Let's talk about tattoos!

Yes, lets.

I love tattoos. I used to be the type that said they'd never get one, mostly because I'm terrible with commitment and I get bored with things easily. You can't really have that problem with tattoos because they're permanent, so I was always very reluctant to get one.

But that all changed a few years ago! My best friend in the entire world (I'm more inclined to call her my sister, because we've been best friends since the first grade, which is a whopping eighteen years) joined the Navy back in 2010 and my first ever tattoo was an anchor. The only person I told about it was her mom, and when I showed it to her, she cried.

Since then, I've acquired seven more tattoos. Some in fairly visible places, others that I can hide fairly easily. My cousin is currently apprenticing at a tattoo shop and I've come to be pretty good friends with everyone that works there, so I'm able to get all my work done either free or very cheap. This sounds fantastic but it's actually very terrible.

Anyway, here's a list (+ links for pictures) of all my tattoos!

1. The aforementioned anchor. It's fairly simple and is on my right hip. [photo]

2. I got an outline of New Jersey on the inside of my left ring finger. It's the same finger on which you wear a wedding band because, apparently, the vein in that finger leads to the heart. So it was a play on "home is where the heart is," if that makes sense. [photo]

3. If there are any fellow LOSTies out there, I got the numbers on my wrist. No real reason for this one, other than my bestie got the same one. [photo]

4. A ribbon on my left shoulder. My cousin and our friend Sara got the same one in our respective favorite colors right before Sara moved to Florida. Ignore how weird it looks in the photo — it was taken right after I got it done and it was a bit bloody. [photo]

5. I got lyrics from Bayside's song "Masterpiece" on my left forearm. If you can't read it from the photo, it says, "Find something that brings you closer to complete." No real reason for this one either, other than I liked the lyrics and it was the first Bayside song I ever heard. [photo]

6. Harold is the itty bitty ghost I have on the inside of my right foot. He was spontaneous and free practice for my cousin, and I love him to pieces. [photo]

7. This one is by far the funniest/stupidest one I have. Tattoo shops will often do what they call "flashes," which are sheets of small and relatively cheap designs. Back in September, they had a Friday the 13th flash going, and this was one of the designs on the sheet. As you can probably tell, I'm really blasé about tattoos and don't think they have to have any real meaning, so I decided to get it. It's a real conversation piece to tell people you have a bloody tampon tattooed on your foot. [photo]

Not Pictured: I have an in-progress portrait of George Harrison on my left ribcage. I started it two or three years ago and haven't gotten it finished yet because it hurts too much, lol.

I'm planning on getting a 1975 tattoo as soon as I figure out what I want, and maybe my grandmother's birthday in Roman numerals on the inside of my left forearm or wrist.

Anyway, what tattoos do you lovely folks have? Anything you're planning on getting or are designing? Have any questions about tattoos you'd like to ask? Anything?