Project D Draft 2

I recently took a trip to Las Vegas to meet a bunch of the girls I had been talking to on the Betty Boards. A message board for fans of the group Pray for the Soul of Betty. We had all been talking for months and decided it was time to get together and have a big convention. It ended up only being about 15 people, because the band had toured early in the year and a lot of people had used up all their traveling money for that.

While we were planning it the idea of getting tattoos while we were out there came about. In the end 6 of us ended up getting tattoos. Everyone got a design that was them, but all of them included the musical symbol of the bass clef to symbolize our love for music.



Everyone had a different reason for wanting to get it, but mainly it was just something that we knew all of us would forever be able to look back on and smile thinking back to this time in our lives. Although we live all over the country I feel closer to some of these girls than I have to a lot of friends in my past.

The guy who did all of our tattoos was awesome. His name was Eric. When we walked into the shop I instantly recognized him as one of the former artists at Hart and Huntington, the shop that is featured on inked. He designed all of them out of his head by just listening to our ideas and concepts we wanted.

First up was Barb. This was her first tattoo and she wasn’t sure about the pain factor. So she went with something small. Her reasoning for getting it was "The music symbol means more to me than *just* the love of music. I chose the bass clef because a really cool person once showed me how too really *listen* to the music. Not just listen to the vocals or pinpoint the lyrics but to really feel and be taken over by the bass, the absolute start, middle and end to a song."



Then it was my turn. I already had a couple tattoos and had always said my next one would be a gecko. I wanted to get this tattoo because the band has brought me so many new friends and has helped me through some rough times. So no matter what happens with the band and my friends I will forever have this to remember them by.

Paula went next. She got her tattoo because "music has always been the storyline of my life...however I recently found myself mired down in a job I despised...on the outside playing to the socially expected drive for more money...more everything....but the music was missing.... then I found PFTSOB."

Sarah didn’t end up getting inked by Eric, because of time constraints and the other artist was just kind of standing around, but it still came out awesome! She said she was getting it because "To pay homage to this community that has meant so much to me, and the band that has made me open my eyes and really taste life, I will have a flaming bass clef inked. The soul of the music lies in the bass line. The flames signify the burning passion of the wonderful people I have met through the music."



Karen was next. We all deemed her the toughest one of all because she got hers right on the back of her neck. She described her design and reasoning as "Two swans (notice the bass clef as their neck)....throughout folklore swans are associated with music, love, purity. The swan is my animal totem and represents the soul - my soul - and my dedication to my friends and family and the things I love."

Last was Maryann. It was her idea originally to do the whole bass clef thing. She is the one who had started the thread on the boards that we had all met through, and helped a lot of us to stop and actually listen to and appreciate the bass. She described her reason as "Bass is what I hear in music and the element that influences my tastes. I have spent many years studying the history and listening and learning from a great friend who is a bass player."