All those pretty little girls with flowers and butterflies on their cute little asses are going to look ridiculous once the canvas starts to sag.

When tats first started getting popular with non sailors and and non bikers a few years ago, I thought they were pretty exciting and daring, now they are just pretty boring--even tacky. Nowadays, its really sexy when you see a pretty girl at the beach with no skin illustrations--and no piercings.

I considered getting one when I was in the Navy, but it finally occurred to me that some day I might have to become a fugitive from the law, or choose to live a life of crime, and having a plainly visible and unerasable identifying mark on my body might not be a good idea. I did decide if I ever rounded the Horn, I would allow myself one traditional body decoration: an earring; on my left ear if on the west to east downwind run, the right ear if I sailed uphill.