My friend Nate Corder opened his own tattoo shop in Somerset, KY on July 1, 2010. I’ve been to his shop once before, but Sunday marked the first time he’s tattooed me in his own place. His shop is awesome. Very spacious, well decorated with not so standard artwork hanging everywhere. He uses a massage table for a tattoo chair and it’s quite comfortable if you’re going to spend a good amount of time getting inked.

This visit was to add to work he’s already done to my right arm. The last time he tattooed this arm I wanted symbols of good luck and gambling. Let’s face it, my lifestyle has plenty of gambles on a pretty regular basis! He also added a pinup girl to the inside of the arm. Sunday’s visit added stacks of poker chips and the word UNBOUND. I gave this one a lot of thought and “unbound” sums up a great part of my perspective on life. I thought about having him tattoo the meaning behind why I chose that word, but over time the words in small script tattoos don’t look good in my opinion.

Patrick Dotson’s perspective on UNBOUND: the ability to live free and select my own path. The true path to inner peace is to be bound by no one or thing so we can fully explore what life has to offer. It’s not to say I’m above the law, but I simply don’t always conform to the rest of society. I do what I want to do to seek happiness day in and day out while maintaining my responsibilities. I’m not tied down, I go where I want and do what I want. I’m free in mind and spirit.

So I slept with Saran Wrap around my arm last night to keep the ink and plasma and other juices from getting on my bed. It worked about 90%. However, the Saran Wrap bunched up a little bit so part of the tattoo was exposed. The great thing about black satin sheets? Aside from feeling good and keeping me cool is that if for whatever reason the ink won’t wash off, no one will be able to see it!