Obviously a tattoo is going to have meaning to the person wearing it. But did you know that it can have more than one meaning? For example, the Chinese lettering on my shoulder means “enjoy ones self” or “be happy” or something along those lines. That’s how I try and live – happy and free and optimistic. Someone once told me it also meant someone’s last name. I don’t know whos but I hope they’re happy I have it on my shoulder. The other tat took me two years to get, partially due to the fact I couldn’t find one that looked exactly how I saw it in my mind. It’s an image of Bugs Bunny with his arms above his head, spread wide, holding a carrot, and his legs are stretched out to the side so he forms a giant “X”, like he’s jumping in the air full of joy.
My brother and I grew up watching Bugs Bunny cartoons and Tom and Jerry, mostly on Saturday mornings. Now you can catch hundreds of different cartoons on any day just by clicking on one of the many cartoon cable channels; you don’t have to wait for Saturday morning. Bugs reminds me of my childhood, of those quiet mornings watching tv and then, once the cartoons were over, we would either watch Kung Fu Theatre or the cheesy horror movies or we would actually go outside and play. We didn’t have much in the way of video games back then so we were not tied to the house like kids seem to be these days. Tied to the house by cords attached to their gaming systems and their thumbs. I searched through videos and cartoons and tattoo parlor walls to find the perfect depiction of Bugs Bunny and what he means to me. I finally found it on the cover of a video and I took it right to the tattoo parlor the next day and asked him to ink it on my shoulder blade.
Bugs is wild and crazy and carefree and that’s just how I like to be. It also fit with the other tattoo I had, moreso than some of the other Bugs tattoos I saw with him leaning against some invisible tree, chewing on a carrot and now showing off his personality. He’s both a reminder of how things used to be and also a reminder of how things should be everyday.
