Get your own
 diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry


Previously...

Epiphany 2021
Wednesday, Jan. 06, 2021
Word Of The Day
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020
Vote Please Oh Please
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020
VOTE.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020
Wear A Mask
Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2020


This is my safe space

This is where I post, where I dream,
where I hurt, and where I recover.

Everybody who understands this
is welcome to stay.


Why is this here?


Extras, Fun Stuff &
Recommended Reading

42 Things About Me
Erasure Impostor Info
More Stuff About Me
I Love You
My Friday Five Archive
Friday Five v2.0
The Daily Meme
ACME Heartmaker
Citizen Redress
Maukie
Teddy Bears
Keane Concert Pics
Wikipedia
Paul Kidd on Kindle


I Can Hear The Ocean.

A proud member of
the Diaryland family
for over a tenth
of a century.


Follow me on Twitter!


Always go too far
because that's where
you'll find the truth.

Albert Camus


My First Tattoo


Mom

Tattoo Q&A

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005 - 8:34 a.m.

I received a couple of really good questions about my tattoo in an email yesterday from Terry, who is one of my recently-acquired but now-regular readers. I wrote him a long answer, which he appreciated, and he suggested I use it as the basis for a post.

So I'm a gonna do that right now. :-)

---

>>Which entry in your blog did you explain all about
>>what inspired you to get that particular tattoo?
>>Or why permanently etch it on to your body?

Good questions!...

It's been coming on for quite a while now, so there are numerous posts which sort of combine to tell the story...

I first began considering getting ink done a little over two years ago.: I had a 'classic' phoenix design picked out, but only as a reference.

Then my grandmother passed away and I spent over a year dealing with that, but even at the post-memorial meal there at her home on the 10th of October, 2003, I remember telling my sister-in-law what I wanted and why. I told her I'd been considering a phoenix tattoo for a very long time for a myriad of reasons: When I was seventeen, I had a life-threatening illness called ulcerative colitis. Worldwide, ulcerative colitis kills about 75% of the people who have it. I have been VERY lucky considering I went to code on the operating table, and again a couple of days after the surgery. The symbol for people who have endured this disease and survived it and grown healthy again is the phoenix.

Another factor is that I have been and will forever be a fan of the soap opera Days Of Our Lives. About fifteen or years ago, there was a really good storyline featuring a mysterious stranger with a phoenix tattoo on his left shoulder. I really enjoyed that story arc.

---

On the first day of Spring, 2005, my friend JJ went to get a tattoo she'd agree to get in order to participate in a story project in which several thousand people were to be tattooed with an individual word in the story, and then send their pictures of the finished words to the author, who would publish them in a book. I sponsored her tattoo, went with her to watch her get the work done -- and that's where I met the artist who eventually did my work, James Faggiano. That afternoon, I decided that I would be back before the year's end, and that James would be the one I wanted to do the deed. James has a very good sense of humor and when he was done with JJ's work, he helped me play a joke on John.

---

Near the end of the summer this year, and on into fall, I began looking in earnest online for a phoenix design I could relate to. There were several very close approximations, especially a design provided by my friend Todd Thalimer, of a logo for a band he used to be in. It was a faceless phoenix with the wings in the shape of a circle. But nothing was one hundred percent right, and that's what I needed it to be before it became permanent.

I didn't find anything I liked online, so finally, I just printed out some homemade graph paper and circles and ovals and twiddled around with those and drew the head of the phoenix freehand and added the equilateral triangle from a font set.

Perhaps the most comprehensive explanation of why I have obtained a phoenix tattoo can be found here. I even decided on the day I wanted it done, for a specific reason.

And finally, of course, I went and had it done on November 4, 2005.

---

As for why I wanted something permanent -- I have already surived a car accident that has left me disfigured. My abdomen is scarred, some of my front teeth are false, I have puncture wounds on the inside of both elbows from where the vampires at the hospital were compelled to draw blood up to six times in a day -- in other words, even though I am still alive and would not be so but for the scarring I have endured -- there have been alterations of my body that have been negative and not of my choice.

This tattoo was a *positive* alteration, that I have deliberately chosen to do for myself, and that I think is pretty nice.

Hope that was an answer to the questions.

---

And thanks for letting me seed this entry with the text of the email I sent to you, Terry. Very kind of you to suggest it.

---

I think that's it. Have a good Thursday!

---

what you missed - what's next - leave a note
first post - cast page - diaryrings - top ten

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!


THE LEGAL STUFF: All content on this site that was created by me is copyright 2003-infinity by Brin Marie McLaughlin. Steal my stuff and I'll squash you like a bug. All incoming email or any other form of communication with me is subject to publication or other distribution by me in whole or in part at my sole discretion. This diary features the sole opinions and experiences of one person, namely me, the person who is paying for this space. In the interest of safety and accountability, no anonymous input will ever be allowed here, ever, for any reason in the entire history of ever. Whenever there is a comments section appearing in this diary, it's to be considered part of my paid presence on the web, and shall be used by my readership to supplement the things I have written here with relevant information in a polite manner. Comments that do not fall in that category are subject to deletion at my whim. Your visit to my diary along with your use of my comments section constitutes the understanding of this statement. Anything else on these pages including any comments belongs to whoever created it. All external links are current as of the date of the entry in which they are first featured, but at no other time. News excerpts used here are for educational purposes and are permitted under the Fair Use Doctrine. Hold hands when you cross the street, and play nice.