Pugilist

Yeah there are no scorecards here so let's just chill out and be nice to each other. Everyone is entitled to experience tattooing however they experience it.

You are definitely not reading too much into it.

Hey @purplelace you're being really rude. I'd suggest you treat people with respect and leave the condescension at home if you want to participate here.

Maybe he thinks he is a tattooer too! :)

Touche. (I am still not listening to that song.)

@polliwog - I agree with you that "A lot of the most fervent defining seems to be done by people looking at the tattoos, rather than the actual tattooed person." The article is a thoughtful read, but it also needs to be understood in the context of what the vast majority of tattoos are, i.e. those tiny infinity symbols and whatever. The kind of work folks on this board get is not the norm, and so our reasons and attachment to tattoos is probably not going to conform to that data super well either. I do often get tattooed to mark particular moments in my life or transitions. I have many tattoos that to me did feel like alternative rites of passage where there were no "mainstream" ones (getting a tattoo to mark finishing my PhD, for example), so I can relate to some of what the article is saying. But I have two principal issues with it nonetheless. First of all, I hate these strange studies of "identity" because they make it seem like this rigid, easily defined concept. I mean, I feel like I have a strong sense of who I am and am searching for who I am at the very same time, and I imagine that is true for most people. I find their discussion of that stuff very over-simplified. Second, I am fucking sick of all these millenials articles, and I am not even a millenial! But like seriously, the desire to cast each new generation as a bunch of iconoclasts with no connection to the past is insane. Millenials are not a fundamentally different kind of person than the rest of us, and writing like they are some kind of alien culture that must be studied makes me crazy. Like we live in a weird world where we are increasingly less and less attached to communities that traditionally defined us. So yeah, we're all searching, and maybe tattoos help us with some of that searching and maybe they don't. We invest a huge amount of time and money (and blood!) into them, so obviously they mean a lot to us and impact our identities. DUH; I would have a hard time disputing any of that. But trying to turn it into some kind of "definition of a generation" psychobabble is a bit much.

Hey there! I visited Northern Ireland a few years ago - it is a beautiful place! Welcome to LST. I hope you will show off some of your tattoos.

Have fun!!!

Hi Geoff! Welcome to LST. Do you have any tattoos and will we get to see them? :)

Welcome! I get the impression you are a tattooer?

You are unlikely to ever get any good info about the "industry" without any tattoos. I'd suggest you read this thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/152-non-tattooers-opening-shops.html

To be fair, we did end up going out for drinks after we split up with you guys, which is I think what tipped the scales.

Hahaha - the first rule of the Peony Club is that you don't talk about the Peony Club.

He is the best. Have fun!!

Welcome to LST. This is such a great place to learn about tattoos. One thing you will probably see here is that most of us believe that the only way to really learn about tattoos and tattoo culture is to start getting tattooed. I don't know why that is not an option for you, but you will have a difficult time accessing the wonderful world of tattoos without that first hand experience. It's why we are all here!

@SeeSea - Ha!

I saw a Kiku backpiece in person a while back and it was just about the boldest, most dynamic thing I have ever seen. He is amazing.

I love that little scorpion, @hogg and @cltattooing ! Chill dude. I feel like you have all already seen this on the 'ole Instagram, but I had the great pleasure of getting a couple of peonies from Brian Kaneko this weekend. It was a great experience to get zapped by such a nice, funny and talented person, and it was also our first time at Adorned, which was also very fun! What a lovely space. Can't wait to go back there, and will definitely be getting more work from Brian! You can peep the tattoos on his IG here: @truenaturetattoo I am of course in love with the peonies, which I've been wanting forever! It's such a treat to look down and see them there. They are healing like a dream so far. I have to say, I love this finally tattooing my arms business - soooo much more pleasant than all that back/thighs crap I started with.

Y'all are a very friendly (and hangover inducing) bunch!

Hey guys, just in the car with G and we realized we weren't sure if Sun plans had been confirmed. We're on for 6 at Matchless, yes? Looking forward to it!

Bummer!! I am not sure how long we'll be there (but I suspect a while), but if you drop by on the later side of things, maybe we could grab a drink after? Anyway, you have G-Dawg's phone #, textbro.

Bienvenue!!

This is cray cray in the best possible way. Good start, dude!

Welcome, Samuel. As LST is a public forum read by tattooers and non-tattooers alike, we do not talk about things like where to buy machines on here.

I am not qualified to answer any of your questions, @SeeSea, but I do hope it works out! We had said we'd meet at 6 for drinks, although we are flexible and could do later if that was easier for people.