If I was to get a tattoo...

[Heyo]

....which I am not saying I am.. but if I was. (which I might, on my shoulder perhaps)

They say you should get something you will not regret later on in life.

I would want something the means a lot to me, that has influenced my life, and that has special meaning to me.

So hands down, the decision for me would be easy... the Rabbit in the Moon symbol.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000007SGE/qid=1101164248/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-9765065-2236727?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

(Not a very big picture, but it's there)

What that symbol represents to me has been enormously special and important, and the personal stories that I have that this symbol represents, in so many ways, helped to shape me as the person I am today.

Heyo

on edit: Oh yeah, and it's gotta look cool, too. Which it does. :party:

[eauclaireliberal]

1. RE: "If I was to get a tattoo..."

If I was to get one, I was thinking of something in block letters, probably on my upper-right arm that says: "I have colored ink in my skin!"

Sorry...a George Carlin moment...

[Heyo]

3. George Carlin rules.....

....he was on Inside the Actor's Studio recently.. awesome!

Heyo

[Scooter24]

2. I want to get a tattoo....

but i've chickened out every time. Scared of needles and pain...

:o I am thinking that maybe next time I go I will bring a friend with me. I'm such a puss sometimes...lol

It will be on my pelvic area right below the waist line. Not quite sure yet what it would be.

BTW, I like that picture.

[Heyo]

yeah that might hurt a bit....

.... although, strangely.. it's not the needles or the pain that bother me. It's the permanence of it, the fact that it can never be erased and you will live and die with it.

The only thing I am comfortable doing that with would be that RITM symbol.

Getting a tattoo doesn't really hurt.. I have a small homemade one on my ankle since I was 16... I don't consider that a real tattoo. Nobody ever sees it and it's sloppy and I pretty much have forgotten I have it.

I am talking a real one, upper body, upper arm most likely, by a pro artist, with a bit of color and shading.

When I was 16 a friend asked if I could build a tattoo gun because I am really good with gadgets and building stuff and what not. I said yes, and I did build said gun. It worked so well, all my friends used it, properly, with fresh needle and fresh ink each time of course, and so I got one too because that little machine was such a hit.

Had a small trigger button like a real tattoo gun and was very very intuitive to use.. just like a pen. Took me about 3 hours to put it together

Heyo

[fleabert]

7. the fear of pain will make it worse!

Fear-->tension-->pain-->more fear-->more tension-->more pain-->etc...

I have two tattoos, one hurt, the other I barely felt at all, REALLY. It is all relative to each person and the part of your body getting done. Go in relaxed and it will hurt less, deep breathing while getting tattoo'd helped me so much. My dragonfly seriously did not hurt at all. there were times that I knew he was inking, and I literally could not feel it. Not everyone has this response to it, but you never know till you do it!

I love my tats! If you want one bad enough, the pain or any sensation doesn't matter, you will get thru it. Your artist should be very comforting and patient, I think. Good luck! I think it's worth it!

edited to add a pic of my tat! It's in memory of my grandmother, who passed away last December. She collected dragonflies and sort of saw them as her talisman. She self-published a book of poetry under the name 'dragonfly publishing'. so I agree it's important to have some meaning behind a tattoo.

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. i have a tattoo idea

i have someone working on it for me *cant draw worth s*it*

[wolfgirl]

5. I have 2 tats...and can't wait to

get my 3rd. It took me 10 years to make a decision, but I'm so happy. Moon, stars, treble & bass clefs on the outside of each ankle.

It's addictive. I'm thinking of a 3rd one on the back side of my shoulder (or mid-lower back...treble clef w/angel wings.

Give yourself plenty of time to decide, research area artists (talk to customers) observe a session or 2. Try a henna tat first to see if you really like it..they are nice, but go away in 3-6 weeks so if you decide ya don't like it...there ya go!

[Starlight]

6. No, don't do it.

I regret mine but it's too big & too dark to remove without a lot of scarring & a huge amount of money. I might do it anyway. :(

[Heyo]

8. That's what I am afraid of...

But if I make the right decision, the notion of which has been in my head for 6 years or so, and I have never questioned or wavered that if I would get a real one, THAT'S what it'd be, then I think I will be happy with it.

Heyo

[Starlight]

9. Just remember, it's for life.

Your entire life. Even when you're old. Even when they go out of style. Even when you change your mind & realize it was a really stupid thing to do. It's still there.

[Djinn]

10. I think you've thought about it properly

the best way is to choose a design and then sit on it for a few years - if you still like it years later it's a fair bet you wont hate the design later. When they started to get trendy people just waltzed into tatoo studios and picked something off a wall - it drives a friend of mine who a tatooist mad - he didn't like to say no to a customer but he could just tell some people would completely regret the decision later and he'd always tell them to come back in a few months.

I decided to get a tattoo when I was 8, my sister (quite a bit older) had just goten one and I thought permanent jewellry was a very cool idea so from then on I looked at designs, when I was 18 I had my tattoo with a designed I'd picked 3 years earlier, I've never for one second regretted it and while that one was less prominent being on my ankle the large one on my arm has never bothered me either - nor any of my employers and I've always worked in professional jobs.

It really doesn't hurt much - I thought getting my ears pierced hurt more.