Got the Tat!

I will add the photo of the tattoo tomorrow or the next day. I just got it, so it's sort of well...bloody is the correct term. I don't wish to eliminate any of my readers by grossing you out, so suffice it to say that during the entire 3 solid minutes of pain and agony, I was a total baby. I had a wooden Popsicle stick in my mouth to stop me from biting my tongue. Actually my good friend Niki was with me, and my daughter Laura was there as well. I talked to them through the gritting of my teeth and between bouts of cussing and laughing.

I was actually driving down the road when I saw the sign for Sub-Q Tattoos on Memorial at Western in Oklahoma City. Most tattoo parlors don't have the colors black and pink as their primary advertisement colors and that fact intrigued me. I pulled in and went inside the parlor. I was summoned to the back of the shop by a low voice. I could hear the rumming and humming of tools and I know I hear voices other than the man calling to me. Two out of the three artists were in and they were both working on people when I stepped up.

Cameron is the man who etched me. We agreed that I would be coming back at 8:30 p.m. since he was booked and had customers waiting on him. Thinking about the business end of the tattoo artist on the way home - I may be in the wrong business my friend. My 1" tattoo which took all of 3 minutes - we timed him; was $50. Not bad for me, not bad for Cameron. He had promised me that he would be finished in under 10 minutes, knowing my threshold for pain was lower than say that of a...anyone. I'm a big big baby, not joking!

So, I returned at 8:31 with my daughter and friend in tow. Both girls wanted to watch me scream - love my buddies. They got to see my eyes popping, my teeth grinding, and Laura held my pumping hand as I squeezed and squeezed and squeezed for all of three (wee little) minutes. I was laughing most of the time, but it was coupled with the swearing, the "Ouch" and "OK" mumbling that inadvertently shot out of my mouth while the bite of the clave dug rapidly under my skin....over and over and over again. It is SOOOOO pretty, and it was just completely worth it.

Thanks to Cameron. He's a master, and he's fun too - as his own tattoos will attest, he is determined in life until his own death. When I asked him what he was determined to do, he told me he was determined to succeed. He measured that in peace of mind and achievement of personal desires. He assured me that he was well on his way. Come to think of it, he can keep his artist position. I'll stick to writing. I don't do blood that well - mine is bad enough. Someone else's would have to be an emergency for me to really be able to handle it - I'm good.