Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A word on tattoos

Much like giving birth, the pain that you experience during is inexplicable. Just like childbirth, there is a lot of "breathing", groaning, cursing, and clenching. Trust me, ANYTHING that can be clenched WILL BE clenched. ;)

But once you see your new beautiful baby, all the pain is forgotten. OK, not really- IT HURT LIKE HECK. My new baby isn't perfect, and I freaked out that it is slightly crooked. My tattoo artist added two vines at the top to make it look more even... My brother and sister assured me that it's barely noticeable and John said the same thing when he saw it Monday night. Me... I'm still obsessing about it, but I am hoping that I can have some vines added to it later if it really bothers me.

I now have a beautiful piece of artwork on my body. At times I am still shocked to see it there on my lower back, it actually looks like it is painted on.... it's almost 8 inches in width. That's a lot bigger than I had originally planned!

As far as the place we went to , the name is Stingray Tattoo in Reno. The guys there were awesome and very nice. Except for the guy who did mine... he was nice but he was A TRIP! I could tell that since this was my first tatt, he was trying to have some fun with me. He tried really hard to freak me out, but after trying for about 20 minutes he realized that there was no shocking ME. In the end though, Rafael and I had a nice time chatting (in between me gasping for air and almost biting the tattoo table) about life and how we are all God's creatures when it comes down to it. We discussed family values, family drama and family humor. It was pretty cool.

MY tattoo took almost 2 hours and originally my sis thought hers would take longer, but that was before the shop owner/manager told me that to get all the detail I should stick with the original size. We decided to get them done the morning after I got there instead of waiting until Sunday, which was Friday. I'm glad we did because I probably would have changed my mind about the whole thing considering it's a bit like waiting to take your turn at the gallows. ;)

Waiting for the bottom to drop out, Mary thinks, "What the heck am I doing here... this is a baaaaad idea. Gad, I hope I don't flinch or fart while they are mutilating me."My sis Marci (on the right) is cool as a cucumber. On the outside. ;)

Ben says, "Don't worry... piece of cake. Ooooh, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."


"OK, I can do this... That's not so-"


"#^@*!"


"Let the clenching begin!"


Ben's tatt- This way it reads "Family", from the other side and flipped it reads "Forever". He added his GF's initials... he's really trying to get Tammy to understand that she is The One and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.


This is Marci's- The colors and the flow of the image are just gorgeous. Both me and the sis got flowers!




Here is mine. It's colorful and slightly askew, just like me ;) I chose this design because like the lotus flower, I started in darkness and the mire. Even though I struggled to reach the light, I finally blossomed into something more... something beautiful I hope.What I loved about this design obviously is the flower's symbolism, but I also loved the flow of the design and the vibrancy of color.

I'm already thinking about what tattoo design I would like to get next, but the MISU and I have yet to discuss the possibility of a second.

EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to mention that my brother and I were talking after we were done getting tattoos, and He mentioned that at one point it hurt so bad he thought he was going to fart, I ROFL'd and said I had thought the same thing while I was getting mine done.

Clenching, sometimes it's a good thing.

25 comments:

Yoshi said...

Wow all those tattoos look really really good. so many people it seems are getting tattoos now. what's up with that? it makes me want to get one, but just not sure I'm really ready for a tat yet. hehe

Not So Anonymous Michelle said...

Wow, all the tattoos turned out great, cool idea with your brother's being family/forever upside down thing...neat! :) Yours turned out really nice!

Anonymous said...

You are so brave -

I really like your tattoo - gorgeous.

I won't be doing it anytime soon, though!

I want to hear all the details about meeting your sis!!!!

Ash said...

oooooooooMAHGAWD! So pretty! Freaking Awesome tat, precious!

(Also your brother has the angels and demons thing going on, which is awesome too!)

Anonymous said...

SO how was the VISIT other than your tatoo. Did you have a good time?

ps welcome back

Anonymous said...

I bout spit my soda out laughing at the last line on your post... they are addicting;)

i like your tat it's pretty darn cool!!

so is your sisters and brother.. I posted a pic of mine once in case you want to see it here is the link

http://believing.blogsplot.net/?p=474#comments

it is on the left side of my belly i plan on getting more at least an ankle wrap when i have all my kids..

Anonymous said...

Hey,
Loved the tattoos and the pictures. Hope you all had a good time together.
Anti Yvonne

Jenster said...

Those tatts are gorgeous!

Marci said...

Soooooo...... I'm just a short (ok not so short) trip away!!! You know that I'm game for another one if you are.
Love ya sis. YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!

Ian said...

I've never found anything that motivated me enough to get a tattoo, but I like yours. And I do like seeing them on the small of the back. :) Good choice on all accounts.

Ian

Unknown said...

You are a much braver woman than I am. There's no way I could have done that...even drunk! :) They all came out really well!

Unknown said...

I'd probably fart deliberately ... no, wait a minute. No I wouldn't. Never fart on a guy sticking you with a needle.

Heather said...

Wow. I like how your lotus is so delicate and vibrant at the same time. Congrats!

JHS said...

I think it is beautiful and I'm not a big fan of tattoos, so that's really high praise. :-) But if you are happy with it, that's wonderful. I don't think I would ever have the nerve and now that I've read about your experience, I know I won't do it because I couldn't handle the pain!

You look great in the photo with your sis, too. Very happy!

crse said...

I love the tatts baby! Do you know how adorable you are? I love looking at your pictures! (I dont mean that in a creepy way...). I like the way the three kind of link together with ben's being about family and yours and marci's both being flowers. I think i smell a tat addict ms. mert! (and im not talking about the farts either)

Slackermommy said...

Wow! You guys rock. Those are great.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on going through with it! It looks great!

Hey, you and your sister look alike!

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful!!! You did great! As soon as I started reading this post I thought 'there better be a pic of the tatto'. I should have known you would not disappoint!

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful, It really is!
I'm very happy for you as it seems you are pleased with it!
I love the design.

Granny Snark said...

This is so funny -- I found your site through Redneck Mommy's, and I had just finished writing a post on my blog about my own new tattoo -- and I, too, referenced the pain of childbirth. Great story -- I enjoyed reading it.

Mary said...

Thanks everyone! I'm so glad you like it as much as I do!

I tried to keep my version of what happened as clean as possible, but I do assure you... there was cursing. LOL!

Lots and lots of cursing. ;)

Bananas said...

WOW... you are a far braver woman than I! I love the design that you picked... really really nice.

Anonymous said...

Good article, you make some interesting points.

Tattoos Data

Anonymous said...

The design is OK but how about the meaning ?
-------
www.TattooBody.org - A Reference on Tattoo Guide, Tattoo Designs, Tattoo Symbol & Meaning, Tattoo Photos Gallery and Tattoo History

Mary said...

Tattoobody.org, the meaning of the lotus flower... it's symbolism is that it is a flower that begins life at the bottom of the water... in the mud and muck. It continues to grow and eventually it breaks the surface into the sunlight... blossoming into something beautiful.

I addressed this symbolism in this post:
http://almostsomewhatpositive.blogspot.com/2007/07/ive-got-dirty-little-secret-and-my.html

The lotus flower was not something I was set on, actually I had always wanted a tattoo but could never think of a reason to really get one, let alone a design.

Reconnecting with my sister that was given away for adoption, and after we stopped speaking to each other over 10 years ago after we first met... We both have changed and grown a lot since then.

Also, I had a very troubled childhood, kept in the mud and dark you could say... and when my brother presented the idea of he and I and my sister getting tattoos together to commemorate us all being in each others lives, I thought long and hard.

Suddenly, the word lotus spoke softly to me in my mind, and moments later I looked up it's symbolism. It is and was perfect for me. Even though my tattoo isn't perfect, I feel as if it has been there all along, just waiting to come to the surface (of me), at just the right time. i feel as if it was always there, just waiting.

So, to me the design is means much more. My tattoo is perfect and imperfect all at the same time... like me. ;)