smootie

I am in the middle of doing research on my first tattoo, and the lack of cost information was maddening. An artist could have quoted me anything from $20/hour to $1000/hour and it would have sounded completely reasonable because I had no frame of reference.
While I understand the many many reasons for not discussing the cost of tattoos, the lack of transparency is very frustrating from a customer standpoint.

A belated hello LST!
I’ve been posting here for over a year, but I realized that I never did the obligatory introductory post. So here goes...
I’m a female, in my late 50s. I started getting tattooed kind of late, around when I turned 50, when my husband suggested I get a tattoo because he thought it would be attractive. I was reluctant, but finally said “what the heck! It will be an adventure, and he will be happy. I’ll get one, and that will be it.” So I got a well-hidden tattoo. I loved it, and wanted another. I was hooked! I wanted another one, and then more and more. I now have eight, including half sleeves, and I’m thinking about a back piece.
I’m otherwise pretty conventional, and work in a professional business setting, and have something of a mental block about showing my tattoos in public, even though I love, love, LOVE them. Old lessons are hard to unlearn, and I fear being judged or stereotyped. LST folks have given me support, and partly as a result of that, It hink I’m getting to a point where I can more comfortably go public with my ink.
I joined LST because I have no, none, zero, zip friends (except my husband) with whom I can share my tattoo enthusiasm. I really like being part of the tattooed community, among people who are accepting, supportive, and enthusiastic about tattooing, people who “get it,” who know what it is like to feel the needle, understand the near addictive attraction, and have stories and experiences to share. I love to talk about tattoos and tattooing. I love being tattooed, it matters a lot to me. It is an essential part of who I am now, both physically and mentally.
LST is my outlet!

pics please - love fish tatts! have 3 myself :)

Welcome and I'm sorry that you've gone through some difficult things lately, though it sounds like you're well on your way to figuring out how to prevent things like that from happening in the future. With that said, I would caution against getting a tattoo for the reasons you expressed in your post. I understand the idea of wanting to have a permanent reminder on you, but tattoos don't really work like that. I think you should get a tattoo because you want a tattoo, because you like tattoos and the art of them, not because you think that tattoos will make you a better person.

Hope to see your new tattoo soon on here. I just got one (my first, last year - at 62). That's all that I wanted. Well, maybe one more. And I've always wanted this. I can quit anytime I want, really!

Hi everyone! I'm in Honolulu and just got my first (and likely only) tattoo yesterday. I'd been thinking about getting a tattoo for a really long time and decided that 35 is fine age to get a one. It helps that I'm getting a masters degree in library and information science and libraries are very tattoo-friendly spaces.
I've been lurking on your lovely forum for awhile now, trying to soak up as much advice and wisdom I could, before I made an account. I particularly enjoyed reading about one user's experience with Jimmy Ho and the silly thread where someone coined the term "squid pants".
Getting tattooed hurt a LOT (I'm a wimp when it comes to pain). Honestly, the only thing that made me sit through the session was my desire NOT to go through life with a random squiggly line tattooed on my arm. But my artist was incredible and the tattoo is more beautiful than I could have imagined.
Anyhow, that's a little about me. Even though I don't plan to get another tattoo, I love reading the threads here and will continue to do so. Thanks for being so great, everybody!

Welcome! I'm going to say that if you think you're only going to get one tattoo, but then you get an account here, that you're probably thinking wrong. So when's your next one?