Tattoos, a ye old sign of social deviance, are quickly gaining popularity and tossing away their bad reputation from the past. A few years ago I rarely saw tattoos on kids around campus, and now they’re everywhere, and they’re so cool!
Megan Anderluh is a second year English major with three amazing tattoos. All three of her tattoos are sentimental and personal, unique and really beautiful.
It's Megan!
Megan’s first tattoo was done right when she was eighteen at a shop called Augie’s Place in Elgin, Illinois. The dragonfly, at the time, was representative of her love of Jimi Hendrix, and more specifically the song “Spanish Castile Magic” where Hendrix mentions traveling on his dragonfly. Now the dragonfly serves as a representation of her persona, or in more colloquial terms, her spirit animal.
Megan's first tattoo, on her upper back
Her second tattoo is of a pacific northwest style whale. Megan loves whales and wanted to get something more than a cheesy cartoon whale. Her obsession with the sea creature started when she was a child and has since blossomed. She says “They’re smarter than people give them credit for, there’s a lot too them”. She enjoys the psychology of the whale, their self awareness and their communication.
Numero Dos, Whale tattoo on Megan's foot
Megan’s third tattoo (my personal favorite) is of a stone statue from the beginning of Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away. I first saw this tattoo of hers months before and recognized it immediately, though she says that’s rare. She chose this specific symbol because Spirited Away was the first Miyazaki film she was aware of watching, and the statue reminds her of entering a magical or spiritual world. The tattoo also reminds her of her sister, because they both love the movie so much. Both this and Megan’s second tattoo were done at Delux Tattoo in Lakeview.
On her forearm, Megan's 3rd tattoo
Along with sharing her lovely tattoos, Megan shared some tips for anyone thinking of getting some ink:
- Take ibuprofen before you go, this will keep the pain level down
- Think about your tattoo idea for at least a year. This will ensure that you don’t get tired of the tattoo shortly after you get it done.
If you’d like to share your ink with MODA, let us know in a comment below!
