Tattoos -- Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?

[Smartypants1635]

I knew that would be brought up, I could carry around a black light keychain or something.  I think it's just a pretty neat idea, that way, you'll never know it's there when your like 60-70-80 years old.

[Rob]

You can see the blacklight ones just a little bit.  I had a friend who had black-light crucifixion scars tattooed on his wrists (yeah he's a little bit insane)... they looked like scars in the light, but glowed under black light.

[Jediknight760071]

I didn't ask how you're going to see it...I asked about the significance of having a disappearing tattoo. I'd like to know why you're longing for one in the first place so I can decide whether or not I can take you seriously on this. If you want a tattoo so you can be badass, you probably want people to see it. If you just want a tattoo of, for example, a dead relative's initials, I can see why it would be advantageous to get a black-lit tattoo. I don't recall how old you are, but I'm assuming you've got some time to think it over, so I'd just advise you to be careful about this decision; it could matter more than you think.

[Matt]

You want a black-light tattoo so you'll look like a ******* badass during the "Wacky Bowling" session on Saturday night, but you can go to church with Mom and Dad on Sunday morning and nobody'll be the wiser.

[Jediknight760071]

You want a black-light tattoo so you'll look like a ******* badass during the "Wacky Bowling" session on Saturday night, but you can go to church with Mom and Dad on Sunday morning and nobody'll be the wiser.

What if you suck at bowling and you fall asleep during mass? That doesn't help you at all.

[Famine]

Tracy, is there a parlor near you guys? Maybe I'll get my Tat when I come down.

Kevin

[JoshEEE]

You know...the blacklight tattoo does sound kind of interesting.   I don't know why anyone would want one.  It seems like a tattoo for people who realize all the bad things about tattoos but still want to get one anyway.

Kind of like non-alcoholic beer.

[tonphanan]

For years I said I would never get a tattoo, but I did about 2 months ago. I got a Bantha Skull on my right shoulder. I'll be able to get it touched up in about 2 weeks, it came really good. I am thinking of getting my kids names on my other arm.

Tats on women are hot but not a fan of tons of Tats on a person.

[Jediknight760071]

I'd like to see a picture of that bantha skull...it sounds interesting. 

[Tracy]

I don't like a lot of tattoos either.  I do like a well-placed tattoo that has significance to the bearer.  That's why I would get a tattoo that reflects my family and my faith.  A man that goes to my parent's church has the footprint impressions that were taken of children when they were born tattooed on his shoulder blade.  He has their names and birth dates under each pair.  It looks really neat and subtle. 

Kevin -- there are a few places to get tattoos around here -- I'll ask around

[I Am Sith]

Love them!  But be warned, they become addictive.

Most of my tatoos have significant meaning to me and others were just for fun.  I don't regret any of them and it also helps remind me of the past.

I got my first tat (half dollar sized Chinese symbol) because it had significant meaning to my family.  It's a way for me to show reverence to my great grandfather who immigrated from China to the US, but was forced to change his name upon entering the country.  The crossing swords underneath it enhance the symbol and are meant to represnt my rank of black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  Under the swords is a tribal arm band with a connecting tribal mosaic going down the interior area where the tricep and bicep meet.

On the other arm is a tat of the Yin and Yang in blue and green over the Sun in yellow, red and orange on my deltoid.  This was the last tat I got, the one that hurt the most, but it was the one that I got with my wife.  She was my girlfriend at the time and had been thinking about getting one for quite some time (her sister has a few).  So we went together and she got a sunburst tat on her lower back.

Now that I have two children, I want to get their names placed over my heart.  My wife has actually put the kibosh on that one though.  She thinks I have enough.  Looks like the SOX tat I had planned to commemorate the 2005 World Champs is out of the question too...

My recommendation to you if you are still considering one, make sure it has meaning to you and you will never regret it.  I love telling people about mine.  In terms of placement, what  I've told my neices in the past is that if you ever are considering having children, don't put one in your lower abdominal area.  If you want to be able to see it on a regular basis, don't put it on your back (my wife always complains about how she can never see hers because of where it is).  But I do have to say that the lower back is my favorite spot for tats on women, as well as on the ankle.

Good luck and report back once you've decided!

[mousedroid]

I have a small (1" high x 3/4" wide) tattoo of an ankh on my left shoulder.  I don't regret getting it, but I do wish two things - 1) that I'd gotten it slightly larger and b) that I'd gone to a more talented artist. 

The design is blue and is supposed to make the ankh look like it's metal, but it always just looked kind of mottled instead.  Plus the black outline of the design has faded somewhat so while it's still recognizable, it's not at all as nice as I'd like.  I've though about trying to have it covered, but I don't know how easy that is to do and I'd hate for it to end up looking even worse.

As for women with tattoos, I'm OK with it.  I'm not a fan of the boob tat, or the navel tat though because those are the two I see aging the least gracefully.  I'm also not a fan of a girl with large and/or multiple tats.  I have a friend who has several (maybe 6?) small tats in discrete locations and they don't look bad, but a large design on a fore arm, back or shoulder is not for me.

I have another friend who did one of the dumbest things I could possibly imagine.  She had a huge crush on a baseball player, so after one game she had him sign her shoulder and the next day she got the signature tattooed onto her shoulder.    Needless to say, the following season the guy was traded to another team and the season after that he retired.  I'm not sure how she feels about that tattoo any more, but she's happily married now, so I guess it wasn't too much of an issue.

If you do decide to go through with it, tamidala, make sure you find a really good artist and a design you're completely happy with.

ETA: I like the idea of a blacklight tattoo.  If I were to get one, I'd combine it with with a traditional tattoo though.  For example, get a tattoo of Luke holding a lightsaber hilt, and then get the blade of the saber tattooed in blacklight ink.

[Darth_Anton]

I'm not a big fan at all. First, since they're pretty permanent, I try to image how one will look when they're 70 with the tattoo. Second, I'm more of a why mess with nature? type of person.

[name]

[Dressel Rebel]

I'm not a big fan at all. First, since they're pretty permanent, I try to image how one will look when they're 70 with the tattoo. Second, I'm more of a why mess with nature? type of person.

I hope what I'm worried about at 70 is the way my tattoo looks.  I'll sign up for that right now.