There is no “underground” community, no dark den of drunken sailors initiating themselves into manhood via cheap, ill-conceived exercises in bodily perforation; it’s just a group of people who delight in using their bodies as billboards. – Joanne McCubrey, “Walking Art: Tattoos,” Mountain Democrat Weekend magazine, 199

You think it, I ink it. – Saying of Tattooists

Inking without a plan gives Booth freedom to explore the desires of those seated in his chair, he says, to feed off their energy, allowing his clients’ demons to help guide the needle. – Joshua Lipton, about tattoo artist Paul Booth, “Bad Skin,” Rolling Stone, 2002 M

The universality of tattooing is a curious subject for speculation. – James Cook, 1779