Zillah

Tim Lehi/snow leopard battle!

When I first glanced at the picture I thought it was a black panther with snarling jaws. I guess that's what working late shift does to you...

I just went to get that one and saw the same thing. Oh well... anyway I saw that the shipping to NZ was $31.95. Sheesh.

So I'm waiting for my booked tattoo at one place, when I come across another local tattoo shop that actually has an artist recommended to me by @beez (Capilli Tupou) Capilli Tupou | Sacred Tattoo Shop I really like this guy's stuff too: Dean Sacred | Sacred Tattoo Shop Dammit. Now I want to go there. Oh well, have to get more tattoos then.

That's really beautiful, I love it.

Nah, I wouldn't say it was tattoo ignorance. We can't all be Japanese mythology scholars, I'm certainly not- I just started learning about this stuff myself.

Ah, ok. We were told in class never to do it, but then what you get taught in the classroom is always the most ideal situation; I've already found that what actually happens on the wards and in the units is quite different, and I think at the end of the day everyone just tries to do their best for the clients.

I thought Hannya were female?

Fishing around? No... I hate that! It is such bad practice. They are just cutting tissue left right and centre when they do that. I had a surgeon once tell me (pre-op) he was the best ever at taking blood, then proceeded to fish around causing more pain and bruising than any other time I've had it. On a surgical ward I had placement at as a student, the nurses would try 3x and then get someone else. I heard a lot of, "oh, you have really difficult veins". Load of bullshit. Phlebotomists are the best, obviously. I always thought if I needed to get trained to cannulate I wanted to learn from one of them rather than another nurse. I don't need to where I work though, they have a phlebotomist come in every day to take bloods from the clients, lots of toxicity and drug levels need to be done.

Ships of sci-fi! Heh. I briefly thought of getting a space scene with the TARDIS, the Battlestar Galactica and Serenity it it...

Yeah, that wouldn't be an issue because it's intramuscular- so as long as you know the location of the muscle, you can't miss. As for feeling for the vein, that makes sense, thanks. I should mention that as a psychiatric nurse (and a new grad), I'm not trained in taking blood and probably wont be, so I'm not familiar with the process. As a patient, the nurse or phlebotomist always seems to squint at my arm! So I wondered :)

Ah, I see- it's an issue of semantics. Technically I would only call it an STD if it was transmitted that way- but I totally see what you mean- if you look at any STD chart, hepatitis and HIV are definitely included. Though if I contracted hepatitis through a needle stick injury at my job, I would balk at someone saying I had an STD!

That tattoos can give you STDs! I just saw this on a tattooist's website. "Tattooing carries a risk of STDs and other nasty things infecting you, and you wouldn’t want to catch any of those." If you're getting sexually transmitted diseases from a tattooist, it's not the needle they're sticking you with.

Bow-ties are cool.

As a registered nurse, I've been wondering lately how you would cannulate or take bloods from someone who had full arm coverage. Has anyone here had difficulty when they needed to have a blood test due to the nurse finding it hard to locate a vein? Or had other experiences where medical care has been compromised due to being tattooed?

I just had my upcoming tattoo moved back 2 1/2 weeks, which was disappointing enough! I've never heard of such a long wait in NZ, maybe our tattooists are not as good compared with overseas.

I don't know if it's the same issue, but the Facebook login button was missing for a little while today, and refreshing didn't help, so I couldn't login. It returned later...

Hmm, I just saw this part: "Kitsune, or fox, grow in power as they age. After a century, they grow a tail and gain the ability to shape-shift and possess people. The most powerful foxes are those who reach the grand old age of 1,000 (the so-called nine-tailed fox). When a kitsune gains nine tails, its fur becomes silver, white, or gold, and it gains the power of infinite vision." So in keeping with tradition, nine-tailed Kitsune should be silver, white, or gold then?

Yep, my mum sent me this as a 'warning' yesterday, saying "This is what can happen when you get a tattoo." I sent her a picture of a car accident and said, "This is what can happen when you drive your car."

Yeah, that was the idea. I've emailed the artist and this was his reply: "what the artical states is common practice in japanese tattooing, however representing seasons in tattooing is not really necessary as we are not japanese and tattoos have such great personal importance. i think it is more important to get the items that appeal to you and you will be happy to wear for the rest of your life rather than worry to much about seasons and tradition. this said if you would like to go true traditional this is no problem either." So, he basically supports what you have said @DJDeepFried I will go for maple leaves- and thank you so much for the articles, I've been devouring as much knowledge as I can on the subject.

All right then, a snapped underwire fight to the death! Rah!

I was also joking :D No sorry required.

That is an incredible article. I've read books on Japanese tattooing that don't mention the seasonal cohesion mentioned there. Thanks for sharing. - - - Updated - - - Hmm. Now I'm wondering if I should email it to my tattoo artist. He's designing a custom koi sleeve with cherry blossoms... maybe I should change to maple leaves if he is amenable...

Nice!

I'm... I'm a little creeped out right now