Sunday, March 16, 2008

Tattoos, Tattoos, Tattoos

You know, I've been thinking about getting another tattoo for a while (I have a small one on my ankle that's very pretty) Not exactly flames or stickmen roasting s'mores or anything, but something colorful that'll remind me of some of the shit I've managed to survive in my life. Well, okay, not to remind me of the shit, but to remind me of how I survived. That's the really important thing.

I've thought about getting a phoenix. Maybe not a crazy vengeful looking one, but just one that looks like it's kinda, risen from the ashes, you know. Despite my crazy linkage on that sentence, I haven't managed to find one I like- I want a phoenix that's modern looking, sleek, beautiful, feminine without being entirely girly, and something very different from the feathery twirly Russian/Chinese phoenix tattoos. I haven't found anything like what I'm looking for yet. Also, I'm afraid it'll be kinda cliche.

So I need something representing rebirth and renewal without necessarily being a phoenix. I read that a flaming butterfly is a Greek symbol of renewal. I don't know why. Poor butterfly, getting its little wings burned off (I can't believe I found a picture of that, that's just sick and twisted.) However, a butterfly is a natural symbol of renewal- I started a novel when I was younger that was going to be divided into sections based on the life cycles of a butterfly- it involved a mysterious town where all these people with mutant gifts lived called "Chrysalis." I don't think I want a picture of a chrysalis or a pupa on my body though (and yes, I'm aware they're the same thing), it would be too easily mistaken for a shell or a booger. Or maybe even that nasty ear wax my mom helped me pry out of my ear my first year of college that was keeping me from hearing. I learned my lesson after that- no earbuds for me! (Actually, be careful with your ears! Any long term exposure to loud music via headphones can seriously damage them!)

I'm not too worried about waiting on figuring this out- It took me a bit of thinking to figure out what I wanted for my first tattoo but once I decided what I wanted, -bam- I went out and got it like, two days later. And I haven't regretted it at all- I love my tattoo.

One of the craziest tattoos I've ever seen is this (warning, this tattoo is in a somewhat explicit area, but it's fascinating, not disgusting, in my opinion. but then, I'm not a guy, so I don't feel physical pain when I look at this) To find out more about how this tattoo was done, go look at John Bevan's website.

It's also interesting reading about the World's Most Tattooed Man, Lucky Diamond Rich. He's onto multiple layers of tattoos all over his body now. I'd love to meet the guy- he must have some serious chutzpah. After one tiny tattoo on my ankle, in a session of less than 15 minutes, I was freaking out from the pain over my ankle bone. This guy has gone through over 1,000 hours! of tattooing. I can't even imagine it.

While I'm over at the Guinness Book of World Records website, I might as well look at the Most Pierced Guy as well. Now, I have a couple piercings in my ears that I'm quite proud of. My pain tolerance for that type of body modification is actually pretty good at this point. But I cannot even comprehend what it's like to have all these piercings in my body.

I guess I just really don't have it in me to be a world record breaker. Lame. That would be a good path to getting famous, right?

On the other hand, because of my careful nature towards my body modifications, I don't have to worry too much about looking like one of these poor souls. Ear Piercings gone horrendously horrendously Bad!

And then an infected tattoo! Bahhh! And another one! Bahhh!

If you were just horrendously grossed out by that, get over it. My mom's a doctor and always had a lovely magazine examining skin infections show up on my doorstep when I was little. It was truly dangerous getting the mail when I was younger, all of us were utterly disgusted by some of the cover pictures that showed up. Eech.

Anyways, I suppose I should probably work on some of my homework for tomorrow. Gross.

Catch y'all later-

HG

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. I came across your blog while i was being a freak and looking for photos of infected tattoos, haha. Just so i could look at them and feel smug that mine was normal.
ANYHOO where you thinking you might get this Phoenix or butterfly or whatever you end up deciding done?
I just got tattooed on wednesday

Anonymous said...

I also meant to ask:

are you on ze myspaces or ze facebookzzzzzz?

Ron said...

Hi I noticed that the link to the infected tattoo in the 3rd to last paragraph is broken. Here is the updated location of that horrible looking tattoo: http://www.infectiousdiseasenews.com/article.aspx?id=33511

Unknown said...

Hey, don't know if you still check this blog, but I wanted to show you my phoenix tattoo. I had the same dilemma-- I wanted a mix of modern and traditional. It's a tribal, but it's elegant and swirly... kinda girly without being frilly. It was my first tattoo, and I get compliments on it all the time. Here are the links:

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo34/bestnursephd/Photoon2010-03-11at1727.jpg

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo34/bestnursephd/Photoon2010-03-11at1726.jpg

wow-its-Stacey said...

Fist, are these photos on the left side yours? They are awesome.

I am glad you can manage the pain.
i am afraid of pain, stupid me. Blood makes me tremble but if only I can tolerate that, I will have my permanent tattoo.

Sta:<
Angel Tattoos