Ink Me

My first tattoo happened live on the air when I was a producer at WRKO.  Tattooing wasn't yet legal in Massachusetts, so we took our show up to Salem, New Hampshire, to a place called Dragon's Lair, run by the fabulous Jamey Proctor.  I got a radio microphone on my left bicep. 

I've been out of radio for 12 years now.  Alas, maybe I should get a screenshot of my low bank balance on my back or something.

But it was something I'd wanted to do for years.  I had a lot of friends who had tattoos, and even went to a couple of tattoo parties.  Unfortunately, finances got in the way.  Also, I really didn't know what I wanted to get.  So I waited for many years to get my first.  And it's true what they say, they're addictive.  I have five now, all in anatomically appropriate places (all on my arms, actually), and I want more.

My second one came a year later, again courtesy of the Reverend Proctor.  It was a Spiderman image that I'd seen on the cover of Wizard magazine.  Aside from the comic book geekishness of it, it was also a tribute to a man who, when I first started reading as a child, gave me all kinds of thrills to feast my mind on.  My parents instilled in me a love of reading, but Stan Lee was my main source for many years (along with Twain, Matt Christopher, Donald J. Sobol, Judy Blume, and others).

And that was it for a while.  I wanted to get more, had a few ideas on what they might be, but lost contact with Jamey and got into other things.  After I joined the Gobshites, I managed to get in touch with him again, and he invited me up anytime to get some new ink.  As I was now the tin whistle player in an Irish punk band, I decided a whistle would be appropriate.  He did that, and then free handed an amazing swirl pattern with negative space shamrocks around it.  It's definitely a conversation piece.

My next piece is the only tattoo I have that wasn't done by Jamey, a claddagh armband that I got as a Christmas present in 2009.  That was done by Pea Jay at Body Extremes in Quincy, Mass.  It was a spur of the moment decision that day to go down and get tattoos, but he did a great job, and I've always been happy with it.

And then finally (for now), once again from Jamey, I got a Celtic harp design on my right forearm.  This was actually a piece of flash that I found online and fell in love with, and Jamey did it proud.  And you can see examples of the three most recent tattoos on my Facebook page, if you're so inclined.

So I went to a tattoo party at a friend's house this weekend, and although finances once again kept me from getting a new one (I did try to barter with the artist, offering to cook her dinners and such, but to no avail), I'm itching to get more.  I have a few ideas for tattoos, now I just need to wait until my discretionary funds allow it.

Anyone out there want to barter?