The Convenience of the Tramp Stamp

I have been talking, planning and thinking about tattoos a lot lately.
I feel sometimes that I am a bit behind with this, as many of my close friends have already been inked. Eventually this is my plan as well, but I have held back for many reasons:

- tattoos are expensive, I like my money...
- on the note of money, I try to only buy things that are necessary
- the pain
- I already know WHAT I want, but WHERE do I want it?
- where can I put it that my family will never see? until maybe I am 35 with some kids and it doesn't matter anymore?
- I want to be in really good physical shape (if I'm going to be putting something artistic on my body forever I would like it to not be in an already saggy place)

These points being made I do have a goal to have my first tattoo at the end of the summer. It will be a very small tattoo, a design I made randomly my freshman year of college that just struck me as perfect. I was in horrible shape freshman year, though, physically and mentally. My highest weight of 177, which at the time didn't seem so bad, before I started working out.
I would like to be a healthy person and feel good about my body, feel comfortable with wearing shorts in public, etc. But I have not reached that point yet. My hope is to get into shape this summer, to feel good about wearing short shorts or a skimpy dress, I would like to, I like those styles, I just feel...gross.

My goal is also linked to staying in shape, for if I get a tattoo, or tattoos, then I will want to keep in shape to keep them looking nice. This all may sound very superficial, but in some ways it is, because our society is all about looks. That being said, though, I feel there is something to learn from this view. I don't believe everyone needs to be rail thin and starving, but I don't believe that obesity should be embraced as acceptable either. I know that in many cases it is not the fault of the person, but more of the society and cultural view, and also social class comes into play, the less money you have the less healthy food you can "afford" (maybe someday I will do a rant on the cost of cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets among the low-income, but for now, just mull over it)

Anyway,
now I would like to discuss tattoo placement.
I once worked with a woman who had all her tattoos on the backs of her body, she had a tramp stamp, a tattoo above each elbow and I was around when she was getting a great tattoo of a tree on her back and shoulders. She was very specific that the tree branches couldn't wrap around her shoulders so as not to be seen if viewing her from the front. Her reasoning was that if she ever got married she wanted to have wedding pictures where no tattoos could be seen on the front of her for her father. Her father KNEW she had tattoos, and she was probably going to have a backless wedding dress, but having the choice to look "presentable" was still there.

So, in my search for the perfect tattoo location I have thought about why the lower back is so popular. That is probably the reason, it is the most easily hidden, it is also a very nice, flat, least-likely-to-stretch spot. Yet I am very opposed to using it because of it's trampy-stampyness. Though, because I am silly, I always thought it would be funny to get a scene of a sunset right there...

I have been contemplating telling my mother beforehand, just so I can (possibly?) avoid a freak-out later on if she ever saw them...but I am still undecided. It's not like I am thinking "Ask for forgiveness later instead of permission now." Why? Because I know what her opinion is, tattoos = bad. So I wouldn't be asking permission more than just telling her...because I would get them either way, my other issue with telling my mom is then my sister will probably know, and if she knows then EVERYONE will know, and I will get shit for it from all angles, because the only people with tattoos, that I know of, are my uncle and my cousin (on my dads side) and my great-grandmother on that side didn't have any, but she LOVED them, unfortunately she is no longer with us, so she can not be there to appreciate them and shush everyone else...
She used to ask my uncle (dads younger brother) to show off his tattoos on Thanksgiving, and talk about how beautiful they were and then say that she always wanted to have one of a clover right below her collar bone, but that is she had it would be a tree by now (she was 85)

My brother and I have an agreement to tell each other when we get them because we are both planning to, and that's what so great about my brother, although we see each other rarely, we do get along, and have a lot in common, have a lot of the same worldviews, etc. Though are most common interests are cats, eating healthy (no soda and fast food, which is an everyday thing back home...) and tattoos. So at least I know I can tell someone, well and my uncle and cousin, but I only see them on holidays...and my cousin has a very trampy tramp stamp of a HUGE black and purple butterfly...and a rose, on the back of her neck...very meaningful, I'm sure.

My grandparents would probably never know...as I don't know how they would react, and I would be afraid my grandmother would have a grudge against me forever...even though of the 6-7 ideas I have 3 of them are for her (flowers, hummingbird and a mushroom, all things that she loves) and also one for my great-grandmother (an owl, and maybe a clover now that I think of it)

I think that is all for today.