Wednesday  Sep 28, 2005

Justin Pelegano's Tattoo Stories - "Ted the First"

The name game. Live in the city long enough and you’re bound to hear some winners. There are dogs with people names – I once heard a woman in Washington Square Park bellow, “HAROLD!”…to her Doberman Pincher. There are people with plant names – no joke, in college I knew a girl named Hydrangea. She was a biology major.

And then there’s a faded tattoo named Ted. Ted the Scorpion. Ted the First. Ted who was long-ago inspired by an ex-Navy man called Laddie. I kid you not.

Ted’s proud owner, Michael, doesn’t even remember where the name came from or why it stuck. But no matter to that. Because what he does recall is the good stuff – the smell, the exhilaration, and the roots of his inaugural ink.

“When I was a kid growing up in California, I didn’t really know anyone with tattoos until my Mom invited some church friends over to our house for a barbecue. Her best friend’s husband, a guy named Laddie, had been in the Navy and had either a faded eagle or anchor – or maybe a combination of both, I can’t remember – tattooed on his forearm. It gave him this air of mystery. This was in the early ‘80’s, and where I lived there weren’t a lot of tattoos to be seen. The moment I met this guy I knew a tattoo would be in my future….My first time was an intensely ritualistic and spiritual experience. A lot of that has to do with the act itself, with the needle. The sterile smell of the shop – not hospital or high school clinical, more like a clean cabin – was amazing. And having Monica (the tat artist) so focused on me for that one hour; it’s intimate in a really unique way.

So why a scorpion to start? That one’s easy. “They’ve always been one of my favorite creatures. People can read into it what they want, and they do.

A lot of people think it’s heavy metal for some reason. I just dig ‘em.

And like anything, it will age, and has, but I’m cool with how things morph and grow so I don’t think I would get Ted re-inked.” First ink is inherently an act of courage, and for Michael the decision to go forth was a particularly intrepid one. “I’m a stage actor, and it’s this bizarre industry wisdom that if you get tattoos you’ll work less because you’ll be less castable. Less flexible. But when I was studying in San Francisco I met a couple of heavily inked actors who were doing just fine and didn’t regret a single thing about their tattoos. They just said, ‘Screw it. I want it, I’m getting it.’ I took a lot from that, and then went and did likewise.”

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