polliwog

Feeling like you've accomplished something by lying down for a few hours works for me.

Hoping that the news is good for you. And that is some tidy stitching! I hope it heals well.

I love that this thread has gone from contentious to nerdy. Always a good change of direction.

If you have a buildup of dry flaky skin definitely try an AHA lotion like Dermadoctor's KP Duty (not on broken skin though). Paula Begoun makes them too. I like LacHydrin, which is cheaper and easy to find at a drugstore, but the pH is apparently too high for the lactic acid to be as effective as it could be. Trader Joe's vitamin E oil is cheap and cheerful. As I've mentioned elsewhere I first wanted a tattoo because I hated my troublesome skin. It's since turned into something a lot more positive, though. But it feels like I've tried All The Lotions... As for lotioning healed tattoos, it just seems to make them a little brighter if you're not looking at them through a layer of dry skin.

So, sorry to readers who came for the devils. But! Re: your point about Christian female iconography - I did ask a tattooer about the allure of Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu art, which led to a pretty funny discussion about how we grew up as crucifers in the Episcopal church. So devils: Theo Mindell is an obvious choice but I so want a devilish girl-head from him.

Sorry to get off topic, but I agree with this entirely - this is one of my current favorite tattoos even though I'm only staring at it on a dinky computer screen. But understanding Kali through I guess a feminist lens would feel like a superficial justification on my part for wearing an image with that much religious weight. I very much want something as smack-you-in-the-face amazing as this on my back some day, though, and am currently trawling through images of badass women that maybe aren't quite so freighted. Thanks for sharing the link to those Satan images; they're fantastic.

They're close to the end now. Seriously, click on that link if you know what's good. (so they're going to archive it apparently)

Saw Sleater-Kinney the other night; now we're nerding out over this live stream from DC: Live Now: Sleater-Kinney In Concert : NPR

This stuff in the advanced care variety (no aloe): Borage Therapy Dry Skin Care Smells a little funky, like rooibos tea, but the smell disappears. It makes a good itchy-tattoo soother too. I like to use an alpha hydroxy lotion in the winter but it's a really stupid idea to use it the day before you get tattooed - it seems to linger in the skin and makes it sting horribly. Don't make my mistakes.

Bless his heart, my boyfriend thought I would be excited by these: Temporary Literary Tattoos | Litographs

It's really hard to take a picture of your own legs (especially when you're apparently too stupid to remember to set the camera on a timer). A year ago I had no leg tattoos and no plans to get any, so it feels like they're filling up fast - though of course I have tons of room left.

Hi and welcome. I'm already jealous of your tattoos. (And I know what you mean about being intimidated - I'm pretty sure I wrong-footed a bunch of times after joining, though I was clueless whereas you are not - but as Graeme pointed out, you already have multiple excellent tattoos, so.)

After a period where the board was read-only, a lot of user avatars have disappeared for me. No big deal but thought it might be worth mentioning - I figure work is still happening post-upgrade.

No, thanks.

Shoveled the walk and 20 percent of the driveway, gave in to my sciatica and went inside to drink. The novelty of this has worn off.

Did my bit and I hope it helps! The beer sounds really good

Okay...and once these dye-filled macrophages are in your lymph nodes, then what? What are the health implications of this? I think laser removal and ink migrating to lymph nodes has already been touched on here, but - please correct me if I'm wrong - this sounds like it puts even more of a burden on the lymph system. This skeeves me out way more than getting tattooed ever would.

So cool. I understand why an eagle on the chest - because badass - but it's also sort of evil. Hope you enjoyed being whip shaded over and over!

Here's an interview with the photographer: These Kurdish refugee women are proud owners of facial tattoos | Public Radio International She talks about the tattooing process and tells a story that made me cry!

No MBTA tomorrow. Not that it's really been working anyway.

So much snow. I'm supposed to shovel and make a stew for dinner but I accidentally haven't gotten out of my pyjamas yet. For anyone else in New England, this recipe is fantastic if you feel the need to eat a disgusting amount of protein after all that shoveling: Chiddingly hotpot | Delicious.

Just wondering - what are some of the frames you all have preferred for a wall of multiple medium-sized prints like the Horitomo ones? I'm close to buying a set of 10 prints of Marie Sena's ladies, which are 4" by 6," but it occurs to me that I have no idea how to display them, being pretty clueless about decorating my living space. I saw @ironchef's BB&B suggestion and may go with that since they look good...

Re: the mouth, I know little about Japanese art but it seems like octopuses often have odd and fantastic mouths in ukiyo-e prints, and the mouth of your octopus is well within that norm... Results for 'octopus' - Ukiyo-e Search Seems like maybe some of the people making negative comments just aren't familiar with Japanese depictions of octopuses. I hope you like it more when the color's put in but I think it's cool.

It looks good to me - who's doing the criticizing and how trustworthy are they?:confused:

I don't really understand the point of this thread - I mean, surely we can all agree that good spelling is pretty important if it's on you forever, but it seems weird to aim it at the tattooers on a forum founded by a tattooer? Pretty sure most of the cringeworthy mistakes that circulate on the internets are on people who needed it pointed out to them after the tattoo happened. Also, the good spellers stand out from the bad in almost any profession. I was having this conversation with a co-worker yesterday...