Luckily, my boss, Travis Henry, said everyone in YourHub.com land had to do a tattoo-related story, so I figured this would be as good a time as any to get it. Being the Thornton resident, he knows just about everyone, including the owner of a tattoo shop in Thornton - Mile Hi Tattoo - who were able to hook me up.

I walked in there and was thouroughly impressed. It looked cool and it looked clean, which Jeff Sutton said is extrememly important.

"Trust your instincts," he said. "If they're not keeping their place clean, they're probably not doing clean tattoos."

Check out the sidebar for some more tattoo tips from Jeff.

I told him exactly what I wanted. I printed out two versions of the skull - one a little bigger and the other a little smaller. Jeff liked this.

"People should get a tattoo exactly where they want and the size they want," Sutton said.

"It's a pretty big commitment and that's the problem. People don't think it through enough."

He said people usually want to get a tattooed removed because they don't realize how permanent it is.

I wavered a little bit about whether the tat should go on the shoulder or the middle of my back. A day later, I'm glad I chose the shoulder, because these things have to get cleaned three times a day, and putting it in an unreachable spot makes life a little tough.

I liked having it on the back, just because you can easily hide it. However, it's not on a calf or leg or heel, where I'd put a tattoo if I was ashamed of it.

My assistant, Laura Mayo, came in to take some pictures of the session. Honestly, she was more excited about me getting the tattoo than I was. I think it was just because she wanted to see me suffer. :-)

I went into the little room with Mikey Castaneda, who'd do my tattoo. It took about 10 minutes to get everything prepared. He had already taken the design I wanted and traced it out onto special paper that would leave a purple mark on my body from which he would tattoo from. (See picture)

He had a set of tattooing machines, all with different girl's names. I got Veronica the Ferrari and Brittney the Silverado. Veronica was used for all the thin lines on the design and Brittney went to fill in the thick areas.

Now for the question everyone wants to know when they get a tattoo - yes, it does hurt, but not as much as it's hyped. It's basically a really annoying scratching feeling which leads to an occasionally grimace. Then again, I was only in there for about an hour.

Doing the outlines with Veronica hurt more than filling in the eyes with Brittney. Mikey said it was because the pressure is being put one needle instead of seven. But having the seven needles burned a little bit more.

The most uncomfortable part was all the sweating, which Mikey said was from the endorphins kicking in. It didn't make me feel any better. I had to wipe myself down when he took a break to clean.

Mikey, the guy who does my tattoo, says he does sessions that last hours as people get tattoos all over their bodies. He was actually pretty psyched he was going to get to finish this tattoo.

Tattoo artists generally come from an art background. Mikey has a degree in graphic design and is actually looking to go back to get his masters. Before they become pros, tattoos learn by practicing either on themselves, friends or on defrosted chickens. Mikey's legs were covered in giant tattoos that cover his shin - both of which he doesn't like and wish he could have over.

I got along really well with Mikey, which is unusual for my initially antisocial personality. Being it still an interview, I talked about tattooing, but the subject later changed to graphic design, girlfriend/wives and football. I figure it's the equivalent of girls chatting it up in the salon.

Actually, the talking really made things fly by and helped me ignore the scratching sensation. In the time it took to get the outline done, I had thought he had finished maybe half of that.

Most of the blood came when Mikey was filling in the eyes. When he was done, he laid a patch on the tattoo to help clean it up and when he pulled it off, it left an imprint of blood where the tattooing was done. I wish I had gotten a picture of it.

I was surprised at how accurate the tattoo was when I finally saw it. It was almost like the logo was printed on my skin rather someone trying to get it on there.

I don't know if I'll ever get another tattoo (although it would probably be on my right shoulder) - but I'm sure happy with what I have.