This may sting a little just at first

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I am fixated on getting a tattoo.

I know, I know, I've talked about this before. But it hasn't gone away, it's been lurking in the back of my mind and just popped back to the forefront.

I'm trying to decide between a phoenix and a wolf. The phoenix for the whole 'rising from the ashes' symbolism bit, and the wolf because it's my totem animal. Yeah, I'm not exactly Native American, but I do have a few cc's of it mixed into my 6 liters of European white girl O negative, and I totally dig on some of the symbolism and animal totems.

I had long vacillated on where to put it, shying away from my number one choice, the lower back, because people refer to tats there as tramp stamps. But you know what? I'm going to embrace my inner tramp and put the tat where *I* want it, so lower back it is. I've gotten to a point, figure- and weight-wise where that portion of skin is sometimes showing anyways, between shirts that actually fit and pants that ride on my hips, so it's a good place to put it. I can keep it covered if I want, or I can let it peek out.

Ive heard a lot of good things about Chris Gunn down at Southside, and he's my first choice, but since there are barriers to an impulse decision - he wants to meet clients first, discuss what they want, and then his waiting list is around a month long - if anyone in the area wants to recommend someone else, I'll look into it. Because y'all know me: if there are too many hurdles between me and something I want, I am pokey as hell about clearing them. But I'm not willing to go somewhere that isn't well-recommended. And my understanding is that Chris is really good with newbies and that he does quality work.

I'm working on sorting through the kajillion tat pics on the web to build up a few choices of wolf and phoenix, but if you have a preference or a linky to one you love, go ahead and share it in the comments. I don't want something huge, or that will take a billion hours. I'm torn between the simple, black tribal-inspired tats like this one and a more arty, stylized one like this.

Whaddaya think? Good idea? Will I actually do it? {wink}
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