An entry about Peter’s Ink…

As much as I want to get into the mushy and messy details of the last few years, I’m not ready to cannonball into that pool just yet. So instead I’ve decided to be a good little beta tester, and post some pics here and see how well (or not) that function works out. So here goes.

For the last few years, I’ve been talking to friends and family about getting a tattoo. Up until four weeks ago, I’ve always chickened out of getting one. I always had the same old excuses:

1) I don’t like needles.

2) I couldn’t afford those expensive things.

3) I’m not very good with pain.

4) Rent and child support doesn’t pay itself.

5) Did I mention that it was painful?

Yes, I was mostly afraid of the pain I’d feel… on both my skin and wallet. I always thought I’d be too much of a wuss to get a tattoo, but last year my older brother got three tattoos and had no issues with pain. Then again he got three small tattoos. Not judging, but he is working his way up to
getting something decent.

I caught a lucky break last month that eliminated half of my excuses, as a friend asked me to volunteer for a friend of hers who wanted to tattoo me for free. This friend was good but just needed fresh bodies to practice on to make sure she was sharp and ready when starting at a new shop. So with the chance to land some cool ink for a more than reasonable discount, all I had to do was put up with the pain.

My father and my brother warned me to get a small tattoo like he did. Who are we kidding… when have I ever done anything small? Regardless if I got a big or small tat, the price wasn’t going to change so I went in with a go big or go home attitude when picking out my design.

So a few weeks ago, I got my first tattoo.

How badass does that look?

I was quite impressed with the artist’s work, and she was super impressed with how well I took the pain for a first timer. She was afraid that I was going to ask for breaks every hour or so, but I didn’t. I put some big headphones over my ears and zoned out and let her go to town. Over four and a
half hours, we only took two small breaks, and that was it. My artist was so impressed with how well I did, she started texting me less than a week later, asking me what tattoo I wanted next.

So I didn’t stop there, and yesterday afternoon I got my second tattoo. Check it out:

This one a lot more painful than the previous but I was warned about it because I was getting colour. This tattoo while the same size took five and a half hours to complete but we did it in one sitting. She said it will need touch ups in a few months, but I’m good to take a break from the needles for the next few months.

Needless to say, I’m quite proud of myself for not only taking the pain… but being confident in myself to get two big tats and just going for it.

So that’s one of the new things that’s happened lately.

Pretty cool, eh?

Peter