The other day a nephew of mine posted to Facebook a picture of his latest tattoo: two hideous dragons hoisting aloft what appears to be the stencil for Mike Tyson’s facial ink. The tattoo spans most of his back. Presumably he doesn’t care who sees it, but I won’t post a picture here. And I won’t say it’s the most hideous tattoo I’ve ever seen. But it’s close.
Naturally, you can’t comment on something like that. Not on Facebook. I realize that tattoo appreciation is a subjective thing. How else can you account for a site like this, which consists of nothing but pictures of unfortunate skin art? The owners of said art post the pictures themselves, and then try to explain what they were thinking. The next time you start berating yourself for the bad decisions you’ve made in your life, visit this site and see if it doesn’t make you feel a little better.
And those are the good ones! For a sample of the very worst, Ugliest Tattoos is worth a look. Because really, sometimes there are things for which there are no words:
see more Ugliest Tattoos
I should mention that I have a couple of tattoos myself. They are small and extremely lame, crudely rendered by a drunken friend at the age of 16 or so. The good news is that they are easily concealed and have faded somewhat over time. Every Thanksgiving I should breathe a word or two of gratitude that I did not opt for the bear with the chainsaw arms.
Have you ever seen a tattoo you liked? I’m trying to think of one and can’t. Even the most subtle ones seem kind of sad, like an unkept promise. But that’s just me. Apparently, I’m in the minority on this.
Thanks for those sites. I’ve seen a few tattoos that would be fun if they weren’t permanent. I’m all for personal expression, but getting a tattoo seems like deciding to wear the same t-shirt slogan every day for the rest of your life.
Which might be OK, if one’s body stayed the same for the rest of one’s life.