It's not about PAIN

The other day I did a blog about dreadlocks.. today, after reading my exact thoughts put into words by Dan Brown.. I thought I might write about tattooing..

My back has a large tattoo on it.. I love it.. I had the idea for the design and my artist designed it.. I traded a lot of massage to get it.. yet .. I have another idea for adding to it.. go figure..

I have several astrological signs ( of loved ones) traveling up and down my left leg.. I have my mythological totem ( phoenix) on my right shoulder, the signature of a guitar god looming over it...

I love my tattoos.. I do.. people see them and say " Wow you must really be into pain"... people's favorite questions have been " how long did that take?" to which the answer is- about 17 hours.. not all at the same time.. and my all time favorite " didn't that hurt?".. to which I give the stock answer " no.. I had it licked on by kittens" ( thanks to Amy for that clever comeback)..

The only thing I can think of when people say " Wow you must really be into pain"... is "wow you must not have a single tattoo"... because those of us in the tribe, know it's not about the pain.. we don't like to hurt any more than anyone else does. I have always told people that pain is transformative.. it's temporary, but transformative.. it's like having a baby..( or for you guys, maybe passing a gallstone) .. you suffer, then it's' over.. and you have something wonderful to show for it.. and your vessel.. your person.. will never be the same.. I'm not sure exactly what you gain from passing a gallstone, but it's the only high level pain thing I could think of for you fellas!!! lol ( maybe you simply gain an appreciation for the pain that women endure!)

Once the needle/s have deposited that ink under you skin, you will never EVER be the same person again..not even if you were to have them removed.. that area of skin will never be what it was before the tat. It's about change. Not Pain.

The bible says that it's wrong.. well.. I call bullshit as usual.. the bible was written by man.. not God.. sorry. Frankly I look at it as a way of celebrating our vessel and it's creator. The skin is now covered in regalia.. permanently. the tattoo was around long before the bible and Christianity. The decoration of the skin was a privilege and often a right of passage in some tribes. One that I wanted was the Maori chin tat of the 'mother'.. it's a rite of passage for older adult females .. the wise ones.. not a gnarly full face tattoo.. but obvious none the less.. I settled for a NW native tradition of piercing the area under my lower lip ( the labret)..same meaning, different tribe!

does it hurt? duh of Course it hurts.. After about 3 hours of steady work, I start to bleed.. if I don't stop shortly after that I tend to get a little shocky... so I have my artist stop.. a good artist will of course, know WHEN to stop.

The Inked People look at each other knowingly.. we share a bond of pain, our tribe.. we understand the transformation that has occurred with body modification ( not just tats but piercings, scarifications, dermal grafts, branding etc.. ) and we recognize and salute each other with glances and nods... even the home tats and prison tats are recognizable members of our not so small, elite tribe.

I am intensely proud of my work and have ideas for much much more.. and I can't wait.. both of my children have tattoos and piercings.. my beautiful daughter has the Kanji words for 'metal horse' ( her Chinese astrological sign) on her neck and my son has work on both arms and the back of one shoulder. Even the husbear has plans for some tats.. ( he's currently a virgin and non tribe member- although he does have several piercings!)

So when I picked up this book and read that Dan Brown character Mal'akh has tattoo'd his own flesh.. all but one little circular area on the top of his head.. and Brown writes:

"The goal of tattooing was never beauty. The goal was Change... From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000BC to the tattooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the Moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerging changed beings.

Despite the ominous admonitions of Leviticus 19:28, which forbade the marking of one's flesh, tattoos had become a rite of passage shared by millions of people in the modern age.. everyone from clean cut teenagers to hard core drug users to suburban housewives.

The act of tattooing one's skin was a transformative declaration of power, an announcement to the world: I am in control of my own flesh. The intoxicating feeling of control derived from physical transformation had addicted millions to flesh-altering practices... cosmetic surgery, body piercing, bodybuilding, and steroids... even bulimia and transgendering.. The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell. "

So we could argue, that having mastery over our carnal shell, is a very HUMAN thing to do .. and not at all spiritual.. not at all the sacrifice described earlier.. so what is it when there is no spiritual component ( just because MINE have such a component, doesn't mean OTHER's tattoos do right?) What if they just like the art for ARTs sake? I think that is ok too. Skin is a wonderful canvas.. I've seen some amazing art done on people's skin..stuff I would be proud to wear.. then there is the silliness that I can't believe people pay for... but what ever.

I like this particular declaration of power.. I also like Art for Arts sake.. I also like that people have the freedom to have the worst artist EVER do the worst pos tattoo front and center on their forehead if they like.

I've seen women who had beautiful vines and flower's tattooed over mastectomy scars.. I've seen people make light of the loss of toes ( dear mom, went to the market.. be back soon.. signed piggy) and shark bites ( bloody flesh with shark teeth embedded in it).. amputations of the lower arm tattooed to look like one giant finger..

I've also seen a lot of people tattoo cartoon characters on themselves at 19 , regret them at 30 and have to save to have them removed. I've seen women restore their lost feelings of sexuality by having nipples tattooed on their recently reconstructed breasts after cancer surgery.. I've seen women tattoo their eyebrows, and watched that color fade to an ugly grey ew...

I have met young men who tat'd "I love" followed by his girlfriend's name, only to have a thick LINE tattooed through that name and a NEW name tattooed in underneath it.. and then one under that and so on..

I've seen mothers and fathers who have tattoo's their deceased infant's only picture onto their chests and I've seen countless 'in memory of' tattoos.. you know the ones.. they are hurting so badly they had to poke ink under their skin to help them cope.

I can also dig the sentiment of NOT tattooing.. I realize that it isn't for everyone.. I realize that some people feel that their body is a temple and just fine as it is.. and you know what? it is.. it's just fine.

I feel though.. that there is divine in the ink.. our artistic inspirations are divine.. and sometimes just silly.. but there is divine in the silly too.

So here lies the question.. to INK or Not to INK?.. the choice is yours.. just remember.. you will NEVER EVER be the same person you were before.. you might find that the small change in your appearance will suit you..

it's about free will, it's about self expression, it's about art, it's about sacrifice and it's about change..

I'm all about the change... so It won't take much to find me if you're looking.. I'm that amazon girl with dreadlocks having her back piece worked on.. just follow the sound of buzzing..

Stinky Dread Heads...

you know what I hate? ( yep here we go!) people who assume that because I have dreadlocks that I stink..

I have had my dreads for about 3 years.. I work new hairs into the roots, I wax and bind them so that they are of basically equal size.. and look good.. nothing grosser than 8 or 10 dreads that have matted together, and you walk around with one giant Mat on the side of your head.. that's disgusting.

Why did I choose to dread? because I hate my hair.. it's true.. my friend Amy once told me that women have to come to terms with two things.. one? their body. 2? their hair.. I've never liked my hair.. I came to terms with my body when it was at it's fattest.. I've popped out two spawn and my body is what it is.. but this hair.. it curled where I wanted it to be straight... it was straight where I wanted it to curl.. I kept it short because I loathed growing it out.. and when I did grow it out.. it looked greasy and nasty every day. When I wore it short, I got three kinds of hair cuts.. the "Man" the 'Dyke' or the "Old Lady", rarely the cute and sporty cut that I desired

I actually hated dreads on caucasians.. hated them.. until I met a white lady with amazing dreads.. they looked awesome on her.. Then I had a client ( black) with awesome greying dreads.. I loved them.. we discussed them.. I went on line and learned about them.. and I waited.. and continued hating my hair.. one day, shortly after my second marriage and my 40th birthday.. I did it.. I love them.. I also figured that if I was going to love my hair.. I needed to show it the attention that it deserved.. and all that dread work did the trick.. it behaves like I want it to now..chaotic! so on that note...

ok education time people..for those with and those without dreadlocks..

First, for those without Dreads..

1)Most of us WASH our hair.. I wash my hair about twice a week.. and this is, in all honesty, about as often as I washed my hair beFORE I went the nappy route..( if I washed my hair every day it would dry up and break off.. and I don't even want to THINK about how sad my scalp would be...)

2)yes.. there are some stinky ass dread heads.. I loathe them.. and most people who work hard on maintaing their dreads hate them too. Just like there are fundamentalist religious fanatics.. there are fundamentalist Dread Fanatics...

They insist on 'natural' dreads.. ok.. real hair rather than synthetic- I can dig it.. noooo they mean letting it mat naturally.. by means of not washing it.. wearing a wool cap.. putting in natural shit like.. omg you name it.. peanut butter, toothpaste, Dr. Boggs sex wax etc.. they end up with all kinds of shit in their hair, that was once floating around in their environment.. it's disgusting.

3) no people.. we don't have bugs in our hair.. at least no more than YOU do.. the occasional case of lice does happen.. but we're farrrrr more likely to find shirt fuzz, sweater fuzz.. feathers from our pillows etc.. and for us, a case of lice can be far more devastating, because it often requires shaving off our dreads, that we created with much love and effort over the course of many years ( when I first started mine, it required WEEKLY dread maintenance, now maybe a couple of times per year).. you CAN kill lice without shaving your head.. but its noxious and icky..

4) No our hair isn't 'hard'.. it's matted.. and sometimes there is wax in it.. but it's just hair..

5) No, just because we choose this style of hair.. does not mean we don't shave our legs or our pits.. If I could have a full body wax dip every month I would so do it ( that is of course if I could stand the pain! LOL)

6) and this is one of my favorites.. NO.. just because I have dreads, does NOT mean that I am a Rastafarian! LOl at first I thought this was funny.. by the SECOND time.. I just looked at this poor ignoramus ( I happened to be in Las Vegas, not that this implicates a lack of education of other Las Vegas folks btw) with my best "are you reTARDED?" look and replied "no... no I'm not a Rastafarian'.. other questions continued like " are you from Jamaica?".. at this point I was like " Do I LOOK like I'm from Jamaica?".. then he actually asked me.. " why do you have dreads then?'.. to which I responded "because I like them..why do you do YOUR hair that way?" I finally could take no more and excused myself, and not really politely..

People! people all over the world sport the dreads.. Africa, India, Islanders of different nations.. and yes.. caucasians as well.. all over the world... and even some Asians, *who have the hardest hair to dread, sport the nappies..

Now.. for the Dread Heads of the Ignorant variety..

1) Wash your fucking head!! you stink!! you MUST wash your scalp.. that natural oil does NOT help your hair to dread.. it's a natural lubricant that makes your dreads FALL APART!!!

2) Yes .. you WILL find it hard to get a 'straight' job.. we scare the hell out of people and they think we stink.. I am a 44 year old, woman with a long long resume of great gigs.. but I can't get a fucking job.. am I willing to cut my hair? nope.. why? because I love it.. I've worked hard to get it.. I will, instead, work on educating people about a hairstyle that has been around for millennia.

3)don't put weird shit in your hair.. seriously.. food products? they are to be eaten.. so if you put them in your hair.. the rats will find you.. I promise..

4) don't be afraid of dread wax people.. it is inert.. use it.. it will help your dreads tighten up.. but don't forget to COVER YOUR FUCKING HEAD until you've washed it a few times... I see people on pages that I read, who dis the wax.. they will cut off a dread and cut it open and say "SEEE SEEEEEEE!!!! look at all that wax and crap inside the dreadlock! don't use wax".. all I can say is WHAT A FUCKING DUMBASS YOU ARE!! all that SHIT in your dread? that's because you Waxed, then got all kinds of shit in your hair because you didn't wear a hat...and then you DIDN'T WASH IT!!! you STUPID FUCKERS GODDDDamn.. you all are fucking idiots! wash your fucking hair!!! whew.. as I was saying.. dread wax is just paraffin.. it's inert.. but it IS sticky.. it will wash out in 2-3 washings.. they you should wax them up again until they look the way you want them to.. at this point in my dreadlife I wax only a few times per year.. because they are nicely locked and loook goood..

5) Now I can't tell y'all how to lead your life.. but when you walk around with nasty looking dreads.. people think all of us are like you.. nasty. I can't tell you the number of skanky dread people that stop me in the grocery store or on the street, at a concert, in a bar, and hell, even in the fucking MALL, who are 'trying' to dread their hair and ask me how I got mine to look like this.. I tell them one thing.. "people seem to think that dreads are the result of neglect.. that is incorrect.. dreads require a great great deal of maintenance." If you look at any culture that normally wear dreads.. Various African cultures for example.. dreading each other's hair.. daily... is the norm.. some pack with local muds and waxes , some with nothing but rolling. They work on them.. you need to WORK on them. I could give a shit if your clothes are ratty or if you shave your pits.. but when you get too close to the rest of us.. well, we don't enjoy your stench.. so again WASH your hair..

6) a 'tightening' suggestion.. if your dreadies are new and you're trying to tighten them up.. try head and shoulders ( the original kind, with NO conditioner).. especially if you have caucasian hair.. for many of us.. ( I don't know if it's the pyrithione zinc or what) it really tightens up the dread babies! and if you're near the ocean? get that dread head wet! the Salt water will also tighten up the babies!

So what have we discovered here today?

Not all dread heads stink..

Please don't put food in your hair

Those of you that DO STINK? WASH YOUR FUCKING HAIR

We've also learned that Jana loathes people who don't wash their fucking hair..

We don't want the non dreaded to fear us.. for we tend to be peaceful, if not stoned or just plain retarded..

So go forth and love your nappy headed friends.. but remind them to wash their fucking hair..