beez

My left ditch is pretty much smoke filler coming out of my bent back girl...after seeing this thread I feel laaaazy....(I feel like my choice was lazy - to clarify).

Chuuuuck!

@CultExciter ehhh I'm working on a way to justify being there a week early, my tattoos are booked for the 10th and 11th. Of course I could book them earlier...but also super dumb to have a healing tattoo over the 4th, a historically hot, sunny, sandy holiday :p. (not suuuuper dumb, just trying to plan well!). Workin on it, but at the mo' I'll be there the week after you, bummer!! Stay another week! :p But ya never know, no tickets have been purchased yet, and I have had fun times with other LSTers, so it is super tempting for me.

@CultExciter duh, do both! :p I wanted an artist in SF so I would have an excuse to keep going down...it's an expensive hobby, but I love every bit of it. And it keeps me leaving my apartment/office....it's good to get out :p. of course it is super easy for me being on the same coast and all... You'll prob have best luck with walk ins on a tues or something...weekend spots fill up quickly for the 9-5ers.

Hahaha LOL thanks @Cork!

I was really pleased to see a comment at the top refuting the "but you invited me to stare" argument. Because it IS like saying "look at how she's dressed, she's asking for it" or staring at amputees when a stump or fake arm is visible. I keep covered because if the inevitable stares, but honestly already had that practice in place pre-tattoo because there are a lot of creepy starers out there, and I don't want to attract attention. But it kind of sucks that I have to cover my tattoos and womanliness because some people are creeps and stare and comment regularly, a la "ooh, look at those hips! I bet you've had a lot of children", and "are you a slut or are you expensive?" FYI those happened in the last three months with all tattoos covered and just jeans and a hoodie on. Soooo...did I invite that by walking around? Because that's all I was doing, going from point a to b. During the day! I should also state that sometimes I dress to show off my tattoos and also to be purposefully attractive...and even then while I do it on purpose with the intention of being appreciated, getting called names and getting leered at are still not okay and a really violating experience. So where's the balance? Because sometimes I want to look good. But I NEVER want the names or comments. "What do I have to do to see all of your tattoos" shudder. I do keep covered in professional situations, much like I wouldn't wear club wear to a meeting, because it's just not the right time for it. Maybe after the meeting we compare tattoos, but biz is biz until it's done! I wouldn't wear a suit to a club, either. (Who am I kidding? I don't go to clubs!!! Ahahaha) Buuuut also I mostly work for myself, by myself, and in a non traditional environment, so a lot of the "rules" are of my own devising. Anyway. Barf for the morning.

Thanks as always for your contribution, @irezumi. The scans and retypes are always helpful and add to the discussion.

Currently I can't handle my itch. I never remember this part waaahhhhh!! But seriously :p it suuuucks.

That's okay...today is revenge of the fifth... <ducks punches>

To be clear it's just an op ivy reference...and I could have assigned any other contrived meaning to it, that's just the one I was thinking of (you know, back when it felt necessary to justify every aspect of the tattoo as spiritual and meaningful and blah blah) when perusing the wall of flash at the shop. A friend and I met in NYC when we were 17 to get tattoos. At this time - Sept or Oct '00 - you could walk into just about any place in the city* and get a really good fake ID from a number of different Northeastern states, with a hologram and everything. I took my fresh fake ID in my hot little hand and my friend and I hightailed it to the place I had found on the internet, Andromeda on St. Mark's Place (ahhh it's still there!!!)...holy shit I just realized/remembered that this is a story in two parts...the first trip I went to get pierced. Had the ID, ran to the shop, and the guy called me out instantly for having a fake ID - he was from PA and recognized that the hologram (that damn hologram) was off...and then the other guy showed me HIS fake ID, they asked how old I really was, and went ahead with the piercing. (Which maybe to adult me is a little creepy, but 17 year old me was glad for the attention and aid in my rebellion, or whatever it was...my individuation...) The subsequent trip, a week or two later, I went to the tattoo part of Andromeda with my fake ID, and that's when I got my first tattoo. My friend - the same friend from earlier - and I were going to get an Alice (on her) and a White Rabbit (on me) but of course we just really wanted tattoos, and didn't really care, and the ones we wanted were time and cost prohibitive, and so we saw these really cool kanji characters on the wall...BOOM. Le first tattoo. (Hers was for "courage". Damn, but we 17 year old white girls are predictable). Anyway. So instead of the cool rude boy tattooed on my hip, it's a straight from the sheet kanji character, but kind of an awesome story, looking back on it. The attached is a pic of my first tattoo...it is 14 years old!!! And that spot in the middle...I remember when the chunk of color fell right out of it...I bumped into something sharp when healing...and thought "Oh I guess you CAN remove them" ahahahaha. The POV is me looking down on it, I guess making it upside down in the pic. *my assumption based on the fact that 17 year old girls could do it...

May the fourth be with you...

Ugh just looked at a bunch of cheetah stuff...I wish it was cooler. radeo suicide, with her cheetah singlet tattoo...I want to like it so much more than I do!!! All I can think is "whyyyyyyy?" :/

18 year old me would have had a huge circle with a dumb ass quote and some lame ass island scene or something in the center of my back, ruining it for me forever!! Actually 18 year old me put a small flower on my upper back that is now covered by a big ol' rock. I think it's visible in one of my gallery pics. And 17 year old me put the kanji character for "unity" on her hip. (Op ivy not Queen latifah...not that it matters but someone just got aggro with me re song references...I just picked it off a wall guys...bc I was 17...) (but also I'm not covering it up! Never!!) I'm gonna say something...in writing...on the Internet where it will stay forever....I'm into cheetah print. If I could figure out a way to pop some on while still looking good/classy/timeless (haha there are so many haters whose eyes are popping at my word choice right now) I would do it! As it stands I can't think of anywhere (yet) that I would be permanently okay with the cheetah print on me. I have good tattoos and a good look going so far - not gonna mess with that (yet). It's fad-dy and I see it on a lot of young women as a first tattoo, or as part of a first tattoo, so until I see some well aged cheetah print I'm gonna stick to wearing it and not having it tattooed. (But I still like it...!) Okay, there was your sat morning thread derail. <tips hat> ladies, gentlemen, I'll be here all night.

Welcome! Let's see some of your tattoos!

I am very attracted to tattoos - they catch my eye first and immediately - and if they're good tattoos my brain melts a little and my heart starts racing and this is all before I've even made contact...so you can imagine...I don't talk to a lot of tattooed people...(hahaha cackle...it's only partly true! Can be super awkward...) In any event - I would LOVE it if tattoos were something I could share with a partner. I love them. I love looking at them. (Don't know about you guys but I definitely look at my own tattoos a lot...is that a weird thing to admit??) I've never dated anyone with any kind of tattoos at all. I've dated guys who have given me shit about the tattoos (obvs they don't last long) and guys who were clearly into the fact that I had tattoos but they did not have them themselves, which was fine but incomplete for me. Tattoos aren't a must, but are something I would like to share with a partner in the future for sure. My parents set me up with a lot of conservative types (when I am visiting them in OK) who are decidedly NOT into tattoos, are definitely the type who think they are trashy etc. I tend to stay covered at home regardless because of the negative attention I receive - though there are certainly more tattoos in Oklahoma than when I left 8 years ago - but still get a lot of negative looks, creepy comments etc when they are showing. So what I'm waiting for is the big reveal - on a date with some guy who seems maybe like not my type blah blah blah we get along, there a few more dates and then BOOM there is a moment of discovery where both of our heavily tattooed bodies are revealed!!! (Not necessarily THAT moment...I'm just saying....). Haha so basically I get myself through all these obligatory parent-lead dates by pretending the man I'm speaking to has an incredible Filip Leu (Or whoever - insert your fav artist here) body suit underneath whatever he's wearing. Hmm. I'm going to write that movie...

My head exploded!!! Hell yeah @growltiger, way to go for it!!!!!! That thigh piece is the shit!!!!!

Drink lots of water, drink ginger tea, and have some sort of soup! I like tom kha gai, a simple Thai coconut chicken soup, but there is good old chicken soup or veggie broth, whatever your healing potion* is. (*I originally said 'poison' but figured that was very wrong for this particular post) If you can grab some sambucol or other elderberry syrup from the store it will help move things along more quickly. Zinc and vitamin C can be helpful as well. Good luck! Baby yourself and you will be well enough for the tattoo.

I second Ego and also add Alivia at Artful Dodger Tattoo in Seattle. They've got a whole comic book/cartoon vibe you may appreciate.

Welcome! Who made your tattoos? Sorry if I missed it somewhere!

@Delicious @growltiger thanks much ladies. I am over the moon in so many ways. Next update in july!

Holla atcha sunburn.

Preach it, sister!