Saturday 11 August 2007

Mission Accomplished: New Tattoo

This is my new tattoo which I had done 10 days ago and is still healing. To me it represents the two sides of my personality, intertwined, yet not connected. It also shows my heart which has been broken many times, yet is still partially intact. They are not meant to be snakes, but even that connotation is fine (although I was not born in the year of the snakes).

I knew I wanted something small and on my ankle, but wasn't sure what to have. Somehow the idea of a butterfly or bird just didn't do it for me. My friend Bev came with me supposedly to nudge me into it, but I think she was just so inquisitive, she couldn't bear not to. We looked at all the posters on the walls and scanned at least 6 scrapbooks filled with all sorts of wierd, wonderful and downright scary tattoos, and still I couldn't decide. There were symbols for Aquarians (usually quite drab with a few wavey lines for 'water'). There were Japanese squiggles and Samurai wiggles, devils, red hearts and wilting petals. It was mind boggling. The jolly, red -faced, hairy, chubby tattooist was patiently waiting, telling me that I would know as soon as I saw the right one. And I did. This one was perfect. It was not Satanic ( I checked). It was interesting, small enough to look good on an ankle, and could be interpreted differently by anyone who noticed it. The whole process only took about 15 minutes and, although painful, was entertaining as well, with the three of us chatting away happily while Bev blanched and cringed beside me. All in all, a most satisfying day out.