My name is Elizabeth. I got this tattoo because I was abused as a child. My Dad told my teachers that my black eyes were from my clumsy tripping. He soon discovered that it was easier to hide the beatings when he punched me in the stomach. It took a broken rib and punctured lung for me to gain the courage to report him.
This tattoo reminds me to play nice all the time. It also shows my strength. I'm nice by choice, not from weakness.
Not that many people venture into Nepal. Despite its close proximity to the Himalayas and its once prominent status as a hippie getaway in the 60’s and 70’s, Nepal has in more recent times become something of a dubious travel decision. Part of this is attributable to the civil war that raged there from 1996-2006. That period certainly wasn’t much for luring in travellers and even today there has been problems with Maoist insurgents who create a somewhat unstable environment for visitors.
Regardless of these setbacks in hospitality, Nepal is once again on a mission to lure back the tourists that had previously arrived in hordes. Their solution? A series of newly created and funded state initiatives called Nepal Tourism Year 2011. The first part of this was bringing Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams over for a concert. Once state officials realised that no one actually wanted to see Bryan Adams, they came up with the next idea, this one much better suited to bringing in new and different people and points of view. So, this past weekend, Kathmandu was the site of the Nepal International Tattoo Convention.
‘Despite being an integral part of some of Nepal’s ethnic cultures, tattoos have had a sketchy reputation in the nation’s past.
They were once synonymous with the “free love” ideology made popular by the hippies who strolled Kathmandu’s backpacker hub known as Freak Street during the late-1960s and 1970s.
Another reason for disparagement was cultural. For centuries, members of Nepal’s lower castes would decorate their bodies with stars and moons in the belief that once their soul left their body they would be recognized in heaven.’
This may sound a tad naive, but I am continually surprised by the amount of people in this world who are willing to permanently alter their appearance with a tattoo for cash or some other sort of material incentive. That’s not to say that I disagree with someone getting a tattoo across their forehead in exchange for a fistful of cash or a lifetime’s supply of laundry detergent, though. I mean, if that kind of stuff is that valuable to you, then by all means, tattoo away.
The latest in the tattoo-your-face-for-a-prize scheme comes from the Czech Republic where an unnamed man has had the name of a restaurant listing website tattooed across his forehead. In addition to a year’s free lunches at any of the restaurants listed on the Czech website Obedvat.cz, the man also received 200,000 Kč (just over $12,000 USD) for his trouble. And, according to the unnamed and now tattooed man, he’s more than happy with the arrangement.
‘”I feel fine and checked myself in the mirror, and I like it,” he said. “I don’t regret it at all, and I will certainly enjoy the money.”
He admitted he had been getting some strange looks when he went out in public, but seemed unperturbed, if not pleased, by the extra attention.
“People have slowly started to turn around and see what I have on my forehead,” he said. “It is strange and extravagant, and I like that.”‘
Glad to see that he’s happy with that tattoo because as we all know, money isn’t permanent. A tattoo however…
Tags: Ads, czech republic tattoo, Dislike, forehead tattoo, News, obedvat forehead tattoo, Stories, tattoo blog, VideoI disagree. That dude is an idiot. Now he has the rest of life to realize how he has literally "defaced" himself. When you break it down, 12,000 bucks is a JOKE for the amount of time:
Average Life Expectancy: 79 years
His Age: 22 (a guess)
Life of Tattoo: 57 years (almost 3 times his life already)
57 years is 20,805 days
That comes out to a little over $0.57 a day!!! Not even a cup of coffee.
Is your face worth more than that? Worst of all the longer he lives, the less value he gets. So, his only choice is finish himself off early. That way, he at least gets a half-ass deal out this fiasco.
BTW, that lettering will look like a smudge in about ten years.
More news out of Hermosa Beach today where city residents have been making a great deal of effort to chase tattooist and tattoo studios from the area, despite a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision last year which stated that tattoos and the business of tattooing are forms of expression protected by the First Amendment.
If you’re familiar with this story, then you’ll probably also know that back in March, the Hermosa Beach City Council asked the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission to hold a public hearing this month in order to determine what can be done about the city’s current tattoo ordinance. Here’s the list of proposed regulations that concerned residents came up with, which will be discussed at the next planning commission meeting on May 17th.
Tattoo businesses in the Hermosa Beach area will be required to:
1. Not be within a 100-foot buffer zone around residential property.
2. Not be within a 200-foot buffer zone around parks, schools and religious facilities.
3. Operate between 8am and 9pm.
Honestly, can’t these whiney city residents just let it go already? They’ve lost. Tattooists are protected by the First Amendment. It is their right to open and operate their own businesses. Imposing the above restrictions on tattooists is not only unconstitutional, but it further stigmatises these legitimate artists and businesses.
What the concerned group of citizens and homeowners in Hermosa Beach don’t understand is that it’s they who are maintaining and adding to the bad reputation of tattooists. These people believe that tattoo studios are going to create a criminal element and drive down the real estate value. Obviously these people are not aware of how much money tattooists make. They’re also only serving to keep a negative stereotype alive by trying to push the tattooists out. While the tattooists quietly go about their business, these obsessive residents are carrying on about how undesirable tattooists are. Get it residents? You’re creating, maintaining and spreading the lie that tattooing is somehow dangerous, morally corrupt and detrimental to your living space. Let the businesses flourish for a year and then try and tell me that tattooists are bad for your community.
I guess we’ll see what happens at the next meeting in May, but something tells me that there is no way in hell that these residents are going to win. And that’s a very good thing.
Tags: hermosa beach, hermosa beach city council, hermosa beach planning commission, hermosa beach tattoo ban, tattoo blog, UncategorizedErica sends us these knuckle tattoos and a short description:
Since baseball season is upon us it always reminds me that my pride is there no matter who is on our team this year or who may or may not be retiring. I found your website & thought you might like the pics!
You can check out a more in depth description at: http://stellatattoos.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-york-yankee-pride.html
The execution for this one is OK, the design is a little dicey for a knuckle though. That's something I'd expect the owner to have, not a mere fan. To each her own.
