MetaChat - Tattoo ideas

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11 March 2010

Tattoo ideas If you had a heart attack at a young age (29) and a definite cause was never found (no blockage, no chemical imbalance, no high cholesteral, etc) and were still kind of freaked out about it 4 years later, what kind of tattoo would you get on your chest over your heart to ward off the bad heart attack joojoo?→[More:]Not something so obvious like ♥. Maybe something with a clock or stopwatch theme? Or maybe engineering or science symbols?

post by: chillmost at: 10:33 | 19 comments

How about a decoy heart over on the other side of your chest?

posted by BoringPostcards 11 March | 10:55

I would get a hamsa to ward off the evil eye, but i'm kind of obsessed with hamsas so maybe that's just me.

posted by amro 11 March | 10:58

I'd go with a stylized hummingbird, as they're all about joy and living life, as well as eternity, ferocity and devotion. Good heart stuff. (The most abstract hummingbird I've seen is the top of these two symbols.)

posted by Specklet 11 March | 11:01

I think this is a great idea. I assume this is you? Wow. Something to consider might be that you may one day require surgery in that area, I don't know if there are medical concerns about cutting through ink, I don't think so, but check it out. And surgery would also produce scarring.

A tree? With roots? Engineering or science symbols would be cool.

posted by rainbaby 11 March | 11:06

Anatomical heart--I'm thinking old-school, but then I love old-school lately. Fine-line, or biomechanical, or info-graphic-ish, among other more unexpected styles, could also be pretty neat (I used to love those anatomy coloring books when I was a kid). I dunno--is an anatomical heart too obvious?

posted by box 11 March | 11:13

(Or, since you're in Germany, you could just get in touch with this guy, tell him you want a heart on your chest and see what happens.)

posted by box 11 March | 11:18

Maybe a metronome to symbolize that it will just keep ticking on and on?
Here are some cool ones:
black and white illustration
classic
rounded
simpler illustration

posted by rmless2 11 March | 11:21

You might find one of these to your liking; many of them may be protective. There are a bunch of different cultures/beliefs represented.

I like the metronome idea. Or maybe the crocodile from Peter Pan.

Or something like this.

posted by Hugh Janus 11 March | 11:31

Or you could modify that last one to look like this:

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Hugh Janus 11 March | 11:56

I like a lot of these. You might also consider factory imagery of some sort.

Two good examples:
illustrated
stylized

posted by Atom Eyes 11 March | 12:00

Yeah, this is for me. There are some really good ideas here. Thank you very much.

A really good friend of mine, Amy Justen, is a tattoo artist at Sacred Rose in Berkeley, CA. I promised her a long time ago that she would be the first one to ink me. It's also a good excuse to get back to the states and finally see California.

posted by chillmost 11 March | 14:32

That's some beautiful work, especially the color stuff, and the flowers and birds (I've been getting bird tattoos lately, and now I want to finagle a way to make a trip to Berkeley). If I were you, I'd talk it over and brainstorm and stuff w/Ms. Justen--I bet the two of you could come up with something great.

posted by box 11 March | 14:55

A nice healthy stalk of celery! :)

Or, recursion is always nice (though, it violates the no heart rule). Of course, a laurel wreath is a classic protection motif, as are oak symbols.

posted by danostuporstar 11 March | 15:13

Something in UV ink that would make me smile at unique times; and that would also make any techs that would see me in a medical setting do the same.

posted by buzzman 11 March | 17:13

A heart attack of unknown cause at 29? Yikes!

I have no real suggestions for a tat, but I love your friend's work, chillmost. And I'd love to get a half sleeve (upper arm), but I'm pretty sure the mister would have a heart attack if I suggested it.

posted by deborah 11 March | 18:00

I'd get an ankh (Egyptian key of life) or a phoenix rising from the ashes.

posted by IndigoRain 11 March | 18:04

The veve of Papa Legba.

posted by Meatbomb 11 March | 18:29

The same thing happened to a coworker of mine. Although I think he's closer to 35 than to 29, he's also in great shape (runs, plays soccer, etc) and eats a really good diet. In fact, his fiance is a cardiac nurse, so she's really concerned about heart health! She recognized the symptoms of a heart attack right away and convinced him to go to the ER. I think in his case it was due to something pretty strange like heart polyps? Do thoes exist?

posted by muddgirl 11 March | 18:33

Just for the record, I finally got the veve of Papa Legba on my upper back, about two years ago before leaving Korea.

It has been keeping the bad joojoo away and helping smooth transitions between the realm of the loa and Earth. So overall completely satisfied customer.

posted by Meatbomb 29 February | 01:10

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