Up Front: Not Actually Blue at All
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I'll go first. Here's my tattoo just after I had it done, and again as it looks now, with the new skin over it and the redness and swelling you never see on telly gone.
It's the alchemical/classical astronomy symbol for mercury.
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Good on you. More into symbols than the whole back tapestry thing, I have collected them as psychic bookmarks. On my first holiday around NZ, aged 21, a yin yang in Dunedin. On a drunket to Auckland (sponsored alcoholism) at 23, theatrical masks. On the second move to Wellington, 25, two fish. The latest one was the third return to Wellington, 34. Speedy Gonzales.
The next one's going to be either a DNA chain or a silhouette of NZ, depending on the skill of the artist.
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On a drunket to Auckland
This is a great word. Consider it stolen.
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I can't wait for the stories that begin with "I woke up in Hong Kong/Bangkok/King's Cross..."
Mine doesn't; although it does begin with a hangover. Chch, late 80's, the day after the U2/BB King "Love Comes to Town" tour.
A good friend (let's call him Boofhead) has decided he needs/wants a tat. I'm delegated to drive him because I'm the only one not drinking at breakfast. So we go find a parlour (why are they called parlours?) and he proceeds to choose the ugliest, most moronic design in the place. From memory it involved a cross, barbed wire and flames.
I hated him for being so banal and thick. In his defence, he was from Invercargill.
So to try and bring some order back to the universe I decided I'd have to get one too. A better, cooler, downright groovier one than his.
I chose an eye. With some great shading in the lid and an all-round sense of timelessness and grace. I had it done on my shoulder (as I think was generally de riguer for the times) with the clever extrapolation that it would keep an eye on that which was behind me. It was 35 bucks.
And while I liked it then, and still do now, that description leaves me ever-so-slightly embarrassed.
And ever since that day I have craved more ink. And, to date, I have stoutly resisted. I'm not sure why.
As far as stigma goes I believe it still exists. It's just broadened its net to include the stupid as well as the scary.
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A good friend (let's call him Boofhead) has decided he needs/wants a tat. I'm delegated to drive him because I'm the only one not drinking at breakfast. So we go find a parlour (why are they called parlours?) and he proceeds to choose the ugliest, most moronic design in the place. From memory it involved a cross, barbed wire and flames.
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I have no tattoos; had a number of ideas of what I'd like to get tattoos of over the years. But eventually came to the conclusion that I'd grow out of any symbol I found meaningful enough to get inked into my skin. The permanent thing doesn't work for me, so I use jewellery instead.
My mother had no such problems, and got a tattoo for her 50th birthday.As far as stigma goes, now its a far cry from my adoptive parents reaction of polite horror to any tattoos. Done with style and artistry they are pretty much accepted and enthused over.
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That's odd, I've just realised that I know someone online based on their description of their tats. That's progress for you.
I'm always a bit suspicious by any tattooist who doesn't have a waiting list. All the tattooists I've met had at least a month's waiting list for anything bigger than a 50c piece. Most recently, the tattooist I want to do my next ink (Manu at Manu Tattoo) politely explained that his waiting list was well into December, so no hurry on the design...
Me: three tats, all got before I was 21 (I think) - 18, 19, 21. All simple black stuff - ankle, calf, armband. A surprising gap ensued; for some reason, when I didn't have any money, I wanted to get some more ink, but when I had the money, I didn't get around to it. That includes a 7-year sojourn in the UK, when for some reason I completely failed to get a full sleeve done at Into You. Astonishing. Anyway, this resonates a bit for me because I'm currently planning, um, a full sleeve. Need something big, black & red, abstract, but simple - my ideal tattoo is one that you can tell what it is when I'm about 20 metres away. On a bicycle. When I was 18 I decided not to get any tats on my forearms until I was 30; at 33, I'd better get around to it. Mind you, my daughter has other ideas - she's quite happy with the idea of me getting more "stamps" (you know, like you get on the back of your hand at the library), and she thinks they should be on my forearm, but she wants them to be pictures of her and her sister. Little tyke.
At my last job, I found out at my leaving do that there was a side bet between members of the interviewing panel over what the section head would do the first time he saw me (pretty conservative guy). Though that's probably more to do with the 12mm ear piercings (large enough to get a little finger through, they've been there for just over a decade now) than the tats...
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I have a terrible tattoo. The design was poorly chosen (by my 21 year old self), the artists was inept and we were both drunk. But I love it, because, 17 years later, it takes me back to that moment, those days, that place and time. It's like a great song or scent.
Tattoos are great. Sure, having 'Justice Sux' covering your forehead (self-applied, in the mirror and, therefore, backwards) is probably not the best way to get a job at the National Bank. But rock'n'roll lives in ink and skin.
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joff,
At the ripe old age of 28, I had my first done at Absolution as well (girlfriend of a good friend of mine works there.. I expect we know some of the same disreputable people ;)
I'm glad I waited until I did to get it, and I want more now - they're defintiely addictive.
It does kind of frustrate me, though, that I will have to keep future ones fairly well hidden due to my weekday life as a working professional.. as much as body mods are becoming more mainstream and accepted now, there are still seemingly restrictions around.
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"the Christchurch effect" - growing up in Dunedin I was used to the game you play when you meet someone new - basically "who do we know in common" - I guess we all thought this worked everywhere - this led to locals doing culturally embarrassing things like "oh, you come from Ohio do you know X".
As a kid walking downtown in Dunedin -you had to be on your toes - it was a terrible faux-pas to walk past someone you knew and not say "hi" - moving to the US it took me a long time to realise that the stress I felt walking down the street was due to looking at everyone in the eye in case I knew them (and the associated dirty looks for getting in their private space) - of course playing the game was out of the question.
20 years later I moved back to Dunedin (I'm not going to call it 'Dunners', where did that come from while I was gone?) and it was all reinforced when we bought our house and discovered that my lawyers partner had owned it prior to the current owner, abd the realtor that had sold it that time was our current landlord, and that the current owner was a lecturer in the Uni dept I used to work for, ....
We've decided that that whole '6 degrees of separation' is crap - in Dunedin it's 1.5
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I got my moko three years ago when I was 36. My cousin married an artist, so I kept it in the whanau.
My moko is large, running from shoulder-blade to wrist and took about 15 hours. It's not visible if I'm wearing a suit, but on dressdown Friday's it's very visible.
as much as body mods are becoming more mainstream and accepted now, there are still seemingly restrictions around
In my experieince, non-facial (and non offensive) moko and tattoos are fully mainstream. And Aotearoa is very chilled out to them, they barely raise an eyebrow these days.
I'm always a bit suspicious by any tattooist who doesn't have a waiting list.
Last year my 17 year old Americano nephew came to stay, with the explicit intention of gaining an arm moko (with his Mum's permission). My artist (Tim Worrall) was unavailable, so I contacted Gordon Toi Hatfield and arranged an appointment, no waiting list.
My nephew had just flown in from Switzerland where he lives, and it turns out that Gordon does a lot of moko work in Europe. There, his waiting list is typically 80 + !
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Much to my surprise, the actual tattooing experience was a delight, and one I recommend enthusiastically to other people.
Which is interesting considering where you got it.
My first tattoo (it was just the outline, the stars and colour came later) was an awful experience.
I was being filmed for a media-school end of year project. So big hot lights and about six people in the room with me, my partner, and the tattooist. Said Tattooist was a bit of an arsehole and was incredibly rough (something I only realised when I got other tattoos later). He had only done the flames when I passed out. Everyone in the room freaked out (except the tattooist who caught me). I woke up, threw up, skulled a can of coke, took a breather and then...carried on.
It took me three years to get the courage to get the colour and shading done in the rocket. That was easy, and I spoke to the tattooist (a girl this time) who knew my first guy and she confirmed that he was a bit of a dick.
A year later I got the stars. They were done by Liesje at Illicit (here's the post I wrote about her for the Aucklandista). She was brilliant at it so in 2007 I got her to do this. Not shown are the flowers on my back, shoulder and chest and the "Amy" on my chest. That pic is after my third session (18hours). I've got six hours left and it'll be done.
Liesje is awesome go see her. I definitely recommend her (and the other Adam Sacred crew).
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I got her to do this.
oh, she's lovely.
Which is interesting considering where you got it.
For all that it's only about two inches high, the top of it pretty much hurt not at all, but the very bottom - on the 'fleshier' part of my chest, was a bit stingy. I have a friend who has a pentacle in much the same place and she had the same experience. I've no idea if that's different for men, but it does seem to contradict that 'over the bone hurts more' thing.
At the ripe old age of 28, I had my first done at Absolution as well (girlfriend of a good friend of mine works there.. I expect we know some of the same disreputable people ;)
Heh, I suspect we do. I was recommended naith for black-and-grey work and Jolene for colour. I've since seen a full-leg peacock Jolene did and it was stunning.
I forgot to mention that when I went in to book (absolution has about a two-month waiting list for tattooing), Jolene was doing the inner thigh of a woman who looked completely relaxed, and naith was doing the upper arm of a huge man who looked like he was in agony. It was disconcerting.
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For all that it's only about two inches high, the top of it pretty much hurt not at all, but the very bottom - on the 'fleshier' part of my chest, was a bit stingy. I have a friend who has a pentacle in much the same place and she had the same experience. I've no idea if that's different for men, but it does seem to contradict that 'over the bone hurts more' thing.
The "a" in "amy" on my chest is almost on my sternum, and that was painful.
Not as painful as the inside of my elbow, which was not as painful as my collarbone, which was not as painful as the outside of my elbow (which seriously felt like she had set my arm on fire*).
*tattoos are cool, get them, don't mind the pain.
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In my experieince, non-facial (and non offensive) moko and tattoos are fully mainstream. And Aotearoa is very chilled out to them, they barely raise an eyebrow these days.
Agreed. I've worked in the software, finance and compliance side of things for a while, and I've never had a problem with my appearance. I've even had job offers from the NZDF (for a back office support role), despite being reasonably visibly modified (big earlobes/unusual ear piercings). To be honest, I cycle to work and most employers have had more to say about me sitting around the office in skin-tight lycra than they have about the tattoos you can see when I'm in shorts. When I was younger, I was pretty worried about curtailing employment prospects with visible tattoos; these days, I'm well past worrying about it.
that 'over the bone hurts more' thing.
I found that being tattooed over bone hurt like a bastard. But worse was being tattooed over tendons. My first two tats both went over my shin and achilles tendon - both locations were bad, but the tendon was a really different pain. Mind you, I can't say that having the underside of my arm tattooed was a walk in the park either.
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I don't have a tattoo. I'm pretty sure I want one but absolutely no idea what or where. I'm also terrified that, being a fickle creature, I'll decide I hate it a week after I get it. I might do it as a 40th birthday present to myself which gives me five years (and one month) to actually make my mind up in.
One meeting at my (predominantly middle-class and respectable) Playcentre the "ice-breaker" question was "if you were to get a tattoo what and where would it be" and I was surprised by the number of people who answered by showing their ink.
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Here's one of the more inventive tattoos I've seen recently, by Dan Hazleton. There's arms to match too.
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It's interesting reading this from the UK where tats are still more of a working class thing. I suspect that the difference in attitudes is the Maori/Polynesian influence whereby ink can be something socially/culturally/spiritually significant rather than the nihilism often ascribed in European culture. Though the sports/music stars with various moko is now becoming an epidemic.
I don't have one but more because I could never decide on what to get since it is so permanent. I do very much like the spiderman tats in Matthew's links though, very nice and very imaginitive.
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Here's one of the more inventive tattoos I've seen recently, by Dan Hazleton.
That's really nice (apart from the ripped skin which I'm not keen on)
I suppose I should also mention local tattoo zine: the Tattooed Heart. I like the Top Ten Worst Celebrity Tattoos
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But I love it, because, 17 years later, it takes me back to that moment, those days, that place and time. It's like a great song or scent.
and that's *exactly* why i have them.
@emma. hold off on getting more. they're highly addictive and you end up getting them for the sake of it.
after my first i took a picture back to the same biker guy and he said "the lines are too close together" and send me away. took me about a week to realise the extreme yodaness of that statement.
take your time between tatts and make them mark a moment, an event, or a watershed, not a whimsy. all of my tatts are deeply personal.
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take your time between tatts and make them mark a moment, an event, or a watershed, not a whimsy. all of my tatts are deeply personal.
My technique is totally different. I want something pretty on me. I pick a place, I carefully consider the image, then I get it. I really couldn't stand waiting around for a life event.
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I want something pretty on me. I pick a place, I carefully consider the image, then I get it.
I've wanted a star on my foot for years. Not to mark so much a moment, but a feeling. I'm just too much of a wuss, even though I only want it to be about the size of a ten cent coin. And after this, I suspect I will keep putting it off.
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I've wanted a star on my foot for years
awww c'mon megan, don't be such a wuss.
come round at the weekend and i'll put one on with a needle and some biro ink.
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@emma. hold off on getting more. they're highly addictive and you end up getting them for the sake of it.
Oh go on, Che, just one more. Maybe on the other side of my chest? (I don't think, going by the amount of time I spent peering down my own shirt after I got that one done, that I could bear to get one on my back.)
But yeah, this one has enormous significance for me. I'll have to be absolutely sure what it is that I want before I get another.
But I do want something pretty on me. Don't we all?
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