get another tattoo

It’s been about a year since I got my first (and as of now, only) tattoo. I’m jonesing for another one. I just need money and a place to put it.

I’ve been thinking about the tattoo I thought I wanted to get, and now I’m not sure. I’m a strong believer in have tattoos that mean something, and that one definitely would. At the same time, though, I don’t know if that’s something I want to carry around with me always. It would mean Thing 1, but Thing 2 would always be attached to it, and I really don’t want to have Thing 2 with me forever.

And the way I just described it makes it sound like I was thinking about getting a Cat in the Hat tattoo. I can assure you, it’s not.

I’ve thought of a tattoo that I can get that’s small and discrete. I’ve wanted to get some white ink for a while; a girl in my dorm freshman year had some and it was absolutely beautiful. My only concern is that this tat would be too small—the size of a quarter, at most. Some artists don’t like doing small ink because of money or because the ink might not stay well. It’s not detailed, just a little heart within a slightly bigger heart. It’d be nice.

Well, this is going to be postponed longer than I had hoped. My dad caught a glimpse of my tattoo and there was a little bit of hell to pay. I think(/hope) he realizes it’s something I chose to get and that he has to deal with the fact that I’ve got different views and opinions on stuff like that than he does. I could go on with it, but either way, a second tattoo is going to have to wait at least until I graduate in two years. Sigh.

I’m pretty sure on what my next tattoo is going to be. On my right wrist, I’m going to get the St. Paul skyline with a sunrise behind it. On my left, the Minneapolis skyline with a sunset. Underneath them, I want to get “L’Étoile du Nord” (“The Star of the North”, Minnesota’s state motto). I knew I wanted my next tattoo to be something about the Twin Cities (I grew up there and love them), and I’m really excited to get this! It’s just a matter of getting the money (which will be difficult since I’m a broke college student) and hiding it from my parents (who will stop paying for me to be a broke college student if they find out I have ink).

My problem with getting another tattoo is that I don’t know where to get it. It needs to be somewhat hidden (my parents pay for my tuition and are quite straight-laced), but the place I really want to get one is on my forearm or my wrist. We’ll see…