 Media Credit: Alexia Cameron |
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Pat Anderson
second year graduate student, musicHow many tattoos do you have?I have one on the upper-right side of my back. It is a picture of a dragon wrapped around an iron rod and there is Japanese writing. The writing means strength, together and underneath it says "Iseri," which is my mom's maiden name. That's the side of the family I'm closest to.
Significance?Well, you might not be able to tell by looking at me, but I am actually a quarter Japanese. In Japanese cultures the dragon is the lord of the skies. It is the perfect symbol of power and benevolence.
How did you come up with the design for your tattoo?When I decided I wanted a tattoo, I knew I wanted a dragon because my older brother and sister both have dragons as well. We all planned on having dragons and our family crest so that we would all have similar tattoos that were personal to each of us. I did a search online and when I found the dragon I liked, I printed it out. Then, for a solid month, every morning after I got done showering, I would look at the printout to make sure I still liked it and sadly, I still look in the mirror and say, "Yeah I still like it."
Where and when did you get it done?I got it done six years ago in Boise, Idaho at New Moon Tattoo and Piercing. I looked at a few different places. Originally, I wanted the tattoo to be a lot smaller in size than it actually is. When I took my design into New Moon, the guy said, "You know I can't do this for you because it's way too small. When you get older, the lines are going to blur and its going to be unrecognizable." I think that's what really made my decision to get it done there - the fact that everybody else was like, "Yeah I can do it, pay me now," but he was more concerned with how it appeared later on in life so I wouldn't be stuck with a blob of color by the time I got older.
How much did it cost?It cost $175.
Do you plan on getting any more tattoos?I hope to get one or two more as soon as I have the money saved up for them. I would like to get one that is a family crest which is a Japanese lotus flower. I haven't quite decided how I want to have it done though because I don't want it to be all black, I want it to have some detail to it, I just haven't had a chance to sit down and create it.
Spring Break
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