Ink spots.

Yes, the two top pics are of my big hairless calves. A while back TBNIL asked to see what my Bananarama tats looked like. Well, there you have 'em. LOL. The album cover art inspiration follows. Now that I'm 40, I might as well come clean as to what my motivations were behind them.

I was in my teens during the early 80's and it was the UK pop groups that really moved me. Back then, it was called 'New Wave' and while growing up on the east coast, this kind of music was considered 'alternative' at best. I found it kind of liberating to be all into a new music genre that was both fun and danceable all the while being something that no one else was into. Yes -- I was a trailblazer ... in my head at least! It was on a Saturday morning back in 1982 that I first saw the 'Ramas performing on American Bandstand. That was the day a music freak was born. I was quite the impressionable one indeed! It must have been Siobhan's sultry eyes. [She's the one on the top right swimming.] Anyway -- fast forward 10+ years -- I'm done with college and already working. By this time, my record collection was full of all kinds of fun goodies from The Pet Shop Boys to Dead or Alive to Kylie and, well, of course Madonna! What a better way to commemorate my true love to my favorite band but get it permanently scarred into my skin?!? That's where the fish came into the picture (it was a recurring logo in their early singles and albums). At the time, I was working part-time for a well known live rock bar/venue in DC called The 9:30 Club. All the door guys and bartenders were tatted and pierced up. I thought that was soooo cool so I decided to take the plunge under the tattoo gun as well! Meanwhile, being the lone gay boy who worked the ticket booth proved to be quite the anomaly amongst the staff to say the least. The guys at the club were more than amused to hear where that picture on my left leg came from. I didn't care -- it was something very important to me and more so ABOUT me! The 2nd tattoo didn't come along until 1998 or 1999 I think. I purposely left the banner blank. I'm not sure why though. People always ask what I plan to put there. On more than one occassion I've taken a sharpie and written in it the name of a person I felt like flirting with. It's quite the ice breaker ya know! ;-)

Ahh, the things you do in your youth. Did I mention piercings? Well -- they're gone now. The tattoos are fading and in need of some touching up I suppose. Not sure if I plan on getting anymore. It's all about the story to tell about them, right? Oh yeah, no matter what people tell you -- getting that shit done to you HURTS! In the long run, do I regret getting tattoos in the first place? Nah. They're memories of good times. Things I wouldn't trade for the world.