"The plane! The Plane!"
Been meaning to do a blog on tattoos. It seems they are ubiquitous in society nowadays. I'm not particularly sure why but its become more rare to NOT have one now. There used to be this stigma that tattoos were only for thugs, convicts, bikers, soldiers, and so on. Now TONS of people express themselves through their ink in various ways. Sometimes, its a message to themselves. Sometimes, its to celebrate an important person in their life, and oftentimes, its just a fun symbol someone decided to get put on a miscellaneous body part. Honestly, I'm more of a fan of the first 2 instances to get a tattoo, than I am of the latter, because with the exception of those that opt for laser removal, tattoos are permanent. Taking that into account, I would think you'd want to get something that you will not only never be embarrassed by but also find particularly meaningful. I always tell people who are considering one, MAKE SURE it falls into one or both of those categories.
I wound up putting several years of thought into a few of my tattoos. I dont plan to ever need to get any of mine removed so I take it very seriously. I also prefer to be able to see them everyday, as well as conceal them easily, so placement plays a role in what I get and its size. I currently have 5 tattoos. I'm considering one more because of the amount of real estate I have left on my right arm...which you'll see. Lets start the show & tell.
Right Arm/Shoulder:
This is a pic of my first tattoo: The "and1grad"
As you can see, its simply a pic of the and1 logo with a graduation cap on its head. This signifies the year I graduated college...2001. There's more to it but I think that should hold you over.
I put 2 more tattoos right over the and1grad tattoo. On top is the word "Impact" in chinese script and directly under it is the word "Made" in some fancy script I found. I got the "Made" writing done the same day as the and1grad tattoo. It was to signify the importance of the year 2001 in my life. "Impact" is something of a life motto that I've had for a while now.
Left Arm/Shoulder:
Egyptian Symbology: A few years ago, I was really wanting to put something African in origin on my arm and looked to Egyptian symbols to do so. I've always found stories of different religions & beliefs to be interesting and found that the ankh fit the bill. I was fortunate enough to find a design that combined the ankh with a Djed and a Was. To make a long explanation short, the ankh is said to stand for "Life" or "Eternal Life." The djed stands for "stability" and the was stands for "power." Life, stability, and power. The Was is in front of the the Djed, which is in front of the ankh. Can you tell which is which?
Right over the ankh, I decided to get some more script done and had the word "FAM2US" written with the O looking like a 2 at the bottom. This is an amalgamation of other life mottos that I have; one of which was embedded into my brain by my Mom. I never told her that because she DESPISES tattoos lol.
In all, as you can probably tell, everything I have inked on my skin is very meaningful to me. So much so, that I obviously hesitate to reveal the full meaning to folks because it wont possibly mean as much to you as it does to me. Anyways, you'll probably find people that will tell you it only hurts so much and for so long. I'll only tell you to go into it expecting it to REALLY hurt...and then it might not be so bad. Also, only expect it to hurt for about as long as they are piercing your skin with a needle. It stops hurting after THATS over. Someone told me that you eventually get used to it and/or go numb. I say bullshit. Also, I'm not all about getting tattoos everywhere like some of these rappers & ballplayers. BUT...thats me tho. Do you. Go forth and conquer!!
"Now lets get back to this mic on my arm
If it ever left my side, it'd transform into a time bomb..." -- LL Cool J
