i can't believe i'm writing this ... ppl w/ tattoos

Patty_Petz

lulz on the conversation with the shoe guy....

I have 2 and they mean something to me, but they are also great pieces of art.

The folks who ask you "what does it mean?" are the same people who will ask you in the next breath "did it hurt?"

Just. go. away.

Skinny4BG

Not all of mine mean something. I have a demented teddy bear on my foot. Got it cause I thought it was cute. lmfao! I have over 20 tattoos and yeah... most of them dont have meaning. only one that really means much of anything besides my zodiac sign... is my daughters name and birthday. The rest of mine are just... pretty. lol

Sweet_T_McGee_HeatherSadie

I once worked in a nursing home as an aide so I know no matter what you get where it is going to end up looking distorted and ugly in the end. so I have always passed on the tats

I 2nd this! Being a tattoo artist, ONE If you take care of your tattoo ( I.e. Putting sunblock on it ) your tattoo won't look like *kitten* in the very end, Second take care of your body so your skin won't sag!

mrshoneybear1014

I have tattoos. both arms full sleeved. Among others.

I always end up reading tattoo threads (and stupidly piss myself off) and I always end up reading how people always advice to "get something that MEANS something".

WHY?

Sure, if it means something, awesome. You had something meaningful you wanted immortalize on your skin. Great. But why does it HAVE to? Can't *kitten* just be pretty? (or ugly, or scary, or whatever?) Some of mine do, most of mine, well, I just thought was cool.

When I was getting fitted for a pair of running shoes a couple weeks ago, this was the conversation:
Him: "So why sleeves? What do they MEAN?"
Me: "Why do you have a justin beiber haircut?"
Him: "Point taken."

okay, that conversation didn't illustrate my point or question at all, I just found it funny. My real question is ... those WITH tattoos - does all of your ink MEAN something?

If I am going to have something depicted on my body for all of time, I want it to mean something, something to represent me, a part of my soul. I think you can find something pretty and meaningful. I want a tattoo unless it meets these requirements. It has to mean something otherwise it's pointless to me.

Zicon

I have a dragon tattooed on my arm. It means "I like dragons." If that answer doesn't satisfy you, that's your problem, not mine.

sjohnny

Some of mine mean stuff. I've got one for each kid, one for my wife and one for my dog. I have a couple others that mean stuff. The sleeve I have in progress is a dragon. A friend asked what it meant. I replied "dragons are *kitten* awesome". I told my artist about that conversation. He said "yup. Just like 'why'd we drink al that beer' 'because it's awesome'"

lucythinmint

Only one of my tattoos is meaningless. It's just a butterfly that is a cover up of a name I had done when I was in my early 20's and stupid. The butterfly was the only thing that would cover it properly without being ugly. I like butterflies so it kind of works.

My others all have meanings. I love the Beatles and John Lennon so I have a tattoo for both and I also have a Harry Potter tattoo because I am just that damn awesome. :drinker:

saragato

I used to hang out with people who were very much into the tattoo/body mod lifestyle and whenever someone asked what they should get there was a torrent of "get something that means something to you otherwise you'll regret it." And I see what they mean to an extent because I see all these ridiculous tattoos of cartoon characters, stuff that's "in" today or was 5 years ago, and I know they will more than likely regret it later in life. Ink's permanent, even if you get it lasered or cut off.

But I think what the mentality really should be is simply, if you like it, wait a year or two and if you still like it then, get it. If it has meaning, fine. If it's just because it's pretty, fine too. Tattoos are art and last time I checked people bought art and hung it on their walls because it was pretty, not necessarily because it spoke to their soul or something.

I have one tattoo right now and it does have a meaning, but I also waited 5 years to get it because not only was I underage, but I wanted to make sure because I know the stigma tattoos can carry. I have an artist's palette on my left inner wrist with a hole through it, the hole "bleeding" paint with it spattered the same way you see blood spattered when someone gets shot. Above it is the word "art". It's there because I am left-handed and as of December 2011 I have had 5 surgeries on that arm (4 on my hand, 1 on my elbow) because I ended up with carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and several cases of tendonitis in my fingers that made it painful to grip a pencil, much less draw. To me it's just a way of saying even I get shot in that arm I'm still gonna find a way to make art even if I gotta bleed it out of me. Do I go running around telling my story to folks who see it? No, they just assume I'm an artist and I leave it at that because hey, you don't tell you life story to the guy next to you on the bus just cuz he said hi, why tell that story just because someone said "Cool tat"?

Really people just need to know that when it comes to tattoos, you've gotta pick something you really like. It's like going to a pet store/shelter to go pick out a new puppy. You don't pick up the first one you see and go home with it, you look at them all, play with a few, think about it, maybe leave and come back, and then you make the decision. And why? Because it's a commitment, that dog is going to be with you a long time just like a tattoo will and if you end up not being able to stand the tattoo you can't just give it away like a dog. It can't be a split second decision.

michelleepotter

I think that advice is just intended as, it's something you're going to have for the rest of your life, so be sure you're going to like it forever. Having a special meaning is an attempt to ensure that.

I don't have any tattoos, but my husband has about 30. Some have meaning, some he just liked, and some were practice for artists he worked with. Ironically, two of the ones with meaning are ones he regretted. One is his and his ex-wife's initials, and the other was for a friendship that went south. He still likes the ones where his friends practiced on him. :-P

dieseljay74

I agree completely. I have two half sleeves that have no major significance other than being things I've always liked.

chrisy0316

My first, Winnie the Pooh, because of the quote “Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." symbolizing the struggle to make the decision to give my daughter up for adoption. She's 19 today and amazing. The second, Tigger for my middle daughter and the third, Eeyore for my son, just to continue the theme. Later I picked out 8 different Woodstock poses, all for different members of the family. But my latest ones were just b/c I liked the way they looked!
Tattoos mean whatever they mean to who has them, I just love the fact that now when I wear shorts and little kids see Winnie the Pooh they squeal and laugh and shout "Mommy look! That lady has "Pooh" on her leg!"

Kityngirl

I have two that mean something and one that is just a doodle that I drew on a piece of paper at work. That was my first one, and it does incorporate the sign of Leo, but I like to just say it's a doodle because I kinda like the let down look on peoples faces when they ask what it is.

My next piece is just something pretty that I'm drawing, and when I fill out my phoenix to bring it down to a half sleeve it will just be pretty designs to fill it out.

I'm not all hellbent on needing deep meaningful tattoos, just as I'm not against getting something pretty just to get it.

CoryIda

Mine do mean something - a kanji for special/unique and one for perseverance - but I see other people's tattoos that are just cool to look at and that's great for them.

pucenavel

My lack of tatoos means I have nothing to say....

maidentl

I Have 35 tattoos and not all of them have meaning, Like the skull in my ear. . . I just love skulls! and potty mouth on the inside of my lip. . . well I'm a F**ken potty mouth

The ear skull sounds really cool, I'd like to see that! I only have one tat, which I just got because I liked it and wanted one, it was a spur of the moment thing but the story of that night sort of gives it some meaning. I plan to get some text around my wrist and I guess that will have meaning as I can't just pick random text!

SarLem81

I have three tattoos. Another two planned. One is a tiger/butterfly (tiger fur extends to the shape of a butterfly), which has no real meaning but I thought about it for 10 years before I got it so I figured I wouldn't regret it later. I have the words "I am" which is part of a quote from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (has many meanings to me). Finally, I have my mom's portrait on the back of my left shoulder so that she literally has my back and is close to my heart at all times. I'll eventually get my dad's portrait on the back of my right shoulder, but he hates tattoos so I'll wait until he passes to get it done. I also want to get a mimosa tree growing out of a book because my love of books grew literally out of a love of climbing the tree in my front yard as a kid and reading for hours in the highest branches I could reach. I don't do anything spontaneously, so I know I will not regret it later. I think that is the key to a good tattoo "meaning." It doesn't necessarily have to mean something but it shouldn't be some spontaneous thing that you'll hate 10, 20, 30 years down the road.

cantjustcant

I have 6 and they may not have deep meanings to the outsider they mean something to me. my first I won in a pool game and it is the artwork I had on my dart case that I drew (rose with my name in the stem). My second was the mandatory tramp stamp. The third was bought for by my regular customers when the Chargers returned to the play offs around 2005 (it's a heart with a chargers lightning bolt through it with a banner that says Chargers) Then I added more to my tramp stamp because it was too small for how fat my *kitten* was at the time. Then I started losing weight. When I stuck with it I decided I would finally get my Michigan M tat. Then I quit smoking. When I quit smoking I wrote out my all time favorite inspiration quote by Bo Schembechler "THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS" So I put the Michigan M above my San Diego Chargers tat near my ankle and the quote winds between the two tats...I will be getting more. I know I want a goal weight tat but haven't decided what yet.

Amer1can

Oh...and one last thing. My last one will be of narwhals and bacon...and it will be so full of awesomeness that world peace will spontaneously erupt all over the world.

Top that in symbolism.

^^This^^. I get one of my filled in and finished wednesday. Super stoked. Yeah, my tattoos mean something. But I wouldnt get something unless I thought it looked cool. Cause ultimately, I think I am cool, so I should think that I look cool too, or something like that ha.

rmh84

I you. Seriously.

My first was because i was 19 and wanted a tat. It's a small heart and a couple flowers to the left of the Tramp Stamp area.

The second is a Celtic knot horse in between my shoulderblades. I found the graphic online and just thought it looked awesome, so after a year of thinking about it I got the tat.

The third is a horseshoe. I ride horses. Thus, horseshoe. Also, my sister was going for her first tat so we figured we'd do it together. Down the road, the horseshoe might just get 4 empty stars under it. This actually means something - it means I can get them filled in when I reach the level of riding competition symbolized by the stars.

No deep meaning to any of these. I am considering my family coat of arms. No real deep meaning there either, I just like it.

For me, I find portraits a little creepy - but to each their own.

Huffdogg

The design itself pretty much always means something to me, but that's just me. I'm not a purist about it. I just don't have enough money to just get willy nilly ink.