Tattoo you

on my right, upper arm.....

A full body butterfly!!

A biswo basra, destroyer of ignorance. If I ever get it, prolly upper arm/ shoulder.

Anon - of course!

Soz, indian? I like it.

A what? No way Jose, even if I were drunk.
Since the rest of you enjoy the idea or have a tatoo, would you please explain to me what the fascination is. My 18 year old daughter recently had her belly button pierced which I think I dealt with pretty well. Of all the places she could have had puntured, that was the best option as far as this parent is concerned. I suppose if I were younger and lived in this generation as a teen I might consider it too, if I had a flat stomach.
It just seems so many are people are going overboard with all these additions to their body.
I can't help but wonder what everyones feelings will be about the things they've done to their body in their old age.

dlk - it's a fad. Something your daughter needs to do to express her independence - at least she's not on drugs!

ehBeth<

Please, no tatoo for me, but thanks for the thought!

The one I have now in the middle of my back needs to be re-done, the color has faded some I have had it 10 years. If I got another one I would get a lime green dragon with the pearl of life.

There are two place actually, if I ever have the courage to get my self tattooed

Back of my shoulder - a lizard climbing down
My ankle - Someone's name (And no, I won't tell you whose )

But I wont ever get it done !!

I'm just now getting over my bias of them - the feeling that anyone that has one just drove their harley davidson out of the trailer park on their way to altamont. Sorry folks. I'm beginning to like the more discreetly placed small ones.

dlk - my current tattoo was my 45th birthday present to myself. i think i'll be ok with that when i get to old age :wink:
i've always loved tattoos, but wanted to wait til i was so old that no one could say it was a youthful folly to get one.
at the last couple of places i've worked (i'm in a very conservative industry) there have been more women than men with tattoos - no bikers goin' to altamount - quite a few health care professionals in the group

body decoration seems to have ebbed and flowed in popularity and acceptability, and changed in meaning over the centuries.

mine is rarely visible (it's on the top of my right foot), so it's very much for me, not anyone else. the next one will probably be similarly out of general public view.

there are certain biases in the tattoo profession about what types of designs they think are 'good' - some won't do any kind of 'tribal' work unless you can prove you 'deserve' it - others won't do tasmanian devils and other cartoon characters as they're too cliche.

i was curious whether people would prefer words, 'art' work, celtic armbands, nature scenes etc. (i was also trying to, sneakily, get some more ideas to throw into the hopper)

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, i can't see sozobe's choice no matter what i try
aaaaaaaaarrrrrrghhhhh

JoanneD and Gautam, i like those choices (well, except for the name, i'd never recommend that, unless it's your child's). Anon, some of the butterfly patterns are very cool. I saw a pic in my artist's book, which was of a butterfly which he did across a woman's feet - it was amazing. Beautiful work.

and i love littlek's :grin:

ehBeth,
I probably shouldn't have replied to with a post, since I knew right off that you were looking for ideas. You didn't ask anyone's opinion about having or gettting a tatoo. I just felt the need to put my two cents in anyway. I meant what I said in a nice way.

littlek,
Up until my daughter turned 18 she wouldn't have been allowed to add a tatoo or piercing to her body.( except the two holes she has in her earlobes) She brought the idea up about the belly piercing which her dad was against more then I was. He was concerned about it somehow causing problems when and if she ever got pregnant. I figured she was just talking, being she hates needles and pain. When she had her ears pierced, in the beginning she passed out while turning them. She actually had to have them done twice, because she took her earrings out too soon after the piercing and they closed up.
She's 18 now, so she's on her own about the decisions she makes regarding her body. She is the one who has to live with herself, whatever choices she makes.
About the drugs, of course a piercing is a much better choice. Drugs is not an option as far as I'm concerned. She would have no reason to turn to them in the first place. There is nothing lacking in her life, there's always been open communication at home, and parents who have been good role models for her, who have always believed in setting a good example for their children to follow. The biggest struggle if any would have to be peer pressure, which she has always been able to overcome.

good for you dlk! And, btw, if she gets pregnanat, she takes out the ring when she needs to. Simple as that. But, the hole will probably start to close immediately.

Thanks Bethiepoo! Yours is lovely too, from the pix I've seen.

ehbeth, my last tattoo was my birthday present for my 40th birthday. It's on my lower back (not THAT low), to the left and right of my spine - the Japanese (kanji) signs for courage. I like it very much.

I really am surprised about peoples penchant for tatoos in here.
I have never and will continue not to consider one.
But hey,each to their own.

I've been considering putting this on the small of my back for years now. I bought this design in a pendant when I was 16 and wore it constantly. When I met the boy at 20, he had a tattoo on his arm with a similar pattern. We always joke that we'll get tattoos on our honeymoon. Knowing us, we probably will.