i'll probably never get a tatoo. and if i do, it will be full sleeves on my arms.

Go big or go home? I don't get this. Explain.. Or does this have something to do with your name?

Funny how stereotypes of tattooed people still persist.

you're an idiot.

i know someone who got NOFX tattooed on his inner bicep and then grew out of the 'punk' phase when he turned 21. Now he knows that that they weren't cool before, or now.

it's like, a little tattoo is like "hee hee, i got a tattoo" but sleeves on your arms, apart from looking badass if done right are like "FUCK YOU, IM TATTOO MAN"

No kidding. My mom just got her first tattoo at the age of 52, and she is not even close to being "trash".

haha awesome

I've noticed the last couple years it's become trendy to have a star tattoo. They generally look pretty much the same, about the same size, usually red, usually on the forearms. Why? What does it mean?

I'm not against tattoos. A lot of my friends have tattoos, and a good friend has a tattoo shop. I considered getting a tattoo from him, but over the years I could never think of something that I want on my body that would be meaningful enough to me. Another friend was featured on the cover of one of the weekly papers, with the headline, "Chicago's Painted Lady." About 75 percent of her is covered in tattoos, mostly acquired from her travels around the world. The article was inspired by her lecture at the MCA called "Permanent Souvenirs: Travel Tattoos and the Fixing of Memory."



She's also doing a dissertation on this top at a program at the University of Chicago. In the interview she argued that while most animals have brilliant patterns, some people think humans are a little boring looking, so they alter their hides. Fair enough. But if you're going to decorate your hide to last a lifetime, wouldn't you want it to be high quality art (and she has nothing but great art on her own skin) rather than a cartoon character or a stupid meaningless star?



Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain -Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.

The Stars were a sign of riches and wealth,
But were really so small,
You might think such a thing wouldn't matter at all.
But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, "We're the freest Sneetches walking the beaches".

With snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort
"Jobs! They are for you Plain-Belly sort!"
And whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They'd hike right on past them without even talking.

When the Star-Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
The Plain-Belly Sneetches never had time,
For they worked a job to get their next dime.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches longed for the day,
When they wouldn't have to work for their pay

Then ONE day, it seems...while the Plain-Belly Sneetches
Were moping and doping alone thinking of the beaches,
Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars...
A stranger zipped up in the grandest of cars!

"My friends," he announced in a voice clear and keen,
"My name is Sly-Dexter McMonkey McBean.
And I've heard of your troubles. I know of your DREAM.
I've heard you're unhappy.
But I can fix that. I'm the Fix-it-Up Chappie.
I've come here to help you. I have what you need.
It's called Quick-Star and it works with great speed.
And the products are one hundred per cent guaranteed!"

Then quickly, Sly-Dexter McMonkey McBean
Showed them his Quick-Star Dream Machine.
So he showed the Plain-Belly Sneetches
Their dream of walking the Beaches.
He made them dream of Stars,
Which one day would be thars,
And the money they'd have to buy Cadillac cars.
Sly-Dexter McMonkey McBean said "In just two to five for eight to ten
Stars surely will be thars..."

So can anyone tell me what's the deal with the stars upon thars? Ideally I'd like to hear from someone who has a star tattoo, who isn't totally offended or embarrassed. Mayhaps there's some deeper meaning I'm missing out on?

yea...hell yea

as long as you get it somewhere it can be covered up, I don't see regret becoming an issue down the road

So, would a tattoo of Brenda Starr be the worst thing ever?

http://www.obner.org/bb/album_pic.php?pic_id=134

I was 21, right before i was slated to start student teaching. I was coming out of a recording session and got car jacked about a block and a half away at a red light by 3 carloads of skinheads. My skull was fractured and I had a hematoma in my occipital lobe, 5 fractured ribs, punctured lung, broken radia and ulna, broken tibia and femur, coma for three days, and a lovely keloid scar that I can't afford to remove (gotta love those damn insurance companies). I don't know if i want to get rid of the scar anymore, it reminds me that not everyone is good and can be trusted. But i got the tattoo, and it reminds me that prejudices are bullshit, and in every demographic, there are both good and bad people, but if you expect the best out of them, you'll usually get it. Prejudices are environmental, and rooted in ignorance. They're not instinctual. That's why it's important to expect the best out of people, and to give them your best right from the start.

My dad was the victim of a hate crime a few years before I was born, and let's just say that I understand him more now and I'm choosing a different path.



Thank you.

I believe they're nautical stars. I found these explanations on some page.

What's the whole idea about tattoos?

It's kinda like saying "I'm only going to wear brown t-shirts for the rest of my life" or "As long as I have breath in my lungs I will wear the same unchanging hairstyle forever"

My idea was that I'm stuck with this scar, and i turned something negative into something positive. I'm a survivor, not a victim.

That's a moot point.

Regardless, some people have a reason for their tattoos, and other people just felt like getting them for no reason at all. For the people that do have their reasons, that's good enough. For the people who don't, they end up either liking them because they like the way it looks, or they regret them. Just because it's not your thing doesn't mean you have to understand it.

-p

It kind of annoys me when people ask what's the meaning behind my tattoos because the ones I have really don't have any meaning, I just liked the way they looked.

That should be reason enough.

Or you can make up stories, and see if they're gullible enough to believe them.

Free rub-on from the International Star Registry.

RE: The Star tattoos...

Of course it depends on who the tattoo is on, but in some circles a star tattoo on the forearm of a woman is a reference back to when lesbians used to wear them as an I.D. to eachother. So women still get them these days as a way of saying that they're "marked" and proud.

my star had a lot more to do with soviet russia, though now i feel the fool. it might explain the abundance of lesbians and pesky hipsters in my life.

Cool. It seems it varies. I've heard the above, along with the lesbians. A friend of an acquaintance apparently has it on his forearm to obscure track marks. I wonder if there's any all-in-ones -- junkie lesbian sailors!