...
10. The front from any number of t-shirts I've seen on Think Geek, or Jinx... Maybe that flaming d20... maybe something world of warcraft related.... So many to choose from, so little skin to ink...
Wow apparently I have given this some thought... Some really deep thought, and the only things I've learned about myself are that I am a child of the the 80's, and I am a geek....
I hope if nothing else this has been as entertaining for you to read as it has been for me to write, I may edit in some more pics of things I'm thinking about over time, but the computer I'm working on right now is not really up to the task of blogging let alone adding pictures...
I'll leave the comments open for any opinions...
Shane
2 comments:
Hey!! Easy on people with the Decepticon logo!! LOL. Mind you, mine is about 13 years old, don't know many 30+ yr olds who can say that :P I also know that my next tattoo is going to be a recursive Lisp function with a Lambda :P A few years ago I wanted to get my entire sleeve done with characters from the "Incantations of Immortality" book series. I still think it would be freaking awesome, but being a "professional" I probably can't pull that crap off anymore :( Enjoy the ink man, you won't regret it (unless you get something like Strawberry Shortcake).
Cheers bro!
Paul L.
I must say I had to grin as i read this as my list of tattoos is ever growing... I'll give you that... yes they are permanent and unless you wanna blow a wad of cash and go through a lot of pain to remove them... yes you should make sure you know what you want.... and if you decide you don't want it... get it covered with another :P Been there done that lol
They become an addiction... i got my first at 18 and i knew exactly what i wanted... it was something i had loved since i could remember and well lets face it... it looked cool... a big tiger head staring out at you... it took a year for my next... symbolic to heritage etc... It was about 5 years for my next one... it was supposed to be a series of 10 symbols but life gets in the way sometimes and it was put on hold... so two more were finally added after nearly 10 years of waiting and only 3 months later the phrase was completed with the addition of the last 7 today actually...
There's something about walking into a studio... you see others getting done, you hear the needle gun... you see the art work on the walls, the books of work completed... They call you over and sit you down.... you're waiting.... Then sitting in that chair, they get everything ready... they put that outline on you and you see it there and you know its not permanent... yet... You hear the sound of the needle and they dip it in that ink and you're on a roll.... anywhere from 1 to 7 needles buzzing towards you and then you're past the point of no return.... And when its done, and you see what you wanted forever etched on you staring back at you.... its... for lack of better words... a thrill....
The pain... after the first few minutes really you get numb... and the pain isn't that bad... unless of course they're a bad tattooist and then you'll definitely feel it.... There are of course body parts that hurt like hell when hit a certain way.... tendons, the spine, anywhere without a lot of meat on it... will hurt a little, but it numbs out... and you just think to yourself ... definitely worth it in the end....
I technically have 13 tattoos now... with 36 more to come ... ok that sounds excessive... but they're symbols.... and each word and phrase symbolic to life in a personal way... there's just something extremely appealing to me about having rows of chinese sayings that touch close to the heart or words that are descriptive of my life / personality / lifestyle / that is ..... hmmmm.... appealing? not quite the word i'm looking for but... it'll do.
And there's nothing wrong with being a child of the 80s or a geek :P
As an "inked" person i'll give this advice... if anything in that list is what really appeals to you, it appeals to you for a reason, just be sure that it is something you know will appeal to you still in 20, 30, 40 years.
Go to a studio that has a name for itself, somewhere you can trust, an artist you can trust or have met or have seen their work and you've heard good stuff about... Do NOT walk into just any studio or go there because someone is raving about the prices.... if they're cheaper than everyone else... its for a reason.... older equipment... sub-grade ink... apprentice... or even someone with less than 5 years experience... been there done that twice and have paid for it twice... have one that needs to be re-done for the 3rd time... sadly the 2nd "repair" was done by someone with 3 years experience.... And... really... if the artist isn't tattoo'd... don't trust them... i can't really explain it... if someone is a tattoo artist but won't tattoo themselves, they don't have a lot of respect or understanding for what they're doing... to you... permanently... That's my two cents. :P
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