Tattoos

[Scoutfish]

THis may be the wrong thread/ forum for this, but seemed the best fit.

 

 

If I ever wished that these threads would support pictures, it is now.

 

So, Lets begin: Ever since I was 15 years old, I wanted a tattoo. Didn't know what or where, but knew I wanted one.

 

But luckily for me, even back then, I realized that it was permanant and that I would wait until I found one that I wouldn't look back on when I was 80 years old and wonder why the hell I got it.

 

So, sure, you couldn't legally get one until you were 18, but I was still aware of the permanancy of it.

 

So all these years, I pushed it to the back of my mind until I found "the one".

 

See, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with Melanoma. I was diagnose Stage III-B.

It goes to III-C , III-D, then Stage IV. At stage IV, you pretty much get your affairs in order and make the most of it.

 

A lymph node in my neck - that is supposed to be the size of a small baby garden pea, was swollen to the size of an extra large chicken egg.

 

I had 19 lymph nodes, my SternoCleidoMastoid Muscle as well as a couple inches of my spinal accessory nerve removed. I can only raise my right arm level if I raise it sideways, and can only hold it straight up if I raise it frontward, I lost use of my trapezes muscle on that side due to the nerve removal. Even though I still write right handed, I am becoming left arm dominant as far as work goes.

 

Mostly it means I cannot flap my arms and fly anymore.

 

 

I was given a 3% to 5% survival rate, and although I am technically not out of the woods yet ( or ever will be) , after two surgeries, the Dr's cannot find any evidence to support that I ever had it to begin with. Test say I am clear.

 

So, I drew up an idea for a tattoo a little over a year ago. My wife made it happen for me this Christmas:

 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=338355406192749&set=o.172739770499&type=1&theater

 

 

So, basically, this whole post is to ask: what tattoos do you have and why? WHat inspired you to get them, and do you reget getting it? Have you ever gotten "those" looks from parents in your unit?

 

Me. I know I have one that I will never regret as it is a chapter of my life, my fight, and my overcoming obstacles.

 

Oh yeah, I do realize the irony of permanantly having something put on your skin to celebrate not having something on your skin!

[Scoutfish]

Okay, my link isn't working right. You have to copy the whole thing and paste it to your search box>

 

It's at the Scouter.com facebook page

[packsaddle]

No tattos or piercings. My parents had me mutilated when I was a baby but I don't remember a thing. I suspect that at 80 years of age, other concerns will eclipse poorly chosen tattoos, almost a certainty for me.

[SeattlePioneer]

Personally I consider tattoos to be trashy.

 

 

The popularity of tattoos is another upwelling from the modern heart of American culture, our prisons.

 

[Scoutfish]

I'd give credit to both religion and military service for the popularity of tattoos, but do not argue the fact that other venues also have a huge popularity in there use.

 

I mean, although gangs no doubt have their use for guns, I do not credit gang warefare as the reason so many guns are in America.

 

Perwonally, I have a split view on tattoos. I see people who are covered head to toe with them and i think that it is way too much and mostly tacky. But I also wouldn't dye my heair or wear a wig either (except for a skit or something similar)

 

And even though I wouldn't ever get all the tribal tattoos I see so often or have a family portrait inked on my back.....I can stil appreciate the talent and the artwork behind it.

 

But then I also see tattoos where somebody is using the tattoo as a personal memorial. Mine is celebrating my beating ( so far that is) cancer. Some are memorils to service in something life changing: Iraq, Viet Nam, WWII, 9-11, etc....

 

Of course, I know that those tattoos are more for the wearer than the public who see's them.

 

So, I guess that even though I'd never get a bunch of tattoos in the style of so many I see, or for their reasons...I don't consider them trashy in themselves.

 

Yeah, I'd consider a tattoo that promotes bigotry, racism, or prejudice as compltely moronic, and what gives tattoos a bad name.

 

Also knowing it is forever should make some people think before gettin g their design inked in.

 

Oh yeah, my barely shy of 11 year old son told me he wants a tattioo now. I told him he had to be 18 to get one. When he asked why, I said 18 was when you were legally an adult and that in theory mature enough to make a wise deciseon about something so permanant.

 

He the tells me he wants a foot tattooed on his back.

 

Yep! I tell him, that's why you have to be 18 to get one!

[Eagle732]

Scoutfish, wear it proudly, you have fought the tough fight. Good luck, I hope you stay well. And you have reminded me that it's time for a check-up.

[Eagledad]

>>I'd give credit to both religion and military service for the popularity of tattoos, ..

[Scoutfish]

When I said religios. I was refering to some of the religions outside of Christianity that the follower do put a few tattoos on their body>

 

Not a rock band reference or what is some sort of cool synbol in their society, but when some people of certain rel;igious beliefs have tattoos that are part of their beliefs

 

Maybe Tibetian monks or those guys in the desert who are the secret protectors of the Holy Grail.

 

Look at some African or Middle Eastern holymen or Shamans ( or whatever they may be called) Mayans and such. Tattoos and body piercings are not just accepted, but an eagerly expected indicator of the rite of passage into adulthood or marrage.

 

I'm not just thinking continental US here.

 

My point was that tattoos are not limited to or represent only prisons...although that has become it's own culture and most likely has a signifigant reference to stature in prisons.

 

Prison tattoos are not an orgin, but the latest group that is using them.

[Scoutfish]

I tried to find a specific instance of a religious tattoo, but this was the best I could do:

 

http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_religious.htm

 

And the only reason I would know about any religious reason was the occasional show on TLC, History Channel or whatever..where teh tattoo itself wasn't the main topic of the show, but just happened to be included in a small part of the show.

[Eagledad]

>>I'm not just thinking continental US here.

[packsaddle]

Scoutfish, are you thinking along these lines, Polynesian tattoos?

http://www.tahititatou.com/history.html

 

I'm not sure they have religious significance though.

If I were to indulge in fantasy, this is what I'd go for:

http://cityrag.com/2006/10/tattooed_teache/

 

[Scoutfish]

WEll, that one works too, but if you read further down on my link, you see it covers several countries/ cultures. Some pre bible.

 

So, I'm not trying to justify or encourage anybody to get a tattoo, that was just a counter point to seattles claims( assuming I understood her post) about tattoos being an offspring of of prision culture.

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

No tattoos here. I don't see them as necessarily being a terrible indictment of a person, but they can be a warning sign.

 

Not all tattoos indicate some defect in character or judgment. Most of us probably know wonderful people who are tattooed. But the trend is there nevertheless; most modern western populations in which tattooing is rampant are and have been populations among which character and judgment deficiencies are also rampant.

 

Much tattooing is an underclass phenomenon, but today we increasingly see tattooing among folks whose education, abilities, and circumstances place them among the cultural and cognitive elite. The tattoos of these would be sophisticates often display delusion and ignorance; see, for example, the adoption or adaptation of tattoo designs from primitive and/or foreign cultures about which the wearer knows little (or about which he thinks he knows much... but all his knowledge is of the romanticized, deodorized, sanitized, and disneyfied version common in popular notions of primitive societies.) Is this phenomenon the reverse image of the old cargo cult phenomenon?

 

Also silly are tattoos in languages the wearer does not speak, read, or write; Chinese characters tattooed on a guy who can't understand a lick of Chinese, has never been to China, has never seriously studied China, and maybe has never even read a serious book about China.

 

May the cancer stay beaten and may you enjoy many more years of happy life.

 

[Scoutfish]

You know...I have many times wondered about Chinese and Japanese tattoos when the wearer does not speak a lick of it.

 

"The artist told me that this tattoo means brave warrior in Japanese!"

 

Or it could mean dork, idiot, fool, poop, chicken salad, garden hose, or that it's cold in the dominoes happy crab cake!

 

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

它的寒冷，在多米諾骨牌快樂的螃蟹蛋糕！

That'd be some tattoo!