Pugilist

Augh, I am sorry @Mark Bee, and to everyone on this thread who is going through hard times these days. I don't talk about this much, but I have been dealing with some scary health issues for the past year or so, that really came to a head in the past couple of months, and it has been a hard and sad and shitty slog. You are all good people whose loved ones are lucky to have (or have had) you. And I hope that things get easier for all of us soon.

Does that offer stand for other people/cat lovers?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Tattooers tattoo over all sorts of scars, stretch marks, etc. Don't feel embarrassed or worried! This is the job, what makes it challenging and interesting. They have seen it all! I felt self-conscious when I started going onto my thighs because I have lots of cellulite. I wasn't sure how designs would turn out. The answer is obvious: my thighs are ten times cooler now. :)

This is really something to discuss with him, but that drawing is so so great!!! I also think it's a drawing with a lot of flexibility in it, so I suspect if there is any skin that poses problems (let's say for finer details or whatever), that should be really easy to adjust. It's not hard to shift the positions of those leaves, for example.

Smith Street to Shirts and Destroy would be a LOOOOOOOOONG (but cool!) walk! The G-train will take you between the two if you need it!

To use the subway you get a Metrocard that you load your fares onto. The NYC subway can be tricky to learn but it's super convenient and cheap once you have the hang of it!

Seems like shirts are banned at the convention. :)

I love that one!!!

Omg. <3

I posted it here!

@SeeSea - I was totally bummed when I finished my back and it meant an end to my regular trips to Saved and chats with some wonderful people. Not bummed about finishing the actual tattooing part, but you get attached to the routine!

Looks like a beautiful shop! And @Willhell is very stoic. :)

Yes, Brian Kaneko's peonies are what made me appreciate peonies! I love them. Stolen from his IG:

@jimmyirish - agreed on all counts. I just think tattoos are not the big stand against the man that young people sometimes think they are! @keepcalm - I also don't "look like" a tattoo person due to my very strategic coverage and my bookish appearance, but have been lucky enough to get to know people in this community that see past that, respect the work I do have and return my own respect for them, and they have been very welcoming. Lately I have started to feel more "a part" of the community than I ever expected to with my almost bare arms. It's funny how this particular subculture can work (or rather, collection of subcultures). Anyway, that's a whole other topic, but I'll just say that I am very grateful to live in a place with a really awesome and warm tattoo community. Back to the thread topic - I had to give a lecture in a very warm and tiny room yesterday, so halfway through I could not help but take my jacket off. The dress I was wearing totally exposed the top of my backpiece, so I just made sure not to turn around, haha.

Let's be clear: neither getting tattooed nor not getting tattooed helps to assert you as an "individual" who is outside some kind of norm. Subcultures are cultures too.

If tattooing wasn't perceived as taboo, would people still want tattoos?

There is no way we could ever keep cat hair off our fresh tattoos. No way. That is one I'm just going to have to live with. :)

Hahaha @BrianH ! I hope so. :) When we saw these dates yesterday, we were both like, amazing to start thinking about next year's convention when our tattyjams from this year are barely healed. Val and Pierre do not sleep.

@sophistre - KILLER, especially for a first tattoo! Well done! @ironchef- I love everything about your post. Amazing.

Oh god, buddy. I'm sorry.

OMG yes! Tenure necktat club!

You, sir, are a hero. (Or insane.)

Just wear your loosest pants and you'll be fine! I usually do yoga pants post-cold-weather leg tattoo until I need to go into the office, then my loosest (and ideally most breathable) slacks.

I agree with @Mick Weder's reflections - there is no dress code in my line of work, and no one would ever say I can't show tattoos as a prof. One of my colleagues has some crappy tattoo on her bicep and she'll wear tank tops in the summer and expose it, so not everyone is as uptight as I am about it. But I feel like even though most of my colleagues think they don't judge a book by its cover, and if asked most would probably say that they don't care I'm tattooed, I am already a young-looking woman in a profession where you typically imagine people with my job to be old white dudes in tweed. I already do a lot to "convince" people to take me seriously professionally, like dressing more formally than many of my colleagues, insisting on using my fancy titles more, etc. And I feel like if I showed my tattoos, it would not help people's general perception of me of not being "professor-like" and that would affect how I'm treated, even if no one explicitly cared about the tattoos. (Maybe it would help my students be more scared of me? Haha.) I remember that in grad school, the prof who led my doctoral seminar had a tattoo on her wrist. At the time I was stunned to see a professor with a very visible tattoo, especially at my very old school university. But she was older, and she was a pretty huge name in her field, so I think she could pull that shit off by virtue of being so on top of her game that there was no question as to her reputation or competence. I joke a lot that I'll go super visible as a post-tenure gift to myself, haha. :) But as I've said before, I work at a small conservative university, where many of my colleagues are like, nuns. Literally. At bigger, more progressive universities, I would probably be making very different decisions. So I feel you, @TrixieFaux, in terms of how contextual these decisions are. It's totally a matter of figuring out whether or not the culture of your particular new workplace would have people judging you, explicitly or implicitly, even if your job hasn't changed.