inked

The best tattoo ever lives on the back of my neck. It's a greater than or equal too symbol and it says a great deal about me. My brother has it drawn on his body armor and the family is considering it for a family brand if we should ever really have a great herd of cattle or rabbits. Not that branding rabbits is a healthy thing to do, but we are a mean family when we want to be.

Coming in second is the lovely Don Quoixote as painted by Picaso, on my forearm. It, too, says a lot about me and I get loads of praise for it. I always show the love to the man who painted it, wrote the book and the tattoo artist that took the time, the beer and the talent to get it on there.

After that, the tattoos all blend together. Mermaids, A moose, A black sun, A crab, A phoenix, A tribal arm band, A tribal crest and a compass. They all have a meaning and they all have a special place in my heart. But, now, it's time for new ones.

Coming up on the list are the Cyranno Deberrac tattoo, A roman numeral of my birthdate on my ass, a ruler on my forearm and a complex chaos math equation that is supposed to be the formula for time travel.

The problem is where? Where to put them all? Where to get them done. My regular tattoo artist lives in the hottest part of Texas and I don't have any major trips south planned any time soon. Other than than an eastern trek in a few weeks, but that is mostly northern states. I have to figure out a way to lure him north, OR I must think of the body and look for a closer tattoo artist.

There is nothing simple about getting a tattoo. You really need to know what you want, believe in it and go for it. Dont' worry about pain or what it will look like in twenty years. Don't concern yourself about the job you won't get or the person that won't fuck you. Don't worry about the looks and stares. If anything, the tattoo just helped you uncover some rather nasty shit that needed uncovering in the first place.

Finding a good artist is hard, you have to trust them. You have to believe in their work and you have to get past the belief that they are strung out on meth. What you need to look at is a large three ring binder of their work. From that, you will get an idea of what they are good at; colors, animals, black and white, portraits, landscapes, etc. If their work is similar to what you are looking for, go for it. Try not to burn a hole in your budget, but get it. Believe in the symbolology and what it means to you, and DO IT!

Things not to get or ask for as the artist will hate you or want to kill you...

Tazmanian devils
Calvin or Hobbes
Little Devil
Your college mascot
Your greek letters
Anything written in an Oriental language that means something stupid, (example; serenity)
Anything smaller than a silver dollar (foreign currencies I don't know the equivalent)


Find something that is you. Something that you enjoy looking at... A LOT. Something that starts conversations, attracts like minded friends and scares away fools.

Best of luck, My day is due.