I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. I don't know how yet. Possibly with dynamite.

I always wanted one, wait a minute I never wanted just one. I always wanted a lot of tattoos. I can't pinpoint exactly where my obsession with them was birthed. I do however remember an early time where I was enamored with that look of total coverage on the legs and arms. From a distance it looked like oddly blended dirt in the skin, but up close it was like pure art put to the skin.

The first look of an all out covering came from the singer of the band The Blamed. The Blamed, in this early incarnation, was a trash band from California and their singer Jeremy was covered in tattoos. All pictures of him where jumping off the stage or as possibly high during those few moments he wasn't screaming his ass off during a song.

He looked tough.
He looked passionate.
He looked like he knew who he was, was going to be and didn't give a damn about it.

My first tattoo was much like a boys first time with a woman. It was awkward, confusing, and it didn't matter how it ended as long as I got the end product to brag about. I could tell the full story but personally I believe the short version to be more entertaining.

Design taken from a bar napkin, a friend knows someone who just got our of jail and could do a tattoo in his house. The tattoo never got finished because the snorted, shot, and drunk drugs all had taken their tole on the man with the tattoo gun and it was time for him to fall asleep. Still to this day I have this armband that has almost faded into a blue streak to remind me to think thing through in life, and give me a fun story of course.

I had my run for a few years when each tattoo had to have a cataclysmic meaning that would keep anyone in awe. I'll tell you what, that's draining to keep on dragging big meanings out of tattoos as well as too many of the tattoos end up looking the same. You ever seen a Christian hardcore kid with like 3 different sacred heart tattoos? All have huge meanings to him or her but seriously it's overkill and lack of thought. Hey I had my tattoo of a trinity symbol and now it's covered up with a bowling ball and "the dude abides". Sure I still have those X symbols to not drink and puff but I kept those X's because I pick up my beer with that arm. A cover up of it wouldn't look that good, but the drinking arm version sounds tougher.

Now each tattoo does have a meaning. It may not be about an oath or an idea of an eternal deity but not everything has to be life changing. Sometimes just being reminded about how much fun life can be is worth some pain and ink in the skin.

My new tattoo of Steve Zissou: