Tatoos!!!

So, last weekend my friend Beth decided to go to the tatoo store and get herself one for her birthday. I got the chance to go and watch, and I am ready with a full report. Now, I fully endorse getting a tatoo. I myself have one. I got it when I was 19, in my freshman year of college at the U. It's a butterfly on my ankle (groundbreaking, I know).


My best friend from Wisconsin, Steph, got the same one except on her back instead of her ankle. But yeah, as long as the tat is non-obtrusive - more of a decoration, then I'm all for it. So, back to beth. Here's a shot of her before her tatoo:

She's doing fine - she's having a nice day. She's got her little Dairy Queen kid's cone and life is good. Or is it? I think by looking at this picture you can clearly see her deep-seated need for a tatoo. So, here we go.

Beth decided to get a Jesus fish on her foot. Here's the outline where the tat will go. The tattoo artist draws it on a sheet of paper, puts an oily substance (or even deorderant) on her foot, and the ink image transfers onto the skin. Now it's simply a matter of tracing the outline with the needle gun. The tatoo artist picks up the gun, dips it in the ink like a paint brush, and is about to begin.

At this point, Beth's looking a little nervous, but still has that winning smile. The one on the left is our friend Liz, there for moral support.

Now, people always ask if getting a tatoo hurts. Let me paint this picture for you: there are six to ten needles wrapped in a little bundle kneeding into you between the third and fifth layers of your skin like a sewing machine. Of course it doesn't hurt, you pansy.

But seriously, when the needles are in your skin, yes it does tend to hurt. However, a little known fact in tatoo-getting is that whenever the tatoo artist picks the gun up away from you, there as absolutely no pain at all. There's no soreness, no tenderness - nothing. Since the needle gun is dipped into the ink, there is often a lot of excess stuck to it. When the needles are pressed into the skin, the excess ink pools onto the skin as well. This means that the tat artist is continually raising the needles to wipe the ink off the pattern so they can see to trace it accurately. So while yes, it does hurt when the needles are down, the gun is picked up so often (every few seconds) that the pain is very bearable.

Viola! It's done. It turned out really well, and can even be covered by standard flip-flops if she wants to cover it up. I'd say it's a keeper. Yay Beth!