Rantings of a mulch snob and other issues of bad taste.

I just noticed this was moved from "General" to "Pets & Gardens". I was thinking on a bigger level even if I did start with the mulch thing.

Tacky for women: big tatoos that peak out of their clothing (especially around the breast area), dresses with puffy sleeves (OK if you are age 6 or under) and hair ornaments that are bigger than their hair.

Tacky for men: socks with sandals (classic no no), black belts with beige pants, comb over hairstyles, dirty band aids anywhere on the body.

Interior design: plastic (fill in the blank), framed pictures of rock stars, furniture you bought for your dorm room 20 years ago, and anything that glows in the dark.

Come on snobs - let's expand...

Hey! I have a tattoo that often peaks out my t-shirt sleave. And I was just going to mention how nicely put together your nursery's website is.

That's the problem with matters of taste littlek- One man's Rembrandt is another man's Kramer. There is no real right or wrong - just opinion.

Actually, I was thinking of a former co-worker who had a tatoo of Papa Smurf riding a Harley motorcycle on her chest. She would often wear low cut shirts in which all you could see was the Smurf's head peeping out and it looked like she had a big boob hickey. I'm sure your tatoo is much more classy.

I agree with green witch on taste as it depends on the individual. Also, there can be a fine line on when something becomes tacky - like tatoo for instance. A big difference between a papa smurf and a rose.

Linkat - that's funny, to me a rose is a pretty tacky tattoo (most of them).

Greenie, I was teasing. I do have a tattoo, but I don't worry about your thinking it's tacky.

another occasionally-exposed tat carrier here

agreeing with l'k on the rose issue - I'd rather have Papa Smurf if those were the only two choices.

then again, my next one's gonna have flowers

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black underwear under white clothes make me and then

To be honest - I know nothing about tattoos so I wouldn't know what was considered a tacky one vs. one that wasn't.

But on a woman, I wouldn't like anything that was too large.

Funny thing about socks and sandals - I absolutely hate that. But even after my friend (who does not mince any words) and me have berated him on it - he still insists on wearing socks with sandals (although not as often).

The problem with a rose on the breast is that over the years it becomes a long stemed rose.

I thought about getting a tatoo when I was in my early 20's. I even picked out a design. I was living in the east village and spending most of my waking hours in an art gallery or on a dance floor. I thought I was very cool. What stopped me was a visit to an older cousin. She was in her mid-30's, had three noisy kids, a husband who scratched his crotch a lot, a messy house in Rutherford NJ and she drove a mini van. At some point, she pulled up the sleeve of her T-shirt and showed me her italian bread shaped upper arm which was newly decorated with a tatoo almost identical in design to what I was thinking of. I thought- maybe a tatoo was not such a cool idea after all and I didn't do it.

How do tatoos age? Do they fade? I once had an older gentleman tell me his started to hurt and itch as he got older, seemed odd to me. Anyone know?

I should add I'm not anti-tatoo. My niece has a little lady bug on her ankle that is quite sweet.

I once had a temporary tattoo with the words Harley surrounded by small roses. I was just trying to be a smart a$$.

I don't think I would ever get a tattoo because they are permanent. What if you had gotten that tattoo before you saw it on your cousin?

Yeah... I don't care for mulch unless it looks like 1) real dirt, 2) real rocks. Call me fussy. Also, I hate gray concrete curbing to outline gardens. It looks to me like the flowers are in jail. I also resent looking at gardens with brightly colored birdhouses that are so obviously never going to be used for birds. Tacky, imho... right up there with a pink flamingo. I do like gazing balls, but only if they match the flowers.

I'm not a tattoo fan, either... particularly not the big black splotches on the upper parts of the back to be shown off with summer dresses or the barbed wire wrapped around someone's arms. Yuck. I knew a young man who put a small tattoo at the top of his upper arm ... one for his mom, and on the other arm another to represent his father who had died. Somehow, that seemed okay but they were small, authentic Celtic designs that meant something important to him.


And while I'm on the subject of body decorations, I think that more than one earring per ear looks like you just can't make up your mind. I cannot stand the metal piercings on eyebrows or tongues. Noses... okay, if they are small studs. Belly buttons or other places I can't see... suit yourself.

Sozlet has become a tattoo connoisseur. She regularly walks up to people and says, "I like your tattoo!" I've let her have a series of temporary tattoos, but she understands she can't get a real one until she's much older. ("Like... seven?" ) I think I'll start allowing the possibility of a verysmall ladybug type tattoo when she's 16... maybe...

I'm still open to the idea for myself, but still haven't hit on IT, the one I'd really want to get.

Linkat - well I probably would have just lived with it. Although you can get a tatoo removed with laser treatment.

I agree that piercings can be really tacky. We once had a waitress with a nose ring and she apparently had a cold. At one point a little drip of snot was hanging off the ring. It was so gross we said something to her and she went to the bathroom and removed the ring. I just hoped she also washed her hands.

Don't worry Sozobe, by the time Sozlet is really old enough to have a tatoo she will assoicate them with all us old farts and won't want it anymore.

mmmmm not too small a ladybug. i've posted about this somewhere here, but i was warned against small ladybug tattoos by my tattoo guy - they look like blood blisters

and he's right. so when i finally get my ladybugs, they'll be lifesize, and part of a bigger tat.

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and why just "the one", soz. start a collection! pick a theme ...

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I've wanted tattoos since I wasn't much older than sozlet. People kept saying "you'll regret it when you're older". So I hit 40 and thought "how old am I supposed to be when I regret getting inked?" It was time to start.

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ok, some men just should not wear open-toed sandals. seeing toe hair hanging over the leather just makes me all squinchy

There are flamingos and there are Flamingos. Dys had a small ranch/farm in Colorado. It was in a lightly populated area, so there weren't neighbors to complain about his flamingos, of which he had about 16. Each week he would arrange them in different groupings; sometimes in a conga line, in circles, all of them up in a tree and, once in a while, in fairly naughty positions. People from the nearby town used to drive by on the weekend just to see what the flamingos were doing.

Sometimes are little tackiness helps break up the 'rules' that are set by so-called society, especially if the rule breaker is creative.

BTW, we have a little flamingo hanging from a branch of a tree in our front yard....I made him promise not to even think of 16.

and then there are the SealPoets' flamingos, which I just loved - or maybe it was the SealPoets I loved?

Flamingos look best in places like Vermont and North Dakota.

I have a neighbor who decorates a bush with little plastic Easter eggs for that holiday. It wouldn't be so bad if she would take them down after Easter Sunday, but she leaves them up until she replaces them with little plastic pumpkins for Halloween.

My favorite tacky items are souvenirs. I love those small tacky useless items. I used to have an agreement with a friend of mine that each time we went away, we would have to bring the other person the most tacky souvenir possible.

It started on a trip driving to visit a friend who recently moved to upper state New York. Along the way we stopped at a rest area that of course had of course tacky souvenirs. We bought the tackiest and most useless item we could find - a green plastic replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was really horrible. We presented it with great fanfare to my friend upon entering her new abode. She proudly placed it on the mantelplace for all to see.

Well I consider this tacky:



But it sold at auction for $590,400.

It's only tacky when painted on velvet. The orginal on canvas would be acceptable.

I don't know - I just cannot imagine hanging a picture in my living room with dogs smoking and gambling. Just seems tacky to me whether encrusted in gold or diamonds and worth a cool mil. Money can not buy taste.