PAETYN RECTOR

At just 19, my five tattoos each have their own special story and with each story deserves a playlist.

I don’t call myself a music guru by any means. In fact, compared to most women my age, I really don’t listen to much diverse or unique music. I am a fan-girl and I’m not necessarily ashamed by that fact I just wish I had more artists to back it.

I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday directly after school. My next one was less than a month later. That’s one thing they don’t warn you about when it comes to tattoos… they’re addicting.

Back to my first tattoo… my favorite tattoo, still, over a year later. Phoebe Bridgers, since 2021, has been my #1 artist in my heart. Her music has always spoken to me in a way that sets her apart from all the other artists that fit the typical ‘depressed white teenage girl’ music taste. I saw her live in 2022 and it changed my life… more specifically her performance of “Smoke Signals”. It absolutely opened my eyes and had me seeing the world through a new and different lens. I knew I needed this song permanently embedded into my life and system of being. So that’s exactly what I did. I got my first tattoo and dedicated it to that song and artist. I booked my appointment weeks in advance and on September 16, 2024 at Oregon City Tattoo, I got my first and favorite ink.

My next tattoo was not much later and was much more impulsive. Don’t be fooled though, impulse does not equal regret. I love this tattoo so much I just definitely could have sat on the idea of it a little longer. By impulsive. I mean I was sitting on my friends couch during Thanksgiving break and she said “I want to get a tattoo today” and I said “Me too” and 30 minutes later we were sitting back in Oregon City Tattoo.

I’ve met some of my favorite people in the whole wide world (including my freshman year roommate!) through this thing called Outdoor School (ODS) which is like a week long, overnight science camp that’s mandatory for sixth graders throughout the state of Oregon. It’s so much fun and very interactive and is just a fun little nature camp where kids learn from high schoolers about water, plants, soil, and animals. I was both a sixth grader (the last group of them before Covid hit, actually) and a high school leader at ODS . At ODS, both the high school leaders and staff go by fun, made-up names that can range from “flower” to “ladybug” to “decidous”. My ODS name was “Manta”.

You can probably assume where this is going. I did ODS every year of high school and went by the same name every time. So naturally, it means a lot to me and I had to get something to commemorate it.

My third tattoo is probably my second favorite. It’s so well done and so beautifully detailed. I’m still obsessed with it. I got this tattoo about an hour before my first date with my ex and, not to hate on him or anything, but I didn’t get another tattoo until about a week after we broke up (five months later) because I should “think carefully and critically” about my tattoos which I think is bullshit. If you want a tattoo, get the tattoo. That’s not the point, I just wish I got something on me in those five months but maybe it’s good that I didn’t.

My family is a big Marvel fan club. We’ve seen every movie multiple times and even named our dog Groot. Guardians of the Galaxy is my favorite. My dad has seven tattoos (I’m catching up) and soon after I realized that getting tattoos is a dangerous addiction, my dad and I agreed we needed to get a matching tattoo together. Also, considering he was supposed to get one with my mom and he went first with his half of the tattoo and my mom chickened out, he was excited for there to be someone to commit to it with.

So that’s exactly what we did. Combining our love for Marvel with our love for tattoos but we did it subtly…

The next tattoo I got was for my mom who refuses to get a tattoo. If you haven’t already read my Broadway Musical rankings post, go read it. If you have read it, you would know that the Outsiders is my favorite musical. It’s also my moms favorite musical. So naturally I had to do something with that so I got the quote “Stay Gold” (“Stay golden, Ponyboy”) in my moms handwriting. Very small, yet meaningful, piece. Took about 15 minutes and was only $75. I love her. This was also very impulsive in the sense that I was with my friend (the same friend I got the manta ray with) and we decided, again, to get tattoos because we were bored so I told my mom to text me pictures of that quote in her handwriting.

Aaaaandddddd finally my most recent tattoo that nobody knew about except for my girls in my summer camp bunk. 14 little girls knew and that was it. This one is also for my mom and includes her handwriting (very tiny) from a letter that she wrote me and sent to camp. I drew this tattoo by hand which might be why it’s my least favorite but I love the meaning behind it. The tattoo itself is a post card stamp of my mom and I’s favorite park in NYC, Bryant Park, and I got it in NYC (very expensive) which makes it that much more special.