polliwog

I feel a little bolder with my thigh eagle showing. The key to confidence is to get more badass animal or mythological creature tattoos on my legs, apparently. For whatever reason I don't really pay attention to whether my arm tattoos are visible.

To pretty much any onlooker, you are a guy with two awesome Boston Terrier tattoos. Please please don't mess with them. Tweaking a solid tattoo because it doesn't match what's in your head seems like a bad road to go down, because what if you're still not satisfied? I know I'm just some rando on the internet, but I really like your tattoos and feel weirdly personally invested in your becoming happy with them as they are.

I feel like the "looks like a sticker" thing pops up a lot as a way to shame people about their choice of tattoos. I mean this in a way that's entirely unrelated to understandable concerns about placement. A tattooer should be able to help you with that, but I have a smaller tattoo near my ankle and I like how it fits there.

Keeping my ambitions modest, but only in a travel (and time-travel) sense. I would like to get tattooed at Congress Street/Hobo's again because it's such a warm and friendly place. I hope to get something from their flash and catch a couple of the people who visit semi-regularly. Last week I met a woman with some really gorgeous tattoos from Redemption in Cambridge, so I definitely need to make an appointment there--just need to figure out who/what/where. I feel a little silly that I've hardly been tattooed in my home state and wonder if the allure of the hard-to-get is just that, for me.

Check out this tattoo. (livedintattoos is run by @Iwar and this is from @gougetheeyes Sunday Takeover.) It's probably pretty normal to stress about your first tattoo, but in the long run "mistakes" can become endearing. I have an "oops" in one of my tattoos that I didn't even notice until after it healed...

At what point do they stop adding artists? I've been keeping my eye on this for a couple people.

I have a weird question that may or may not apply to anyone here. But, throwing it out there. I'm a compulsive picker (dermatillomania) which is part of what interested me about tattoos in the first place. Has anyone here successfully covered a particularly bad spot (or tattooed over skin that was formerly subjected to picking, even if the urge to pick went away long ago)? My worst area is my upper left arm. The biggest challenge is to let that area heal for a long enough time so that some of the mild discoloration there can fade--fortunately there's no heavy scarring. Good self-care while healing should also help a lot. I do know that I'm not tempted to pick at tattooed skin, mostly because I can't see any imperfections in the skin that might trigger me, but I haven't looked at tattooing my worst areas yet. Part of the problem is just the shame in having to show my scars to someone, after years of avoiding tank tops. I know tattooers are probably well-versed in covering the aftermath of all sorts of self-harm, though. This is a little embarrassing to talk about on here, but I appreciate that this is a pretty nonjudgmental place.

How is luxury defined? I'm not sure. It seems like even people who are barely getting by are expected to be familiar with and covet things associated with status and luxury, hence things like Target collaborations with big-name fashion houses and so forth. If we're defining luxury simply as "a nice thing that a person could easily do without," then would it fall under the category of self-actualization re: Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Like you, I'm also struggling to figure out how to say what I think about this question!

My partner's family is all in LA, and we're overdue for a visit...

Sounds pretty normal for a small/medium arm tattoo, if that's what yours is (mine heal that way)...stuff lower down on the body can be a lot goopier.

@hogg Oh his tiny hands. He's beautiful. Congratulations.

oops

I've gained and lost weight recently and my torso isn't exactly toned, but that area doesn't seem to have changed much. Seems like a safer tattoo, in terms of droop, than a chest piece even. Plus it's a private spot...a good place to get a tattoo that's "for me." :p In which case, who cares if your boobs sag?

Aww, this stinks. I always enjoyed your posts here. Take care, wherever your interests take you.

Damn right. It's been a very bittersweet week here.

Sorry to gush, but you seriously have the best taste. I could stare at that for a long time.

Congratulations @beez!!!

@Nina Worthe, another poster mentioned getting hives as a result of sun exposure, so I didn't want to sound like I was admonishing anyone because there are always exceptions. But there seems to be a consensus that a little sun exposure is beneficial for most people -- I was told as much when I was found to have very low vit. D a few years ago and was put on a prescription.

For some people, a small amount of sun exposure (like 5ish unprotected minutes a day) can be a good thing.

@hogg The Thick of It is pretty great too...though Veep has the Julia Louis-Dreyfus edge for me. OK, and lots of other people I like... You've probably seen this, but:

The other day I was wearing a pretty dorky anime t-shirt and shorts and waiting for an ice cream when I noticed a small girl sneaking glances my way, as little kids do when they know they're not supposed to stare at strangers but sort of really want to anyway. First she looked at my shirt, then at the dolphin-fish on my leg, and then gave me a conspiratorial smile. Like: you can wear cartoons on your shirt AND on your leg?!

I'm a fan of The Moth. Podcast | The Moth

Welcome!

Some place that makes really excellent tacos should offer a Free Taco Wednesday to anyone willing to get a FTW taco tattoo. And I should live next to that place.

Try losing an hour to Rachel Dolezal thinkpieces...in shitstorm terms this is a brief shower. (NB I don't actually advise doing this.) Really, things get ugly fast elsewhere online. Like, stomach-churning, stay-with-you-all-day bad. I appreciate that even during tense moments here, people generally stay civil. A little brusqueness is not the worst thing in the world. And in a more general sense, if I didn't routinely get straightened out by people who are savvier & smarter than I am, I would be pretty fucked.