Inked

Well, I did it. After two years of flip-flopping. I finally got a tattoo.

HELL YES.

That is on my back. PERMANENTLY. And I couldn't be happier about it.

Somewhere, in between the madness that was the Christmas party drama and the beginning of finals, I thought about getting a tattoo again. I'd wanted to for my birthday, but I'd been doubting about what I wanted (a ship? something Celtic themed? something to remind me Scotland?). But I was doubtful of getting something Scottish, because I had the desire to actually get it done IN Scotland. But considering I won't be going back there any time soon and because I don't want to cause a conflict, being the odd American who wants something Scottish and seem like a dumb tourist, I just decided I should get what I want now. I'd been toying with a design like this, with the Celtic knots/ trinity theme (I wanted to get the Celtic trinity on it's own but couldn't decide on a style - there's like twenty different ways of drawing it). And I liked the English Tudor rose and thistle intertwined (the rose is a symbol of England, the thistle of Scotland, and they were combined together to represent the marriage of Margaret Tudor and James IV, I believe). However, when I saw this design, I knew it was it. It's not the Tudor rose, just a traditional rose - and also the national flower of the United States. Two birds with one stone there. Plus it's got the Celtic Trinity knot there. And it really represents a lot of things to me personally - the rugged, bristly, strong and confident attitude of the thistle and the sweet, elegant but thorny nature of the rose. And it's super cute.

The tattooing process itself wasn't as bad as I expected. It felt rather like a cat scratching a really bad sunburn. I didn't cry, surprisingly, and according to [Львица], I didn't even flinch. Although managing to fall on the ice and scraping/bruising my knee on the way to the parlor hurt far worse and distracted me somewhat from the tattooing pain.

Another major win was the price.[Львица] was telling me that a parlor on campus told her the tattoo she wanted would be around $300-$400 so I braced myself for a steep cost. But since the process took only about an hour and Uptown Tattoo only charges $150 per hour, it was only $150. One of [Львица]'s friends spent that much just to get one word tattooed on her. Did I get a hell of a deal from the best tattoo parlor in Minneapolis? I THINK YES :D

Despite the fact that [wolf woman] described my tattoo as  "cool how you combined the plants with the celtic knot" (plants? PLANTS?! THEY NATIONAL FLOWERS! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!) (and I also didn't actually "combine them" - I didn't make the design; that's giving me far too much credit) the reception has been really good. Even my dad likes the design and the placement of it. Although both my parents were totally cool with me getting a tattoo. Surprisingly cool. Though I suppose if I was getting it on my face it'd be a different story.


And I'm already thinking about getting another tattoo... some day. I had an offer from a friend in my Italian class to design something for me. And she does really cute cartoon-y type stuff so I'll have to take her up on that. I'm thinking something with teacups... or chipmunks. I think a chipmunk might be my spirit animal...

Click here to express yourself through the hidden meanings of ancient and modern symbols!

So I originally planned on talking about the Minnesota Renaissance Fair, as I attended opening day yesterday. But after I Googled information about the henna tattoo I got yesterday, I changed my mind.

I love henna - the sweet, eucalyptus smell of the paste, the feel of the paste as it slowly crumbles away, the beautiful, sienna stain left behind on the skin. Since I've yet to actually get a real tattoo (since I've only recently made up my mind on what I want to get, and that was purely by accident) henna is a great alternative - it looks great, it's painless and if I decide I don't like it, it'll fade away over a few weeks.

This time, though, I got something I really really like and would love to have permanently done - a nautical star (yes, yes - the sea again, I know). So, curious as to the meaning of the tattoo (though I had a pretty good inclination as to what it meant), I web surfed this morning to learn more. I did not receive the result I was expecting.

Yes, it was a sailor's tattoo, used as a symbol for safe-passage home and good luck so a sailor would never be lost at sea. Apparently over the last century or so, it's acquired a few different meanings. According to several websites, it's become a symbol for the gay and lesbian community, especially lesbians. In the 1950s, lesbians would get it tattooed on their inner arm or writs (some part of their arm; it changed depending on the site) which they would hide during the day then reveal during night to "express who they truly were" (I do ask the people who say that the tattoo was on the wrist, how exactly did they hide that? I feel like the wrist is the most visible area on the body, unless you're living in the Victorian era or before. But for the 50s? I don't know... Curse web forums and their lack of sources!) Of course then I found a million people flipping out about, "Does having a nautical star mean you're gay?" to which people were like, "No, it doesn't mean that at all, that's not what the symbol really means." Actually, the best answer to the question (meaning the worst) was "The tattoo only means you're gay if it's on your lower back." Um, yeah, who decided that exactly? (ten bucks it was the guy who wrote that response).