THU., JAN. 12, 2006

Just about everybody at some point in life gets wasted and does something stupid. What else explains the population explosion? The Macarena? Low rise jeans? Gerbiling? George W? All of these things seemed like a perfectly good idea at the time…well, except for the gerbiling and George W. The wonderful thing about life though, is that the painful memories of the thrashing and the clawing and the muffled squeaks and the bleeding eventually fade away. Ideally we learn from our mistakes, evolve and achieve a higher state of consciousness. This is not to say we don’t slip up on occasion. Bush is a prime example: an unfettered rodent still thrashing around in the collective rectum causing ugly and irreparable damage. Of course a stupid metaphor doesn’t last nearly as long as a stupid president and it isn’t nearly as dangerous. Some people believe that stupidity makes a great argument for sobriety, but that’s a bankrupt premise. The world is full of stone sober simpletons that make even the most reckless inebriate look like a genius in comparison. Point is, you don’t have to be wasted to do something stupid, but it certainly helps. A lot of people get wasted before they get a tattoo, but that doesn’t necessarily mean tattoos are stupid. Like Bush, they may be hard to get rid of, but a lot of people would say they are an art form. This weekend, those people will be staying at the Red Lion Inn, the site for the Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival. Tattoo artists from all over the world will be on hand to show their work and maybe make a lasting impression or two. Go wasted if you dare.