INK me

Over the weekend I had the chance to attend a "Tattoo Fashion Show".  Yeah, you heard me right.  Instead of couture gowns and impeccably tailored suits, the fashions were inked bodies....and I'm talkin' inked....head to toe.  They walked the runway like proud peacocks.  The women had on just the required amount of clothes and high heels...their inked bodies peeping out from their tank tops and mini skirts.  The men...well most of the men had little or no clothing on....just a little loincloth that covered the essentials.  Yep, most of the men were inked from head to toe and all areas in between.  I'm talking scalp, arm pits, butt cheeks....the whole nine yards.  As I watched them strut their stuff, I started to wonder...what makes someone want to do that.  Personally, I think it's kind of cool.  Some of the art work was truly incredible, but what makes you want to do that?  Especially since once you do it....there's really no going back.  I know that there is tattoo removal, but when your entire body is covered, I don't think you can remove it all with no traces.  Really it's just about the biggest commitment you can make.  It's not like getting married or moving overseas.....with this one, there's no turning back.  Some say that it's an addiction....that once you start....one leads to two, that leads to three and so on and so forth.  Well, I got my first tattoo in my twenties.  A small Byzantine cross on my upper left hip.  Not really sure why I wanted it, but one day I called my friend Mary Ann and asked her if she would go and run an errand with me.  I went down to Deep Ellum to a place called "Tiggers" (known for tattooing the likes of Dennis Rodman...has to be good...right?) and told the Inkarista (my made up word for ink artist / barista...ala "ink a rista") what I wanted.  Mary Ann happens to wear a Byzantine cross, so we showed the artist, he drew it on my with erasable ink, and once approved....he started to INK me.  OK, it hurt like HELL!  Maybe it was the location or maybe it was just my mind saying, "What you are doing is going to be on you FOREVER", but nonetheless it hurt.  When it was done....I LOVED IT....STILL DO!  For me, it's the ability to always wear a cross without it wearing you....in the traditional fashion, around your neck.  Well, not until last year...about 20 years later, I got tattoo number two.  This one is more special and just seemed like the "right" thing to do.  For those of you that know me well, you know that my Mom passed away last year....July 13, 2010 at 6:17 am.  You may think that it's strange that I know the time, but without getting into all the details...I was with my Mom, at her side, holding her hand for the last 24 hours of her life.  When she took her final breath....I'm not sure why, but I looked at the clock on the wall in the room.  A large digital clock with red numbers that I will never forget....6:17.  That was the time that God decided that it was time for my Mom to come home to him and begin the life that we all live to begin.  So with that, I tattooed that number, 6:17 on the inner side of my left wrist.  It's right over my pulse and reminds me everyday...NOT of the time my Mom passed away, but rather the time her life began....a day that I want to remember....the best day of HER life.  WOW...I really digressed today.  So that's what mine are about....but what about the people that go...."ALL THE WAY".  Maybe there's a story.  Usually there is.  If you take the time to talk with someone that has a large tattoo...there's always a story of what's to come....of the continuation of the tattoo....of the story their trying to tell.  Maybe some people just need to put it out there get you to ask them, "What is your tattoo about?"  Maybe they have a story to tell, but don't know how best to tell it.  Maybe it's a story of pain.  Maybe a story that they are proud of.  Who knows!?!  It may seem that "these people" always seem to fit into the same category....strange looking, artsy, misunderstood, etc....  But not always.  I don't think that "I" fall into that category.  So maybe it's just the ones that go "all the way".  Like I said in an earlier blog, you REALLY cannot judge a book by the cover.  You can NEVER tell what's inside until you open the book and read it...know it.  That night, at the Tattoo Fashion Show, ALL of the models were extremely nice.  They let us take a zillion pictures with them and were really nice about it.  Of course for us it was part this weird mystique of having our picture taken with the "tattooed guy" and part......fun.  It was cool, it was different.  I gave all of the models a lot of credit for just being who they are and sharing it.  I feel bad that I didn't get the story, but rather played the part of voyeur.  It didn't "gross" me out....well the tattoos didn't.  The only thing that grossed me out.....the ONLY thing the whole night that grossed me out....all of the guys were walking around bare footed.  Now that's gross.  So keep on fighting the good fight, and don't judge a book by it's cover.  Just remember the more interesting the cover, the more chance that you will open the book and read....maybe that's their reason...they draw you in so you'll read the book.  And with that, I say, "INK me!"