Friday, June 2, 2006 | by nathan

Make Me Canvas

So ever since I pitched that tattoo story to my editor I have been becoming obsessed with tattooing. For his part, my editor’s fascination with the story has waned, as tattooing will be legal in Oklahoma as of November 1. In our pitch meeting the other day, however, I asked him to just have a look at the story if I wrote it, and he agreed; however, he all but made me sign a waiver.

So today I got my hair cut, and the woman who cut it had a lot of really funky tats, and we got to talking. Turns out her boyfriend is a tattoo artist, and she knows a ton about it. She encouraged me to go with something traditional, something that is so uniquely me that I am not likely to see it replicated, and something that will not get me laughed out of a bar in ten years, for instance, all those lame barb-wire and tribal tats from the 90’s. She gave me her boyfriend’s card; his name is Big Nate. I’m wondering if I can be "Little Nate."

So now I am obsessed. I am researching the hell out of the tattoo designs that I have decided that I want, and in doing so I am afraid that I am going to have to get more than one. For my first one I am thinking of a somewhat nondescript Celtic Cross, smallish, but somewhere noticeable, like the underside of my forearm. Why? Because Ireland changed my life, for one, and because they are not too intricate. I like to start simple.

But then I started going, "Wait, I want some Hebrew scripture!" I did take two years of Hebrew in college, after all, and I should have something to show that I stayed up for days on end sometimes translating Esther, Ruth, Isaiah, the Talmud. So I’m thinking that should go around my wrist.

And then Erica called, and reminded me that three years ago I promised that I would get a tat to match one of hers, which is a Kanji symbol for frienship, and which she has on her pelvic bone. So we’re up three so far.

Then I got to thinking I should have some Greek scripture on the other wrist, you know, for balance. And THEN I started thinking I needed something social justice-y, like Chris Martin’s equality sign, though definitely not on the back of my hand. And now I am out of control with list-making. I am about ten minutes away from making a tattoo calendar for myself.

Geez, I should have started doing this in high school when all my other friends did. Except God only knows what I would have ended up with.

Anyway, I have found, in the process of doing all this research, some really cool places on the web that discuss the religious significance of tattoos, and some neat groups of inked believers, with whom I would like to exchange pleasantries as soon as possible.

Like Sacred Ink.

And ReligiousTattoos.net.

I’m starting to get really stoked about this. Talk about your gonzo journalism.