[IHT]

Who's got 'em? Where, What, and Why?

i have 4.

in order of when i got them.
*left deltoid - 2 small handprints, 2 small footprints. i don't know... some old punk signer had this cool tattoo of 1 large handprint on his deltoid, and i originally wanted my very own thumbprint to be blown up and then tattooed on my arm... instead, went with 2 hands and 2 feet.

*left ankle - a tribal anklet that i designed myself. don't have a photo of this one. i saved up some $$$ before i came home on leave from germany with the intent to get another tattoo. just woke up, drew a picture, colaborated with the artist, 2.5 hours later, big fuggin tattoo around my left ankle. i wear ankle socks, so this starts just above where my socks stop. why? i just like it.

*low back - japanese kanji symbol for "father". rather large for kanji, about 5-6" tall and 3.5-4" wide in black and red. i was on a business trip to hawaii, and my wife had never had one, we decided to go get "matching" tattoos, only hers says "mother". being a proud new father and all that...

*right ankle - my latest, just this year. it's in black and red, sort of like a japanese dragon that goes all the way around my ankle, and he ends up with his tail in his mouth. told the guy what i wanted, he drew something up, looked good, we started stickin'. was done at the KC tattoo show this summer. later that night, coppertop and I went to an Amatuer poker tournament... oh, my wife got some tribal anklet that looks pretty cool. she's the one that talked me into getting another (her 16 yr old son wanted one as well, but he's such a big puss, he can't even work 2 shifts as a bagger at the grocier store, how could he hang for 1-2 hours getting stuck by a needle?)

i'll see if i have any pics.

i only have 1 on my work computer, i'll look for the one on my back sometime this weekend.

 

[kansashat]

No tats, but have a 49 year old hickey on the instep of my right foot. When I was 3 days old, my 7 year old brother sucked a hickey on my foot & as my skin was so tender......it never went away.
He doesn't know why he did it......just to see if he could I guess.

 

[friendoofop]

I would, but I haven't got the money...

Would like to get 1-1/2" wide black bands up my right arm, one at the wrist, mid forearm, below elbow, above elbow, and below shoulder, all connected with a black stripe up the outside edge (over the elbow) of my arm....or something like that. Haven't completely decided how I would want it. Sorta like the bands that you see certain tribes wearing on all limbs and across their chest. Gotta put something on that right arm...I'm a guitarist/drummer, and tattoos on your rockin' arm make you look badass :r

My mom was going to become a tattoo artist about 10 years ago....she's a very talented artist, but never made the step. I would have been more than happy to be her guinea pig over the last few years.



My dad has two nicely done back to back skulls wrapping around his upper arm. Had them done about 10 or 12 years ago as a cover up of his old "don't try this at home kids" home made tattoo he was given by one of his friends. Had his old highschool band name Nexus on his arm(father is also a drummer...where I must have gotten it from), and the X was a "backwards" swastika. I guess one too many "Are you a Nazi or something asshole?" remarks from people who wouldn't believe that the symbol had been used by people other than Nazis and he decided to get rid of it.

 

[WillyGT]

I want one, just havent got the money either. What i wanted is something like this, but instead of yellow, maybe red, or just leave the skin color. and the blue/purple stuff, black. i was thinking, maybe on my shoulder or on my upper back.

 

[Cdnwhiskey]

Here are 2 pics of one I got while serving with the 1st Canadian Signals Regiment.

 

[Redman]

One one my back near the top between my shoulder blades, its a tribal I had about 2 years ago. I am currently looking for a new one to go somewhere. I am thinking about a maltese cross to go along with my profession.

 

[drac]

Long explanation to go through them all.

80% of my body is covered in tattoos roughly. Entire upper body, full sleeves, full back, full front of torso.

On my way to finishing my legs and completing a full body suit

 

[Bruce5]

Greg,
You are so sexy. Kidding.
.
I have 2 tatoos... one on each shoulder...A Sun and a Moon.
.

 

[Heartpumper]

I work in cardiac surgery. The number and variety of tattoo we see are incredible. In places that it looks like it would be EXTREMELY painful to receive.

However, I don't understand the logic behind art selection. If you are not an aficionado of barbed wire, sailing ships, asian symbols, etc., why have one put on your body? Why use Asian symbols if you don't speak the language? My cousin has an "ill tempered mutated sea bass" on his leg. That's pretty funny, but some youngsters don't get the connection to Austin Powers any longer.

Considering our collective passion- Does anyone have a Partagas or Opus X on their back? How 'bout NFL logos, or beer labels? I swear, if I could stand the pain, it would be cool to have a Cohiba logo on my back.

 

[Mayor]

Jimmy Buffett has a line in a song about Tattoos...

"...A permenant reminder of a temporary feeling..."

 

[IHT]

However, I don't understand the logic behind art selection. If you are not an aficionado of barbed wire, sailing ships, asian symbols, etc., why have one put on your body? Why use Asian symbols if you don't speak the language?

i had a very long discussion with one of my co-workers about this. he finds it funny that i don't read/speak japanese, yet have a kanji symbol on my back that says "father". he's the type that just likes to razz people about things (although he is a buddhist ).

what i find hypocritical about his comments is this (and i pointed them out to him):
*he's half mexican, half english
*his wife is from scotland
*he has tattoos of celtic knots and even swans on his chest?

uh.. dude, if anything, you should have a burrito and a spot of tea tattooed on your chest... not swans and celtic knots!!

anyway, the "symbolism" of these tattoos... good question.

i've never wanted one that would be offensive to anyone, tha'ts just not my style... (glad i didn't get the world "SKIN" tattooed on the back of my head like i wanted in HS).

the hands/feet, i felt are pretty cool. symbolism? none. i wanted my own thumbprint, but found that would've been too hard to come by and taken a looooooong time (which i didn't have at that moment).
the tribal on my left ankle - just something i felt was pretty cool looking, i designed it myself, so doesn't belong to a "tribe" really.
my kanji - i'm a father... now, the choice of WHERE it is on me, that was up to my wife... i've got a co-worker with one of his newborn daughters footprints on the back of his lower neck!!
the dragon, i just like dragons, and this guy did a great job.

 

[Heartpumper]

The reason I asked......

My son got a "An Aztec symbol modified by my girlfriend" tattooed on the middle of his back. Two issues: Much to his horror, it isn't centered over his spine (about 1" to the side). The second: the symbol is gibberish. Aztecs couldn't understand it, and neither can his parents. He thinks it's cool though, and obviously can't change the location. Finally, as he says, "It was FREE!" He's a glass half full guy.

 

[SFCEd]

Mine came from how people made me feel during my time as an Army recruiter. I was told plenty of times,by religious people, that I was going to hell for serving in the Army. I was also told to go to hell by many angry parents :r . Many parents and kids made me feel like the devil himself coming to take them away, so I got this tattoo of the devil smoking a cigar. It makes me smile when I see it and remember. :u

 

[MocoBird]

Uhhh...no tat's but do scars count?

 

[Heartpumper]

Mine came from how people made me feel during my time as an Army recruiter. I was told plenty of times,by religious people, that I was going to hell for serving in the Army. I was also told to go to hell by many angry parents :r . Many parents and kids made me feel like the devil himself coming to take them away, so I got this tattoo of the devil smoking a cigar. It makes me smile when I see it and remember. :u

Motivational technique, reminder of difficult times that you survived. To me, military tattoos are emotionally significant and make sense. So do children/wife/siblings names( in one's native tongue).

 

[AAlmeter]

Uhhh...no tat's but do scars count?

I have a couple of scars on my wrist that show the stitches quite well. Between the stitch scars and the incisions, it looks like a zipper. Ive been thinking about getting a zipper pull tab tattooed on the scar to finish things off.

 

[Wetterhorn]

I have a couple of scars on my wrist that show the stitches quite well. Between the stitch scars and the incisions, it looks like a zipper. Ive been thinking about getting a zipper pull tab tattooed on the scar to finish things off.

:r Man, that is too funny - if you do it, you must post the pic!

In my younger days (man, now we are talking years!), I climbed mountains in Colorado and on Mt. Columbia I took a fall and have about an eight inch scar from a deep laceration on my left forearm. It looks like a zip lock close on a baggy. Wonder if I could get a tatoo of a baggy?

 

[IHT]

since i was a smartass in school, i wasn't paying attention in art class. we were doing lenolium carvings, and one of the "safety" issues was NOT to carve towards your hands...

guess who wasn't listening?

so, a few minutes later, i was walking down the hall, dripping blood from my left thumb... one of those very sharp awls had just met the bone after passing through my skin... very clean cut though.

 

[DonJefe]

Considering our collective passion- Does anyone have a Partagas or Opus X on their back? How 'bout NFL logos, or beer labels? I swear, if I could stand the pain, it would be cool to have a Cohiba logo on my back.

There is a guy on another board that has a HUGE Opus X band on the back of his neck! OUCH!

 

[XXXPuppy]

Five, not counting my eyeliner. Here they are more or less in the order I got them.

Left breast has a zebra-unicorn in a bed of roses. Pure rebellion - I did this in retaliation when my at-that-time husband got really mad at me for cutting my hair without his "permission"....decided this would really piss him off but now I regret the tattoo on my boob. It's pretty but there are memories, you know?

Right wrist has a string of tiny geckos - looks like flowers though.

Ditto for the left ankle. I got them both to match a gold bracelet that I used to wear.

Right Delt has a large sun-pentacle (similar to Godsmack symbol) surrounded by pretty flowers - almost a quarter sleeve going up to my neck. I started out with the sun-pentacle, sort of as a right of passage into freedom (got divorced) but then I wanted to girl it up so I very recently added the flowers around it. I'd still like to extend it to nearly a half sleeve soon.

Lower back is stamped accross with a large XXX in pretty lettering and culicues. I got this to match the XXX on my fiance's middle finger (he loves showing it to people via the bird). Visually pleasing, so I'm told.