Thursday, July 3, 2008

I FINALLY DID IT...

The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos. ~Author Unknown

Not sure how true that is, but one thing is for sure, after tonight I now fall into the former category. For years I've been wanting to get some work done, but I guess I just never got around to it. One of my first blog posts was about my intention to get a Louis Sullivan design on the back of my neck (see it here).

After much consideration I decided that was too ambitious for my first time (kinda like losing your virginity to Grady Sizemore). Last Saturday I got high with my friend and I suddenly decided we both needed to get tattoos RIGHT NOW.

My friend, who possesses mad design skills made a template for me and off we went. And what did I choose? I decided to follow in my dear Mother's footsteps and get a dolphin on my ankle, just like hers. Here's the end result:

Kidding! Fuck that shit. Naw - see I wanted to get something fairly simple, but also something TOTALLY RAD. Also, something close to my heart, something that will age well, and something...well, rather than describe it, here's the actual template I used:


And no, that is not an Israeli flag (for some reason people seem to confuse that with the Chicago flag. Not sure why or how, but that's neither here nor there).

Friend measured it out so it would wrap around my arm. Then we went and got quotes and put down a $50 deposit, making a joint appointment for today. All week I've been waiting and waiting, totally anxious and excited for game day.

Since my friend was perfecting his design until the very last minute, I went alone to the tattoo parlor and proceeded to lose my "ink cherry". Surprisingly, it really didn't hurt, and at one point, I found myself enjoying the feeling of the needle punching into my flesh...

...until, that is, the tattoo artist got to the "north branch" blue strip (the blue strips represent the north & south branches of the Chicago river) on the inside of my arm, near my armpit. Holy Shit - that hurt like a bitch. My friend told me later that my hand was shaking. Oh well...no pain, no gain!

My good friend Jim Beam has dulled the post tattoo pain, and my arm is all wrapped up again in plastic. God, I cannot wait until I can take this shit off - although at that point the un-sexy scabbing should begin. Cross one thing off my list of things I want to do before I die!

HAPPY 4th! :)

10 comments:

Cooper said...

wow, it looks great! welcome to the tattoo club. :)

Jay said...

hot tat!

j

james said...

awesome! and just in time for the 4th! (even though its a chicago flag, not a U.S. flag, i know).

i look forward to it figuring in some of the tales you will tell in the future (a la, "He said, 'hey man, nice tat.' Then offered to show me his ... privately." etc...)

where'd ya get it done? do you want to tell? were the tattooists cool?

(and you're completely right about the pain. it feels not so bad at first, but then ... urrggghhh!

MEETING NEIL IS EASY said...

The dolphin woulda been more appropriate, you slippery mutha...

JP Mac said...

I think it looks BADASS!

You should get a Harpo tat next.

Rainbow flag with Grady Sizemore?

So many options.

Chicago's Bi Guy said...

Great going man.. I can't wait to see it when we're haning out again. I'm sure it will be a interesting conversation piece.

Cockbag LLC said...

Don't get too addicted. I only have gotten one tattoo but I definitely went through a body piercing phase in college.

Fancy Pants said...

VERY nice tat, i'm not a big fan of tats but that one is Hotness.

Anonymous said...

Damn...!!! You really went for it! CONGRATS! That cherry wasn't so painful after all, now was it?
I love the Chicago flag... I thought about the NYC flag but nobody knows what it looks like... Hell, I can't even remember what it looks like.

Dean Grey said...

(Sorry this is soooo late.....)

Now this is showing your love for the Windy City!

Very cool indeed.

-Dean