Here's a cautionary tale for young people who think that perforating their skin with inky needles is a cool idea.

I like Hank Hill's take on tattoos and body piercing: they're a major societal advance because they allow you to tell, with a mere glance, that someone's not quite right.

They also provide a vivid daily reminder, well into your dotage, of just how stupid you were when you were young.

Only two comments:

1) Piercings ain't permanent.

and

2) Never get someone's name tattooed on you (unless they're dead or you've already broken up, but even then, don't).

What perplexes me is the number of really crude, ugly tattoos people get. I don't mean ones where the artistic merit is debatable, I mean ones that appear to have been done with a straightened out paperclip by your cellmate while he was in the throes of DTs.

And of course they are always where they're visible regardless of the type of clothing worn. Yeah, I'd hire that guy with the zigzag thingy going around his neck. Looks professional and stable, with excellent judgement.

Some folks think they'll be nineteen and pissed off at their parents forever...

I wasn't 19 or pissed off at my parents when I got my tattoo. I was 21 years old, and had drawn the design I wanted more than a year prior to that and then kept it, to make sure I wanted it. Then I researched all of the tattoo places in the tri-state area, found one I liked best, toured the shop, looked at the artist's portfolio, got an estimate, and made an appointment to come back a month later to have it done.

I made sure my tattoo was in a place that could be hidden for business with no effort, and that wasn't likely to sag or expand and contract much over the years. That was six years ago, and I'm still as proud of my tattoo as the day I got it. It's my artwork, in a design of high personal symbolism to me, and its extremely well done.

I'm against bad, cartoonish art. I believe that you should be an adult before you're legally able to get a tattoo (they're harder to get rid of than spouses). I believe people should think long and hard about getting one. I don't think, though, that people should condemn the form as whole.

Personally, I have nothing against tattooing; it can be interesting. But are people with conspicuous tattoos prepared for the day when, twenty years from now, young people will look at them, roll their eyes, and be obviously thinking "how lame" or whatever the vernacular equivalent is then?

I got my tattoo in Ireland. I love it -- and am always transported back to Galway whenever somebody takes notice and asks me about it.

Tattoos are lame period. Sure, there are some exceptional artists out there who make up some very interesting designs, but rarely have I know someone who didn't regret screwing up their bodies with one or more of these hideous monsters. Grow the fu$k up people and learn to think for yourselves. This BS about personal symbolism makes me gag.