Tuesday  Oct 11, 2005

Justin Pelegano's Tattoo Stories - "Boo!"

Halloween's upon us, and it's time to shake up the humdrum with a little death. To that end, I offer up Thomas's first tat: a gnarly looking skeleton. On first glance, I thought for sure my man was running with the Goths. Either that or there was some sort of death rock thing going on.

Turns out, in this case it's neither. After talking with Tom, it became increasingly clear that his ink wasn't so much about death as it was a celebration of life. Albeit a rather haunting one. Boo!

"One of my favorites subjects for personal pondering has always been death. Though it seems a majority of people find this topic morbid and depressing, I find the experience of life to be many times richer knowing that all good things come to an end. For my first tattoo I chose the creeping skeleton partially for its aesthetic value and partially for the symbolism, to me, of death always hovering over one’s shoulder. Though some would claim the man who is free from thoughts of his inevitable demise is consistently happier in his day to day living, I say that individual is, regrettably, also shamefully blind and less aware of life’s richness. Only in knowing that our existence will cease, and acknowledging that bitter truth frequently, will we be grateful for the life we have and gain perspective that the world does not strictly revolve around our personal problems, everyday whims and self-satisfying accomplishments. Though some have found this particular tattoo to be 'scary' or 'strange' in their view, I find it inherently beautiful both as a work of art and as a sobering reminder."

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