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I just got this from Aaron Hodges at Idle Hand SF:

Aaron's a really great guy, and I was stoked to get something from him. Two days ago, I realized that a torch would fit really well in that little spot, so I hit him up yesterday and he said he'd have time today. A great experience, and I'm really happy with it.

I LOVE that!! It fits so nicely in the space. Really lovely :)

Ha, my leg is peeling like an onion, and my ankle is so huge its freaking me out.

I've had some mad cankle action too ;)

a few times there was no visible evidence of bones in there at all!!

Congratulations @lving4today !!!

That tiger is so cool!!

I dont have the ability to just stay at home for a few days, and elevating my leg has done nothing. the skin feels tight and my leg is swollen. every step is painful. the skin feels stretched tight when I am standing up. What do I do? I have to walk a mile in the morning to get to the bus and I am afraid I'll be in too much pain

yep - that's it in a nutshell!!

I found that walking, after the first 50 yards or so, actually feels pretty good on the lower leg tattoos...

Minimizing the rubbing of clothes is super important, I had to buy some pants two sizes too big to accomodate the swelling, and I've also sometimes worn leggings underneath for a little bit of compression and to eliminate friction as well.

It'll be ok Delicious!!

It'll all be worth it!! :D

I felt quite negative toward my body, knowing I can't do the things I used to do, can't go out on a whim like my friends, can't run (used to be one of my big hobbies). Getting tattooed hurts like a mofo because of the hypersensitivity, but the achievement - getting to look at a part of my body and go "I sat through hours of pain for that" helps to pick me up on a bad day and remind me that I'm doing better than I give myself credit for. That there are still things that I CAN do, and having awesome artwork all over me is one.

:)

My legs might not *do* what I want them to do, but at least they can *look* the way I want them to look!!!

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I got my sleeve worked on today and my mom asked me where I was. I told her I was getting my arm worked on and showed her the fresh shading below my elbow. She asked me how much my tattoo cost. I told her the amount. Then she told me to pay the water bill next month and that she would pray for me. Oh well! :rolleyes:

That's why I never tell!!

My family would be horrified if they knew how much money I've spent on tattoos... not just the tattoos themselves, but I've missed work for them, stayed in hotels, etc.

I think, in this case, lying is completely acceptable!!

Keep leaving hints of good tattooers. Did she say what she wanted to get? it'll be hard for her to live up to your tattoo awesomeness

She wants an octopus on her leg. She's been pretty set on the idea since she was just a little girl.

(long-ish story behind that, but I'll spare you!!)

I only hope she does it "right"...

She's seen all of my tattoos, so at least she knows how good tattoos *can* be.

our very own @LosingShape does a fair few Morrissey tattoos too I believe...

Imagine being the unsuspecting other when you see that for the first time.

You would *have to* mention something like that ahead of time!!

I'm not sure how that conversation would go though...

him: I have a dragon in my pants

her(?): That's what they all say!!

My daughter is turning 18 in June and she's talking about getting tattooed.

I'm sure she wouldn't want me to come with her though! I think she's super into being "independent" right now ;)

She's in Denver, so I mentioned Marie Sena's name sort of casually, I was afraid if I was too emphatic that she should see Marie that she'd dig her heels in and see anyone but Marie!!!

Oh, teenage daughters!!

I can't wait til she's a tiny bit older/wiser...

I really am. Though, I just realized, I have flowers in every single one of my tattoos... starting to look like a garden over here

Hahaha this is kind of my goal.

Mine too! I was just thinking the other day "I don't have enough flowers!!" I was considering getting nothing BUT flowers for the space left on my left calf, and I've got an appointment in June for a big ol' flower or two on my right shin...

amnesia????

I don't remember that...

Oh well!

I think Pharaoh's horses on the back of the thigh would be great!

I don't have an opinion on the tattooability of the Morrissey flash... that's outside my scope of practice ;)

I am a ball of nerves right now. I am not sure what I want tattooed and I dont want to have a regret, but I am going in at 2:30 today to get my birthday tattoo. I have like 5 or 6 different ideas and I thought I had chosen one, but then I realized I chose it because of what other people thought. So now I am stuck.

Hooray!! Sounds to me like the most fun EVER!!!

Hurry back and tell us what you got!!

I've talked about this some before...

A few years ago I found out that I have a neurodegenerative disease that will eventually land me in a wheelchair. I really don't know how fast or slow it will go. There's not any treatment for it, nothing to do for it but treat symptoms and wait for the inevitable.

I got super depressed about it for a long time. I absolutely HATED my legs. Despised them for having this disease, for failing me, for "dooming" me to be disabled someday.

Sometime last summer I started to have persistent dreams that I was getting my legs tattooed. I ignored them as well as I could for awhile, and then started putting some serious thought into going for it. I started looking around the interwebs to see what was out there...

And then I came here :)

Since I started getting my legs tattooed my feelings about them have changed completely. I don't hate them at all anymore. In fact, I might even love them!!! I definitely love the tattoos, and to a great degree all those positive feelings have bled over onto the legs themselves.

And... I'm finding that my perspective about the disease as a whole is beginning to shift some too...

I'm coming around to the idea that I need to view it less as a curse, not "being doomed", and more of just "a change"...

I'm definitely not all the way there yet, but it's something that never would have been possible in the state of mind I was in when I hated my legs guts for having this thing in the first place.

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And I have to add...

I want to thank all y'all here at LST for being here, for giving such great input and advice, for showing off such great work all the time!!

God forbid, what if I'd gotten crappy leg tattoos?!?!

I doubt it would have had the same positive impact that it's had...

I'm thinking for my 1/4 century bday I want to get a fat "Mans ruin" piece on my thigh (ironic) of a mermaid on a rock with a ship... I have no idea who to go to get it.. really debating.. wouldnt mind making a trip out of it..not sure...

Do it!!! That would be FABULOUS!!

a bottle of lucozade, a bottle of irn bru, a black pudding roll and some codiene based painkillers and you'll be right as rain!

I don't know anything about "lucozade" and the rest, but +1 for the black pudding roll. :)

A local funeral home recently ran a discount on cremations.

For real.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the banner before they took it down.

Got this from Steve Byrne on Saturday. Couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Sorry for the crappy iphone pic, I'll try to get better pics once it heals.

Oh! Saw that on IG and thought it was AWESOME!!!

So glad somebody I "know" got it!!!

In addition to the usual places (hands, face, etc) I don't think I would get a tattoo on any part of my body that is prone to excessive body fat or cellulite (upper arms, thighs, buttocks). I also won't get any on my chest or breasts. Actually, I feel like I wouldn't want any on the front side of my body. I'm more comfortable having them on the back. However, one day I would like one on my forearm blow the crease of my elbow. I guess I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to tattoos even though I like them.

Where the hell does that even leave to be tattooed? Just your back (which should be reserved for 1 tattoo, or 2-3 collaborative tattoos) and calves?

I think it kinda goes back to the whole "old people with tattoos" thing.

Eventually everything is going to get wrinkled or saggy or misshapen somehow.

Nothing stays in exactly the spot it started out in. I figure I might as well have a bunch of pretty stuff to cover up the parts that I don't love.

Value added.

That way, instead of looking at my thigh and saying "ewww, look at that lumpy thigh", I'll look at my thigh and think "awww! look at that kick ass tattoo!!!"

why not cover your body in attractive things :)

Exactly!!

Topping this thread for a new myth I heard last week. I just started getting acupuncture done, and I was chatting with my acupuncturist about my tattoos when she mentioned that they generally avoid putting needles anywhere where there is coloured ink. (Ironic!) I was like, "really?" and she admitted that there is no evidence whatsoever that there was any danger of performing acupuncture on tattooed skin, and she thought it was kind of stupid too, but that people just followed this rule to be safe. Has anyone else heard this? This came on the heels of a really dumb inflammatory article in a shitty newspaper here in Montreal that talked about how dangerous it is for women with lower back tattoos to get epidurals. I find this medical hysteria with no actual evidence very strange.

I've had A LOT of acupuncture but I'd never heard that from anyone...

It would suck if it was true now that I've gotten so much done on my legs - and especially the knees - I always end up with a couple-few knee needles.

i spent pretty much all day wednesday getting tattooed (slightly dramatic it was about 7.5 hours all in) and i felt like i had been actually hit by a bus yesterday. Was absolutely fine getting tattooed. Expected to really struggle but it was fine but when i woke up the next morning. Wow. i have a face full of coldsores so i spent most of yesterday resting and trying to eat good food. i'm now healing 3 relatively large tattoos at the same time so it'll be interesting to see if this has an effect on how well and how long i take to heal!

I can only imagine how "hit by a bus" you must feel!

Me and @Pugilist will be there. Who wants to meet up?

I wish I was going just to meet up with you two!!

Not this year unfortunately.

Still in Texas!

I'm trying this thing where I heal one tattoo at a time. It's tough though. I'm sure it's better for the body and what not.

I used to heal like, 3-4 tattoos at the same time. This guy that was getting tattooed next to me noticed that, and he mentioned that I should take vitamins and iron pills.

Does everyone else heal 1 tattoo at a time? Or do you guys heal multiples too?

I had a whole bunch going at once there for awhile...

I definitely noticed that each subsequent tattoo was taking longer and longer to heal. And that the day after was getting harder and harder on each one.

I've been on a little break here for the past couple months.

It looks like my break will be ending soon though and I'll be healing multiple tattoos again :D

I haven't been tattooed by him (yet!), but when I met him earlier this year I was struck by how nice he was. He's high up on my list just because he was so easygoing.

I spend the majority of my time with old folks, and I don't think their tattoos look bad at all!! Faded yes, but bad? No way!!

Everyone's skin sags.

I'd rather have faded sagging tattoos, than be a sagging plainskin. Gonna sag either way.

People spend way too much time thinking about how tattoos look on old people.