Photo courtesy of Ginger Snap

It’s my first day of vacation and I spent it happily working on an article for BIRD TALK and rather unhappily, but vigorously washing the floor. I came up with this cool idea for writing an article about Bird People who get tattoos of their birds. As I do not have any tattoos, let alone any of my birds, I had to poke around to see if any of the people I know at Facebook had any. Naturally, I just posted an inquiry on my wall. And in about 10 minutes, WHAM! A downpour of ink.

Photo Courtesy of Julie Kruger

Birds. Parrots. Swallows. Hummingbirds. Owls. Birds of prey. I honestly had absolutely no idea so many people had so many illustrations. It was amazing. As I sat pounding away and doing research on tattoos in general, the incessant “Ding! Ding! Ding!” on my laptop sounded like a doorbell on Halloween night. Jeez!

Photo Courtesy of Robin Beswick

I had no idea how passionate people were not only about their birds, but about making a permanent  record of their existence. I was stunned.  At that point I knew I was on to something. This was a unique breed of “Parrot Person” I had found.

Photo Courtesy of Renee Crnogorac

While I think tattoos are really cool, they are not for me. I’m just not the “Permanent Marker” kind of girl and I kind of like myself the way I am, wrinkles, boney keester and all. But I did manage to find some very cool quotes about tattoos in my research that need to be read:

The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos. ~Author Unknown

Women, don’t get a tattoo. That butterfly looks great on your breast when you’re twenty or thirty, but when you get to seventy, it stretches into a condor. ~Billy Elmer

I always look for a woman who has a tattoo.  I see a woman with a tattoo, and I’m thinking, okay, here’s a gal who’s capable of making a decision she’ll regret in the future.  ~Richard Jeni  

These were the funnier quotes, but many of them honor the tattoo as a symbol of one’s soul and one’s life on here on earth. It seems to be a very spiritual thing to most people.

So as you can see, I’ve done my homework. And these are just a fraction of the photographs people have sent me. Good God, you wouldn’t believe the art people have on various parts of their bodies. It’s incredible.

Photo Courtesy of Angela Parrish

I don’t know when the article will be published, and I don’t know if it’s going into BIRD TALK Magazine, or on their website, but either way, I’ll announce it here. And guys? Thanks so much for your input. I’ve got to run now. My Facebook doorbell is ringing again and dripping ink.