deejay - 8:31 am on Mar 2, 2003 (gmt 0)

I do. 30th birthday present to myself.

On the back of my right shoulder, about 9 inches diameter... a white cockatoo with his back to the viewer and his head turned and preening his feathers. It's from a watercolour painting by Raymond Harris Ching.. a very notable wildlife artist. The only alteration is a blue faded border around the white bird rather than Raymond's sand, just to give it more definition on my light skin.

Why? Cause I wanted to. No one in my family has one or is likely to get one. It sure wasn't peer pressure.

Why that picture? I bred parrots for 15 years. I loved my birds dearly and it's a remembering of them.. all 300 odd. That picture in particular.. this bird has such serenity, quiet confidence and perfectly relaxed... and some more meaning I'm not sharing :) It's a reminder of good times and some things I should aspire to more.

I'm willing to do another one, but I don't have a compelling image/philosophy/statement that I want to make that I don't already make in another fashion.

Me too on both counts. I'd also not rush to get another just because I don't want to minimise the import of the one I have.

<edit> kant speel</edit>