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Ageing & Growing Old

Are you growing older?

  • Yes, I am

    Votes: 82 61.7%
  • No, I'm getting younger

    Votes: 28 21.1%
  • Sorry, I don't understand the question

    Votes: 16 12.0%
  • I'm a Mod; I think adding silly polls to chat threads is pointless

    Votes: 7 5.3%

  • Total voters
    133
I have nothing against tattoos.

When I was young it seemed people wore a simple butterfly or something similar.

Today people wear tattoo sleeves which seem extreme to me.
 
The cachet of modern tattoos has been lost.

They no longer denote non-conformity or individuality.

They also look crap on old people and old skin, which is what we're now getting.
That's your opinion.
You're wrong anyway. People have been having tattoos for thousands of years, it's not a modern adolescent fad. :chuckle:

If we're being judgmental, I might point out that sneering at older people's appearance is not a good look.
It also betrays a certain insecurity about the general process of ageing. Midlife crisis on the way, eh?
 
That's your opinion.
You're wrong anyway.

And that's your opinion—we're allowed different ones, you know.

When I say, 'bad', by the way, I don't mean the presence of the tattoo is bad because the person is old, I mean literally that old skin often loosens and stretches and designs become distorted.

I'm told that modern inks are much more likely to retain colour, but the older ones tend to become blue blobs.

If we're being judgmental, I might point out that sneering at older people's appearance is not a good look.
It also betrays a certain insecurity about the general process of ageing. Midlife crisis on the way, eh?

Probably.
 
They also look crap on old people and old skin, which is what we're now getting.
Was warned by my Granddad, with his own tats as examples. Which is why I don't have any. That and, as he pointed out, your tastes and attitudes may change.
 
She's been through a lot.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Tova Gutstein was born in Warsaw the year Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. She was 10 years old when the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto launched the first act of collective defiance against the Nazis in Europe.

Now 90, she is among the few remaining witnesses of the ghetto uprising — and a vanishing generation of Holocaust survivors — as Israel marks the 80th anniversary of a revolt that has shaped its national consciousness.

On Monday night, Gutstein will be one of six Holocaust survivors honored by Israel as torch-lighters in its annual ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. She said the horrors are still seared in her mind.

“Over 80 years have passed, and I can’t forget it,” Gutstein told The Associated Press at her home in central Israel.

Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, marked with solemn ceremonies in schools and workplaces nationwide, begins at sundown on Monday. Theaters, concerts, cafes and restaurants close and television and radio broadcasts break into Holocaust commemorations. ...

https://apnews.com/article/israel-h...tto-uprising-98a266359ef6384b17f7d4c5967cf8bc
 
As I get older (well, soon be near 60 than 50), I can't say that I've accumulated much wisdom along the way, but I've come to the following realisation, which I'll freely share:

If I find myself wondering if I might possibly need to pop to the loo in a bit, then I definitely need to go right now.

Oh, and while my brain still feels like I'm about 22, my body likes to argue the toss. It's much easier to list the parts that don't hurt than those that do!
 
One of my brothers is completely covered in tattoos front and back, arms included, from his neck down to his waist.
It's been the rage here for many years, and if it didn't hurt so much, I'd have gotten more myself! :)
 
If it wasn't for the plaques there'd be no benches along the seafront.
In my town, with an *ahem* aging population, the local town council are always getting requests for benches etc. being dedicated to past fans of the place. The town council always have to explain that any decision (and payment) has to be made to the county council who, in fact, own any property that memorials are situated on. It's a nice little earner to county that town has no bloody choice.

When it comes to tats, let me state my case:
I'm coming up to my 60th birthday (next year, put in your diaries). One of my brothers was artistic and, for a time, had a tatoo parlour (as they were known then). When I was born, he self-inked a cartoon crying baby with my name in a scroll below. Among many other 'classics'.
Up to the age of 20-ish, I'd rejected the idea of getting inked. Just one of those things. It was in the late 80's. I had an emotional (not acrimonious) split with a very long-term partner. I was at a 'loose end'. On a completely random impulse, I visited a tattoo parlour.
"Can you do this* on my shoulder?"
"Sure."
"How much 'n' how long?"
"About an hour and £50."
"Will it hurt?"
"Yes. At first. You get used to it, but it always hurts!"
"Okay. Go for it!"
That was my first tattoo.
Scroll on to my 40th birthday. I decided to get another tat as a milstone. I designed the image, paid the fee, got it done.
Scroll on to my 50th. I designed the image, paid, got done.
My wedding? Yup. Got a personal design done ... for me and t'wife, who'd decided she wanted one. Recently, on my 55th birthday (?) got one.
My own personal rules are:
Small designs. Easy to cover with a formal shirt. My own design.
My recommendation?
No matter what any say, they hurt. My own experience is I get inked when I've forgotten how much it hurts.

When it comes to others who have tattoos, I try hard not to judge. Silly, I know. But I judge not on someone having tattoos, but what those tattoos are. Facials, cliche stars on necks, children's names ... that (to me) is lame. But - and I hasten to say this - I don't judge them on what they've had done; it might be a very intimate and meaningful image. But even as I've got tattoos, I can't help criticism based on originality.
 
I assumed from what has been said, a tattoo helps one to get over a difficult emotion situation like a death or a broken relationship.

Then too, it could be a celebration of a happy occurrence.

Then also I assume there can be sexual tattoos to stimulate attraction.
 
When I say, 'bad', by the way, I don't mean the presence of the tattoo is bad because the person is old, I mean literally that old skin often loosens and stretches and designs become distorted.
So what? All skin loosens as we age. Why does it matter to you? Aren't you happy about the ageing proecss? Some of us embrace it.

The very last thing on anyone's mind when they get ink is how it will it will look as they get older, and the second last is how anyone else feels about it.

I plan several more tattoos in the coming year. I am nearly 65.

Maybe I'll live to 70 or 80 with repulsive wrinkly skin. I will enjoy every minute of my lovely ink. :chuckle:
 
So what? All skin loosens as we age. Why does it matter to you? Aren't you happy about the ageing proecss? Some of us embrace it.

The very last thing on anyone's mind when they get ink is how it will it will look as they get older, and the second last is how anyone else feels about it.

I plan several more tattoos in the coming year. I am nearly 65.

Maybe I'll live to 70 or 80 with repulsive wrinkly skin. I will enjoy every minute of my lovely ink. :chuckle:
Why not get fake wrinkles tattooed on now? Then, when you're 80, you'll see what the tats look like.
 
I only have the one.
A full on fox hunt across my back.
With the foxes tail disappearing down the hole!
When I was little and asked my dad if he'd ever thought of getting a tattoo done he told me about one of his fellow combatants who'd had a similar tattoo done on the spur of the moment (what with there being a war on an' all). When he'd heard that the war (WW2) was over he shot himself as he was so ashamed and worried about what others would think of his inking when he got home. :(

Poor sod had bravely survived the war out in the desert only to go and do that. I even wondered if dad had been having me on with the whole story. Oh well there we are then. Needless to say my dear ol' dad has long since gone to the blue beyond so I can't ask him now if the story was actually true.

Although I can appreciate the humour of having such a tattoo done I'm not even sure if I believe that you've actually got it but I DO NOT wish to see proof!!!!
 
I have one tattoo. On the side of my calf. Got it when I was early 40’s. I never intended to get one simply because I knew that I would get bored with it and want it changed.

One day, my sister and her daughters were going for an overnight stay at Grand Bend, a small lakeside town whose population becomes ridiculous in the summer from tourists. Her oldest daughter had turned 18 and she and my sister had decided on going to a tattoo shop (they had researched it before going) and getting tattoos. I went to hang with them and just have a fun time.

For two hours, they looked at books and talked about what type of tattoo they were interested in. My sister wanted to do a quick design of her own. I wandered around looking at the flash on the walls, just killing time. Yep, nothing that I’d want and everything just reinforced my idea that I would never get one.

Suddenly, peeking out of the multitude of random skeletons, roses - you know, the really stereotypical pieces you’d see that people would regret years later - a little gnome laid on his back with his hands under his head, not a care in the world. Shit. I wanted it. But I did recognize that there were many influences that were possibly working on me. The fact that we had already wasted several hours in the shop and others were having work done. I’m just out enjoying the day and feeling like maybe I should do something impulsive, as I rarely do that.

We left the shop with my sister and niece not having made any decision. I spent the evening really wondering why I had such a strong temptation, but I believed that it was only the influence of the place and my sister and niece wanting to do this. So being smart and rational, I said nothing to no one.

The next morning, we trudged back to the shop. Again, I stared at the wall of flash while waiting for the others to make up their minds so we could go and do something else. Yep. Again disinterest and boredom. Did not see the gnome, until, there he was. Damn! Same strong reaction to it as the day before.

Guess who was the first person the chair getting tattooed? Not those who went intentionally to get tattoos. Me.

I have a gnome which is on the side of my calf, where I can see him any time. He is lying on his back with his hands under his head, floating on a leaf (there is no water, but this is how I see him) without a care in the world. He is there for me to remember to relax and not take things too seriously.


I always enjoy looking at it and know that I will not want it changed. I also know that it is the only tattoo I will have. For some reason I was drawn to it. To this day I can’t explain the sudden feeling of knowing that I had to have it. It does make me happy.
 
I only have the one.
A full on fox hunt across my back.
With the foxes tail disappearing down the hole!
When I was little and asked my dad if he'd ever thought of getting a tattoo done he told me about one of his fellow combatants who'd had a similar tattoo done on the spur of the moment (what with there being a war on an' all). When he'd heard that the war (WW2) was over he shot himself as he was so ashamed and worried about what others would think of his inking when he got home. :(

Poor sod had bravely survived the war out in the desert only to go and do that. I even wondered if dad had been having me on with the whole story. Oh well there we are then. Needless to say my dear ol' dad has long since gone to the blue beyond so I can't ask him now if the story was actually true.

Although I can appreciate the humour of having such a tattoo done I'm not even sure if I believe that you've actually got it but I DO NOT wish to see proof!!!!
The famous Gone to Ground tattoo. :nods:

I've heard it described many times over the years, usually in the context of the military and in terms of shocked admiration; the punchline is that Reynard has run into his hole.

Tim Coleman photographed a rather sumptuous version of it.

FOX-TO-GROUND-1-PRO-569x800.jpg
 
I've few wrinkles, but my aging signs are increasing grey hair and developing a large stomach ... though that could be explained away due to decades of drinking.
I've come to accept my age (almost 60) with irritated good grace; I know I'm old. Thing is, despite the decades of experiences - good and bad - I still 'feel' about 18 in my head.
 
I've few wrinkles, but my aging signs are increasing grey hair and developing a large stomach ... though that could be explained away due to decades of drinking.
I've come to accept my age (almost 60) with irritated good grace; I know I'm old. Thing is, despite the decades of experiences - good and bad - I still 'feel' about 18 in my head.
Well, in that case do like the rest of us do. . . to heck with the body, but keep your head!:)
 
I might not have a superheroes body ... but I've a super amount of memories.
I refuse to do the "in my day ..." bollocks thing and I feel sad in myself when I think of my life long past. But, hey ho - as Alexei Sayle once said "We have various labels for the elderly - pensioners, old folk, the elderly, nearly dead!"
We all will be dead sooner or later. But I'm more concerned with what I do with my life while I live.
 
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