I have 2 ongoing tattoos. 1 on each arm. And I have 3 piercings in my let ear. But I rarely wear anything in them any more.

What are your tattoos of?

I have my back done, my upper left arm and right calf. I have a fantasy theme going on.

The arm that would be my right has a very unique cross I designed. At each point of the cross are runes that have special meaning to my life. I put them there because of their meaning and because of their use in magic. I want the the runes to amplify/increase what they stand for in my life.

On what would be my left arm is a warrior theme I designed. There is an ax in the center with flames coming from the ax. The flames are drawn on as to look like they would be blowing back if the ax was being swung. In the center of the ax is the Chinese character for warrior. It is integrated into being a part of the ax so it doesn't stand out. Around that and around my arm is a full band. I it is a mixture of tribal and celtic. By that I mean that I designed it as a tribal theme but instead of traditional tribal lines, I used celtic lines. On under side of my arm in the middle of the band is the symbol that the predators would mark into their faces after killing an alien from the movie ALien vs Predator. I love the Predator movies and since the fictional race of Predators are pure warriors and hunters I thought it would fit well with the them.

I got a Black Panther on my calf. I will be getting that lazered off. It was not done well. My totem animal.
I got a black rose on a purple heart. Meaning: "My Heart will be the death of me"

The last one I got last Summer is a rendition of a Butterfly Koi fish that I own. He is black with orange and yellow 'flames' along his sides and wings.  He is swimming upwards  in water which symbolizes triumph over adversity.

I've got my ears pierced, does that count? lol When I was younger I thought about getting a tattoo, I even had an idea what I was going to get, but I have a phobia when it comes to needles. lol So, I don't think I would withstand getting a tattoo.

Mel, I'm starting to think you could have a real bad hanging out with me. Go get some Ink and then spend the night in Waverly Hills. Your idea of a perfect day huh?

In my book piercings are piercings. You got holes punched through your ears, that should count for something. Getting a tat is not like getting a shot or something. Yes there is some very minor pain. But nothing excruciating.

I got a feeling Bobby, if you convinced me to do these things, we would both be very tired and bruised up! LOL
My brother has a lower tolerance of pain then I do, he had a tattoo done and I asked him if it hurt, he said he was fine until they started coloring in the tattoo. He said, he had to make the tattoo artist stop a few times. So, that tells me that it's not a very enjoyable thing! LOL I've watched people get tattooed and I don't know if I could tolerate it and I really don't want one that bad anymore. lol

To me it's the opposite. The outlining hurts more. The needles are bigger. When the coloring/shading is done the needles are a lot smaller and there are more of them.

After a day like that I would be pumped. Wouldn't even notice the bruises.

When I got this last one, I had meditated a little while on it before it was done that day. I can tell you that there was no real pain. I had left myself into a state that I could have damn near fallen asleep.

I was born with an abnormally high pain tolerance. Tattoos don't even phase me. But for the things that do I take a similar approach as Pinky. I use Yoga breathing and meditation.

Smurf killer? Um... Yeah sure.  But Yes there was a definite difference between them when I meditated. there were distractions but  all in all it was a soulful experience within my own being.

You see the outfit I wore for my avatar pic? The smurfs never saw me coming.

That is very cool. A zen experience while getting a tattoo. It is amazing what the body is capable of with the right mindset.

Nice tattoo BobbyT, I've been thinking of getting a tattoo for a couple years now and I already have an idea of what I want and where I want it, but just the thought of it being permanent holds me back.
I did hear there's a new kind of ink comming out around this July, that is a bit brighter  and will completely remove with laser, as opposed to the regular ink, which on some people still leaves a sort of shadow of the tattoo.

But don't quote me on that, like I said I don't have a tattoo, and I don't know how good this new ink will be.
http://www.freedom2ink.com/pr_pr.asp

As for piercings, I have six, three in each ear.  Four of them in the ear lobes  and the other two in upper cartilage of the ear. 
I also had a nose, lip and brow piercing, which I had to let close for job reasons.

I've got an ankh on one shoulder and on the other shoulder a Celtic design, three ravens in a circle. Check out a bottle of   
Ravens Wood wine. It's the same design.

I've always felt a connection with Egypt, hence the ankh. And my Celtic roots plus my affinity with the Goddess Morrigan prompted me to get the ravens.

I see lots more ink on the horizon. Something with runes, perhaps.

Thanks Vicereine. And I think you are going about it the smartest way. Do your research and be absolutely sure you can live with it forever.

Shalwi I have runes in my other tattoo. It is hard to get it all in a photo due to how it wraps on my arm. But I will give it try soon and post the results. Would love to see yours if you have any photos. I love ankhs. And the raven design sounds very cool.

Once I get a digital camera I'll upload photos. I've always enjoyed runes. Getting them as tattoos would be a magickal undertaking that would have to be thought out carefully. But something that honors the god Thor is what I have in mind. Mjollnir (Thor's hammer) is another tat I plan on getting. The god Odin has two ravens as messengers, named Hugin and Munin.

I met a guy down in Gatlinburg Tennessee, an actual local, who had a fantastic piece on his arm of Mjollnir on his arm. And he saw the runes on the piece on my arm. It started an immediate conversation.

You are correct about taking your time to pick your runes. The four I chose have deep meaning in my life and I wanted to use them in divination as well.

I have just one at the time. It's the head of a demon on my left upper arm. When I had it done it was to symbolize the demon in all of us that lurks just below the surface, but through the years and body changes it's beginning to look like a picture of "Maude" with horns!

I would like a few more but have to find someone willing to do it as I have to take blood thinners daily.
I also never found it painful at all, more like a repetative scratching then anything else. In fact, I was surprised it bled at all.

I have no piercings, but I do have a scar on my right eyebrow that looks like one grown over. I got it from getting my skull cracked by a door.

Well I thought I wouldn't be posting on here, until another couple months, but I finally got the tattoo, I wanted and I wanted to share.
Its below my center back, the pic is a little blurry and crooked thanks to the picture taker, but I'll try to post a better one, once the tattoo is completely healed.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/Vicereine06/tat.jpg

Nice. Does it have special meaning?