Tattoos
First off – thanks all for the feedback on my last post. I’m probably going to take the password off, because I don’t really care if they read it anymore. The whole thing was pretty elementary-school like, and while it did spice up my monotonous stay-at-home mommy day-to-day routine, I’m happy to be past it.
I’ve always wanted a tattoo, ever since I was 12 and I saw one of my mom’s for the first time. We were at Myrtle Beach for the summer and her swimsuit clearly revealed what was on her upper thigh:
For those of you unfamiliar, this is logo for The Rolling Stones. My mom loves their music and did when she got the tattoo at seventeen. For her, it is a symbol for a middle finger to authority, sexy and iconic of her years-long crush for Mick Jagger. She’s 43 and doesn’t regret it; I don’t think she ever will. I kind of think my mom is badass, even when she is wearing a bra on her head.
It’s no secret that Stephen has tattoos. I’m not really sure, exactly, how many. He has a few singular tattoos, but he has the beginnings of an accidental sleeve – a mish-mash of random tattoos that have worked together in one localized place, on his upper left arm. Currently, there is two koi fish (one almost completed, one not), water lilies, a lotus flower, daisies and a bunch of outlines for water, waves, etc.
Here it is two years ago, with the addition of the lotus:
Here it is (without flash on the camera, so the color is more dull) today, and as you can see, there have been additions since then below and around the flower:
Here is a koi fish, almost completed:
And here is the penis-headed koi fish. Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees a resemblance (or maybe I’m just perverted? Quite a possibility!):
Clearly, some parts of his arm are unfinished, there are outlines all over the area:
Ignore the face, I was interrupting a very DRAMATIC Halo (on xbox live) game – he also has two nautical stars on his upper chest:
He has a panther on his left calf. It was his first tattoo, the mascot for his Army platoon:
Also, forgive my photos. I should have taken these with the flash and the macro option on my camera turned on, but I’m a dunce, so these tattoos look rather dull.
His other tattoo is his dog tag. It has his full name, birth date, social security number and blood type, an exact replica of his actual dog tags. For those reasons, I took a photo, but it’s very blurry. This is on the left side of his torso, over his ribs.
I post all of this, because we’re making a trip very soon to add to his tattoos. He’s getting Dublin’s name in large script on the right side of his torso, stretching from his pecs to his hip bone. I KNOW. HUGE.
But, guess what? I’m getting my very first tattoo, too! I’ve given tattoos a lot of thought, I always knew I would get one. The plan a few years ago was to get the date I was saved in roman numerals on my upper back, but I didn’t want to get a tattoo in a place I couldn’t cover.
My plan is to also get Dublin’s name in script, though not nearly as large. It’s simple, kind of cliched, I know, but it’s meaningful for me. My idea was to get it on the underside of my wrist, right below my palm, and I could always cover it with a watch or bracelets. Now, I’m not so sure, though!
Do you have any tattoos? And where would you recommend I get mine? I’m swearing off my stomach or pelvic area and my chest. Also, should I do color or black with shading?
I have 2 – one is on my lower back on the right side (cross and maple leaf) and the other is tiny greek script on the back of my neck. I regret the first one (got it when I was 16), but I can cover it up easily so I usually forget about it.
I really like the wrist idea! I’d suggest getting it in black, that way it’s simple and you’ll love it forever!
I have a tattoo on my foot, and it’s light pink. No one even knows it’s there, unless I point it out. I love it!
A light pink tattoo? What a cool idea. I would have never thought about that. Thanks for sharing – Maybe I will get my first tattoo after all.
wow. you do realize you are asking for cancer & stds if you get tattoos dont you? you husband looks like white trash & you will if you go for it. gross.
One of my BFFs has a black script tatoo on the inside of her wrist like you’re talking about, and I think it looks really cool. Watch, bracelet, long sleeves all cover it. good luck! (at first I typed good lick. So that too!)
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking! Honestly, I’d like to get more than one, but I want to think REALLY long and hard about another one after getting Dublin’s name.
Lizzie is all about the good lick. Hee hee, love ya Lizzie!
Smith is funny, especially since STD stands for something and it’s not needle-transmitted diseases.
I’d rather be white trash than an asshole.
Love Jennie
So I guess I’m the queen of all white trash land. I like to reign over my kingdom with my sloppy std’s and cancer filled body (which btw I had cancer in before I had any tattoos douchebag).
I have a koi fish, lotus flower and some water on my ribcage, from boob to hip. I have two sparrows on either side of my neck across my collarbone, I have a ribbon in honour of my cancer survival on the inside of my left wrist and 2 roses with a day of the dead skull on my right forearm.
I really like the wrist idea, nice black writing keeps it elegant. I can easily hide mine with a watch.
Tatoos cause cancer? This is news to me.
Smith – make sure you call the Surgeon General tomorrow and let him know that you took over his position. Clearly you are qualified. And also, if you are catching an STD from a tatoo needle, you are clearly having sex the wrong way. Although if you are male I’m sure there is a similarity between you and the needle.
Love the idea of the small wrist tatoo. And also, I HATE HALO AND CALL OF DUTY. The wipe my husband’s brain and render him deaf to my conversations. That is all.
if you dont think you can get stds from a needle than your wrong. I’m sure your not truely stupid this has been in the news before. many tattoo shops are to cheap to sanitize their needles so how do you know? my friend got skin cancer from a tattoo it can happen!!!!
Holy shit smith. I think *you’re* the one who is looking stupid right now.
Smith, your friend didn’t get skin cancer FROM the tatoo. It’s likely that the tatoo hid the symptoms and thus the skin cancer progressed further than it would have if s/he had been able to see the lesion directly.
Also, they are called sexually transmitted diseases beacause they are TRANSMITTED SEXUALLY. Yes, certain diseases can be transmitted through dirty needles, and some of those diseases can also be transmitted sexually. I’m sorry if I used large words and thus you couldn’t understand.
Lastly, it’s unfortunate when people have prejudiced thoughts such as “all people who have tatoos are white trash.” It’s even more unfortunate when they verbalize such thoughts – remember, it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt.
I love it when people get on their high horse and forget their AP Style Book. It makes them sound extra super smart.
I’m a pastor’s wife AND I have a tattoo! AND JESUS STILL LOVES ME.
DAAAAAAMN, TOLD YOU!
(sorry I really had to put my two cents in. Also I would like to point out that “truely” is actually spelled TRULY. And skin cancer IS NOT caused by tattoos it is caused by exposure to chemicals or UVA rays. I KNOW! MY MOM HAD MELANOMA! AND SHOCKINGLY SHE HAS NO TATTOOS!).
Annnnd, Whitney, back to the real conversation: how many kids do you plan on having? Because if it’s like nine then you’re going to have to get A LOT of tats because you have to be FAIR. Wouldn’t it be the worst if kid 9/9 was all “Mama why didn’t you ever get MY name tattooed anywhere? What’s wrong with ME?!” Just saying.
OOh! And what will you do if you have to put tattoo number nine’s name on your BUTT? HAHAHAHA!!!
I forgot to tell you earlier about Steve’s koi that looks like a penis. That is actually the point. In Japan they have fertility festivals and the koi is their “mascot”. They say the more it looks like a penis the more fertile you are.
@smith Who ARE you? And why are you spreading your hate on the internet, you poor soul you. To call Steve ‘White Trash’ is pretty idiotic on three levels 1) He most likely doesn’t care because he knows he’s better than you 2) He has a beautiful wife and family and is doing pretty damn well for himself and 3) He is in the armed forces, protecting your silly arse from the dangers of the world. So please do us all a favour and take your filth elsewhere.
Ahem.
I don’t really like tatoos, however I completely respect people’s choice to get one if they like. My little sister has a so called ‘sleeve’ tatoo and it is rather horrifying because from my point of view, its a little unlady-like. But again, its up to people and their own choices etc.
I do think that having Dublin’s name written on your wrist or even on the back of your neck in script would be pretty lovely, and if I were to get a tatoo I would do something similar.
With regards to this cancer and STDs malarchy, I’d say to research it first and foremost and of course go to a respected tatoo parlour.
TTFN!
Ok so I tried to post a comment on this the other night but all I had was my phone and the comment got lost and then I wrote another comment tonight and damn it if I didn’t hit the wrong button so it was lost as well.
Short version (because the comment was originally very long). I have two tattoos and love both of them, but I took quite some time deciding on the design and placement for both. One took three years and the other two.
I’m just trying to say that you should really think about those two things because this is something that you’re expressing for the rest of your life. You don’t want to have to remove it and move it somewhere else.
As for Smith, you’re just an ass and you’re the reason that so many of us feel that we have to hide the things we enjoy about our bodies because you’re too simple minded.
Smith told me you can also catch a case of the gays from tattoos but I am dubious of his claim.
slynnro wins for best comment.
I’m not really a fan of tattoos, but just promise me you won’t get any Chinese characters, ok?
I thought I once saw the character for ‘woman’s bathroom’ on someone’s shoulder.
you are all nieve. you know what I mean when I was saying it causes the stds. thats how infected people pass it to other people thru the needles. your better off not doing the tattoo & save your money & common sence & then you wont have cancer. not all skin cancer comes from tattoos but many tattoos can make you real sensitive to sun light & youll get the moles & you wont know if they get cancer because the color of your tattoo can hide the change in color of the mole. im just satin that you should refigure the deciscion bye
Refigure the decision?
We aren’t naive, we are making fun of you.
I’m pretty sure everyone knows that dirty needles spread disease. That would be why you go to someone reputable instead of someones basement.
Who else votes that Smith gets their own blog? I for one think the world should nit be deprived of this person’s expert medical opinion!!
ALSO it would allow you, Smith, to express your opinions in a place where it is APPROPRIATE. How lame are you to anonymously put this on someone else’s blog?
The English teacher in me can’t resist:
you are all nieve. you know what I mean when I was saying it causes the stds. thats how infected people pass it to other people thru the needles. your better off not doing the tattoo & save your money & common sence & then you wont have cancer. not all skin cancer comes from tattoos but many tattoos can make you real sensitive to sun light & youll get the moles & you wont know if they get cancer because the color of your tattoo can hide the change in color of the mole. im just satin that you should refigure the deciscion bye
should read:
“You are all naive. You know what I mean when I said it causes STD’s. Infected people pass it to other people thru the needles. You’re better off not doing the tattoo, saving your money and common sense and then you won’t have cancer. Not all skin cancer comes from tattoos, but some tattoos make you real sensitive to the light, you’ll get moles and you won’t know if they are cancerous because the color of your tattoo can hide the color change of the mole. I’m just saying you should reconsider the decision. Goodbye.”
Nope, still sounds ignorant as all hell, even when written properly. Good luck with the refigurin’!
I have three tatoos – all small and on my ankles. I think that’s the best spot – they are not so obvious that I would be embarassed in a job interview, but I can also see them without looking in a mirror. They make me happy.
My friend just got a tattoo on her wrist in all white ink. I’m not a fan of tattoos and would never get one myself but hers is the coolest one I’ve ever seen.