I know I'm a pretty big geek ( what with all the Linux and all ), so I don't know if it comes as a suprise to any of you that I've often thought about getting a tattoo. Possibly something geeky, like the Linux penguin, the Atari symbol, or mabey something a wee bit religious, like a big fat smiling Buddha. I've even thought about getting some of my extremities pierced, like my eyebrow, ear, or perhaps even my lip. I've also had something of a long running interest in body art. Although there are some things that I would never do( Google search, click on links at your own risk ), but there are some things, especially some piercings I find pretty cool.

Still, I find it odd to the lengths some people go to mod their body. Tattooing and piercing, I understand ( mabey not some of the more extreme forms of piercing, but still ). For example, take this newest addition to the body modding crew. This stuff is pretty crazy. Basically ( for those of you too lazy to read the article ), the artist takes a piece of medical grade stainless steel, silicon, or even Teflon and using the right tools, implants said hunk of matieral underneath your skin. This opens up all sorts of crazy body mods, from horns and Klingon head ridges to (eventually) glow-in-the-dark hearts implanted in your chest.

There are many concerns about this new form of body modding though. The first is that not everyone who does the procedure follows proper surgical sanitation techniques. Seeing as part of the procedure involves cutting open a small seam in which to insert the object, naturally you'd think that everyone would do their best to be careful. Not so. Part of the procedure involves using a specially made blade to create a pocket for the object to slide into, but not so big that it will move around. Some artists have been known to use butter knives for this purpose.

Many plastic surgeons have been asked to do the procedure instead of the local tattoo artist. But they have refused, because the rules of their profession state something along the lines of "Modifying the body toward societal ideals is considered ethical,but any modification away from those ideals is unethical and comes with potentially stiff penalties". This has angered some of the artists who actually have medical experience, because they'd prefer that people go somewhere that follows proper clean room procedures, not to your local hobbist tattoo artist.

But still, I think the whole idea is pretty neat. Not something I'd ever get done, mind you. But still pretty nifty. One of the questions I have is what happens when you need surgery ( emergency or not )? Will the doctors be kind enough to put your specially crafted glow-in-the-dark heart back in place after saving your life? Or will you have to get the whole painfull procedure done all over again ( since tattoo artists aren't licensed practisoners of medicine, they can't use anesthetic, even when inserting a metal plate into your chest ).

I think I'll stick to getting a Tux tattoo for now, thanks.

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