Tattoos and piercings poll

Could you explain why you have gotten the first tattoo?
Hrmm, my first I got in H.S.with a then and still good friend, still have it, still love it. As for why, it was one of those group boy things. Call it a rite of passge maybe.

How did you go about picking the right one? Choosing the design?
The first was customised flash, everything since has been thought out by me and drawn by whatever artist was doing the work (with a few exceptions). I have enough that explaining the how and why would take too long, suffice it to say I take my time and come up with something I will be happy with.

How did you feel after the bandage was off?
I have loved all my work. I have tattoos, scarification, implants and have had piercings, though I've removed all the metal at this point (mostly due to laziness or problems with the areas).

What do you want to communicate to people with your tattoo?
Nothing, they arent for anyone else, they are for me.

Before you got them, how did you envision people react to them?
I don't care what anyone else thinks of them, but I do have to warn people about some of my work, but that's a discussion beyond the scope of a 'family' forum =) Because of what I do for a living most of my work isnt visible, but what is generally gets 'wow' type positive responses. The occasional 'why the hell would you do that to yourself' I sometimes try to answer, depending on my mood and what not.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #6961143
Why would you want to get a triad tattoo?
Are you a member of a triad? That's the kind of permanent mark that identifies you with a subcuture which you don't really belong?
Does it just seem cool?

yeah pretty much. i dont have deep meaning tattoos.....theyre for me

enlighten me on the subculture that i would be gettin myself into please

MDJAK wrote in post #6964238
As for ink, when I was a wee little tyke, an elderly gent was sitting in front of the building in the Bronx, N.Y. where I lived. When my Hi Bounce Spalding ball bounced his way and I went to get it, I laid my eyes on his forearm as he reached for the ball. It was the first time I'd ever seen a tattoo. It was a series of blurry, poorly executed numerals.

I asked him what it was and he told me they were numbers forcibly placed on his arm when he was a prisoner in Auschwitz, the concentration camp.

As silly as it may sound, it had such an impact on me that I have an aversion to tattoos ever since.
me

I grew up in the Bronx also, and met some older immigrant Jews who still had those tattoos, it is pretty humbling realizing who you are talking to when you meet someone like that.

For me though, those old guys sitting in the park with their military ink were more the inspiration than the survivors were an aversion. But then I'm into lots of 'edge' type stuff, it was all downhill after i read about Oh-Kee-Pah suspension in an old national geographic when I was a kid. I wonder if my mom ever regrets having those around considering she is still raising eyebrows at me when she hears about some of the stuff Im into. Heh.

thekid24 wrote in post #6976236
yeah pretty much. i dont have deep meaning tattoos.....theyre for me

enlighten me on the subculture that i would be gettin myself into please

Triads = asian organized crime/gang subculture. Similar to the Yakuza in japan. I think the tattoos have become so popular here they are not seen the same as they are elsewhere. I have a fairly large Asian inspired/themed piece myself, every so often during the summer I get funny looks when I go down to Chinatown here in Chicago so it is something to be aware of.

thekid24 wrote in post #6976236
yeah pretty much. i dont have deep meaning tattoos.....theyre for me

enlighten me on the subculture that i would be gettin myself into please

Organized crime subcultre.

Could you explain why they seem cool to you?

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #6979048
Organized crime subcultre.

Could you explain why they seem cool to you?

the way it flows with the shape of my shoulders and back. same with my shoulder tattoo...it flows....goes with the grain so to speak. way better looking than anything else ive found....so why not go for it...only live once.

nadtz wrote in post #6978702
Triads = asian organized crime/gang subculture. Similar to the Yakuza in japan. I think the tattoos have become so popular here they are not seen the same as they are elsewhere. I have a fairly large Asian inspired/themed piece myself, every so often during the summer I get funny looks when I go down to Chinatown here in Chicago so it is something to be aware of.

luckily for me there is no China Town in Oklahoma....I think im pretty safe

especially south west OKC.