Thursday, July 30, 2009

Tat Two - Vut Too Doo?

I've ponced about with the idea before but the decision is made now and there's no going back. Unless I change my mind.

The decision is to get a tat on the inside of my right wrist. All I have to do now is figure out exactly what I want done.

This right wrist is the perfect position for what I want and I'm amazed that I hadn't thought of it before as a potential site. The one I already have, at the top of my left arm, I'm totally pleased with. Yet it doesn't really come out to play and get seen unless I'm swimming, bathing or having sex.

And let's face it, I bathe on my own, I swim like a brick and sex can be scarce in this life. On top of that I'm not a sleeveless T shirt kind of chap, even when on the drums in a dodgy pub. So I wanted a new location that gave a bit more public viewing but could still be hidden and kept away from people in a business environment.

The right wrist has the clever benefit of being able to be hidden by a sleeve as well as revealed by a T shirt. I can't believe no one's ever thought of it before.

So to the design. I posted some time ago about this and still would like to come up with something Sri Lankan, but it's proving a hard task, all about balance and taste. You see, if I were to get a Lankanish thing, then I wouldn't want it to be corny, I wouldn't want a Lankan to see it and roll their eyes and think "what a twat", any more than they normally would I mean.

Images of Kandyan drums and drummers are ideas that I've more or less rejected. Getting a tattoo artist here to do something like a Kandyan drummer may well end up with something that resembles a picture of a fat bird in a skirt with an oil drum around her waist. No disrespect to the inkers here but most of them won't know exactly how it should look and I've struggled to find enough pictures or diagrams on the net.

The option of waiting until the next time I hit Serendib is there, just not a favourable one because of impatience.

I toyed with the idea of having an outline map of the island but figured that, to the average Suddha, it would just look like an insignificant squiggle. Lions and flags were considered and turned down for potentially having too many extreme connotations.

I've also pondered on the possibility of getting a copy of one of the Sigiriya frescos but it's fraught with risk. Get it done badly and people would just think it was a picture of that long haired bloke at House Of Fashions. The only good thing that could come from that would be a bit of discount but it would take years to even get back the cost of the tat, so that's a no go.

A nice one of Naz Sansoni was also considered, then rejected because of a technicality, well Dom. Then, while thinking of other well known Lankans, of course Indi made an appearance. I reckon I might be the first person to have an Indi tattoo and could start a trend, perhaps with Kottu.org or Indi.ca just underneath.

But then I realised that Indi, good guy and all round hero anyway, does not possess a face I'd like to wake up and find staring at me in the middle of the night. I'm sure there are women who would love the thought, I'm just not one of them.

The Gyppo was also rejected. A pretty face and all, but huge big feet. That's why she never falls over you know and can swim really fast.

The initials of the girls, as well as Chinese characters are out. When I say Chinese characters I'm talking about letters, not Cato from the Pink Panther. The girls are fundamentally against the idea anyhow, with A saying that she'll probably hate me if I do it, so getting their initials would probably be rubbing ink in the wound.

So the search is on in earnest. I'm out and about visiting tattoo parlours looking for the one. Searching on the net for a tattoo is a bit like describing a colour to a blind person. It's only going to give me the very vaguest of ideas about what it will look like on me and it's next to impossible when I'm so hazy about what I want. Googling Lanka and drums just comes up with some idiot's blog.

Vut too doo?

Quite literally.

8 comments:

Sigma said...

Nothing like having a tuk tuk as tat mate

T said...

inner wrist is a bad idea, since its used so much. the ink tends to run and the lines get smudged and in a few years you just end up with an inky splotch on ur wrist.

Rhythmic Diaspora said...

Sigma - The idea was another that has been considered and rejected I'm afraid. Thanks, but it's not uniquely Lankan enough.

T - hmmm.. this is food for thought, but progress has been made since the post was written. Watch this space!

Gyppo said...

Will you STOP telling everyone about my feet??? Sheesh. Size-ist.

What about one of those crazy masks they use for Kandyan dancing? Might be a bit scary to wake up to though, if that's one of your considerations.

Or something written in Sinhala? Although it'd be a bit of a waste considering you wouldn't be able to read it :P

Wasn't crazy about the drum idea to be honest - having a random drum on your wrist wouldn't really look too great because it's such a simple image.

Dunno what else... What do you love that's Sri Lankan.....?

...........Chicken curry?

Gyppo said...

Oooh... An elephant in Perahera get-up??

David Blacker said...

Well you could do both wrists -- "Left" on the left and of course "Right" on the right. That could be useful when drumming. Or a dotted line and a small letter opener, with "slit here" underneath -- my PTI in the Army had it on his throat, except with a scissors and "methaning kapanna" in Sinhalese.

Rhythmic Diaspora said...

Gyp - Opps sorry, I won't mention the feet again. I've now chosen what to do and it's happening this afternoon. It's a pattern thing, hard to describe but may chuck up a pic or two soon. I decided against any complex images as I though the space is too small, perhaps if I ever got another on my arm or back then I'd think about something grander.

DB - Well I actually considered my company logo but rejected that too. Then I spent a long time staring at the Chinese symbol for drum but went against that also. Though a last minute change of mind isn't beyond me by any means.

Dee said...

"long haired bloke at House Of Fashions" indi? hahahahaah....rofl.