Being Yourself: Tattoos

When it comes to your body, I say that it’s yours and you can do whatever you want with it. I only ask that you treat it with respect. One of these things that I wanted to write about is tattoos. This is a touchy subject for some people and I get that some tattoos hold great meaning to their bearer and what they stand for. A countless number of people have some symbol forever engraved on their skin. Many have a picture or phrase that speaks volumes to them or shows a picture of a beloved family member and I totally get that it means more to them than anything else and I respect that on such a high level. My only problem with tattoos is if people get some that aren’t necessarily important and are there just for show because of how cool they look. It bothers me so much when I ask them, “Why did you get that tattoo? Is there a story behind it?” and then they give me this response “Well, I don’t know it looked cool in the shop window so I decided to get it over my shoulder where it can be seen by everyone.” Ummm……….

                Are you an idiot? No offense to cool looking tattoos and what-not but you do realize that will be there for the rest of your life right? It is a very personal thing to have because it is now part of your skin, it will be with you forever and other people can see it for the rest of your existence, so don’t you want to give them something worth looking at? Maybe something that has a good message to it and maybe could motivate and inspire those around you to do something with their lives? That’s what I would go for if I were to get a tattoo (not so sure if I will I’m very on and off about it). I would go for something that is beautiful and still speaks volumes to those around me. I dislike those people that get tattoos for no reason with whatever they want on them. I understand that they can get what they want and that they have that freedom I just disagree with their thought process behind it.  The purpose of any art on the body is to convey a message regardless if you realize it or not, so therefore if it is a poor message I will most likely disagree with your skin art. I will say this however, if you are wanting to get a tattoo and people tell you not to, screw them. Do you know why? Because in the end you are the ultimate decision. It’s not up to anyone else what message you want to convey. Nor is it their right to tell you know. You have a right to speak your mind through art and any other means you see fit. Keep true to yourself and your body and if you want little images of R2D2 on your chest then go for it. Or if you want your favorite bible verse on your shoulder, who’s stopping you? Or a picture of your daughter right over your heart, do it. Be you in a way that you can express, and if that’s the way you feel than I fully support you. As always guys it’s been a pleasure ranting. Love ya’ll!!! Peace!

Personality: The Obsessors

Imagine this, you are in a group project in an L.A. class, the teacher assigns the partners, but you get to choose your topic over the WW2 era and your group chooses the Holocaust for whatever reason (probably because their lives are really depressing and they wanted to see people who had it worse for a change). Now imagine this, you get the topic, and all the sudden one dude in your group starts freaking out and smiling and laughing and cheering and practically shaking with excitement. Then says this: “I LOVE THE HOLOCAUST I READ ALL ABOUT IT IM SO GLAD IT HAPPENED ITS SO INTERESTING”. Not the best thing to say when the whole class can hear you, buts it’s obvious this guy’s social skills were not up to par. Turns out, this guy really did research the Holocaust and every living detail known to man about it, and was actually convinced it was a good thing. Needless to say that was not the best hobby to have but it worked to my advantage considering we passed that group project with flying colors.

This blog will be about people like my group partner who will remain anonymous (but for the sake of having fun let’s just call him Ken, a random white guy name, as he was indeed, white). These people I would like to call Codename: The Obsessors. This is a pretty self-explanatory codename, as these are the people who obsess over their favorite things. Now I have categorized the levels of obsession into three main levels (now I did have various sub-categories but to keep this post nice and short for the most part I’m sticking to my main three) the first level of obsession is called Stage One: The Mega Fan. They are not your ordinary fans, they don’t just read the book, or watch the movie two or three times, no. They read this book 17+ times, mark their favorite spots with post-it notes and write a song in the books honor. They watch the movie 20+ times and look at the same scenes over and over until they know the movie by heart and could quote the entire thing by memory. This person is not on the same level as Ken per-say but pretty damn close.

The next level is a level I like to call Stage Two: The Deep Ender’s. They are the ones who jump of the deep end and immerse themselves in some next level obsession, the likes of which ordinary fans would never see. These people are like Ken, as this is the level he is on. These people are convinced that their obsession is an entity of God or Ala or Rakshasa, whoever they choose to worship. Every small detail is committed to memory for instance, if the obsessed chose to rewrite the book they’ve been obsessing over for well over 5 years now, they could set the book on their pedestal that they always have it on, and write the book word for word, with no problem without having to look for a reference.  

Finally there are the people who have reached Stage Three: The No Returners. These fans have gone so far as to not even be fans anymore. They have convinced themselves in their dark depressed state brought on by reality that they choose not to accept, that they are in fact, part of their fantasy world in their book. They pick a character they love the most and are genuinely convinced to the point of insanity that they are that character. They will act out scenes and talk exactly the way they think that character would talk/dress/act and so on. They cannot return to reality as it would probably break their fragile mind, their family members walk on eggshells around their poorly lost child and make sure they don’t crack. Any indication they receive that they are not actually in their book could send them into a spiraling depression and a giant pool of tears will follow suit.

Thanks for listening to my crazy story about my thoughts on book/movie/history fans. As always I love you guys! Peace.