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Tom O'Brien
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5/31/2009 11:41:35 PM
I don't get tattoos!
It's not that I don't appreciate the artistry - I'm an artist myself and I've seen some absolutely stunning tattoos. But there is no art on Earth, not in the Louvre, not in any museum, not in any institute of higher education, that I would want to look at EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! I think the human form is one of the most beautiful things there is, and it just seems an odd juxtaposition to put a picture, (often something very pedestrian and not even on the level of so-called "high art") on it.
Those of you who are inked, I'd be curious to hear your reasons. I suspect part of it is non-conformity with society (which I'm all for), individual expression, showing that you're tough enough to go under the needle, and so on. But don't you ever get tired of looking at someone else's work? I guess it's a little different if you design it yourself. But even my own work loses its impact if I look at it too much.
I never get tired of looking at the human form - there is infinite variation.
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Jesse Adams
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6/1/2009 12:59:38 AM
Just because it's there doesn't mean you're looking at it all the time. Hell I forget I have mine half the time, so do the people I work with. It's been a while since I've had any work done though... looking to change that once I get some money saved up... because it's fun, tattoos can be beautiful, expressive and in a way therapeutic. It used to be a way to express your individuality but like most things anymore they've become a fad or a fashion statement. But I still like them. If you don't get them then they just aren't for you.
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Jeff Allen Myers
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6/1/2009 1:16:43 AM
I don't lke the current trend in the NBA whee both arms are fully tatooed.....Its overkill, and I get the feeling many are "Followers" just going along with the trend.... like a "Fad"
Sometimes they can have great meaning. My Mom loved Angels, she collected beautiful figurines.
Before she past away from Cancer in January, I got a tattoo to let her know she would always be with me....
http://iacmusic.com/Gallery/63384_4_23_2009_9_24_13_AM_-_Mom_Angel_Tat.jpg
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Kevin White
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6/1/2009 1:45:26 AM
Frankly, I used to think that tattoos were an indication of IQ ... only dumb asses got tattoos.
I now employ several folks who have tattoos ... and they're total professionals.
Times have changed ... and I have too.
I'll still never ever put one on myself.
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Bob Elliott
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6/1/2009 6:20:14 AM
I think they are so common a thing in humanity for so many thousands of years that they are almost a genetic imperative. I'm surprised there aren't more, though I don't have any.
I really do think it's deep in us. You couldn't find a native tribe anywhere without tattoos I don't suppose.
I think you should get one.
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Vincenzo Pandolfi
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6/1/2009 9:02:37 AM
I am a tatoo free zone!!!
Vincenzo
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Jillidom
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6/1/2009 3:01:08 PM
You took the words right out of my mouth Tom.
What amazed me recently was watching the programme "Project Runway" (a fashion design competition) Several of the designers were plastered with very visible and not very pretty or meaningful tattoos. It meant that no matter what they wore it was 'accessorised' in the same way - it totally killed the whole look and interfered with the proportions and style. If they don't understand the concept of 'fashion' how can anyone take their views seriously.
Like Kevin I have been surprised to discover tattoos on otherwise discriminating, logical people. I've known beautiful young girls have thick, black bands around their arms - and they have these for life!!! Why could they not just buy a new bangle or get a temporary make up job done?
OK it might be funny to have "Hot" and "Cold" tattooed over your nipples but surely the joke wears thin after a short while. How do you know that you won't be in a position later in life where it would embarrass you ... or fall in love with someone who finds this a total turn off.
Slightly off topic, but for the same reasons, I'm always surprised why women (in particular) pay so much attention to their hair, clothes and make-up then spoil the whole image with a cigarette between their lips, shrouded in smelly smoke ... or why they want to attract attention to a flabby or bloated midriff by hanging an ornament from their belly button.
I don't believe it's necessary for men to wear ties and keep their hair short to be taken seriously these days, but if a prospective employee turned up with a stud through his tongue and "Manchester United" written on the back of his neck, I would really have to think twice about his judgement.
If you have to get it out of your system, then maybe a tiny, tasteful butterfly on an ass cheek is as far as you need to go. . . . . . but the very fact that I thought of that means it's never going to be original.
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6/1/2009 4:25:18 PM
---- Updated 6/1/2009 5:02:29 PM
I also think the human body is a beautiful work of art in and of itself... how it's designed to function... all it's various parts... how they work individually and collectively as a whole... how skin holds it all together... how it's able to heal itself... and how beautiful a scar can be (maybe natures own version of the tattoo?)
I think It always comes down to personal choice... I have friends and family with tattoos... some are perfectly happy with their choice... others wish that hadn't done it. I don't mind them... however, I think their is a point that it becomes too much... or is addictive, just as anything else... but again it always comes down to personal choice and what works for who one is as an individual. I often find myself intrigued by them... and have seen some beautiful creative ones... and always wonder what made someone choose to have one or to pick a certain design.
Well... I say a round of butterflies on asses for everyone!... originality or not, they're lovely creatures and could stand as a reminder of how beautiful the world really is. HA!... I just laughed at myself... I totally won't be getting one, unless someone hog ties me... I have a serious aversion to needles.
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The Last Unicorn
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6/1/2009 4:42:17 PM
---- Updated 6/1/2009 5:33:07 PM
Like you Tom, I've never found a mark that I would want to identify with for a lifetime. Like favourite brands there are some we identify with and stay with us from childhood but that does not mean we would want to permanently mark our skin with one. Artists and people make statements but like music, personal to their experience in life. Why people read so much into a choice someone might make to their own skin I am not sure except that it makes them question or look into something about themselves.. ultimately that's what art does, which is one of life's greatest treasures.
If I had nothing but 3 colors I could blend, 5 shapes I could morph, and one note I could paint into a thousand tones in my minds eye I would be extremely content on my own private island in the middle of the sea. That's not to say I wouldn't comeback to the mainland and want to share some part of what I'd found or was in process of being influenced from. These are the kind of tattoos we share through writing, images and music, a privilege and blessing as unique to the individual as the stars in the sky.
to butterfly:
.~ as the eye is to the needle, as the thread to the cloth it all depends on what you made of the material.
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6/1/2009 7:48:10 PM
I've enjoyed reading your posts TLU... I love words, I love thoughtful thought... and expression outwardly of what one takes inwardly... you're quite good at conveying that in poetic form... painting an image on the canvas of ones imagination.
I agree that it does 'depends on what you made of the material'... as it is a privilege and blessing unique to the individual.
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Fade to Black
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7/13/2009 5:00:16 PM
I don't get them, but I have friends who do, and I totally understand and appreciate.
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Tony Vani and Debbie Hoskin
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7/13/2009 5:55:58 PM
---- Updated 7/13/2009 5:55:58 PM
I never thought I would get a tattoo; had the same opinion as you. It puzzled me why anyone would want to draw some permanent design on their body.
I did, however, get a tattoo not too long ago. In memory of my son Jason, I had a bonsai tree tattooed on my ankle. Among other talents, my Jason was a bonsai artist. Somehow I needed to have visual marks on my body, in honour of my son.
deb
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Tom O'Brien
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7/14/2009 6:15:41 PM
Deb,
I think that's a terrific reason. Tattoos in "primitive" cultures often had to do with rites of passage. They had meaning and magic. To have a permanent reminder of someone you love seems fitting. He is literally a part of you.
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Jeff Allen Myers
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7/14/2009 6:29:56 PM
Yes, as I stated mine is very personal and a similar reason as Deb's.... It will be part of me till the day I leave this earth.
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HunkaFunk
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7/16/2009 12:56:38 AM
It used to be (when I was young), that, the only people that got tattoos were military, convicts that spent time in the joint, bikers, martial artists, and prostitutes (and of course cultures I didn't know about).
They had some kind of statement to make, and made it. Now, with "everyone" getting tattoos, they seem meaningless. I realize they have meaning to the tattoed, but they don't say much to anyone else. I almost got a tattoo once, to cover a bad scar on my hand. I didn't get it, because I despise pain, and experience enough of it accidently...I certainly don't have to experience any more to prove my "toughness", and I hate them on women (oooh, narrow minded), no, I'm just old school. Maybe I'm just old.
TF
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