Where do FL readers stand on tattooing?

the question I'm wondering is...lefonque....are the tatooed arms before ministry? if anything, I bet they make a great ice breaker! I don't care so much for tatoos on women...but on guys....sexy. But I do like seeing more skin than ink

Miss Neecerie said:

Should really just be summed up into two words.

PERSONAL CHOICE.

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miss Neecerie, this would be a rather minimal forum if no-one were allowed to voice their opinions, and if every thread ended with 'hey live and let live'. i understand that being judgemental is not good. if someone said "all tattooed people are idiots" i'd be just as angry as you would be. but i think we should be able to discuss aesthetics and personal style without feeling we are necessarily being judgemental.

agreed....as long as there is civility...these discussions are very interesting

herringbonekid said:

miss Neecerie, this would be a rather minimal forum if no-one were allowed to voice their opinions, and if every thread ended with 'hey live and let live'. i understand that being judgemental is not good. if someone said "all tattooed people are idiots" i'd be just as angry as you would be. but i think we should be able to discuss aesthetics and personal style without feeling we are necessarily being judgemental.

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I agree to a certain extent. I made the comment I made because this thread comes around over and over..and the -same- points are then rehashed with the same cast of characters reiterating their already stated opinions every time a new person finds the thread.

So consider it if you will...me reiterating -my- point of view on it.

Miss Neecerie said:

I agree to a certain extent. I made the comment I made because this thread comes around over and over..and the -same- points are then rehashed with the same cast of characters reiterating their already stated opinions every time a new person finds the thread.

So consider it if you will...me reiterating -my- point of view on it.

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When threads get as long as this one these kind of things invariably happen. Everyone has an opinion and this is the place to state it, but as long as everyone plays nice, I won't have to cover the sandbox! This isn't the Observation Bar you know!
Incidentally, I have one tattoo on my upper right arm and I've had it since 1998. I've kicked the idea around of getting others, but so far, I've more interesting things to spend my money on. I don't regret it and I really don't worry about what it will look like when I'm an old man. I think I'll having more important things to worry about like what happened to all the money I put into Social Security?! I'm interested to see all the old folks in about 50 years with the saggy earlobes from those plug-things, and all the metal implants like the metal spike mohawks!
PBG

I've never seen a tattoo design that I like enough to have it made a permanent part of my body, but I don't at all mind seeing them on others. A Navy buddy had an extraordinarily well done tat of an eagle fighting with a bear. The detail was magnificent. He got that while stationed aboard the USS Midway in Yoksuka, Japan. I've seen some mighty fine tattoo art from Asia.

When my wife was working a hospital ward on her first job as an RN, she once had to administer an injection in the buttocks to an elderly male patient. She was intrigued by the tattoo of a mustachioed man on one of his cheeks, and finally asked him about its significance. Turns out he was a WWI vet, and he and several of his buddies had all had Kaiser Wilhelm II permanently affixed to their backsides after an evening of drinking soon before boarding a troopship for France.

Zepp said:

A Navy buddy had an extraordinarily well done tat of an eagle fighting with a bear.

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The eagle won. Your friend's tat -- a fascinating relic of the Cold War.

I have 7 tattoos- two that are visible as they are around my elbow on one side, and inside my arm bend on the other. They are old school style that I got about 6 years ago when I was still in my rock n' roll phase. I was in a band for awhile and at that time a lot of the avant-garde metal bands were doing the rockabilly look. I had the lip piercing and ear plugs too, but those are healed now. I am a bit sorry I got those tattoo designs now, as sometimes I feel strange having old school stars and skulls going around my elbow when I am wearing a striped camp shirt, pressed khakis, and bucks. But, my wife loves them and thinks they are sexy. I love tattoos, but feel they don't go with my look anymore, so I am a little conflicted on the subject, I guess. Glad I didn't get the ravens on my neck, that's for sure. lol

mysterygal said:

the question I'm wondering is...lefonque....are the tatooed arms before ministry? if anything, I bet they make a great ice breaker! I don't care so much for tatoos on women...but on guys....sexy. But I do like seeing more skin than ink

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SOrry to take so long in my reply but I just got back in town. I have been a minister for 24 years and most of the tattoos I have aquired over the last 15 years. I have had an ear ring for about 35 years which was even more controversial when I first started in the Church. But as the old saying goes "you can't judge a book by it's cover".

LeFonque said:

SOrry to take so long in my reply but I just got back in town. I have been a minister for 24 years and most of the tattoos I have aquired over the last 15 years. I have had an ear ring for about 35 years which was even more controversial when I first started in the Church. But as the old saying goes "you can't judge a book by it's cover".

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Your post reminds me very much of an experience I had when I was 17. After high school, I worked as a busboy and earned enough to pay for an exchange trip in Nepal (1987 or 88). I lived with a Nepali family in Khatmandu, while the group of us took language and culture classes during the day, went on treks sometimes (I was a loner type (still am) who didn't really like the idea very much of coming all the way across the world to Nepal only to hang out with a bunch of white folks. Then again, I was also the only one who paid for his own trip...).

Anyway, one day we were to have lecture from a Buddhist monk, a westerner who'd been a monk in Nepal for more than 10 years. He arrived at our "headquarters" riding a motorcycle, wearing a nice leather jacket, and looking all-out spiffy. None of the monks robes we were by that time used to. Naturally, most, if not all, of the conversation that day revolved around the way this monk was dressed. His main point:

One of 4 fundamental aspects (I really don't remember the other three; anybody?) of a truly enlightened person (in the Buddhist cosmology), or someone dedicated to becoming so, is that they take a great deal of care about their appearance, the way that others around them perceive them, the "cover of the book" that everyone sees which they/we all will read first, out of human nature. Clearly, this idea worked extremely well in this case: if this monk had been dressed in "proper" monk regalia, none of us young'uns would likely have remembered a thing from that day. If not only because we could relate to the cover of his book better than expected, most of us will remember that day for the rest of our lives.

[Only years later, after living in different parts of China for a couple of years, did I really come to understand, on a tangential note, the nature of the truly "coy"...talk about a population, a very, very large one, of people with whom it's difficult to know what they're thinking at a given moment, relating to Chinese people, in business and intimate relations, can be one of the most difficult things any westerner will ever experience...which is a great thing! With any endeavor that takes you away from your cultural comfort zone...]

My tatts are chapters in my life.

The strange thing is most people I know who dress vintage-y have the tatts and piercings and wild hair color, etc. Interesting.

Ive been tattooed 6 times, I have 2 tattoos.

My back is covered, my left arm is almost covered. They are Ancient Egyptian inspired and designed by me. I like tatts that work with the body, not just lay on it. Mine recall a time in my life, good or bad, that I want to remember so I can see how I have grown as a person. I regret none of them, and if life dictates it, I will get more.



My arm. It goes all the way up my arm and over my back, which is covered.

LD

Getting in on this thread a bit late...

I've tossed the idea around a few times. In general, I've a pretty negative opinion of tattoos. I saw the earring fad take hold and go overboard, and I've watched the tattoo fad explode. It's especially prevalent here in AF tech school...seems the 'in' thing to do is go get inked up as soon as you have authorization to get off of the base. I've never been a trend follower, which is part of the reason I'm on the Lounge. The tattoo trend seems to me mostly to be a 'get it 'cuz it's coooool!' type of thing.

If I WERE to get a tattoo, I've considered replicating the USAAF 'Hap Arnold' on my left shoulder, just as it appeared on A-2 jackets, Class A uniforms, flightsuits, shirts, and many, many other pieces of Air Corps uniforms. Now that I'm in the USAF, I'd feel justified in having it there...but still don't like the idea of marking up my body.

It falls down to the sort of person you are...I once was told by a wizened old lifelong surfer, 'You should never be the same person next year that you are right now.' I'm living that...if I change as much as I should, why mark myself permanently with something I may not like later?

This is, of course, purely opinion.

I'd like to

If I could just find the thing, I'd have one on an arm.

I almost did this about ten years ago, but am glad I didn't because I no longer have my Rocket 88.

Considered it 20 years ago, thought seriously about it 10 years ago, didn't do it. Glad. But I've no objections whatsoever to other people. It's your body, tattoos are decoration, I've got ear piercing, I paint my nails, what's the big deal? I didn't do it in the end because I could envisage a time when I'd be old and flabby and with a fading tattoo that didn't do it anymore. I really really wanted a celtic armband. I'm not yet old and flabby, but I'm glad the tattoo isn't there. Live your life, tattoos are art.

The Wingnut said:

Getting in on this thread a bit late...

I've tossed the idea around a few times. In general, I've a pretty negative opinion of tattoos. I saw the earring fad take hold and go overboard, and I've watched the tattoo fad explode. It's especially prevalent here in AF tech school...seems the 'in' thing to do is go get inked up as soon as you have authorization to get off of the base. I've never been a trend follower, which is part of the reason I'm on the Lounge. The tattoo trend seems to me mostly to be a 'get it 'cuz it's coooool!' type of thing.

If I WERE to get a tattoo, I've considered replicating the USAAF 'Hap Arnold' on my left shoulder, just as it appeared on A-2 jackets, Class A uniforms, flightsuits, shirts, and many, many other pieces of Air Corps uniforms. Now that I'm in the USAF, I'd feel justified in having it there...but still don't like the idea of marking up my body.

It falls down to the sort of person you are...I once was told by a wizened old lifelong surfer, 'You should never be the same person next year that you are right now.' I'm living that...if I change as much as I should, why mark myself permanently with something I may not like later?

This is, of course, purely opinion.

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Yeah, I agree. Never thought that permanent marks on my hide would be a good idea and anything that even hints at trendiness makes me stubbornly head the other way.
Like those "tribal" things that so many girls get on the small of their backs lately,...I would feel kinda weird bringing a girl with one of those home to meet Mom Danger. lol
But if people want to get tattoos, that is entirely up to them.

"Man, how will that look when youre 80?"

What I hear a lot from folks (not just here) is, "Man, how will that look when youre 80?"

Well, if Im fortunate enough to live to 80+, my tattoos will be the last thing on my mind. I mean come on, people get boob jobs and face lifts and, "Man, how will that look when youre 80?" applies to that as well.

Pepole modify their bodies for tons of reasons, hair color, nail polish, ear rings, hair cuts, tans etc. So the 'I think different of people who have tattoos' and the 'I wouldnt take one home to meet the fam' is kinda profiling isnt it?

Im not trying to shake up anything, and I know people have prefrences, but to be judgemental of the quality of a person just because they have Taz in a tutu (all be it silly) on their bum dosent mean they arnt a life long friend, or close acquaintance, or significant other.

People change, and if all people see and Im still being judged by my tatts at 80, then I didnt make my mark on the world for people to see past that.


LD

Here's the one I'll be getting soon (modeled by my friend Benny). I think there are 2 other devoted swing dancers around here sporting it. It comes from a 1939 magazine cartoon, and took a while for me to track down. When I was first looking for it, I asked if anyone here on the lounge knew where I could the 'jitterbug'. Caused quite a flap, as you can see in the link Neecerie posted in post #2 of this thread. It'll be on my ankle and not too big. I put several years of thought into what I wanted, and it sums me up well enough. I've been a swing dance fan since I was small, and now being a dancer myself. My tattoo will be minus the flames though.

I have one

I have a abstract star a flame on my left shoulder ...why???

1.I like tats

2.My dad has one from his service in the Marines.

3.The significance of my tat is to remind me of great people who are no
longer with this world who left (in my opinion) before their time.

And as far as old age ... all your perceived success or failure is in the end

quantified by your character!

It took me a long time to decide on getting tattooed. I currently have three, and it was 3 years between each one. My first was at 30 as I waited until I was sure. This is my favorite to date. Retro/vintage inspired

Wow! That's one sassy tattoo skillbilly