The Little Mermaid

I received an email from Keri about tattoos and mermaids that I would like to share with you:

Ever since I was a child I have loved mermaids. Disney's "The Little Mermaid" was the first movie I ever watched, the stepping stone for my passion with the beautiful fish-tailed creatures.

When my tattoo-loving father asked me when I was 12 if I would ever get a tattoo I knew exactly what it would be of, but what would she be doing? Like you read in this website a tattoo is very serious. Its placement and design are permanent! I spent 6 years thinking about what I wanted, and when my grandmother passed away in October 2005 I knew what it would be. A mermaid sitting on a moon, covered in roses. The mermaid represented my love, the moon represented the sky where my grandmother now lives, and the roses, they are my grandmother. Roses where her most treasured of things. Mermaids are a figment of our love for the mystical, and for me my tattoo is a permanent reminder of the ones I hold dear to my heart.

Heart

Michelle sent in this picture of her lower back tattoo which features an heart. I've e-mailed her back asking for more info.

Wedding Party

I went to my cousin Jason's wedding and there was this beautiful young lady with a tattoo on her shoulder. I asked her about it; however, there was no great story. It was a cover-up tattoo. She didn't like the original, so she a new tattoo applied over it.

Dallas and His Tattoos

Dallas from Louisville, KY sent in some pics of his tattoos.

"The ones in the pic with the dog, the top one is my sign...it says scorpio, the one below it is a sun with my son's name in it "Brandon". It's in memory of him.

The one on my forearm, Dallas, is not only my name it was my grandfathers name. It also is in memory of him.

The tribal is a cover-up tat. I wanted a tribal, and I had a tat that I wanted covered, not because it was a bad one, but I just didnt like it. So, a guy that I was working with at the time was just getting into doing tats, and he designed this one for me. I still need to have some more ink added but just havent done it yet.

Hopefully, I can get better pics of them for you, and I'm going to Florida for vacation and plan on trying to get a new tat down there."

Lotus

Brittney from Chicago sent in this Lotus Flower.

She said, " This symblolizes me rising from a bad beginning to success and happiness. I've got this tattoo my freshman year a college to remind me of how far I've come!"

Pegasus and Other Tattoos

This tattoo was submitted by Sylvia in Dayton, OH.

Unfortunately, she did not include a story.

Please, always include the story behind the tattoo!!

Butterfly

This one was submitted By Betty who lives in in Pompano Beach, FL.

She said she got this butterfly 2 years ago. The butterfly reminds her that beauty can come from ugly things (caterpillars).

Chinese Symbol for Family

Shelly has several tattoos. However, I think this one has the most meaning to her. It's the Chinese symbol for family.

"I got this one on February 28th. My son and I both got tattoos, mine is the Chinese Symbol for Family and he got this really cool tattoo of bats coming out of his rib cage! I chose the Family one because family is the strongest bond there is. In fact, my cousin is getting a matching tattoo."

Tattoo Artist: Pony Boy

Tattoo Studio: Louisville Tattoo Company, 1235 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=85105241

For Grandmother - Breast Cancer

This tattoo is one of those that got me started thinking about doing a blog with stories. Last summer, I saw this pink ribbon tattoo when Brandy was doing a bikini car wash. When I asked her about it, she said it was for her grandmother who had breast cancer.

U. of L. Cards Fan

This is Deb's story about her tattoo of a Cardinal.

"I didn't think I'd ever get a tattoo - what what I put on my body that I'd love til I die? But, I'm a big U of L fan. Always have been. So, in the fall of 2006, I decided to get a U of L fighting Cardinal tattooed on my foot to support the team!

The Cards are the only things I'll love til the day I die!"

Tattoo by Shirts and Skin, 8663 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY.

Mardi Gras - In Memory of Her Mother

You can barely make out the tattoo on the wrist of the bartender at Coyote Ugly. She promised to send me a good picture and the story.

The tattoo is of the symbol for the Chinese Year of the Monkey. She said that both she and her mother were born in the Year of the Monkey. When her mother recently died, she decided to get this tattoo in memory of her mother.

Mardi Gras - Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

I noticed this tattoo on the lower back of a young lady standing outside a gay bar. I asked her if it had any special significance. She said it stood for love and her quest to find that someone special. Since we were outside a gay bar, I asked her if she was looking for a guy or a girl. She replied, "Probably a guy, but she was open to other possibilities."

I decided to point out the obvious. If you're looking for a relationship with a guy, a gay bar might not be the best hunting grounds! She agreed that I was right. However, she said gay guys are so cute, funny, and nice. She wondered if she could convert one. I suggested that I didn't think that was very likely. She agreed that I was probably right. I wished her well on her quest.

Mardi Gras - Intricate and Colorful

I noticed this guy's tattoo while walking down Bourbon Street. I gave him one of my cards (see photo 1). However, I also wanted to snap these pictures because the tattoos are so colorful and intricate. I hope he follows up and send me the stories!

Dangers of Political Extremism

Story to come. Cynthia

Chakotay: Star Trek - Voyager

I found this image at http://www.vigyan.com/~blbates/star_trek/voyager/index.html . As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the most famous tattoos around - the facial tattoo of Chakotay, first officer of the Voyager. There was a great episode that explained the tattoo - it was season 2, episode 5 aptly named "Tattoo."

In that episode, "Chakotay explains that he wears the tattoo to honour his father, who wore it to honour his ancestors. (His father died defending his home which was along the Federation/Cardassian border.) The alien leader explains that they knew those ancestors whom the aliens called "the Inheritors" when they visited Earth some 45,000 years earlier and gave them a gift of knowledge after being impressed by their respect for the land. It is this deep race memory which had earlier prompted Chakotay to have a brief mental image of one of his ancestors. " for the full episode synopsis go to http://star-trek-voyager.net/a1episodes/seasn2/ep25synopsis.htm

"With Robert Beltran as Chakotay they wanted to put a tattoo on him, so they said go to work and do some designs. And the designs went from a full Maori face to what we finally wound up with which was just this section up here on his head, but we did a full face, we did a half a face, and then when they finally decided we were going to keep it down to a localised area, then I started to get books out. I had books on Filipino designs and New Zealand designs and Japanese designs. And I made combinations of all these different whirls and twirls and twists and things that we could do on Robert. Then finally, after looking at a lot of them, we did a little testing. The one that he wore was a combination of Maori and Filipino."

http://star-trek-voyager.net/crew_chak_tattoo.htm