Nobody puts baillee in the corner

Think of today’s post at the sister piece to “Madonna’s Got Nothin On Me.” This time, however, I’m going to make my tattoos the focal point. I want to make sure it’s noted this is my personal opinion. The stigmas I address have personally been mentioned to me. I’m going to explain the meaning of each of my tattoos, the events leading me to take a dive into the sweet world of body ink, and reiterate why I get tattoos. Some of the things I say in here might be taken the wrong way but know I have good intentions. I’m not calling anyone out nor is this post a way for me to justify my actions. It’s meant as a way for me to express myself with the hope you’ll listen and think before you insult about my tattoos.

I struggled with self-image for a very long time. I’ve just started to love myself and appreciate my uniqueness over the past three years. I knew for a while I wanted a tattoo, but I was apprehensive. I don’t particularly enjoy giving blood or getting shots, but needles are by no means included in my list of phobias (here’s looking at you, thunderstorms). However, something kept telling me to wait until the right time. I didn’t want to wind up getting a tribal tattoo around my arm or butterfly tramp stamp, so I decided to find a design and wait to see if the idea still resonated with me after a couple of years.

Last September, I finally got my first tattoo. While there is controversy surrounding whether or not the sparrows on my shoulder blades count as individual tattoos or one collective piece, I view them as one tattoo because they were done in the same session and match, but I digress. Originally, I planned to get one sparrow on my wrist. Due to my cowardice/nobility, I allowed all of my friends to go first, so I had to go to the tattoo parlor three different times (As the old adage goes, it takes more than twice to accomplish a goal). The artist was awesome and not only discounted the tattoo but offered to give me another sparrow for free. After a lot of thought, I decided to move the sparrows from my wrists to shoulders. When I saw my sparrows in the mirror for the first time, I fell in love with tattoos. They were a physical manifestation of my freedom and represent how I moved to Austin on my own and made it for four years.

Less than a month later, I went back and got Petunia from show The Adventures of Pete and Pete. Petunia serves as a reminder to always be myself. There were times in high school and my early college career where I was not true to myself. I either hid certain interests or watched what I said. The Adventures of Pete and Pete has been one of my favorite shows since I was a kid. If you’ve ever seen it, you know it’s not the most conventional show and such greats as Iggy Pop and Steve Buscemi make cameos. It’s quirky and weird, and I love it. Petunia is the tattoo Little Pete (both brothers are named Pete) has on his arm, so I thought she would be the perfect reminder of where I came from. I’ve always been quirky and weird, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I didn’t get my next tattoo until this past February. I had played around with getting a quote from my favorite book A Catcher in the Rye , but I knew I wanted something more meaningful. My mom came to visit me Valentine’s Day weekend, and she seemed to be having a rough time. We’ve always been really connected, and she’s my everything, so it broke my heart to see her in that condition. I decided the week after she left to snag her signature from a card she left under my pillow my freshman year of college after she left to show her how much she meant to me. I lied to her and told her I was getting a different quote, and she cried and told me how touched she was when I told her. This tattoo wasn’t for me as much as it was for her, but she’s still a part of me, and I wanted it forever known.

My most recent tattoo features Jane Lane from Daria encapsulated in a vintage black gothic frame with the phrase “Reality’s bizarre enough for me.” The 90s resonate with me because they served as a call to action for the creatives, the freaks, the weirdos. If you haven’t figured it out by now, there’s definitely only one Baillee MaCloud Perkins in this world. Jane Lane has always been a personal hero of mine because she’s this artsy, witty, red-lipstick wearing, Dr. Martin donning, hot chick. The quote represents my life because I never experience a dull moment. There has been some negative feedback on this tattoo because it’s not small and is on prominently displayed on my arm. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I got this tattoo because I’ve always been self-conscious about my arms. I already feel more confident about showing off my sweet tat.

I know this next statement is going to result in some people rolling their eyes, but I plan on getting more tattoos. I played around with the idea of getting a 90s themed sleeve, but I can’t picture myself with a sleeve. Instead, I’m getting badass female characters. My next tattoo will be Louise from the show Bob’s Burgers . I also plan on getting a Tank Girl piece on my back. I’ve even thought about getting some sort of an ice cream tattoo to mark the one year anniversary of my job.

All of my tattoos have been carefully planned out. They aren’t spur of the moment decisions or drunken lapses in judgement. I planned out my Jane Lane tattoo for over three weeks before I went in for a consultation, and my artist and I even tweaked the design during my session. I found the sparrow I wanted when I was 18 and waited three years before finally getting it. I knew I wanted Petunia when I was a kid. I had been trying to figure out how to honor my mom for over a year. They can all be covered. The Disney College program even accepted them before I declined the offer due to financial reasons. I also don’t care if they deter guys from asking me out. I live in Austin, one of the tattoo capitals of the nation. People come from all over the country to get tattoos from artists here. If someone can’t accept my tattoos, it conveys they can’t accept a part of me, and a relationship is about accepting a person’s quirks, not trying to change them. They are dating my tattoos as well, which represent different parts of my life. With the random and fast-paced ongoings of my life, they will have to keep up or get out. My tattoos are a visual representation of me and should be treated as such.

If you can’t respect my tattoos and amicably disagree after read this, I believe it speaks volumes. If I haven’t completely obliterated the deceased filly at this point, every tattoo is a part of me (today’s sponsor is off-brand adages. why kill two birds with one stone when you can assassinate a couple of fowls with a singular rock?) When you ridicule my tattoos, I view it as an attack on myself. I understand they aren’t things others would want, and I definitely respect that. Everyone has their opinion on both tattoos in general and my personal ink; however, you can voice your opinion in a constructive manner, not by throwing out hateful phrases about how I’m not going to find a job and/or boyfriend or that I’m eventually going to regret getting them. Your vernacular can have varying connotations, so think carefully before you speak. Love me, love my tattoos, or at the very least, accept them.