Ouch. Day 2 of Getting My Tattoo

I never thought I would be so excited to have a red-hot hook dragged through my flesh, but surprisingly I was. OK, so getting a tattoo isn't exactly a red-hot hook, but it sure feels that way.

Two weeks ago I sat for the outline of my Epertase tattoo which lasted about 3 hours. Though I knew it was going to hurt, I had no idea what to expect. When Mr. David Boggins of Body Language in Columbus, Ohio carved the first line, I'm not going to lie, I seriously wondered how I was going to handle 3 more hours of what I had just felt. But, as anyone with a tattoo knows, your body starts to kinda get used to the assault being done to it and the process becomes a little more tolerable. It still hurts like hell, but at some point you realize you can get through it. And I did.

Today, I sat for my second session--an entirely new kind of torture called shading. This time, I had an idea of how it might feel, but that doesn't make it any better. This was going to be at least a four-hour sitting. By the mid way point I felt pretty good and even commented that I could sit through all of the remaining 6 hours needed if David had the time. He said he had another appointment scheduled and, by the three hour mark, I was glad we were nearly done for the day. Though my mind was prepared to push through it, my back was starting to get angry. Each mark he made for the final hour felt like that first line he did two weeks before. Don't get me wrong, I would have sat for the last two hours if we had the time, I just wouldn't have enjoyed it.

As I write this, I'm pretty sore and probably will be for a few days. But it's worth it.

To add insult, my wife stopped by toward the end of my session so she could watch. What does it say about my 16-year marriage that she smiled while I squirmed?

Special thanks to Steve Murphy for designing the piece. As far as my tattoo artist, David Boggins can be found on his website here.

Here is a picture of today's progress. (Remember: the red in the picture is from my pissed-off skin and not actual color in the tattoo.) Stay tuned in two weeks for the final picture.