Don't Pencil It In, Ink It In

I had another tattoo related dream this morning. Except this time it was the actual process of getting a tattoo. In probably the least professional way ever. Because the details don't really make sense to me to explain, I'll just sum it up. My mom and brother were giving me home tattoos. I'm not sure why or what they were supposed to mean. But these tattoos were going to stretch over my whole body, not necessarily covering my whole body, but just spanned my entire height.  My brother was inking my right side and my mom was inking my left. Come to think about it, that's pretty impressive to being getting both sides of your body tattooed at once. However, my brother wasn't doing the best job, in terms of art and depth. The tattoos weren't deep enough, therefore weren't staying well. My mom's were much better, but still the tattoos weren't coming out how I had wanted them. They were only in one color, red. They were supposed to be lines that outlined the front aspect of my limbs. It's really hard to describe without using my hands and pointing it out to you. But these lines were supposed to be thin, about a centimeter in thickness. Perhaps the closest to what I mean is something like the white lines on the many suits in Tron Legacy. Also, I decided I wanted them to connect and outline the joints in some way. Since I wasn't satisfied with what was done so far and I was anxious to finish it, I decided to do it myself. I had asked my mom if she actually owned the gun, which she did. Then I went on an adventure to get a bunch of red ink since it was super cheap...much like I found it at a Walmart, literally. I then remember inking the top of my thighs and thinking how much work this was going to be. It probably wasn't even the most sanitary process either. It was overall an interesting dream that was more focused on visuals. My mom dressed in the most professional but nice and fancy attire I've ever seen her in. I remember the gun and the beautiful little bottles full of gorgeous vibrant red ink under the hue name of "Crimson". The interesting part was, when I was tattooing myself the ink on my skin was black, as if it starts off that way and gradually turns to red. Fascinating dream.

I do know where the tattoo theme came about. My brother has been getting tattoos lately from a friend. He has 5 now. He finally got his first a couple months ago and now is already sucked into the world of tattoos that I know and understand. Anyways, for the last couple weeks he has our mom's name tattooed to his left collarbone. He told me his plan to get our dad's name on the other side. I'm not a fan of name tattoos but I know nothing I say will stop him, and I do think it's sweet if it means that much to him.

On Monday he told me he was getting the other one done that day. I went out and met with a friend before going to see A Perfect Circle. We left our phones in the car during the concert. When we arrive back to the car I came to a picture text from my brother of my name tattooed to the whole length of his inner upper left arm. The text said "I LOVE YOU!!!!!" I was instantly awed and utterly surprised. I had absolutely no idea he was getting my name on him at all. So I was touched very much.

Later that night about 2am he comes home and we go into the bathroom to check out his tattoos and whisper to each other about them. He was trying to say something about why he chose that placement but I didn't quite hear him. After more words are exchanged, I asked again about the placement. With some hand gesturing and little words, he told me why. He said "that's where you cut it." That was the very arm and area where I cut the cord that was tied around his arm the night of his overdose exactly 7 months ago to the date. I instantly put my face in my hands and cried with such instant overwhelming intensity. He put his arms around me as I cried. I couldn't stop for some time. I'm touched every time I think about it, I'm even crying now. He told me that each name represented something to him. Mine was for saving his life.