<p>Now Barrons, you’re ruining my theory about east coast vs west coast. I thought tattoos were required in the PNW ! Maybe it’s the time spent in Lynchburg that turned you anti-tat LOL</p>
<p>emerald kitty – OK, so some people hang tattoo art on their walls. That still doesn’t make it good art though. (I’ll take paint-by-numbers art anyday ;)</p>
<p>There was a spate of articles last summer on the growing tattoo removal business – here’s one from the International Herald Tribune:
[Tattoo</a> removal business moves into the mainstream - International Herald Tribune](<a href=“http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/17/news/tattoo.php]Tattoo”>http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/17/news/tattoo.php)</p>
<p>By the time I’m 80, I could care less if my tattoos sag! I’ll probably still be running races. Some of the above comments are why women should do what THEY want and not what men think they should do. I think a lot of tattoo art is hideous. So are a lot of the rugs men wear on their heads. You get something that isn’t hideous. It’s not that hard.</p>
<p>I’m east coast at heart (NJ raised). I just live here.</p>
<p>my husband doesn’t like tattoos either- I told him he didn’t have to get one.
I think of them like charm bracelets- like some women have a bracelet and each charm reminds them of a trip or an event-</p>
<p>My daughters selection of her adinkra symbol, is meaningful to her & I expect it will be a positive reminder of her connection with the people there.
( and if she gets one here perhaps she won’t get one * there*)
There are so many things that are done to our bodies that we don’t have a lot of say over, bumps and lumps of all sorts, it’s sort of reassuring to be able to *choose * something to adorn ourselves with, to go with our scars.
:)</p>
<p>always think of Angelina Jolie trying, unsuccessfully, to get that big tatoo off her arm</p>
<p>( and no I don’t normally know anything about celebrity tattoos but that comment made me curious)</p>
<p>Angelina has lots of tattoos - she covers them up for her movies</p>
<p>She has about a dozen , her experience with having her ex husbands name on her arm apparently hasn’t changed their appeal for her.</p>
<p>[The</a> secrets behind Angelina’s baby tattoos | the Daily Mail](<a href=“The secrets behind Angelina's baby tattoos | Daily Mail Online”>The secrets behind Angelina's baby tattoos | Daily Mail Online)</p>
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<p>And you want to wear the same charm bracelet constantly for the rest of your life?</p>
<p>Weird piercings, implants, and tattoos - all are forms of self mutilation.</p>
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<p>Sounds like you’ve got your mind already made up in favor of tattoos. No need to discuss it with us.</p>
<p>Not in favor of tatoos. Hope & pray none of our 3 sons ever wants to get one. Around here, the ones located above the backside are called “tramp stamps”.</p>
<p>It’s a fad - people starting getting them to be different; now so many people have them, they aren’t that unique.</p>
<p>The human body is so beautiful just like it is, seems like tatoos sort of diminish that beauty. But that’s just my opinion - worth the price you paid for it!</p>
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<p>I guess everyone has heard the story about the guy who loved his wife Wendy so much that he got her name tatooed on his privates. Most of the time only the W and the Y could be seen. One day he noticed a guy in the restroom with a W and a Y on his privates & couldn’t help but ask, “Oh, is your wife’s name Wendy too?” And the other guy replied, “No, mine says, Welcome to Jamaica! Have a nice day”.</p>
<p>[Hope that isn’t too racy for the moderators!]</p>
<p>EK-
Look closer at that photo of Angelina-- just under the list of baby names is the attempt to cover up the name of her crazy exhusband (didnt they wear little vials of each others blood in necklaces too??) Now I know why hse’s having so many kids. Need to lave a long list to cover up that other tatoo.</p>
<p>bz2010-- take a look at post #20</p>
<p>“Oh, is your wife’s name Wendy too?” And the other guy replied, “No, mine says, Welcome to Jamaica! Have a nice day”.
That is hilarious ^^^</p>
<p>No my mind isn’t made up- after all even though I have liked nose piercings, I never actually did it, even though I could have easily- but my daughters mind is made up. ( she is much more decisive)</p>
<p>I was curious though about how they are perceived but perhaps it is another one of those west coast things?</p>
<p>( I like Billy Bob- although I have just seen some of his movies, I really don’t know anything about him)</p>
<p>( Henna tattoos are also very popular- just don’t get a black one- because that stuff is toxic)</p>
<p>And no I wouldn’t wear a charm bracelet everyday- but that is because
I would always be afraid it would drop off and I would lose it.
It would get gunky when I worked
noisy.
but I do feel naked without my wedding ring & I can imagine something that might mean as much— ooh idea! :)</p>
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<p>Well, I can’t speak for the entire west coast, but I live in southern California and I take a very dim view of tattoos.</p>
<p>I and several other guys I have discussed this with preceive tattooos this way: You see a pretty woman and you think “My there’s an attractive woman” and then she bends over or part of her arm or leg is exposed revealing the tattoo, and instantly a big red X appears over her in your mental image. She just got crossed off the list of attractive women. End of story.</p>
<p>I know I don’t speak for all men. Some men clearly like tattoos. But there is a sizable group of guys that consider a tattoo on a pretty woman to be a tragic mistake - like putting tacky bumper stickers all over the back of a Ferrari or spray painting graffitti all over a work of art</p>
<p>interesting analogy coureur,
my H won’t put any stickers at all on his sports car but he will on his 40 yr old truck and on the door to the shop.</p>
<p>But I have stickers on my Jeep : on the windshield, rear windows, side windows,bumper… on my laptop , on the case for my ipod and for my PDA
:D-its not covered I can still see out- just a few- oh and on the rocket box umm and my bike.
( plus I write notes on myself- see I am a natural!)</p>
<p>and no offense, but the kind of guys that would be turned off by something that I liked and felt good about- aren’t men I would be interested in anyway. ;)</p>
<p>I first noticed my 18 year old daughter’s tattoo when she was leaning over her dying father giving him their last hug. It peeked just above the top of her jeans. Now is not the time to ask about it I thought.</p>
<p>A few weeks passed, and I probably mentioned it to my sister, as well as others in whatever passed as conversation back then. After the funeral, my daughter was talking to her cousin who was teasing her about her good girl image. “I have a secret, I got a tattoo!” She whispers. Her cousin laughs. “Everyone knows you have a tattoo, that’s no secret!” So later in the day she comes to me. “You knew I have a tattoo.” Yep. She then goes on to explain that she thought about it carefully, and once she’s old enough to start wearing “mom” jeans no one would ever see it. Good thinking there. Then she pulls up her shirt and shows me the tatoo. In script it says “Carpe Diem.” A barely 18 year old, away from home for her first year of college, knowing full well her dad is home, and dying, and she can’t be there. I am extemely proud of her, and that tattoo.</p>
<p>You are a great mom.
happy mothers day.</p>
<p>I second that - you are a great mom! </p>
<p>My son, who is about to graduate from high school, has three tattoos. I was okay with the first. The second, I found out about when we were in a car accident and they’d given me a lot of morphine. The third, I think my daughter told me about because she didn’t want me to have a heart attack. It is what it is. </p>
<p>My husband hates them. While I’m not wild about them, it occurs to me that he may have more than one because he can and because his dad doesn’t like them. To each their own, I say. I do notice that his grandmother, who he sees almost daily, has no idea he has them. It’s going to be a long, hot summer in jeans and a sweatshirt.</p>
<p>I do not like tattoos.</p>
<p>I really dislike them. Men, women, young, old…They give me the creeps… I can’t imagine sticking ink under my skin for fun. I realize that makes me “un-hip”… I feel the same way about any body modification other than ear piercings. EEEEwwwww.
Some of my friends have little tatoos and as they get older I notice more and more they are wearing stuff (or a bandaid) that covers it for important meetings.<br>
I like the parent’s advice on another thread: “Don’t come home with anything that won’t wash off.”</p>
<p>EK-black henna can be very safe if you get it from the right place. 
I got one in San Diego last summer and it was just fine. It’s actually the allergies to henna (which is very rare) that are dangerous, and they can be to black or other types of henna. I LOVE henna though…one of my friends did it all over my palm and wrist, and it was GORGEOUS.</p>
<p>Anyway. I think tattoos can be beautiful in moderation. I really dislike it when they’re all over someone’s body though.</p>
<p>One of my teachers has a tattoo of a sun on her ankle, and I rather like it.</p>
<p>I’d love to get a small tattoo on each shoulder, but I don’t know if I ever will (not that high of a pain tolerance).</p>
<p>I also have my nose pierced, but I only wear a VERY small stud. In fact, I got it pierced a year ago this spring break, and one of my friends only noticed when another teacher pointed it out shortly after THIS spring break! It’s very unobtrusive and not a “look at me” thing, and I think it adds a nice touch to my nose (which I rather like).</p>
<p>My mom likes it too…when I asked her (you have to have a parent go with you in CA to get it done if you’re a minor) all she said was “It needs to be small and you HAVE to take care of it.”</p>
<p>So I did LOTS of research…I actually thought about it on a whim, but then I thought about it more and really liked the idea.</p>
<p>I ended up finding a place that was a good distance from my house, but it was well worth it when I walked in…the place was a piercing and tattoo shop. It was INCREDIBLY clean and sterile, the help was very professional, they had everything on display from jewelry to tattoo samples. When I told him what I wanted done, I had to show him my photo ID, my dad’s, and my birth certificate as proof that he was really my father.</p>
<p>Then he had me pick out the jewelry I wanted…I actually picked a mid-sized one, to which he advised that I should start smaller, because (to quote), “You’ve been looking at your nose without a ring in it for 16 years. If you go too big, it’ll ruin it for you.”</p>
<p>I am SO GLAD he was honest with me about that…it did look very strange at first!!!</p>
<p>Anyway. He looked at my nose to figure out how to curve the stud (there is no backing to it, but the curve keeps it from pulling straight out). He then had me sit and wait for him to sterilize the instruments and stud for about 20 minutes. Then, he took me and my dad into the back and marked where he was going to pierce it and had me take a look. When I was satisfied, he had me lay down on what looked rather like a doctor’s bed. </p>
<p>He talked to me for a while, then told me to take a deep breath in. As I was breathing out, he pushed the needle through. It did hurt, but not too bad…only my left eye watered for some strange reason (he said that always happens…whichever side it’s on, that eye waters). It never bled or had any kind of discharge.</p>
<p>Then he put some antiseptic on it (he also did this pre-piercing) and had me sit up to look at it. It looked weird at first, but I was happy!</p>
<p>He then looked at my dad and said, “Dad’s eyebrow next, right?” XD. He then told me how to care for it (now this was the fun part): soak in special salt water mixture for 10 minutes twice a day. You should have seen me holding a paper dixie cup full of water to my nose!!! He even sold me the salt (it has to be un-iodized, which can be a bit tricky to find sometimes) in the store for $3.00. I still have the water and cups, and if it bothers me (which it hasn’t so far), I just soak it again. The whole piercing, stud and all, cost me $43.00. He also made the “do nots” very clear…absolutely NO alcohol, soap, make-up, or anything else like that in or around the new piercing for at least 3 months. Do not change out the ring yourself…come in and we’ll do it for you (free of charge). Try not to mess around with it. Feel free to call if you have any questions. You WILL be sore for a couple of days (and I was indeed…the morning after was the WORST). Be extra careful toweling your face dry after showers and when you’re changing clothes. If it falls out, don’t put it back in…bring it in and have us sterilize it first, especially if it falls on the floor. etc.</p>
<p>Anyway. A few weeks later, a good friend of mine decided she liked mine and wanted to get hers done. She insisted on going somewhere closer to home on a recommendation from a “friend’s friend” (uh-oh!).</p>
<p>It did NOT look as clean as the place I went and the help was NOT professional at all. They never marked her nose and I’m not entirely sure they sterilized anything. As soon as the pushed the needle through, there was blood EVERYWHERE. Long story short, her nose ended up getting very infected and she had to take the ring out and let the hole close up.</p>
<p>I have a very small light-blue stud. It blends nicely with my eyes and skin tone, and I don’t have to worry about it clashing with my clothing.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: DO RESEARCH BEFORE YOU GET THESE THINGS DONE. Do NOT go somewhere like piercing pagoda for this type of stuff. Read reviews, and ask to see samples of the artist’s work. If you’re a minor, figure out what parental consent/documentation you need beforehand. Read reviews on the internet…there will always be one or two negative ones, but if there are more than 5 or so, I say don’t go there.</p>
<p>Go in and see what the place look like…ask a million questions. Do they sterilize everything? What type of metal is the jewelry made from? (Mine is made of surgical-grade steel, which is why it was a bit more expensive, but I didn’t want to take any chances.) What is the piercing process like? Do they recommend any special type of follow-up care? etc.</p>
<p>My sister has a beautiful tattoo, but after 10 years, the ink is beginning to migrate so the outlines aren’t as sharp. It definitely doesn’t look as good as it used to. That’s my concern - a lot of them don’t look so great after a few years.</p>
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<p>Actually, there are a lot of us who don’t have a choice about the tattoos - usually for radiation treatment the outline is lightly tattooed with dots. That kind of turned my kids off to the whole idea.</p>