Classic Series - My Tattoo

Yes, the classics continue - what i consider as my best pieces are being put forth back on the internet and today's feature is a story I wrote in November 2007 - when I made the big move back to Canada:

TATTOO

THE END OF AN ERA HAS ARRIVED… - I HAVE LEFT PANAMA
So where am I typing this from now? I decided to take a DRASTIC turn (North to be exact) and jump into new adventures. So here I am in Toronto Canada at the end of Novemeber FREEZING MY HINEY OFF!! I literally went from beach weather and fun in the sun one day to COLD ASS mittin and scarf weather the next. Am I crazy? I seriously started to ask myself that when I wake up in the mornings under quilts. It’s been 3 years Mr. Quilt, but we meet again…

Anyway I wanted to write today about my decision to leave Panama on a High Note. It was inevitable, the decision was made long ago to take on the challenges that I am faced with in Toronto, but in the end I was still hit like a tonn of bricks when the day came to actually pack and go. I left Panama on a Sunday, after a ThanksGiving weekend of partying with friends and wrapping up loose ends.

The Friday before that, I decided to get this bad boy: (picture of tattoo here)

Now, I knew that I wanted to get a tattoo not long after I decided to stay in Panama when I did. I’m not sure how many of you know this but when I left Canada for Panama originally I was only supposed to go for 8 months. After the 8 months was up, I was in no rush to go back to Canada so I stayed and made a living quite nicely and was lucky enough to find a job that I loved. 2.5 years passed before I decided on the Toronto assignment. What exactly that assignment is, I might discuss in future postings to come.

Back to the tattoo. I always knew that I wanted to get one so that I can never forget my Panama experiences (as cheesy as that sounds - get over it) and I even knew what I wanted (see “design meaning” below). For whatever reason I just kept procastinating on it until I realized that I was leaving about a week ago. Suddenly there were no more excuses. So I went to see the dude who gave me my prize jewel (nipple ring) and described my ideas for this tattoo design in detail on a Wednesday. He told me he would spend Thursday working on it and that I could go in Friday to get it done.

So what do I decide to do? Seeing as Thursday was a holiday I decided to get Rip Roaring DRUNK - I believe it is safe to say that I drank for 14 hrs straight on Thursday. Here is where I give a quick shout out to all my friends in Panama who came out on Thursday to bid me farewell. You guys ROCK!

Anyway, back to the tattoo….(again)… Friday came around and even though I felt death creeping into my apt when I woke up, even though I threw up a few times in the morning and almost threw up on my friends Flip and El Rob during lunch when I tried to fight down some soup, even though I was suffering from mis-coordination all day and had a bad case of the shakes…..I was determined to get that tattoo done.

Some of what happened in that tattoo parlor is a blur to me now so El Rob as my witness, if you are reading this and I forget something, feel free to chime in in the comments section.
So we get to the tattoo parlor and I pretty much fall asleep on the couch in the waiting room. Sleeping was my only comfort. After a while of waiting while the artist prepared the final sketch and printed it out and got everything ready, he called me in and the first thing I asked him was “do you mind if I lay down while you do this?” … His response: NO. Ok then… So I sit in front of him and as the sound of the buzzing needle fills the room my head is spinning and I am looking for a bucket to sit in front of me just in case. No such luck. I look over at Rob with wide eyes as the needle pierces my skin and this man that I don’t even know begins to inflict a pain onto my back like no pain I have ever felt.

I think it is safe to say that the sound that came out of me at that point sounded something like a dying cat. The artist stopped and I immediately said “I THINK THIS IS A BAD IDEA TO DO TODAY - RETHINKING THIS - NOT TODAY MAN!”, and as I started to get up the artist pushed my shoulders back down and sat me back down and said “TOO LATE.” I can see why he didn’t want me leaving his shop with nothing more than a line on my back, as that would totally be bad business for him, BUT at this point he had no idea how hungover I was. He looked at El Rob and kindly asked him to raise the volume on the nearby stereo so that my howls of pain and suffering do not scare the people in the waiting room away.
Simply put - I was Fucked.

El Rob was patient and supportive throughout it all, encouraging me that it was almost done and that I was doing great but all that came out of me was poisonous venom. “It’s OK Jen, you’re doing great” he would say as he rubbed my leg in a comforting way. “Stop being such a fucking cheerleader.” I would come back at him with.

All the while the tattoo artist had his own increasing frustrations. “NO SE MUEVAS!” was all he kept saying, in a firm voice as he would press my shoulders down and continue with the torture bid.

I swear to god to me I wasn’t moving at all… but when I’m hungover, my body shakes… I finally squeeled and revealed the secret to the artist, who just shook his head and in not so many words told me I was stupid for going in hungover.

My favorite was when El Rob said to me “Ok Jen, now you have to stay still cause he has to color it just like he is coloring a coloring book - he needs to stay in the lines…” and my response in a mouthful of tears was “shut up Rob, I’m not a fucking coloring book.” Oh the poison and acid just kept spilling from my mouth as I pretty much bawled like a baby throughout the whole thing.

Less than and hour later, the artist was done, and amazingly with only one minor fuckup. Considering how much of a problem client I was, I would say that’s not so bad. He looked at me at the end and said to Rob “look at those eyes…she HATES me.” hahahaha which was true at that point. I just wanted him to die for inflicting so much pain on me. I debated about purposely throwing up on him but decided that would just be bad form.

What is done is done and I have no regrets about the tattoo. Leave it to me though to screw up an experience like that.

Take it from me kids… Tattoo + Hangover = SUCH A BAD IDEA.

Design Meaning: It is a symbol of Femininity with elements of Earth(rose), Air(Bird), Fire(Sun) and Water(fish) to represent Balance. In addition to that I threw in a heart for Love and a snake for Power. In the end we have
Femininity
Balance
Power
and Love.

What do you think?