But it won’t ever come off!

I am a product of the 70’s. I turned 7 in 1970, and graduated from high school in 1981. My Friday nights were spent with “The Love Boat”, followed by “Fantasy Island”. The famous opening scene “De plane! De plane!” uttered by no other than Tattoo.

In the 80’s I was engaged, mercifully briefly, to a man with a big eagle tattoo on his upper arm. I never thought much of it at all, but my best friend, after meeting him for the first time, formed an opinion based entirely on the fact he had a tattoo at all. This always baffled me. While he turned out not to be the guy for me, his tattoo did not weigh in the outcome one bit.

In the 90’s I was involved with two men, one after the other. The first had a large tattoo of King Triton from “The Little Mermaid” on his left calf. The second had a small Sebastian the crab, also from “The Little Mermaid” on his ankle. The tattoo seed was planted in my brain around this time, which is also when tattoos started getting a bit more mainstream, at least in my circle of awareness. From time to time I would think about what kind of tattoo I might like to get, and where to get it. But those two questions are the big ones. I could never think of something I could imagine wanting on my body forever. And if I’m going to have something so significant inscribed permanently on my body, I damn well want to be able to see it, while giving me ample opportunity to keep it covered when I don’t want anyone else to see it. This eliminated some of the popular spots for tattoos – the small of the back, the shoulder blade.

Earlier this week I accompanied my dearest friend to a tattoo parlor, where she got her first (she says “and last!”) tattoo. It was something she decided to do for her 40th birthday, which was last October, and her husband gave her a gift certificate for Mother’s Day this year. I love her, but she is a big baby when it comes to pain, which she fully admits. A few cringes at spots, but overall she came through like a real biker chick. And I was really impressed with the job the tattoo artist did.

So the seed is growing a bit more. I think I know what I’d like to get. My girls were born in China – based on their birthdays Krystal is a Dragon and Belle is a Monkey. I’ve thought of having a dragon and monkey done, to represent them. The dragons I’ve found all seem way too scary, and the monkeys too cutesy. Maybe on my chest, if I could ever find images I liked.

Do you have any tattoos? Where are they? How did you decide what to get, and where to put it/them? Any regrets? And if you don’t have any, have you ever flirted with the idea?