Are you a musician?

So, I'm sixty years old, and I just got my first tattoo.  I'm a very cautious individual, and I'd been mulling over the possibility of getting a tattoo for thirty or forty years.  A tattoo is forever, so I needed to get one that meant something.

Seeing the various things people had wrapped around their biceps--barbed wire, etc.--gave me the idea of musical notes in some configuration.  I love the look of sheet music, so I thought I should use the two staves, treble and bass, and an actual song.  But which song?  I was thinking of something like Clapton's guitar solo from "Sunshine of Your Love," but I couldn't find that music immediately.  My favorite band is The Who, and I was able to find a book with the sheet music for several of their songs.  I didn't think that the book could possibly contain Pete Townshend's "Tattoo," but there it was!

So now, twining around my right arm, from elbow to wrist, is the music for the first three measures of the guitar intro to "Tattoo."

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out, and I get lots of attention, which I'm finding that I love.  I do find myself answering two questions quite often, though.  The first is, "Is it a real song (if so, what is it)?" The second is, "Are you a musician?"  I hadn't expected the second question.  I don't consider myself a musician, although I can strum a guitar a bit.  I don't read music.  But I am very much a music lover.

My favorite variation on the "are you a musician" theme came from a man who appeared to be in his seventies.  "Are you a professor of music?"  The question was followed by, "I've never seen one like that before.  Now I've seen it all!  I've seen it all!"  I wavered between thinking that the man hadn't managed to see much in his seventy-some years, and being immensely proud of the uniqueness of my ink.