Tattoos, piercings, etc.

I had a wonderful creative writing teacher in high school. She pointed out that so many people who try to be unique and individualistic by adopting wild looks (like Goths, punks and such) aren't unique, really, because the stray from normalcy is the same...look wild, wear similar makeup to others (which isn't unique), etc.

There are two main reasons I don't wear tattoos (permanent ones; I will wear temporary ones, although I haven't in a long time). My panic disorder is a big one...I will freak out in a panic attack if something gets on my skin that I can't easily get off. I just can't handle it. The other reason is that I change my mind a lot, and I like to "dress" to suit my moods. I don't have the money to really do that, but you understand what I mean. I might want a pegasus on my leg one day, but maybe a tiger suits me the next. Maybe I want a pirate on my shoulder, or a rose.

I saw a show a while back about future technology for tattoos, and some include laser tattoos, easily changeable tattoos, and animated tattoos (how cool!). I'll wait for the ones I can change at the drop of a hat. Maybe I'll get a tattoo of someone dropping a hat.

I love to see people's tattoos. Some of the artwork is phenomenal. And there are often stories that go along with the choice of artwork.

My problem with nose rings is, what about when you get a cold? Especially if you recently got it, because I assume you aren't supposed to take it out until the piercing is settled? Even if you don't have a cold, there are always gross things in the nose, LOL! That said, I do think some nose piercings are cute.

Eskie, if you don't like tattooing and piercing, you could go for branding, LOL! Of course, a lot of people do that now, so it's not as unique as it used to be, either.

Well, now I only have my lip in the center and two ear peircings down below in the lobes and one cuff of ear peircing on the top of my right ear.

In the past, I've been more metal than human LOL!

I have had:

Nose, both sides and septum
belly button, top middle and bottom
lip off to the side
eyebrow
and somewheres private too

My nephew started with tattoos when he was 14. I was worried about it because most of the people in this world still judge first on looks so I had long discussions with him that I was worried that some day, because of his tattoos, he would be denied the chance to do something that he really wanted to do just because of how he looked. Of course, that went in one ear and out the other with a teenager. Fortunately, he did listen to my advice and keep all of his tattoos on his legs where they can be hidden if necessary under long pants - so now he has the tattoos from hips to the tip of his toes. They are all very nice tattoos - most he designed himself and they have meaning to him. Then he went to piercing. First just a normal ear pierce - then 1 inch ear plugs or gauges as they are called. Then two lip rings one top, one bottom, right in the middle of his lips. First to go was the top lip ring. Then he stopped wearing the plugs in his ears but the holes only closed to about dime size. Then he took out the bottom lip ring about 6 months ago. A few weeks ago, the day before he graduated from college at 20 years old, he had to pay the plastic surgeon $2800.00 to fix the big holes in his ears - why - because he heads to medical school next month and they told him the ear holes had to go. So, he found something that he really wanted to do and he was willing to give up the ears to be able to do it. Of course, he is laughing that the admissions people did not see his legs under his trousers. He still loves his tattoos - gets the colors touched up whenever they fade and tries to find a spot to fit more tattoos in.

It makes me so mad that we (even I) judge by looks so much. Pita, your nephew is lucky that such things can be fixed these days, because there was a time when permanent tattoos and piercings really were permanent. Even now, you still get scars, but you can remove these things, essentially. But I don't think he should have had to to get what he wanted. I'm sure he will make a fine doctor (or nurse, or whatever he's studying to be). Good luck to him!

What do those with a huge number of piercings do when they go through the airport metal detectors? I mean, I heard of one guy with over 200 piercings. Just seems it would be awfully inconvenient to remove all those just to fly, LOL!