The permanence of a tattoo is its entire mystique - without that, it's on par with henna, rub-on tattoos, ballpoint pen ....

As I like to say, "Everyone should have to make a decision they'll have to live with the rest of their lives." We should be so lucky to have it be just a little ink.

I got a tattoo that was essentially meaningless; in the most pretentious, McLuhanesque sense, the fact that I got it at all was the only point. I have a tattoo. When it's erasable, that kind of statement is meaningless.

I have a tattoo.

That's it? Good for you! You have a friggin tattoo! You have some obscure, dated lyric permanently scrawled on your arm.

It's not the henna folks that are out of touch. I certainly don't want to interfere with anyone else's right to chisel anything into their own flesh, but come on, it just comes off as desperation to feign some kind of cultural superiority because you permanently inked some ephemera into your skin, that you ended up regretting. Sure it's not a huge mistake (even for a tattoo mistake), but it's nothing to celebrate.

Yet another Salon fluff piece. It's not even like it's a slow news week or anything.

That guy I met 20 years ago who had his entire back covered with a bad likeness of famous-for-a-minute 80's pop singer/Page 3 girl Samantha Fox is probably really tired of answering those "Who is she??" questions about now.

And when the guy I knew who had the cover of the Kiss album Destroyer put on his shoulder blade turns 80 and is sitting in a rocking chair in the old folks home, will he still be thinking "You gotta lose your mind in Detroit....Rock City!"???

Permanent ink is a good thing. It's a flag that identifies for the rest of us those who are best avoided.

As someone who has a Nirvana tattoo on her back, I heartily agree with the sentiment of this article. Yep, it's not as cool now as it was in 1995. But I have never wished for a second it was removable. I might not (or never again) be in the same emotional place I was when a band logo was important enough to tattoo on my body, but I can no more erase the teenager I was then, angst and all than I can erase the tattoo. And I'm glad of that, honestly. Keeps my suburban, mom-jeans, hospital-administrator self honest.

Tattoos used to make a statement. But they have become so mainstream nowadays that they have lost any hint of rebellion. Just think, in 25 years, nearly every grandmother in America will have one of those lower back tattoos.

is a bigger, better tattoo to cover it up.

Don't like that blurry Tasmanian Devil you got at the sketchy shop when you were 17 and half drunk ('I kissed the bottle, I shoulda been...', uh never-mind)? Then go out and find a real artist at a reputable shop (there are plenty around these days) to work something over top of it that really deserves to be there for the rest of your life.

Oh, really. Is that like a rule or something? Who made it? Who enforces it?

Though, of course, most people end up making many, many decisions they have to live with the rest of their lives. Some are more significant than others, but the idea that a tattoo is of some kind of special consequence as compared to a host of other life decisions with genuine impact, is, frankly, laughable.

Um, I don't think comparing Freedom2Ink to henna or a permanent marker is really appropriate. I mean, henna wears off, and you can do it at home. Ditto for permanent marker.

This still requires a trip to a tattoo parlour, and if you DO end up wanting it removed, a costly laser surgery session. You don't just blow on it to make it go away! And unless you book into that laser surgery, it is just as permanent as normal ink.

I'm also interested in some of the info on the website about some of the inks used now breaking down into carcinogenic components when people try to break them down through laser surgery.

Not only that, but as the author of the article seems a prime example -- many of the current inks create allergic reactions (this is what caused the 'bumpiness' of the tat). A friend of mine recently had an allergic reaction to a tattoo, so I can't help but believe it isn't that uncommon (especially with red inks, don't know why).

So, if this new ink creates fewer allergic reactions, and doesn't break down into potentially cancer causing agents when lasered, I think its a good thing. Screw permanence. Nothing is forever, even you. Don't try fooling yourself with some skin art.

I got the a forest background from Craig Thomson's graphic novel Blankets around my left forearm. It's about 6 months old and 4 out of every 5 days it looks great, but there are times when I look at it and seriously wonder how I could've done this to myself. If the ratio of good to bad days is anywhere close in 6 years I'll feel like i made the right decision. Anyways, I thought this was a nice little article, I too got mine out of the fear of blending into sterile 00's corporate culture. It's kind of interesting how everyone who is accepting of tattoos already has one while while those who oppose them do so so strongly.

Speaking as someone with tons of inked friends, this is the best rationalization for a crappy tattoo EVAR. Doesn't make me want to *have* a crappy tattoo, but if it works for the writer, hey, great.

As a 44 yearold ex-biker who is now a business owner, I still get mileage out of my tatoos as a kind of roadmark for the person I was way back when. And although mine are much more substantial than the one line the writer speaks about, I still think, small or large, it marks a right of passage in teenage rebellion and a large part of becoming the person you really wanted to be "when you grew up". Like a reminder of a seed you planted in the garden when you first got into gardening and growing your own tomatoes.

Is the article going to bring the guys back from Iraq? Heck no. But c'mon and lighten up all you complainers. Isn't it exactly the right to have the luxury to worry about something so innocuous in this dangerous, scary world something that we should celebrate instead of cry that "the article is too innocuous" to take up space in Salon? Thats what the fight for Freedom hopefully brings, instead of suicide bombers and IED's .There's plenty of nitty gritty here in Salon if you care to read about it. Even the "serious TV News" ends their broadcast with a feel good/"fluff piece". Chill out and taste that freedom, man!