Once upon a time there was a girl who dreamed of a bad boy with tattoos. Now-a-days, a girl no longer has to dream, as it is a rarity to find a guy who DOESN'T have a tattoo.
I have two.
In fact, I even have a tramp stamp. Don't know what that is? It's a term affectionately nicknamed for the tattoo located on the lower back of a woman (right above her bum). I ran across a gent who actually didn't know what a tramp stamp was, I should have knighted him right then and there because he was obviously pure of heart. Thankfully, my tramp stamp is not disastrous, like for instance my name. I always wondered why people tattooed their names on their bodies, was it because they forget their own names so easily, or was it because they were afraid others would forget it? Then again, I want to meet a guy who has, "Hi my name is Ed" tattooed on his chest, I think i would actually be turned on by the audacity of that.
Tattoos that DO NOT do it for me. Faded tattoos (for it shows that the person didn't take an initiative in finding a good tattoo artist, or they were wussies when it came down to getting the ink done), Grateful dead bears, Disney characters, in fact any anime characters, tribal tattoos (especially with barbwire), faces (I get that you want to grieve for whomever, but I am a bit of Native American spiritualist, so I can't even have my picture taken without my soul getting itchy twitchy, so to have someone else's soul immortalized on someone else's skin is so many levels of wrong for me), and last but not least, the icing on the cake: exes names. Yes. Tattooing your exes name on your body is just wrong.
Which leads me to my own Mr. Tattoo. He was (of course) an Artist, quirky, tall, half Asian (ummmMmmmm.) He had these beautiful sleeve tattoos illustrated with images he had drawn (a plus in my book), and originally we hit it off brilliantly, except for one thing: One of his tattoos was of his ex girlfriend's name, and I am not talking her initials coyly placed on his bicep. I am talking first, middle, and last name emblazoned across the whole of his abdomen. So basically every time he took off his shirt, it was right there, standing poorly scribbled against the pale white of his skin. The first time he showed me, I told him to hide it again. Yes, I can be that much of a wench, but at least I am an honest wench. I explained that I wasn't necessarily comfortable staring at another woman's name, maybe if I had known him for years, it wouldn't have been a big thing, but he was basically a blink in my life, and it was an uber disappointment to see another woman's name marring his body. For it represented that someone else had marked his territory already. I mean, I wanted to be Louis, him my Clark, screw Sacajawea.
He told me that if (and when) we ever fell in love, and I was still bothered by said tattoo, that he would then burn it off with a hot spatula. Oh, yeah, these are the men I date. I asked him why not just get it laser removed like normal people, his response was because he wanted to still remember the pain she had caused. So basically her name was a reminder of the pain she had caused, and burning it off (which would scar him horribly) would continue that horrific reminder, but he would do it for me in a gesture of love. Seriously, Freud could have retired a wealthy man on that one.
In Japan, when I displayed my tattoo (not my butt one, mind you) I was considered such a bad ass, because I was a woman, and it was a rarity for a tattooed woman to exist over there. Men, on the other hand, have a much harder time showing their tattoos as it is forbidden in many establishments, for only people who were Yakuza wore tattoos. Yakuza, the mafia, the modern samurai, the bad boys of the East. Their tattoos depicted heroic fight scenes of dragons, warriors, and beautifully lined clouds. I often wonder if the Yakuza would tattoo their girlfriend's name across their chests. Nah. I refuse to believe a samurai would be that dumb. Then again, the picture below has them still wearing diapers (ok ok yes they are traditional mawashi loincloths, but they still look like diapers)...
(Picture sourced from a fantastic website on the yakuza and their tattoos http://www.dreadloki.com/pivot/pivot/entry.php?uid=standard-718
and for your reference, no I haven't dated anyone in this photo. Though the one in the middle is kinda a sexy beast.)
I have two.
In fact, I even have a tramp stamp. Don't know what that is? It's a term affectionately nicknamed for the tattoo located on the lower back of a woman (right above her bum). I ran across a gent who actually didn't know what a tramp stamp was, I should have knighted him right then and there because he was obviously pure of heart. Thankfully, my tramp stamp is not disastrous, like for instance my name. I always wondered why people tattooed their names on their bodies, was it because they forget their own names so easily, or was it because they were afraid others would forget it? Then again, I want to meet a guy who has, "Hi my name is Ed" tattooed on his chest, I think i would actually be turned on by the audacity of that.
Tattoos that DO NOT do it for me. Faded tattoos (for it shows that the person didn't take an initiative in finding a good tattoo artist, or they were wussies when it came down to getting the ink done), Grateful dead bears, Disney characters, in fact any anime characters, tribal tattoos (especially with barbwire), faces (I get that you want to grieve for whomever, but I am a bit of Native American spiritualist, so I can't even have my picture taken without my soul getting itchy twitchy, so to have someone else's soul immortalized on someone else's skin is so many levels of wrong for me), and last but not least, the icing on the cake: exes names. Yes. Tattooing your exes name on your body is just wrong.
Which leads me to my own Mr. Tattoo. He was (of course) an Artist, quirky, tall, half Asian (ummmMmmmm.) He had these beautiful sleeve tattoos illustrated with images he had drawn (a plus in my book), and originally we hit it off brilliantly, except for one thing: One of his tattoos was of his ex girlfriend's name, and I am not talking her initials coyly placed on his bicep. I am talking first, middle, and last name emblazoned across the whole of his abdomen. So basically every time he took off his shirt, it was right there, standing poorly scribbled against the pale white of his skin. The first time he showed me, I told him to hide it again. Yes, I can be that much of a wench, but at least I am an honest wench. I explained that I wasn't necessarily comfortable staring at another woman's name, maybe if I had known him for years, it wouldn't have been a big thing, but he was basically a blink in my life, and it was an uber disappointment to see another woman's name marring his body. For it represented that someone else had marked his territory already. I mean, I wanted to be Louis, him my Clark, screw Sacajawea.
He told me that if (and when) we ever fell in love, and I was still bothered by said tattoo, that he would then burn it off with a hot spatula. Oh, yeah, these are the men I date. I asked him why not just get it laser removed like normal people, his response was because he wanted to still remember the pain she had caused. So basically her name was a reminder of the pain she had caused, and burning it off (which would scar him horribly) would continue that horrific reminder, but he would do it for me in a gesture of love. Seriously, Freud could have retired a wealthy man on that one.
In Japan, when I displayed my tattoo (not my butt one, mind you) I was considered such a bad ass, because I was a woman, and it was a rarity for a tattooed woman to exist over there. Men, on the other hand, have a much harder time showing their tattoos as it is forbidden in many establishments, for only people who were Yakuza wore tattoos. Yakuza, the mafia, the modern samurai, the bad boys of the East. Their tattoos depicted heroic fight scenes of dragons, warriors, and beautifully lined clouds. I often wonder if the Yakuza would tattoo their girlfriend's name across their chests. Nah. I refuse to believe a samurai would be that dumb. Then again, the picture below has them still wearing diapers (ok ok yes they are traditional mawashi loincloths, but they still look like diapers)...
and for your reference, no I haven't dated anyone in this photo. Though the one in the middle is kinda a sexy beast.)
