tattoo mamma

so, kramer recently sent me a thing about mom tattoos…

…not the heart and ribbon per say, but rather the ones this site recommended for moms. latina moms to be precise, which given the fact i work in a few tattoo shops, have dated latinas pretty much exclusively for over a decade, and am currently with a latina mom who has some ink this made sense. i figured this was a good sixer to do the sunday after what should have been my Mom’s seventy-third birthday, since she died with three freckle-sized tattoos to indicate where radiation treatments had been done.

(hence, i will forever have more than three – can’t have less ink than your Mom, can you?)

but i don’t know if i agree with all their calls – so even though there were twenty-something on their list, a bunch of stuff could be lumped together so we’ll just do six (who’s shocked?!?):

your kids – you have to love ’em…that state says so

unlike your ex, the kids are there to stay, so it’s a safe move tattooing them on you. i don’t agree with some of their ideas (infinity symbols with words in them have been done to death, folks!) but if it’s done right, it can be a nice piece…and if you have more than four, stop fucking!

something big or something little? seriously?

they phrased it as “something subtle” (showing a tiny butterfly) and then “something bold” (showing a huge back piece) and were listed back to back on the website’s top twenty. this pretty much covers it all, doesn’t it? i guess they only came up with eighteen like i used to cheat on my sixers and say number five was traded or recycled or some such shit? let your personality and career plans be the guide on this one…

something symbolic or significant

no shit? anything you get should mean SOMETHING. period. don’t just ask what we think is cool – we only have to see it that night…you have to see it EVERY night!

i know it’s for YOU, not everybody, but…

regardless of what you get, get it right side up for the people that see it. seriously. upside down tattoos look like mistakes, and in the case of crosses on your wrist, makes you look like a satanist to most ’cause they see it as an upside down cross.

where you come from or who you worship

“heritage” and “faith” respectively – the latter one didn’t mean to get a tattoo of me, even if you do worship me. it’s been done – i did it. i’m always wary about the religious tattoos – what if you change faith? convert to something else? then what do you do? at least your heritage stays…i’ll be irish till the day i die whether i like it or not. good thing i like it.

treat it like you were buying a car, if it was the only car you’d ever have EVER

i’m surprised how people do all kinds of research to buy a car or what have you and then just go with the first artist they can go chat with. do some research, look at their work, make sure that’s a quality of art you’re happy to have on you forever and shit. if not, find somebody else…it never hurts to be too picky…