You gotta be careful with those things. Christian is convinced that Beth and her ex-husband will get married because they both have tattoos (and they don’t match or anything like that).

I have a tattoo of a skull inside the ace of spades on the left side of my chest. It hurt like hell. Some days I regret getting it others I don’t. I have no desire to get another one though.

No tattoos.  I have commitment issues.

...actually, in all seriousness, I just don’t expect that any tattoo would be relevant to who I may be 10 years from now, much less 40-50.

And I expect tattoos to look pretty horrible on 80-year-old sagging skin.

I don’t have any tattoos for the same reason (the commitment, not the skin). I have fargin’ t-shirts that I don’t like six months later, how am I going to pick some symbol that will represent me in a decade?

The Gibson Thunderbird bass insignia on my left shoulder. I should have never sold that bass.

Given that I have five tatoos, a fact of which ZB is well aware, I have quite a bit to say on the issue. I have to work, so extended commenting will have to wait. Let me just say this for Nathan and Matt: it isn’t about putting something with meaning on your skin, it’s about something having meaning because it is on your skin. The tatoo doesn’t derive from the meaning* - the meaning is a result of it being tatooed into your skin.

By the way ZB, I will probably be getting another one soon. My sister-in-law (you can probably guess which one) is getting a divorce and wants to get one as a “liberating experience,” whatever the hell that means. She asked me to go with her. I don’t necessarily intend to get another one, but who am I kidding?

* With the obvious exception of your kid’s name or something of that nature, but even then what I am saying still applies.

Jerry, that sounds about right to me. The tattoo on my wrist has a specific, literal meaning, but it’s meaning to me is only peripherally related to that literal translation. Instead, for me, it’s a symbol of all of the things that surrounded getting the tattoo--a little snapshot of my life, really.

Have you given any thought at all to what you might want next?

In fact, I’d wager that just the fact that I don’t understand what the heck you guys mean is exactly why I don’t have a tattoo, and quite probably will never get one.

That could very well be true.

The snapshot of my life is why I regret having gotten my tattoo sometimes. I got it at a very dark time in my life. Luckily it’s covered most of the time.

Trench: Sorry to hear. That is exactly why I always caution people to make sure that they are getting a tatoo at the right time and for the right reasons.

Z: No thought whatsoever, yet. The plan is to explore a couple of places, look at some books, and get some recommendations before doing anything.

Well I thought it was the right time and then shortly thereafter the “dark times” came. All over a woman of course. 

God really spared me by way of me ending up with a shitty immune system. Otherwise, I would have at one point probably ended up with a Bikini Kill tattoo on my bicep and worse.

My sister got enough for the two of us, anyway, all by the time she was 22. Does the hepcat smoking a cigarette mean something special? No. the huge outline of a faerie that looks like it was done in prison? Ditto. To her credit, I suppose, the other three do have special significance.

for women, it’s doubly important not to be impulsive with tattoos...even in the hottest weather, my sister can only wear 3/4 cut sleeves to work. Not comfortable.

Though if I ever own horse that wins a Classic, I will, immune system be damned, tattoo his or her image somewhere.

I have considered getting a small, round cake tattoo with four candles somewhere but can’t decide where, and, like Nathan, I am a wee bit commitment-phobic when it comes to pain and permanent ink.

I am thinking I would get it somewhere that a select few would ever see....

Angelina Jolie’s lip-print on my ... well, never mind.

I’ve never been tattooed. I imagine some archeologist unearthing my mummified carcass centuries from now and scratching his head…

I’ve been thinking about another one for a while, but I haven’t got a firm idea of what that next one might be.  All I know is that I want another.  I suspect that right idea will strike me when it’s the right time.

I have a bracelet of tropical flowers around my left wrist.  That one I got in Hilo, HI about 10 years ago.  The other is an anchor on my right ankle.  Got that in Pensacola, Florida not long before the Navy gave up on my sorry shinbones. 

Both very much snapshots of my life in the sense that Z was talking about.  I still love them both, too.  No regrets.

I, too, have snapshots of the important moments my life.  Except, they are actually snapshots. [grin]

I once thought about getting “Jesus Rocks” inked on my arm, but, man, can you imagine living that down now?

I kid.

Not one for tattoos, but sometimes find them sexy.  Sometimes not.  The little scorpion on the behind of my best friend in Finland was pretty hot (of course, that could have been because I was gawking at her mostly bare bottom at the time).

Kinda regret the “Lollapalooza Rules” tattoo, didn’t have the staying power of the Vanilla Ice inspired “WORD TO YOUR MOTHER” across my back.  I have a Chuck Norris-as-Walker Texas Ranger tattoo in a place that’s very special to me.

Never got one, and now I’m glad I never did, because, at my age, they would just look like bruises.

Nathan, I have heard many Christians try to justify not getting a “tatt” (this word makes me giggle) because they think it is “wrong.” What says The Brain?

As if my opinion makes any difference...but here goes:

I understand that one could craft an argument based on “your body is a temple of God”, and on the basis of that say a tattoo is “wrong”.  But if that were the case, you would also have to argue that not drinking 8 glasses of water is just as “wrong”, or ear-piercing is wrong, or cutting your hair is wrong (the last two being a sort of vanity, right?).

But if God doesn’t care about food sacrificed to idols, only telling us to be careful what we do so we don’t make our fellow Christians fall, then is he really going to make tattoos be an issue for salvation?  Of course not.  And if it isn’t an issue of salvation, I think there’s room for every person to explore it for themselves.

I can say a tattoo isn’t right for me.  I can also go so far as to say that tattoos are a turn-off for me; while I wouldn’t break up with a girl I loved if I found out she had a tattoo, I also probably wouldn’t consider dating a girl who had an obvious tattoo.  Just like I wouldn’t date a girl who smoked.  But I don’t consider smoking cigarettes to be sinful or “wrong”, either.  Just something I won’t do myself.

Well, you could always get a heart with a dagger through it, with a banner below labeled “G-Phrase”. I mean, it’d always be the right ... errr ... name.

You realize you’re going to have to be a little more revealing at the next blogger bash.

You could always do Mark Lanegan being crucified. And you can almost never go wrong with Celtic knotwork.

And lightning bolts. Lots of lightning bolts.

And yeah, I’ve thought about getting inked. Never seriously though. When I do think about it, I have a hard time coming up with what I’d want.

In case I ever do decide to go for it, I do have a shop in mind. I’ve seen the work from Boulder Ink. Can’t think of any reason to go looking elsewhere.

RE: Tattoo

Never.

My little sister has a ChiRho with an Alpha and Omega on either side. It’s on the small of her back. I saw it and said, “Great! You have the symbols of Christ inked over your ass!”

Btw, is it true that women with tattoos there can’t get epidurals?

I have a pencil lead embedded in my nose, does that count?

Patrick, that made me laugh- loudly. 

Epidurals and tattoos:  I have heard that women with tattoos in the same region in which an epidural is administered are considered at greater risk of contracting infection, but as I don’t have any “inked” friends, and since
I have none, I have no personal or second-hand information.

I saw it and said, “Great! You have the symbols of Christ inked over your ass!”

I will not make a “come to Jesus” joke.  I will not make a “come to Jesus” joke.

So sue me, it’s 3am, just got back from a great concert, and am soom off to bed.

The power of Christ compels me!

I like the scene in The Wedding Crashers. “Tattoo on lower back, might as well be a bullseye.”

I’ve decided you need to get a tattoo of George W. brushing his teeth while Mark Morford gets incinerated by a nukular blast. You wanted one that would cover your whole back, right?

Andy, did you skip the part where I wrote: My little sister?

I never got a tattoo when I was in the Navy, which would have been the most likely time to get one. I had to fill out too many clearance-related forms that had a box labeled “Scars, tattoos, and other identifying marks.” I figured I had enough scars not to want anything further for the box.

Now, I avoid them because I’d have to forego blood donation for at least a year.

Not to mention the whole pain and committment thing.

Well, I found a good one for you. There aren’t any permalinks on the site, so though it’s at the top of the category list right now, it won’t be forever. Scroll down to July 17th if need be.

Andy, did you skip the part where I wrote: My little sister?

Nope.

I didn’t realize that the humor (or lack of humor) of what I said was contingent upon degrees of separation.

If her age was the concern, then I’d probably also suggest she’s too young to be getting tattoos.

I’m just messing with you, Andy. She’s old enough to get a tattoo.

Is she hot and… adventurous?

:D

You don’t have to answer that.

Andy, she has Jesus tattooed on her ass. She’s clearly not your type, and it would look funny next to the Darwin fish-with-feet you have on your hip.

I’ve seen pictures: she is utterly beautiful. Disarmingly beautiful, in fact.

And she is just as utterly not Andy’s type--or, more specifically, Andy isn’t her type. She has good taste. 

Hey, I taste good!

So I’m told. 

Not that I’ve ever gone around tasting myself (although I did watch the Family Guy try it on Sunday night - himself, not me).

Yeah, okay, moving on…

Ewwwwww.....

And I, too, have seen pictures, and she is gorgeous....and married (right?).

I think my earlier comment was not posted correctly. However, Z-boy responded to it as requested in the comment. My sister’s wedding is on Saturday. I get to read the “Be subordinate to one another” epistle. Joy.

Now about this tattoo thing. I brought this up with some friends the other day, most of who have tattoos and want more. I hadn’t realized how many people had them. I wouldn’t even be able to come up with something to have tattooed. (That sure is a funy looking word - tattooed.) Other than not wanting to mark my angelic body permanently, I’d be afraid I’d be the one who picks out the really dumb tattoo. The same way I feel when I buy shoes or jeans. Clueless.

Most of WHOM! Most of WHOM!

Whom. Whom. Whom.

Man, write that out four or five dozen times in a row on a sheet of paper and it stops looking like a real world.

Whom. Whom. Whom…