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What in hell? - Everyone else is doing it and so will I.

Apr. 22nd, 2009 04:40 pm Everyone else is doing it and so will I.

Yes, it's the first-ever ounceofreason Tattoo Post. As I understand it, blogging is a key part of the tattoo process, and it takes at least three posts before a tattoo can be applied. So, this is number one: The Background Post.

I've been wary of tattoos until now, because I have terrible taste in lifestyles. My rule of thumb is to pick a design and then wait a year to see if I still like it, and the last two choices have lasted about six weeks. Giant celtic knotwork dragon? I am very glad I didn't get you. Two lines of a musical score? It's an OK concept, but my favorite score is about as constant as my favorite everything else, so the best I could do is just get the bar lines inked, and then draw in notes with a magic marker depending on what mood I was in.

Actually, that's pretty awesome.

The current candidate is this guy:



The designer is an animal-rights activist, so what the drawing means to me is a lot different from what it means to him. Like most "deeper meanings," I'm afraid that it will lose something in translation if I try to explain it here (so, get me drunk, I guess), but the gist is it fits in with the Taoism. I'm still not sure what I think about the idea of Enlightenment*, but the idea of breaking the cycle of birth and rebirth resonates very strongly with me. I don't quite have it in words yet, but I equate freeing oneself from doubt and uncertainty with freeing oneself from death. Hence the caption "Liberation," which I've considered changing but can't find anything better.

It's here where I realize I don't know anything at all about actually getting a tattoo. How do you pick an artist? Where should it go? Etc, etc. So, in a year or so, I'll probably be needing the advice of more experienced tattooees who can help me find a good place, and then tell me how brave I was for only screaming a little bit each time the needle goes in.

Thanks Internet! I know I could count on you.

*My current take is that focusing on Enlightenment will not bring it any closer; rather, Enlightenment is reached by living life. The better you get at being human, the closer you become to Enlightenment, although being a great person may just be a way station, one step on a larger journey.

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Current Location: Fort Victoria
Current Music: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

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Comments:

From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 22nd, 2009 08:58 pm (UTC)
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Incidentally, I think this is the first picture I've embedded in an LJ-post since the visit to The Haystack Radio Telescope back in aught-four. Which reminds me, I should really fix those broken image links.

Edited at 2009-04-22 08:58 pm (UTC)
From:[info]guardian_elf
Date:April 22nd, 2009 10:31 pm (UTC)
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I think you should replace Liberation with Libation...and add in a bottle of mcGuillicuddy's to the monkeys hand...just sayin.

Serious though, there are enough of us with tattoos that can reccommend a great artist.
From:[info]brunahildm
Date:April 22nd, 2009 10:34 pm (UTC)
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YAY! I love tattoos :)

One good way to decide who will ink you is to talk to people whose tattoos you like. If you have tattooed friends, ask them - many will be passionate about "their guy". If you see random people on the street with gorgeous tattoos and they look reasonably friendly, ask them! I've done this before and they've always been very happy to tell me where they go, as well as rolling up their sleeves/pantlegs so I could admire their less-visible work. I'm sure there are dozens of good tattoo shops in Boston.

Where it will go is up to you, but it's always good to ask the artist what they think as this is their business and they tend to know what will work where. Also, you can take a starting image or just an idea and have them work up an original drawing for you. After all, good tattoo artists are just that - artists.

I would love to go with you when you get it done!

PS You could totally get an aloha monkey as a companion piece.

PPS Just kidding, don't hate me!
From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 23rd, 2009 03:53 pm (UTC)
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OK, Cape Cod will be a research project this year - between our friends and P-Town, there are bound to be plenty of good tattoos to ask about.

While there, I plan to get two aloha monkeys tattood on my eyelids, so that whenever I blink I get to see him in glorious stereoscope 3D.
From:[info]jan_andrea
Date:April 22nd, 2009 11:55 pm (UTC)
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I lurve the idea of having blank music bars. I think that would be sweet.

I'm in the same "where to go" flux as you.
From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 23rd, 2009 03:56 pm (UTC)
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I'm starting to settle on the shoulder - it's meaty, it's easily concealable or show-off-able, etc.
From:[info]baxil
Date:April 23rd, 2009 12:05 am (UTC)
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Ironically, I think it actually works better as a statement on samsara than it does on animal rights. The monkey as Buddhist seeker of enlightenment has a distinguished pedigree.

(n.b.: You specifically cited Taoism, but I'm much more familiar with the death/rebirth cycle via Buddhist thought. To some vague extent, they historically blend, but I haven't done the research enough to say more.)

How to pick an artist depends a lot on your goals for the tattoo. I finally only got mine when I could get it put on by someone who I trusted to handle the metaphysical half of the design. In most (i.e.: not my) cases, you're probably better off going by recommendation and/or résumé. If the most important factor is the quality of the artwork, find someone with great tattoo skills. If the most important factor is reassuring you about the physical application and providing follow-up advice, find someone local that you can build a good rapport with. Etc.

The musical-score tattoo is awesome, actually. :D
From:[info]baxil
Date:April 23rd, 2009 01:42 am (UTC)
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Also, one word of advice: Don't get the tattoo anywhere publically visible unless you can explain it in a soundbite. If it's visible, people will ask about it.

This doesn't have to be complete or even terribly coherent; "it's a stylized flame with some personal spiritual significance" works for mine. But you will get asked, and you'll want an answer.
From:[info]skacover
Date:April 23rd, 2009 12:33 am (UTC)
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Might want to wait just a little while longer. It would be pretty sweet to have a tattoo of your tattoo thread on livejournal on your butt.

Sweet in a manner of speaking.
From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 23rd, 2009 03:59 pm (UTC)
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That might be really good for the blank music bars idea. Those would look really good on the upper back.. I *think* it wouldn't be that hard to make a program that transmits the right notes...
From:[info]fdmts
Date:April 23rd, 2009 05:00 am (UTC)

Tattoo

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Yeah, I flirted with the idea on and off for a long time - and I couldn't come up with anything that I wasn't pretty sure I would think was dumb after a decade of wearing it.

Then my mom died, and my brother, sister, dad, wife, and I all got semi-kinda matching ones.

I like the liberation monkey. Work in an ohm or something on there - or a dharma wheel - or something ... or leave space for it ... and I'm sold.

Go big but not too big. Bigger than you think. Puny little tattoos suck.

As to people commenting - no offense, but F- them. There was this one time at the beach when someone flippantly pointed to it and said "a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling?" (resp: "no"). Another time someone pointedly said "wow - I guess she really can't complain about that, can she" (resp: "no, she can't"). This one other time, a kid at the gym was all like "you have a MOM tattoo?" (resp: "yes.")

I guess that my point is that people are idiots ... which is a point I make a lot lately.

Oh yeah, and the ribs hurt like a bitch. For less pain, get it someplace meaty.
From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 23rd, 2009 03:51 pm (UTC)

Re: Tattoo

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I agree, it is missing something. Following your suggestion, I like the idea of putting a dharma wheel behind the monkey, to show that while he is free from his dukkha, he is still bound to the greater cycle (and in fact breaking the chains of his dukkha helps him to be better tied to his wheel).

I already don't know how to explain Taoism in a sound bite, so I'll have to come up with something concise before I get the tattoo.
From:[info]pantharos
Date:April 23rd, 2009 01:37 pm (UTC)
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I know you'll get a whole bunch of comments about what I'm about to suggest. Those comments will be along the lines of, it doesn't mean as much if it's not permanent. But as I am someone who can't commit to a bumber sticker and like you have very transient obsessions and lifestyle choices.

If I were to ever get a tatoo (and I've thought about it a lot) I'd do this:

http://www.freedom2inc.com/bodyart.html
http://www.infinitink.com/consumer/index.php

It's technology applied to the ancient art. Imagine the ink at a molecular level resembling paintballs. Hard shell around liquid colored insides. For all intents and purposes the ink is permanent. Until you want to remove it. Then they pass the laser over it a few times and the shells are broken up and the ink absorbs (non toxicly) into the body. Not nearly as many treatments as traditional ink, which equals less pain and damage to the skin.

Here's a place in Boston that uses it:

http://www.stingraybodyart.com/

Don't let the color mislead you on the documentary, currently they only have black ink, but colors are coming out soon. Looking at your design, you could go forward without the yellow or monkey skin color and it would be fine for however long it took to get color.
From:[info]ounceofreason
Date:April 23rd, 2009 04:01 pm (UTC)
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That's actually a really good idea.. depending on time and expense, I might have to go that route. Color is important, but of course it will be a while before I actually get the thing done anyway, so I don't mind the wait.
From:[info]lady_darkwolf
Date:April 23rd, 2009 06:46 pm (UTC)
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I love science!

Also a wicked good idea since I haven't been able to decide on I want either.
From:[info]skacover
Date:April 23rd, 2009 05:59 pm (UTC)
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We may be a little farther away from the LED screen style tattoo I mentioned earlier, but I think we're real close to a bioluminescent ink. It would be pretty sweet to have some squid cells grafted in as a tattoo, I'd totally get one then.

It would be real cool if there was a way to make it invisible under normal light.
From:[info]noblekai
Date:April 24th, 2009 02:52 pm (UTC)
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To me, tattoos are about the art first, and about the subject second. My advice in choosing an artist is to look at his art. You may not like his style, the way he angles his lines, shades, etc. You can bring in a design and say "I want this." but you will end up with the artist's rendition of that design, even with the scan/iron-on thing. If you find a guy whose art blows you away, ask him to make a drawing for you. "I want a monkey triumphantly holding..." Go through a couple of iterations. There's no reason to not wait until it's perfect. Grabbing a pic someone else has done and saying "I want this." is the first step, not the last.