Chips' Fun House ~ View topic

Alright, I'm making a separate post about these, because...well, I feel like it. Plus, it's a different topic than the last one I started. Laughing

Anyhow, I'm going to ATTEMPT to hotlink photo's of my tattoo's from my MySpace page, and give the story behind them all(above the relevent picture)...If it doesn't work that way, I'll edit the post to put the pics in from my(well, it was OUR) page. Either way, the pics will be up.

My first tattoo
Story: I got just over 3 months after Rose and I first met(and started dating). I found a flash picture in a magazine of the rose heads I wanted, so I scanned them into my computer, did a little trimming to isolate them, and printed them out. Once I had just the flowers, I drew a rough sketch(which I still have) of my concept. It wasn't perfect, but with a little work, I had my idea in a pretty much finished state. After talking to the artist, he made a slight modification...and it was perfect. I got it at a tattoo party a friend of Rose's(and now, one of my closest friends) was having. It cost me $375, but was well worth it.
The meaning: Start at the bottom...two hearts(Rose's and mine), bound by "Schicksal"(German for "Destiny"...Rose was born in Germany, and my family originally came from there), with an infinite love(look at the stems, they form an infinity symbol) in full bloom. I used roses, because her name was Rose.
Location: Upper left arm.

My second tattoo
Story: Rose had turned me on to a German singer named Doro Pesch. She could span the spectrum from power ballads to heavy metal. She's been rocking for over 20 years, and still kicks ass. One night, we were listening to some of her CDs, and a song called "Rare Diamond" came on(from the CD "Doro", produced by Gene Simmons). Rose refered to me as her Rare Diamond. She went so far as to call me the "Rarest Diamond of all...the soul-mate". I decided that I was going to get that as a tattoo. We went back to the same place I had gotten my first(and ironically, she had gotten her last one at the same time), and looked through their albums(pictures of their work and designs)...but didn't find what I was looking for. We talked to the artist, and he had an idea of what I wanted. He told us to come back in a few days and see what he had come up with.
He did the diamond right, but had a few different "banners" going across it. We picked out the one that looked the best(to us)...and made an appointment. My grandmother picked up the bill on that one....$150.
Meaning: An honor to Doro's song, and representative of what Rose and I felt for each other.
Location: Upper left arm, below the first tattoo.

My 3rd tattoo
Story: I had promiced Rose, after I had gotten the "Rare Diamond" tattoo, that she could get the next tattoo. Once she was deemed terminally ill, she let me out of that promice. I had told her that I wanted to get a portrait tattoo of her(which I haven't gotten yet...and more on that later)....but she also knew I would want to get others. My step-daughter had gotten 2 tattoo's memorializing her mother, and Rose's best friend(the one who held the tattoo that I had gotten my first one at) had already gotten one also. One night, I was sitting here watching Miami Ink....and an idea struck me. I honestly believe it was Rose talking to me. I had a vision...of a penguin holding a Rose. Penguins were our "relationship maskot"...the vision shifted, to a pair of penguins holding a Rose. This is where things get weird. I had a rough idea of what I wanted at this point...but I was rather trashed that night, so I made a mental note to hit the net the next day and see what I could find.
I was really antsy at work the next day...I wanted to get home and start searching for my next tattoo. Long story short(heh), about 2 hours into my search for the penguins, I found what I wanted....more or less(a slight modification was in order...but it was basicly what I had in mind). The "Rose" wasn't so easy to find. I knew what I wanted...but I couldn't find diddly-squat on the net. In frustration, I spun around in my chair, and was about to ask Rose for help(the urn she is in(well, part of her) is about 10 feet away from me)...before I could utter a word, it hit me. The rose I was looking for, was right here the whole time...painted on the front of the urn. I grabbed my(was hers) digital camera, and took a couple of shots of the front of the urn(after moving the neclaces holding her wedding ring aside). I hooked the camera up to the computer, and got to work. Because of the different resolutions, I couldn't edit them together...so I printed out a picture of the penguins...and re-fed the sheet in the printer. I cut out the rose from the rest of the pic, and printed it above the penguins. It was good, but not perfect, placement. I edited it again, and did another print. Perfect.
I modified the penguins(added fins to hold the rose, and extended the stem down a bit). I also made a notation on the paper, to get rid of the scarf the male penguin had on, and replace his wool hat with a top-hat.
My step-daughter refered me to American Tattoo, where she had hers done...and to my shock, the same guy who did my first 2 tattoos owns the place.
I called to set up an appointment, but had to go down there the day before to put down a deposit and give them the artwork I had.

Before I went down there, Krystal(my step-daughter) had posted something in her blog on myspace...and something else hit me(but wait for it).

I went down, and set up an appointment for the following day(Sat...10/14/2006)...the guy told me it would cost $275, and that I had to put down a $25 deposit. I told him about another one I wanted to get(see "My 4th tattoo" for that story)...and he told me that if I wanted to get it right then that it would cost me $60...but if I waited until I got the penguins/rose tattoo, he'd do it for free. I decided to wait.
Meaning: Rose and I as penguins...holding the rose that is on her urn. Again, symbolic of our relationship.
Location: Back of left calf.

My fourth tattoo
Story: This is gonna sound MAJORLY F'd up. It's my smallest, yet has a ton of meaning to it. It's the #3. My stepdaughter had gotten a tattoo on her right wrist with the number 10:56 on it....She had posted in her blog that the number haunted her....it was the time her mother, my wife, had died. I sat there staring at it....and again, Rose spoke to me from beyond.
Meaning: Rose died at 10:56am...1+0+5+6=12. 1+2=3
Rose died on 8/23/2006. 8+2+3+2+0+0+6=21. 2+1=3
We were married on the 12th. 1+2=3
I was her 3rd husband.
She moved in with me 3 times.
The date we were hired at the same job, was 3/13/2003. 3+1+3+2+0+0+3=12. 1+2=3
My grandmother did a numerology on Rose's birth name...the result? 3.
There is more, but I can't think of it all right now. I think I made it clear enough, though.
Location: Left wrist.

Cool dOOd

.

I can tell you loved her very much. Wink

I hope you and her daughter both Walk in Joy! You Both Deserve to. Crying or Very sad

Wow
Nice tatoos man.
The meaning of the 3 was kind of freaky, almost like, "Fate".

But I also noticed a note in your 2nd (3rd?) pic, on your PC case.
What's on it?

"Love is the strongest of all passions"

I understand those tattoo's mean alot to you. Take them with you forever

Nice tatoos man. Smile

Ein, Fine, Dry, BEER!!!

Cool man.
I hope those soldiers are doing okay. Kickin ass and hoping for that ticket back.
But isn't this a trip through memory lane.
I can see how much you loved her.
Times like those truly blurs the difference of the past, and the present.

Actually, that's:

Ein, Svi, Dri, PROST!
Wink