Hello, Little buns! It is Stef, welcome back to my home
Today I want to address something you guys have been asking me about
I really didn't think it was that big of a deal
But I have had questions on every single video since I have gotten this
To show you it so I am talking about my new tattoo. It is on my arm right here as you can see and
Again I just was like "Well I want a tattoo" so I went and got one
There is however a lot of meaning behind this and I want to share that with you because you guys are curious
And I don't see why not. You know? Let's set the story my friend Sam called me, and he was like umm
"So, do you want to get a tattoo?" and I was like "yes let's go" so we went to this place in Toronto in a neighborhood called
Kensington Market, which is a very cool neighborhood. Go there during the day, experience the wonderfulness very very cool
There is a place called black... but not black pearl
I always say black pearl like the parks the Caribbean Pearl harbor Pearl harbor gift shop, and it is a tattoo parlor and
They do walk-ins every Saturday and Thursday
so we went in on a Thursday morning I believe we got there at like 9 o'clock just before 9 o'clock and
The idea is you wait there you get like in a line people show up as early as 8 or 9
And the place isn't open till 11, so me and Stan sat there for a couple of hours waiting because there's an artist that we
Really really liked he'd been to her once before for another arm piece like another tattoo a flower floral arm tattoo
And he said she's really great. I looked at her Instagram was fantastic
You can find her instagram by the way let me just look at my phone for it for. Her instagram is Jennifer laws
She does the most incredible floral work. She's amazing with line work with shading. She is honestly
Incredible and I love the idea of going to women doing tattoos or even like anybody
that's under the trans umbrella too anybody that's not a man. Uh not because I want the men to not succeed but because they're
Doin fine, okay?
And I feel like women have a hard time in the industry so do genderqueer people or genderfluid people or trans people
So if I can go to an artist of that background with work that I like I'm going to do it
You know what I mean, I'm not going to choose them because of that, but if they do good work
I'm going to prioritize them over if a man does good work. Anyway, we waited in line for two or three hours
We were the first and second people to get done by her that day, so we were very very lucky
And I'm very glad that we got there so early. So what I got done: these are iris flowers, okay, and it's in kind of a
Around my elbow kind of situation now
My friend Sam said something very interesting and it resonated with me, and he said he didn't like a certain part of his body
So he go to tattoo on it, and it made him think it was beautiful, and I thought that was fucking cool
So I was thinking okay, well, my arms are pretty much my biggest insecurity, so if I get tattoos on them
Maybe I'll think they're beautiful. It worked. I love this arm. I think it's cool as shit. I think it's fucking gorgeous
So anyway, I'll show you up close
And I'll talk about it a lot of people ask me if I'm going to get it colored
I like black and white or not black and white. It's just black tattoos
Just like you know monotone tattoos like this because I feel like they look a little bit more magical
I feel like they're kind of.. I like the simplicity of it
You know I like the focus being on the lines and the shapes not so much on the color
And I think I'm going to continue down that route because I think it looks really cool the reason I chose Iris flowers over any
Other flower, and she said she doesn't really get Iris flowers requested, and it was kind of cool for her
She said, I don't know. The reason I picked them is
Iris was kind of a big thing for a number of ways... in a number of ways
In my early transition when I started transitioning I used to work at a beauty counter about an hour away from where I was living
So I would have to take the subway for an hour there and an hour back
Every day and that winter when that U2 album was added to everybody's itunes they couldn't get rid of it
it was either that one or with a couple years later because I don't remember what year that was the
album had a song called Iris and
My understanding is it's about his mother and how you know she's dead, but she feels her
Energy and it helps him like live or some... I don't know. The way I interpreted it is like the line. I think in the song is
"Your light's inside of me" or something and I used to want to be called Iris
That was the first name that I really wanted when I searched transitioning with Iris
And I was like Iris is inside of me, and she's giving me strength and all this you know whatever
It's kind of pretentious and dramatic
But at the time it gave me a lot to think about they made me really happy
So that's the first the first
Facet of wanting to be called Iris was the song in the name. Iris is also the goddess of rainbows
Which is pretty fucking gay, and you know like I'm part of the LGBT community
and I think that's pretty rad and then there's also the iris of an eye and my
Eyes are my favorite feature of myself
and there's something that people always tormented me for and I've kind of found power in that now and
So the Iris of my eyes the blue iris of my eye, I think is really... I don't know it's important to me
So it's like three pronged
interest in Iris, okay?
So having the flower to me represents
All of those things and so it reminds me of early transition it grounds me in the idea
You know like I've not always been here. I've not always been this happy
I should be grateful right that I've come this far
It's nostalgia of that time you know when I would take the subway it reminds me of that
you know those cold winter days where I get into the subway and cozy up into a chair and it's just like a
Warm comfy lovely memory, and it's not something that's a specific memory it's just all those times in the subway
That's brought me so much
I don't know at the time you don't think about it
But looking back now that I don't take the subway as often it's like comforting kind of
Nostalgia is always comforting you know and then it also
Reminds me of you know the shit that people have given me for my eyes and my face
And how I love that now it kind of is some kind of little I don't know this is probably reaching a little bit
But I feel like it has a little bit of like a pagan symbolism because of the rainbow goddess
Iris the goddess of rainbows. I just think it's a cool idea. I'm not saying that I'm a pagan
I'm just saying I think that's a cool tie in, okay?
So it just has a lot of you know multiple meanings to me that I think are really interesting and I'm down for that
You know I'm going to go back to this woman for sure and get a number of things done
I don't know what I want next
I have a thousand ideas
And I have you know a thousand things that I want but um if you guys want to go to Jennifer again her instagram
I'll put in the description box, but it's Jennifer laws, and she does walk-ins at Pearl harbor gift shop in Kensington market every Thursday
And Saturday sometimes she's not like if she might be off for a day or something, so just check her instagram out see what she's available
But I think she's an amazing artist
And I think y'all should go to her and get your own little I don't know if she does amazing floral work
But she can do anything you want really I love it
I love it so much, and I can't wait to get another tattoo. So that's that I hope you guys enjoyed this video
I know you were asking for it, and I hope it satisfies something deep in your being. You know what I'm saying
Until it's not just remember you are as sharp as a tattoo needle they might not be that sharp
But I'm pretty sure they are and when I say sharp. I mean like witty and keen intelligence and all that stuff
You know you're sharp anyway, I
love you so much, bye! [kisses]