Tattoo of Your Fav Pool Player (photo)

You know you've really reached celebrity status when someone gets your face tattooed on their bod.

Actually, the Ashton twins (JoAnne and Beverly) from Canada are already well-known pool players and quite famous.  They have endorsements and such, too.  SUPER fun gals to hang out with and will make you smile every second you are around them! 

And, check this out:

No matter what you think (stalker, crazy, ouch), this is pretty damn cool!

JoAnne Ashton and her likeness:

Courtesy of Sean Johnson's back.

Believe - Temporary Tattoo

I wrote about this ladies team before, how they meet up to practice together, have their own facebook group page where they can share ideas and inspiration, and they pump each other up more than any other team I've ever seen.

I wrote how their shirts aren't just a design, but have a motto and encouraging words on them, too (click here).

So I should not have been surprised when one of the teammates on the final day of the Best of the Best playoffs shared with me this:

They all wrote the word "believe" on their bridge pinkies to show they have heart and to believe in themselves.

They were down 6-1 the previous weekend and came back to win.  They wanted to remember that faith and desire and how they never gave up, how the BELIEVED.

I LOVED this.

Body Art

One of my teammates joked that if we won the women's event at BCAPL Nationals, we should get our team name tattooed.

LOL.

Our team name is Born Ready.

I was like, uh, no.

I then shared if that is the case, I should have got our team name tattooed last year too, since we won last year.

That team name was "How's My Rack?"

She joked I should put it across my chest in cursive like some people do.

NOT.

lol.

Wrist Photos

As many of my frequent readers know already, my dear friend and fellow pool player, Lisa Marr, has tattoos on her wrists for inspiration.

Here is her story (might want to get a hanky):  http://pooljourney.blogspot.com/2012/03/video-of-lisas-inspiring-tattoos.html

I also got tattoos on my wrists.  I was so inspired by hers, and had just lost my Mom, that it made sense to me.

I have the Japanese symbol for the word "Live" on my left wrist.  It's red in color, because it's a power color.  I have the Chinese/Japanese symbol for "Today" on my right wrist.  That one is blue because it's my Mom's favorite color.

My FAV saying is "Live Today."  Meaning, don't worry about the past or the future; live in the present; that's the only thing you can control. Live in the moment.  Live life to the fullest.

But, because I wanted to share these tattoos on my new FaceBook page, "Pool Players and Their Tattoos," I needed someone to capture the wrists tattoos while I played pool.  Which is VERY difficult to do, lol.

(go ahead, try it, I dare ya!)

In comes my friend Zeke!

Zeke is a professional Foosball player, wanna-be-pool-player (lol) and also a photographer.  He captures great shots and so I asked for his help one night at a weekly tournament.

And here they are!

Thank you SO MUCH, Zeke!

(click any photo to enlarge)

Pool Players and Their Tattoos FB Page

I took a lot of photos at the BCAPL Texas State Tourney back in April and as I was going through the photos to pick the good ones, delete the blurry ones, I noticed I happened to capture several pool players and their tattoos.

I therefore decided to create a FaceBook page just for this combination!

The link is here:  https://www.facebook.com/PoolPlayersAndTheirTattoos

If you have pics of your tattoos showing while playing pool or pool in the background, OR if you have pics you have taken of players with tattoos, pleas post them on the FB page and I'll put them up for you.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Click photo to enlarge the screen capture

Video of Lisa's Inspiring Tattoos

I shared back in Jan 2010 the inspiring interview with Lisa Marr about the story behind her tattoos on her wrists.

Then in early Jan 2012 (during a tournament as we watched Lisa compete in the first stop of the OB Cues Ladies Tour in Arlington, Texas at Rusty's Billiards), I mentioned to friend that PoolStudents.net and I captured her story on video.

My friend had not seen the video and so I tried to find it so I could share the link.  During my research, I realized I had not shared Lisa's video on my blog.  What was I thinking?!  I want to ensure you all get to see this truly inspiring video for yourself!







Lisa has 'Strong' tattooed in Chinese on her stroking arm & the 'Courage' tattooed in Chinese on her bridge arm. "My strength is always behind me and you need courage to more forward. So my stroking arm is always behind me & my courage, bridge hand, is always in front of me" she explained. Lisa does use them during matches also: "when I start screwing up I use them to tell myself that I am strong and to have the courage to regroup myself & play better." When Lisa is looking down during a match, she's not getting down on myself. She admits, "I am pumping myself up by looking at my tattoos! Someone once commented to me that I look like I am giving up when I look down. I thought to myself 'got you fooled then' lol."

Tats in Vegas

Vegas is one of those cool places where one might think, "Hey, I should get a tattoo while I''m in Vegas!"  It's the city of adult fun after all, right?!

Well, while I've never personally got tattooed while in Vegas, just this year two of my friends did.  And I have proof!

Conveniently, the Riviera Casino, which hosts the BCAPL Tourney, has a tattoo parlor in it!  It's literally a few steps from the convention center.  It's called the "World Famous 3 Lions Tattoo Studio." 

One of my AZB Forum friends got this tattoo the first few days into the singles event (click to enlarge to see the fine details):

His team is from Odessa, Texas and they are called Bad Boys.  I love the original design and how it incorporates pool and cards.

Then when the team event started, about 5 days later, my Vegas roommie's friend from Houston, Texas (Juan) decided to get his FIRST tattoo!  He inked this awesome Phoenix!

And here he is with his tattoo artist (ain't she a cutey?!).

Juan and I both agreed what was cool about this design is he can add more future tats around it pretty easily because of the shape.

And finally, I took video footage of Juan getting this tattoo  (I also took some footage of the pool area before heading into the tattoo parlor).  Enjoy!

Insipiring Tattoos - Lisa Marr

Tats

It wasn't noticeable right away, but I am glad I saw this one day last year during a weekend jaunt to an OB Cues Tournament. Lisa Marr, OB Cues Tour Champion for the last two years, has a tattoo on each of her wrists. She has some more tats, but I want to talk about these two specific ones today.

When I first started this blog entry, it was going to be about her tats. Now, it's going to be about Lisa. :)

Lisa, doing her favorite thing!

Lisa is one of those rare individuals you run across in life that you will always remember. She has graced the Ladies Tour in Texas since the late 1990s. Many peeps in Texas know this, but others don't: She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and attends every OB Cues Ladies Tour in Texas and Ok - that's a lot of driving folks!!

Lisa won 3 stops in a row on the OB Cues Ladies Tour (back then called the Hunter Classics Tour) at the end of 2002. Then she had a stint on the WPBA Tour as a WPBA Touring Pro. While we all knew she had the skills, determination, and talent to get her on the Pro Tour, she told me once she was able to reach that dream because the OB Cues Tour provided the avenue. She is a very gracious and thankful person!

Lisa now is a regular in the top 3 of the OB Cues Tour, capturing at least 1 tournament every year since 2005 when she was able to play on the Regional Ladies Tour again after she stopped competing with the Pros. In 2008, she captured the all-allusive OB Cues Tour Champion title earning the most points that year. She followed 2009 with the same result (not an easy feat)!

Lisa has a big heart even though she acts tough at times; she is very determined in her goals but never forgets to thank people for their efforts; she loves her family and friends; and knows how to have a good time.

Lisa got these two tattoos after her second divorce in 2006. They are Chinese symbols representing Strength and Courage. The "Strong" tattoo is on her stroking arm and the "Courage" tattoo is on her bridge arm.

Personal tattoos

I asked Lisa why she got the tattoos. Lisa started to tell me her story: She said she sat down one night in silence for hours and replayed all her relationships throughout her life. Lisa explained, "It helped me to realize that I was in most of those relationships for all the wrong reasons. So I knew that I would need to be strong & have courage to stop the cycle of a lifetime of wrong decisions. So I thought the tattoos were very appropriate for that reason."

Lisa, then, (of course!) thought about how the game of pool has effected her life. "It really, at times, was the only thing in this world that made me strong & to have courage to keep on going," Lisa says. "I knew no one could take THAT from me. The kind of unconditional love you get from your parents (in my case, My mom). Having the pleasure of taking care of two kids, growing to love them & then to only have to take them home after the weekend really tore me up. There were times that we had full custody when their mother couldn't "afford" them to only once again be ripped from my arms. So the tug of war with the kids really played on me. I wanted to be a Mom but better yet I wanted to be THEIR Mom. So pool helped me to fill that empty void." Lisa added, "Wow, thinking about all this is making me emotional....lol. How far I have come and how I have come out on top during some of the most trying times in my life."

Lisa loves pool with all her heart; it's her passion. Other than for her family, kids or grandbabies, she wouldn't give up pool for anything or anyone. "I don't really think I could quit even if I wanted to," Lisa reflects. "You are born to do something and I think that Pool is my something. "

"So pool essentially helped me get through some really tough times & kept me from going crazy," Lisa shares. When she was upset or down she could just go hit some balls and didn't think about anything else. " I didn't use pool to run from my problems but instead it helped calm me down so that when I went back to "reality" I had a better perspective," Lisa says.

She put the 'Strong' tattoo on her stroking arm & the 'Courage' tattoo on her bridge arm. "My strength is always behind me and you need courage to more forward. So my stroking arm is always behind me & my courage, bridge hand, is always in front of me" she explained. Lisa does use them during matches also: "when I start screwing up I use them to tell myself that I am strong and to have the courage to regroup myself & play better." When Lisa is looking down during a match, she's not getting down on myself. She admits, "I am pumping myself up by looking at my tattoos! Someone once commented to me that I look like I am giving up when I look down. I thought to myself 'got you fooled then' lol."

Last but most important, Lisa thought about the below prayer in the decision to get these very personal and profound tattoos. Lisa explains, "wisdom comes from being strong and overcoming your tribulations. You need courage to overcome future obstacles, also. My Grandparents had a bible in their living room and it was always opened to this prayer. So it has always stuck with me:"

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

"So when I put my hands together to pray, those are right there to remind me that God is the one who gives us our strength & courage to keep on living life to the fullest potential and that he has it all under control" Lisa said. She has a wonderful look on life. She adds, "you just have to learn when you are going through tough times that it's his plan for you and you will learn something from it and become a better person. He gave us the gift of life and what I do with my life is my gift to him."

Lisa shared with me that by asking her questions about her tattoos and her having to answer them, "you have helped me to realize that I am getting to the place in my life that I have always wished for myself. Thanks! He works in mysterious ways, he does!"

Here's Lisa goofing off.

The Serious Lisa

I want to thank Lisa for taking the time to share her story. It will hit home with a lot of people.