Inked

The obsession began almost 4 years ago. Being five-months pregnant Brad dragged me to a dirty tattoo parlor on the East side of Fort Worth.

Okay, so actually Brad said he was going to get a tattoo while I was getting my hair cut and I BEGGED him to let me go so he couldn't do anything crazy. But that is close to being dragged, right? And might I add, while tattoo studios aren't known for their upscale clients and sparkling facilities, Randy Adam's studio has cleaner bathrooms than the Babies R Us.

Brad had a small ying-yang tattoo with fluidity arrows in yellow and gold on his shoulder when we met. Now, facing the end of his life being "cool" after having a baby he wanted to have his tattoo added on to. I was TERRIFIED! He didn't know what he wanted and I didn't want him all scarred up with a picture of Carmen Miranda on his bicep. However, the very skilled artist added some nice flames and re-did the bland monochromatic of the original work and I was mesmerized. I've wanted a tattoo ever since.

It came up at work this summer. One of the teens at Academy was saying she wanted ivy up her side from her hip to armpit. Very pretty, but I interjected, "If you ever plan on having babies, you might wait. Otherwise it will look like a plant that hasn't been watered in a month." She scoffs, rolling her eyes at the old woman I have become and counters that "you don't stretch on your side when you get pregnant." No. No, you don't. I was wrong. I'll help you pay for it even. Let's go after work.

So any place on my body that will stretch or sag is off limits. I also don't like other body parts because they don't work for me. I have a square build, so no shoulders. That is too manly. I'm not big of foot tats either. Unless I want a moon man jumpping into a crater, the thighs are strictly off-limits. And if I want anything on my bikini line it will need to meld with the Van Gogh-esque squiggle lines of stretchmarks. Maybe a nice Edvard Munch "The Scream". That might work nicely.

I wear my hair in a pony most of the time, so the neck isn't going to work. Not to mention I get cysts there, so I get sliced open by my doctor alot. I can't imagine having a Tweety bird on my neck only to have him decapitated by my dermatologist. I'd have to go in and getting another tattoo of Sylvester with a bloody knife added next to him.

In addition to where, I need a what. It has to have meaning -- either deep or ironic -- to fit me. I don't like cartoons or verses or even other language symbols. Do you think Asians have English tattoos on their chest? It makes me wonder if they just like the way the letters MEAT look and have them stamped on their bodies.

A friend asked what my favorite book was to find inspiration, but somehow "Team Edward" seems a little dated and fickle. I mean, what if I decide later I'm more of a werewolf girl?

So help a girl out. You know me better than I know myself. Give me a what and a where. I promise to consider it....even if I know good and well I will never follow through on any of it.