sourpussoctopus

I think @SStu's idea is great. One of my all time favorite tattoos is this warrior lady by Chris O'Donnell; the detail is absolutely exquisite. Stewart has also been cranking out amazing patterned "fabrics" in some of his backpieces lately, as well. To that extent, you could also try to find pictures of antique Japanese textiles.

A couple of weeks back I fell in a Wikipedia spiral reading about immunology. It's crazy how the immune system works; the fact we have it is astounding itself.

I would actually like one every 2 months or so, mostly because I don't like getting new tattoos while others are healing (but I will if the artist's open dates work out that way). And since summertime tattoos are a terrible idea, I'd ideally only get tattooed late September to early May.

You really shouldn't ever take this "coloring book" approach to any tattoo. If you are willing to travel to get tattooed by someone whose work you really love, why have someone else complete the work? It makes no sense and is a disservice to everyone, including yourself. I'm currently getting a sleeve from an artist I've admired for a long, long time. I tried for 3 years just to get an appointment, which wasn't until the end of 2014. I can't go often or for more than one session at a time, but I've had 4 sessions, and there's still work to be done. It's been a long process, but I wouldn't trade any aspect of it because the end result is so, so worth it. If you're gonna commit to traveling for a long-term project, then fucking commit.

Seriously, it looks ok. It will feel dry for a while, then it will peel, then the new skin will feel a little more sensitive, and then it will feel normal again. You need only a little bit of fragrance-free lotion 2-3 times a day once it starts to peel. Just be patience, sweet summer child.

@Manu Manu You gotta admit that shit's brilliant, though.

@sighthound Better than this? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c1/98/7d/c1987d6810c24192576556a92273bc2e.jpg - - - Updated - - - @sighthound Better than this? https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c1/98/7d/c1987d6810c24192576556a92273bc2e.jpg

That swan one is damn impressive. Edited to add: Completely agreed. For a long time, I wasn't the hugest fan of chest tattoos on women, so I kinda see it like this: getting your chest tattooed is a hard-as-fuck, baller move (for men or women), and I like the idea of using that to enhance or play off my more feminine side. Women tend to have more dimension to their torso, so there's a real opportunity to let the form educate the design. Roxx does this very well, I think. Seeing her work has really turned my opinion on the matter around. (The last link is a backpiece, but I think it could've worked wonderfully as a chestpiece.) But if any lady wants to get a gnarly battle royale on your chest/torso, then go for it; I will support the fuck out of that.

In my infinite list of tattoos, I want to get a Pharaoh's horses with a banner under that says "Mãe" (mom in Portuguese). This girl I know has a heart-and-banner outline that says "both parents", which I always though was a pretty funny way to go about the whole thing.

About to make appointments for a couple more lady heads, which would bring my total to 11. Can't ever have too many.

Trying to get my affairs for post-graduate life together, so as to have the smoothest transition possible. Had my heart set on this job with the USGS, and after building up hope for a few weeks got the word back the position had already been filled. I tried to not let that hope build, because I have a horrible tendency to take it personal, but it still happened :/

@lape Oh, I didn't mean to imply that it quietly faded away. Christianity was not kind anywhere it spread. I guess maybe the difference is one of proximity in time? Like, the fact that there are native people who still feel the effects of colonialism and racial prejudice? All pagans were persecuted by the Church regardless of race, but in the Americas (and Asia, and Africa...) there was that added prejudice which still lingers. Maybe that's where the difference comes from? I could be (and likely am) entirely wrong, though.

The fact the majority of people now think of the swastika as primarily a racist and Nazi symbol speaks volume to the impact cultural appropriation can have.

Frankly, @Thenegativeone, it's really naive to think that cultural destruction is only ever "entirely perpetrated by the state". Cultural appropriation happens any time you disassociate the images and symbols of a culture from their original meaning and start valuing them purely aesthetically or stereotypically. So the filmmaker @Graeme mentioned is not being childish. Her people, their language and their practices had been systematically brought to the brink of extinction. And now she and others are working to revive those traditions and reinvigorate those cultural practices. Can you imagine if blonde college girls started getting twee "native tattoos" based on those designs that you've fought so hard to bring back to your community? Wouldn't you be pissed? We should listen to people when they say they have a problem with these things. (This also happens often in a myriad of ways that are not tattoo related.) It's ok to appreciate things from afar. Be interested and active in learning about different tattoo practices and their cultural meanings, be supportive of it, but don't just blindly co-opt things because it looks cool. The Vikings thing is interesting. To me it's not culturally appropriative in the sense I described above, and I think a big part of that is that there was never really an attempt to wipe out Viking history/culture (not in the way that happened to Native Americans). With that said, I wouldn't go about getting runes or tattoos found in old mummies, for example.

@InkedMumma I wore a button up shirt, which I had open enough for the artist to get the work done, while being strategically taped around the boobs so as to not show through. I wasn't totally cool with the idea of just being topless with pasties, but if you're comfortable with that, it's probably the best/easiest option. As for the healing, i just wore really loose and unrestricting bralettes. Of course they aren't super supportive on their own, but I found that pairing them with a tighter tank top added another layer of support which made up for it. Maybe something like that works for you?

In that aspect, I am lucky as hell.

Thanks, @Graeme! I'm really happy with them. The only problem is that they're on the back of my calves, so looking at them is kinda hard.

Got to be a reckless kid one more time and got tattooed by Valerie again, this time in London. They're peeling and unsightly now, but here they are in their fresh glory: The warrior: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAvLzMPDKFR/ The priestess: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAvLqtnDKFD/ Bonus video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAvLTr3EHRy/

I shaved my head clean after growing out my hair for 4-5 years. This is going in the awesome thread because I won't have to brush my hair for months, which is most fantastic.

I really wish I could get tattooed by him during this epic trip, but I have absolutely no idea what my life is gonna be like when he rolls through NYC, so I can't commit. Best of luck to all LSTers who contacted him, though! I hope you guys get in!

I've been watching the original Star Wars movies recently for the first time. I almost quit halfway through A New Hope, it's so awful. I can't believe that, after a lifetime of hype, the movie could fall so flat. Episode V is marked improvement, though.

For real! Knowing the sensation of getting tattooed, the cream makes it seem like you're getting stabbed with cotton swabs, haha. I have no moral qualms about using it again, especially if it's on a day I'm not up to par and/or a super painful spot.

@SStu I'm planning to walk everywhere, so your advice is spot on. And packing light is my mantra - if it doesn't fit in my backpack, it's not coming with. Thanks for throwing some wisdom my way!

No love for Vulnicura by Bjork? That was her best since the Homogenic/Vespertine days.

My tattoo want list is to finish my sleeve, get tattooed by Anderson Luna, Jason June, Tamara Santibanez, Eva Huber (again) and Ron Wells. But my one true wish is to graduate from this goddamned PhD program, and get a preservation/research job with the National Parks Service or the USGS, ideally in a position that combines laboratory and field work. And @mmikaoj - dude, the numbing cream is kinda awesome, though. An artist used it on me once (not at my request, she just did it), and it made the transition from hour 2 to hour 3 pleasant. However, it wears off rather quickly (after an hour or so), so if your session is long, you'll be hurting all the same at the end. It just gives you a bit of a respite mid-session.