Mark Hebert recently asked in one of his comments if I have any tattoos. The question strikes me as quite relevant here since tattoos are a form of illustration, and multiple tattoos, received over time, form a story or narrative on the body.
I do not have any tattoos, though I have seriously considered getting one in the past. I first tried to get one at age 16, at a tattoo parlor on Sunset Blvd. I was surprised to discover that it was illegal to tattoo minors, and even more surprised by the strong discouragement I received from the male artists, who did not like to tattoo women.
After this set back, I found out that the Santa Monica pier (then quite a bit seedier than it is today) was host to a number of parlors that would tattoo just about anyone, under any circumstances. Around the same time, an acquaintance of mine--a band roadie--had just finished putting together a tattoo gun from old sewing machine parts, and offered to experiment with it on me. So I had some options, but did not pursue them.
Which is all for the best, since I now have skin allergies (I won't be getting the smallpox vaccine for that reason). And also, because the three designs I've come closest to getting are:
- the name of a (now-defunct) punk band
- the name of a (vanished ex-) girlfriend
- classically dour Mexican Catholic imagery (see example below)
My sister, on the other hand, has so many tattoos I've lost track of them--half a dozen I'm sure. Her tattoos--whether text, images, or pictograms--mark significant events in her life. In some cases they are intended as celebrations, others are pacts or promises written on the body. Some are meant to erase hard times--the painful process of receiving the tattoo acts to displace recent suffering, even as it commemorates it.
Comments (4)
Oh, come on...tell us more. Which (now defunct) punk band was it? My guess: X (or are they not truly a defunct band given all of the reunions they keep having)!:)
Posted by Joe | December 17, 2002 12:18 PM
Posted on December 17, 2002 12:18
Yes, indeed Joe, it was X.
Posted by Teresa | December 17, 2002 4:42 PM
Posted on December 17, 2002 16:42
Well, T, frankly, I'm not a bit surprised. I too am drqwn to tatooing, but have not been able to pull the trigger; tho' I've not yet gotten inside a tattoo parlor with the drive or yen pegging the needle, so to speak.Personally, I think that I may be a tabula rasa type (and this may be true for you as well), that somehow in the marking (no pun) I will somehow have surrendered something I need to maintain the illusion of purity about: tho', for sure, I am not pure. It's one of the only paradoxes with which I can not reach an amicable resolution within myself about. I have moles (nevus) that have come and gone, scars and such have joined the family too, and still I cannot find an excuse to go ahead and ink myself.It may be for this reason that I so greatly admire those who can decorate themselves with tattoos. It appeals to the voyeaur in me, like they have given me tacit approval to look at them, closely, amidst the freckels and hairs. And maybe this too is why I wont be tinted...a mild case of ego, wanting to be seen for myself, not as a flamingo strutting color...but of course, deep down inside - I am a flamingo! This is all rather twisted up!Were I to, to date, the design that holds the most interest for me would be a bar code on my ass of my vital stats: name, dob, blood type, etc.I assume, that were I to do even that, the wraps would come off and I would end up resembling one of the fine window of the Rhiems catherdral when I was done?!Thanks for the info, T.Your site is a champ of the moment by moment I love to share. Have a joy filled interregnum.M
Posted by Mark A. Hebert | December 18, 2002 10:58 AM
Posted on December 18, 2002 10:58
I run far and fast from tattooing. My grandfather once got one of a naked woman on his arm. As he aged, the thing faded and he felt more and more ashamed of it.
Posted by Joel | December 25, 2002 8:06 PM
Posted on December 25, 2002 20:06