I’ve wanted tattoos for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until this year that I finally felt like I could make good decisions about what I’d permanently put on my body.
At first, I thought maybe I was too old, but when I asked my friends who have lots of tattoos what they thought, they all said that waiting until I was in my 40s was a great idea, because it means I won’t ever have to reckon with an unfortunate decision made during Spring Break in my 20s. That reassurance, coupled with me dedication to not-fuck-giving about what random people think, was all it took for me to go ahead and get some artwork to live on my body.
First, I got Anne’s heartbeat tattooed on my left forearm. She wrote a lovely story about it on her blog, which I encourage you to read (in fact, even though I’m a little biased, I think everything she writes on her blog is pretty great, and worth your time.)
I wanted her heartbeat because I wanted to carry part of her with me wherever I went. I wanted her heartbeat on my left arm because I’m left handed, and I felt that it symbolized her guiding me. I wanted it on the inside of my arm, because I wanted to be able to look at it whenever I thought about her, and I wanted to be able to lay her heartbeat against mine whenever I missed her.
It was quick and easy and before my artist was even finished with it, I was making plans for another. They say you’ll either have a single tattoo, or a whole bunch of them, and I see myself landing squarely in the latter category.
A few months later, I went back to see Kim, my artist, and started work on a fairly large octopus piece on my right forearm. There are a lot of reasons that I wanted an octopus, but they’re personal and I’m keeping them to myself. I will allow this: the octopus is amazing, and the more I learn about it, the more I love it.
It took three sessions, for a total of about six hours, to finish her (I don’t know why, but I know that the octopus I have on my arm is female) and when she was finally finished, I felt like she needed a name.
“What are you going to name her?” Kim asked me as she put a bandage on my arm.
Maybe it was the endorphins talking, because I’m a pretty sciencey, skeptical, get-your-woo-bs-out-my-face-because-SCIENCE! guy, but I said, “I’m not sure, but she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”
A few weeks went by, and I tried out different names for her, but nothing felt right. Maybe naming her was a silly thing to do, like when I named my neato robot vacuum “Dobby”, and then felt terrible when I kicked it in the dark, and it shook side to side like I’d hurt it (it was making sure that he — it. It. Not he, it — was still connected to its charging station).
But one day, I think during Comicon, I was walking with my friend, Joseph Scrimshaw, and he asked me if she had a name.
“Not yet,” I told him, “but I decided that she’ll tell me what it is, when she’s ready to name herself.”
I had no endorphin excuse, this time, but after several weeks, giving her a name had become A Thing.
The words came out of my mouth, and a name popped into my head. It was not a name I ever would have chosen, but it was there, all the same.
“She kind of looks like she should be called ‘Gloria’,” he said.
Gloria was the name that had popped into my head, two seconds earlier.
“Okay, this is weird, but not only is that a name I’d never choose on my own, but it’s the name that popped into my head just before you said it. So I guess her name is Gloria.”
I don’t know what it means, I don’t know why I chose it, I realize that we could have heard or seen or otherwise subconsciously had something happen around us that made that name land on us at the same time, but whatever the rational explanation, the idea that this ink on my arm, which is in the shape of an octopus, assigned a name to itself — to herself — is cool to me, so I accept it.
Today, I went in to see Kim, to get Gloria some touch ups. When I was done, she looked like this:
Eventually, I’m going to get my right arm sleeved. I talked with Kim about some of my ideas today, and we’ll probably get to work on them next month.
I don’t have any tattoos, but if I got one, it would be a tramp stamp of Herve Villechaize working on a spreadsheet.
Also, I would have named the octopus Maude.
I have no ink, but I recently lost the best dog of my life (thus far? hard to say that for sure), and I’m seriously considering one for her. We shall see…love you, Trinity. Miss you.
Wil,
I can totally understand your feelings about getting inked. I waited until this year to get ink myself. (I’m 39) I had my first piece done in April. – a cat outline that became Schrodinger’s cat by July. My second tattoo is of an owl. It sits on my left shoulder. My most recent one is of the Harley Quinn Diamonds and her mask on the inside of my left arm. Next year I plan on getting a partial sleeve for my right arm.
I am one who always wanted a tattoo as well but waited until I was 40 to get mine (last year). My husband left me in August of last year and our separation hearing was the day after what would have been our 20th anniversary. That Saturday I went and had the word “Stronger” with a butterfly tattooed on my upper right shoulder. I call it my label now. The butterfly represents my changing to become stronger and better through all of this. It was a cathartic experience for me. I suffer from a painful chronic disease as well, so the tattoo itself was no big deal.
I am planning on 2 more myself. One a vine around my left ankle that ends on my foot spelling out the names of both of my children. And 2 plumeria flowers on the vine. They all have a special meaning for me. The 3rd tattoo I’m still considering, but it would be an ambigram of my kids names on the inside of my right arm.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with for your next tattoo. Gloria is a great name for an octopus, btw.
Gloria is beautiful.
I’m far too much of a wimp to get a tattoo and I don’t think it would fit my “style” but I know a number of inked people who made excellent and artistic decisions that compliment both their bodies and personalities. Others, not so much.
Gloria is awesome! Thanks for writing about her and your journey.
I’ve always wanted tattoos. When I was in my 20s (early 90s) I even went so far as to step into a tattoo shop. I didn’t go through with getting the tat. Why? One word. Fear. It is my enemy and my closest friend all at once.
Anyway fast forward to me at 35 with my first tat. I now have 3 at 43 years of age and I want sooooo many more.
That’s an awesome tat. My back has a few of my favorite quotes from my favorite books, and I’m getting my sons’ birthdays on my forearm. In a stay at home mom…. So I don’t have to worry about what employers think. 😉
Odd… I will be getting my first tattoo (a butterfly on my left arm for my mom who loved butterflies and passed away in June) at the age of 57. Also, at my former place of employment, my boss’s dad used to come in once a month to do the books (he was in his 90’s and still working.. amazing man that Rocky) and for some reason, he always called me Gloria, Even though I had been there for almost ten years and my name is Carol. 😀
Gloria is gorgeous, Wil. Really, just beautiful. With regard to naming her, you did exactly the right thing and I totally empathize. Cars are a little bit of a thing in my family, and when I bought my current car about a year ago, everyone asked me its name. I went through the same process you did: trying on names for size and nothing worked. Finally, I sat in the front seat, closed my eyes, and asked the car its name. The name “Ruby” popped into my head. She’s been Ruby ever since, and she seems to run a little sweeter now.
Hi there, Gloria, you beautiful girl!
I named my very first tattoo (a baby dragon on my ankle) Smirnoff. Not for the reasons you might think! Okay, exactly for the reasons you might think… The giraffe on my ribs is named Bernard, and I have no idea why. All my other tattoos already had names – Russell Brand, Derpy Pony, two-headed toxic Bambi, GIR… I love all my stupid tattoos. 😀
Oh dear – everyone commenting is all mature and wise… I got my first one when I was 20. I’m 26 now and have 10. #NoRagrets
While I obviously don’t advocate drunken tattoos while on spring break. I don’t hold with the concept that anything you desire when you are young is automatically (or even likely) a problem when you get older, even if you wouldn’t choose to get it later.
Tattoos are (essentially) permanent while our selves are not. So even if what you get when 20 is not what you would get when 40, at the very least it is a record of who you were at 20, which for good or bad is worth something. All too often we forget who were used to be, about the things that got us to who we are now.
As for me, I have four tattoos, I got them at the ages of 22, 25, 27, and 31.
Really, what bothers me is not what somebody’s reason for getting ink is, but when they don’t have a reason. Your body is important and wonderful, and if you are going to modify it, one of the single most powerful acts you can take in your life, do it for something, no matter what that something is. Doing it for nothing just seems disrespectful to your flesh.
This first half of this post is about capitalizing on the brownie points you’ll be earning with the wife. Wil, you are a WISE, WISE man.
And yes, I concur that the Octopus has a very “Gloria” look about it.
Love it! She is amazing (stunning!) and Gloria is perfect. Nicely done. 🙂 (And now, I need MOAR ink. Good grief…. )
I’ve always wanted a tattoo, too, but waited until my mid-30s until I finally knew what I wanted. I now have two and am planning two more at least. It’s definitely ok to wait!
Proper tattoo art, like that octopus, is among my favourite forms of art. I’ll never get one though because A) I’m too hairy and B) I’m a man of fleeting fancy, fascinations and interests move on too quickly for any one subject to work continuously for something so permanent.
I’ve wanted a tattoo of Micheal J Anderson for years, either from Carnivale or Twin Peaks…until he recently started spewing anti-semetic hatred all over his Facebook. Sure glad I waited on that one!
Let’s hope your Gloria never leaves you. “Hangin’ on the line!”
http://youtu.be/355Fk8drgZE
I got my first tattoo at 23, a jaunty Felix the Cat giving a thumbs-up. I waited 15 years to get my next one, and now at 39 have six – a sailor-style heart with my wife’s name, a hawk (representing my son), cover art from one of my favorite musicians, that star that every punk-ish guy has, and an outline of Oregon (my home state). And hey, if Wil can get one after 40, I guess I can too, but I want to stop at seven – an odd, prime number. I need something geeky.
As for the thing with having a reason for tattoos, I can understand that, but I also think sometimes the tattoos that don’t have some meaningful story behind them can serve a different kind of purpose.
For me, when I got my first body modification (other than childhood piercing gun earlobes) in my early 20s, a septum piercing, I did it on a bit of a whim. I liked the look of them, and thought it would look good on me specifically… that was my only justification. Suddenly I looked a little closer to the way I had always wanted to look, and furthermore, the way I had always kind of thought of myself.
In short, I think that having stories behind tattoos can be a really lovely idea, but it’s definitely not the only reason to get tattooed. More important is the autonomy and self-respect you exercise by getting something that flat out makes you feel more beautiful.
I agree with you 100%. Most of my tattoos had no significance to them prior to getting them. Three of them exist because an artist said “Hey, I have an idea for a tattoo – do you want to get it?” But they’re a part of me now and remind me of who I was when I got them.
Beautiful tat, Wil. Naming your tats, like naming your pets, is something you need to wait for them to let you know. Got a 6 week old female kitten once that tried to jump up on a table, misjudged the distance, clonked herself on the head and really dazed herself. We had been discussing names at the time while watching her explore her new home without our interference. The movie Cat Ballou had been on TV the night before so we tried calling out Ballou to see if she would respond but the dog came running since his name was Blue. With our Southern accents, Ballou and Blue sounded too much alike. When the kitten clonked her head and sat there completely stunned and swaying, we had the cast of Cat Ballou on our minds and decided she looked like Lee Marvin when his character got drunk in the movie Paint Your Wagon. I called out the name Marvin and she turned to look at us with an expression of “yeah and what do you want?” so we had a female cat named Marvin. She let us know her name, much like Gloria told you what her name is.
Your tattoo is beautiful! Gloria is a great name. At the aquarium I work, we sorta fell into a tradition of giving all our giant Pacific octopuses “G” names, so that is a cool coincidence.
And not that your artwork is based on any real species, but just wanted to let you know that if you want to be really nerdy about it, you can tell the sex of an octopus by looking at its third right arm. If the suckers go all the way to the end you have a female. If they stop towards the tip, then that is the hectocotylus which the males use to transfer sperm to the female.
Of course, artistic interpretation and beauty trumps science when it comes to art, but I just wanted to share that with you just in case you had never come across that.
That’s really interesting, and cool! There isn’t a lot that I don’t know about the octopus, so I love that you taught me something new!
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Maybe the coolest video I ever saw was this one about octopus camouflage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDTtkZlMwM
Just wondering, will a visible tattoo have an impact on what acting roles you can take in the future?
Not at all. You’d be surprised to find out how many people you watch on TV every week have tattoos that are covered up with makeup.
DUUUDE! That’s awesome! I personally have 5 right now (one is in progress as it’s a quarter sleeve Japanese Phoenix) and I am planning on many more. I know I will at least have one for my son with two black ravens as his name is Odin. yes, as in that Odin in Norse Mythology.
I saw a video of an octopus getting into/out of a tight spot (a jar). Could that be the secret meaning?
I’d love to have the opportunity to tattoo you should you decide upon another and brave the frigid cold of Minnesota.