An exhibit devoted to tattoos in art in Germany; here a teaser about it. Also from Bastian!

Something for Bastian and others into hooks – ‘hanging on’ discusses suspension, Allen Falkner and his TSD team.

Another influential person, Brian Decker, mentioned in this, somewhat naïve text about ‘scar tattoos’ (sic!).

We all heard about the first Christians allegedly tattooing the symbols of their faith on them or the medieval knights getting tattoos in the time of the Crusades; here’s another twist on it: ‘Jerusalem family tattoos pilgrims for centuries.’

‘Keep your tattoos from fading’ is a must at this time of the year!

To honor him and his Blue-Eyed Monster, here’s some news on tattoos for dogs!

Tattoos and fine art! Also, Angela Su’s project focused on self-mutilation.

Book-themed tattoos on the Huffington Post. And here Game of Thrones tattoos! Tattoos are coming

‘body art stereotypes misrepresent tattoo and body piercing culture’ – definitely much food for thought!

For once tattoos and other forms of body modification are handy à AZ-based restaurant wants to hire modified people.

Tattoos and skin cancer! Funny, how they phrase the headlines to catch our attention!

Eyeball tattooing.

Another ‘American Mary’ review. I didn’t manage to watch the whole movie; maybe one of these days, though!

Mum tattoos here!

Since I seem to be getting into ‘the Biggest Looser’ show, let me show you a guy who looks absolutely awesome – he’s damn fit, wonderfully buff and he’s heavily tattooed at that! Bob Harper, one of the trainers on the show!

How to prove your loyalty to your employer and score a pay rise at that? At this NYC brokerage it’s easy (kind of) – just get a tattoo of their logo!

There’s also a chance that once you get your tattoo done, you may land on the police register – this time it’s Queensland, Australia.

Fortunately, there’s also a call for open-mindness: letters from online readers!

A talk about tattoos and graffiti at Mobile Museum of Art, AL, USA.

Boston Strong temporary tattoos!

Nothing splendid but it’s nice to see familiar faces: a slide show called ‘would you do that to your face?’ (as if there was anything wrong with these faces!)

A nice submission from Bastian – Corey Miller on tattoos! (thank you!)

According to my posts on here, my first set of microdermals, the wrist ones, was installed on April 1, 2010 which makes them now slightly over 3 years old. I’m quite happy to say that they are still going strong and there’s no sign of migration. One of them may have gone a lil up, closer to the surface of the skin but that’s it.

The forearm set was done on April 21, 2011. I removed them on March 29, 2013 due to the very visible by then rejection – the inner forearm micro was halfway through the skin while the outer forearm one was on its way to this stage. They had been in for almost 2 years which isn’t too short but it isn’t overly impressive, either.

There were some problems with these two right from the beginning (although it’s easy to say so now, back then I didn’t think much about it and just kept dismissing the warning signs). They took longer to heal, especially this inner one. They bled a little now and then during the healing period (although again, I’m well-known for my obsessions and even now I tend to tighten the tops up just to make sure they’re safely secured). Eventually they healed, though. Since I was obsessive about all of them, I always covered them at night (band aids for the forearm set, a loose wristband for my wrist set) and sometimes even when I was out (I actually still do it with my wrist, just in case as I would hate to get them entangled with/ in something and lose them).

The real problem started last summer when I noticed that the skin seemed to be raised and slightly bruised around the inner forearm micro. At first I thought I was mistaken. Then I thought that maybe it was just temporary (too much body lotion/ sunblock/ sweat, maybe an occasional hit during a workout). The thing seemed to be on and off for a few months. Now and then, when I squeezed the skin around the top, some lymph came out (nasty, I know but when you are into body modification, you stop being grossed out, at least by your own stuff ).

Eventually, after a few months of temporary problems, I had to admit that something wasn’t right. Since I’d already known what body piercing rejection looks like (two failed attempts to heal a surface piercing taught me something after all), I had to realize that this was it again.

Gross as it might have looked (and may sound now), I found it quite fascinating to watch how my body decided to get rid of titanium (and thus supposedly bio-compatible!) pieces of jewelry and was doing it very slowly. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t get much in the way (some lymph squeezing aside) but it definitely didn’t look healthy or good.

The rest is history. My piercer removed them over  a month ago. The procedure wasn’t overly painful, the cuts didn’t bleed much and I could stop covering the fresh scars with band aids two days later. They scabbed very quickly and today there are just two reddish spots on my forearm. They will fade into white in a few months, I think, and that will be it.

Will I get them re-done in the future? I seriously doubt it! Not because I didn’t like them or came to dislike them. I just approached my microdermals as an experiment right from the beginning. All I wanted was to learn more about them not only through articles and posts on the Internet but also through my own experience and I achieved my goal. I’ve lived with my micros for 3 years now and I know what it’s like on daily basis. I know upsides and downsides and that’s always a good thing. In my opinion, a body modification should not only be aesthetically pleasing but, above all, it should be functional and not limit its owner in any way. With micros it’s not that easy (and I’ve already written about it in one of the earlier posts). For now, my mission is accomplished, I gathered some knowledge, had some fun and a good learning experience and I got myself two new very tiny scars. What else a weird girl could ask for?

A really interesting interview with the author of the “Grandma’s tattoos’ documentary in one of the Polish newspapers. It’s def. worth reading although it seems that it’s not available online yet (all I’ve found so far is this short text from last year). The documentary was screened in Egypt recently.

Islamic women and body piercing.

It def/ made the headlines – what Obama would do if his daughters got tattoos.

Ear lobe reconstruction! As a bonus, an interview with Steve Truitt, one of the leading body modifiers, who talks why and how with quite annoying a radio host!

At first it seems like a great opportunity but it might not be such a good idea after all – ‘all you can sit’ special at one of the tattoo shops in CT, USA (the shop’s website here).

Zombie Boy visited Munich!

A few pictures from Wroclaw Tattoo Konwent.

It’s getting warmer, so the question of covering tattoos and accepting them at workplace pops up yet again; this time in pieces like ‘would you ever consider getting a tattoo?’ and ‘hide or not hide?’.

‘Nickel, cobalt sensitivity increases with number of piercings’ deals with metal allergies.

The Lexington Tattoo Project revisited!

Two Polish accents: ‘why people follow dangerous trends?’ (it won’t surprise you with the conclusions!) and ‘II Wroclaw Tattoo konwent’ (really soon!).

I’ll write up a proper update ASAP; healing’s going well!

Tattoos are more tamed and thus appear in the news on daily basis. Here ‘how tattoos became favored form of art,’ as a statement for Tibetan cause, more on Chavez tattoos, Auschwitz tattoos now and tattoos as a means of identity for members of Mara Salvatrucha.

And yet tattoos are even more than (just) art, memory, identity r statement. It may also give you control over your body back: nipple tattoos vs. breast cancer.

This one is interesting for many reasons and one of them is that the author is Don Ed Hardy himself: ‘how to get rich by tattoos.’

A Polish accent thanks to an article about Yakuza.

I don’t really like posting stuff about celebs but this time I’m going to make an exception as it’s related to ‘Game of Thrones’ (I’m more into books than the TV series): “Cersei Lannister’s” tattoos.

Being fit is important (or it should be for these who love saying how their bodies are their temples, or at least blank canvas ), so I liked the idea to “tattoo” the bodies of the dancers!

Finally, since I’m still riding the high after my (7^th!!! ) half-marathon, let me share the pictures of body modification on fitness ‘guru’s’: Jillian Michaels and Gwen Lawrence. For me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a modified and fit body!

‘Tattoo nation’ documentary.

Megan Massacre and America’s worst tattoos.

Also, interesting articles about tattoo culture along US-Mexico border and tattoos commemorating the Sandy hook shooting disaster.

Body modification and a sixth sense, and body hacking presented quite academically.

Pain Solution’s still touring the US.

The article on the rise of the tattoo craft briefly describes what a long way the tattoo art underwent to be where it is now. Quite ironically,methinks, there’s also one being a sign of our times: the Body Shocking Show TV series where in one of the episodes a man is having his genitals pierced on air.

Different types of tattoos: ‘terminator tattoos’ (nice!), recovery ink and temporary tattoos for belly buttons.

In the Polish army there’s a strong distinction between disfiguring and non-disfiguring tattoos; you can sport the latter and still be part of the army. Wonder how would they perceive mine?

A ‘celeb tattoo hall of shame’ slid show is, in a way, also a shame!