Why Don't You Come Over Here and Show Mutha Your tattoo

My mother threatened every one of my brothers, "Don't you ever walk into this house having put a tattoo on the body God gave you."

I never thought I would get a tattoo, but, in all fairness she never threatened me.

Then my father died and I can't explain it, but I had the overwhelming feeling that I needed a mark on me. The change in my life had to be reflected on my body. So, I thought about a symbol. I thought about an Ohm.

But then I thought again and went to a woman I was studying Buddhism with at the time. I asked her if getting a tattoo, a permanent mark, would be defying the Buddhist notion of nonpermanence.

She thought for a moment and then said, "Only if you believe your body is a permanent thing."

I got the tattoo in a shop in Savannah, Georgia. When I tried to bond with my tattoo artist by asking her where she got her first tattoo, she answered, "Prison."

So much for small talk.

That was eleven years ago and I thought I was done. I love my tattoo, have never regretted it for a moment. But I have never had a flash like that again -- when I felt the need to get something else...until recently.

As I mull over this possibility, I got interested in hearing other folk's tattoo stories. If you've got one, lay it on me:
What is your tattoo (or your favorite if you have several)?
Where did you get it (on your body)?
Where did you get it (in the world)?
Got any colorful stories to tell about it?

I'm all ears...