Tattoo - the sequel

Voila!

Big day!

Today is the day: lunch with an old friend in a couple of hours and a couple of hours after that, my tattoo! I actually woke up feeling excited about it. I hope it doesn’t hurt – obviously – but am less concerned about that than I thought I would be. I’m just looking forward to having it done.

Last weekend was the Bingham Cup in Dublin. I was one of the Directors for the tournament when it took place in London in 2004, then it was NY in 2006 and now Dublin (the first one ever was San Fran in 2002). For personal reasons I will blog about another time, I couldn’t go. At first I was planning to and even paid my registration fee. However, when I found out I hadn’t been registered (I thought the club were doing it, the club thought I was doing it) I checked my diary and decided I couldn’t go anyway. I’m hoping I get the registration fee back haven’t heard anything for a while…

Anyway, I have been looking at some of the photos on facebook and am delighted to report it was the best one yet – a huge success! This is exactly what we set out to do in 2004: make sure that every two years it got better and better but in my opinion NY was a setback (poor facilities and events), but Dublin pulled it out of the bag and got it back on track in grand style! Well done the lads. I would have loved to have been there but my family comes first and to be honest, we have so much else on it’s getting a bit stressful fitting it all in.

Of course, the biggest winner out of all this, is the game. We want young people knowing they can play rugby (or any sport) without fear of prejudice and discrimination.

I had another Dogwise client yesterday – two rather lovely Cocker Spaniels. It’s really interesting listening to people; how they interact with the dogs, what training they do, what they expect etc., etc. I still maintain that you could solve some problems after only speaking to the owners and not even meeting the dogs! There are two recurring problems; lack of consistency (one partner lets the dogs jump, the other doesn’t), not being enough of a leader (giving affection too readily and letting the dog control the relationship(s)). I have another client on Friday.

Right now though, it’s back to the day job…

Tattoo!

I’m having a tattoo! (On Thursday at 4.30pm to be precise!) I’ve wanted a tattoo for ages and I just never got around to it. It wasn’t the pain that put me off – it’s not that painful I’m told. It wasn’t even that it’s permanent – I have a dozen scars that are also permanent and a lot less interesting! (And really, if it bothers you that much you can just laser the sucker off).

I’m not trying to be rebellious or edgy (I’m 34 so I’m pretty sure that’s not allowed at my age anyway). I’m not waiting for a sharp intake of breath and mutterings of disapproval. I’m just doing it for me and if my family and friends like it, cool. If they don’t, I’ll just wear a sock on my arm every time I see them…

In case you’re wondering; the design is 3 stars – different sizes – on the inside of my right forearm and the reason I’m having it done is I’m fed up with my knees. I realise that’s a pretty unconventional answer but as my knees gets worse, things are happening to my body that I have no control of and which, well, hurt. A lot. So I’m choosing to do something to my body which I have control of and which will look good. It makes sense to me anyway and that’s all that’s important.

I will post a pic when it’s done, but more importantly I’ll blog about the tattooist because it wasn’t easy finding somewhere to go. Some I spoke to were so far up their arse there was an echo on the line. It felt that by not already being covered in body art they weren’t really interested in my simple design and consequently I wasn’t interested in giving them my simple cash. Others weren’t unfriendly but just seemed a bit rushed or stand-offish, which understandably also put me off. This is, after all, quite an intimate process and you want to feel relaxed and confident in the person’s abilities. The tattooist I’m using in Hammersmith seems talented, cool and very friendly. Now there’s a thing.

Of course they do say that people become addicted. They go in for one small design and 12 months later they have a full sized komodo dragon tattooed from their ankle to their armpit…

I have a feeling though I might just settle for my three stars. I don’t want to get greedy…