9 Comments

This is so cool, Michael! My beau wants to have his sleeve done and it's an ongoing debate between us. Lots of mixed feelings. But I do appreciate the artistry and stories they represent. I always wonder what I'd get if I had the courage but I fear I change my mind way too often. Love the melting TV. "Read more books." That message is eternal.

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Ha. Totally makes sense. I definitely support serious consideration first :) Alas, I was young and wild. A friend of mine long ago got ‘book worm’ on her knuckles. A writer friend, of course 🤣

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Oh of course. That's great!!

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As a non-tattooed person I appreciated learning about yours and the reasons for them!

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❤️❤️ Thank you for reading and commenting:)

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Both of my sisters gave each other stick-n-poke tattoos. That was in the early 70s, I remember when my mom discovered them she was really disappointed. Her exact words were, I didn't expect that from you two, while examining my skin. I guess because I was the rebellious shit that she expected it from me. I liked tattoo's just not on me. Both my sisters have twenty some between them. In 1993 I got my only tattoo, it's not visible, and has a deep personal meaning for me. It's a open casket with 05/05/93 on the inside of the lid, with a liquor bottle, a pill bottle, a crack/meth pipe and a bag of dope. That was the day I allowed my old self to die, and embraced this new person I am and continue to become. Thanks again for evoking these memories

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I LOVE your personal tattoo; that’s powerful. And doing stick-n-poke in the seventies: Now THAT is punk rock 🙌

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I think of tattoos as a traditional rite of passage--a way to transform ourselves, whether others see the results or not. Faced with the vacuum left when socially sanctioned rites of passage were mostly abandoned, individuals supplied their own. I think this could account for the popularity of tattoos in recent years. It allows us to physically modify and remake ourselves as we attempt to transition between various phases of life, especially from adolescence into adulthood.

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That’s a really good point. I agree.

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