Ink Spot

Prison tattoos are a long way from the fancy artwork you see on Miami Ink. Shy on color these inside jobs are usually pretty basic, a teardrop near the eye, words scrawled across the knuckles. Sure there are some more elaborate crosses and things but given the limited resources and the fact they artist has to do his work in concealment prison tattoos are rarely as well done or fancy as their parlor counterparts.

Yesterday I gave the redneck equivalent of a prison tattoo. No, not to a person, (though I've done that before as well) but to a rabbit.


MOMMA TRIED TO RAISE #3 RIGHT, BUT PETER "PINK-EYE" COTTONTAIL LED HIM DOWN THE WRONG BUNNY TRAIL -- NOW HE'S DOING LIFE FOR SMUGGLING LUCKY RABBIT'S FEET ACROSS THE BORDER

My old high school Agriculture sciences teacher (FFA) called me up and said he had a student who had a show rabbit and wanted to enter it in the local stock show but she didn't really know all the particulars. once upon a time I raised and showed rabbits by the hundreds so I went and checked out the long eared hopper. And one of the things it needed was a tattoo. Show rabbits have to have some permanent identification inside their left ear.

So I ground a metal rod down to a point, grabbed some India Ink and went to work. Making a series of small holes in the rabbits ear, I spelled out SPOT and then rubbed the ink in and now the rabbit is marked for life. I resisted the urge to ad a teardrop to the bunnies eye, but he looked like a killer to me so it just might end up with one yet.

Back when I raised rabbits I had a fancy tattoo set and in high school I gave more than one idiot friend a tattoo on his arm. I could only do letters and numbers so these tattoos were always some girls name. Sadly the ink lasted far longer than any of the relationships.

This post is not really going anywhere but being back at my old high school yesterday and doing a bit of inking conjured old memories.

And in true Cliff Claven style, here is a bit of worthless trivia. Did you know prison tattoos started in Australia. Most people know that the land down under was once a British Penal colony, but did you know England used to tattoo the convicted to further their shame. Such as a D for a deserter, or BC for Bad Character. The prisoners would then tattoo themselves to disguise or cover up the letters.

I have to tattoos myself, but I've always said I'll get one once I sell my first novel. Whatever novel that may be the ink will in someway represent the novel. As I've said before, Should get interesting if Plundered Booty becomes my first novel.


So tell me about your ink.