"Everyone has secrets," she replied neutrally. "It's just a matter of finding out what they are."

I love a good mystery, and when I saw that this particular mystery was getting great reviews, I decided I had to read it. Granted, the word "tattoo" in the title is what caught my attention in the first place, but the reference to body ink is actually very insignificant except that the girl it refers to is one of the main characters in the book, Lisbeth Salandar. But Lisbeth Salandar will be of particular interest to my readers because she's "one of us" and she gets misjudged everywhere she goes. Therefore I wrote my review more on her character than on the story itself, which is excellent, while also making some recommendations that will help you to get the most out of the book if you decide to read it.

The lady pictured here is Margaret Marcucci-Olson, and this is a photo I took of her back in 2000. A message was placed on the forum a few days ago from a member looking for Margaret. Her post is as follows:

I would like to get a message to my long lost friend Margaret Marcucci Olson. Plz let her know I am trying to reach her. -diwellman

If anyone knows where Margaret is these days, or if Margaret herself happens to see this, please follow the above link to the message board in order to respond to diwellman.

Jon Lynch - a 78 year-old former bank manager from Apsely, Hertfordshire, England has received the Guinness Book recognition award for being the world's most tattooed person. His 241 total body piercings include a few genital "bobs and bits" as well as 150 rings and barbells just on his head and neck.

More News This Week:

MN County Puts 1-Year Ban on Tattoo Shops

Nebraska Teen Accused of Giving Homemade Tattoos

School Newspaper Protests Principal's Anti-Tattoo Rules

I love this time of year; brisk mornings, falling leaves and shorter days set the perfect stage for Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Both holidays invoke images of skulls and colorful characters both friendly and foul. Avid fans of the spooky celebrations and their icons even go as far as getting permanently tattooed with their images. Want to see some of the coolest creepy tattoos ever? Check out this gallery. 42 photos of popular horror film icons, bloody murder scenes, sugar skulls, jack-o-lanterns, and lots more. Enjoy!

Jack-o-Lantern tattoo by Adam Jelinski - Anatomy Tattoo & Piercing - NE Portland, Oregon

Whole Body Imaging is now being implemented at security checks in a handful of International airports around the world. Instead of walking through a metal detector, passengers are being directed through a powerful x-ray machine which does a virtual "strip search," allowing the screeners to see hidden weapons and dangerous objects even if they're not made of metal. But the images produced by the scanners have been the source of much controversy. Find out whether your private body piercings are safe from detection and just what the screeners do and don't see.

irukandjitoast writes: "A week or so ago, I bought these acrylic double flared 00 plugs (by the way i stretched about a month before this happened). I thought they looked pretty awesome, even though i knew they'd be pretty hard to take out. I was kind of whatever about that. so, i put them in, no problem with that since i did it in the shower. i've had them in since then, but on the third day i really wanted to take them out since i don't like wearing acrylics for that long. and after the shower, and then even with some water based lube, i cant seem to get them out! id thought about weighing them down with something tied to them, but im not exactly sure how long that would take or what i would do that with."

What would you do? Please visit the message board to comment on this topic. Any comments left here on the blog are not part of the interactive forum discussion.

Mario Barth Gets Guinness Record For Largest Tattoo Show
Ed Sullivan used to brag about putting on a "really big shoe" but Mario Barth put his money where his mouth was - his annual "Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth" has just made the Guinness books. The expo was crowned "the world's largest tattoo convention" by Guinness World Records. The 2009 show, held in Las Vegas, hosted 1,200 artist/vendor booths and housed over 40,000 visitors.

More News:

Canadian Tattoo Artist Charged With 21 Health Code Violations

CO Tattoo Artist Attempts World Record While Raising Cancer Awareness

MI Tattoo Artist Offers Free Pink Ribbon Tattoos This Month

Last week you read the first page of this two-part article about Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and the practice of creating sugar skulls as part of the celebration. The first page explained where the holiday came from, when it is celebrated and what the significance of the ofrenda is. The second part of this article explains how the sugar skull came to be used as part of the Dia de los Muertos celebration, and why its history should be important to all of us even if we're not Mexican, Catholic, or even religious. Especially if you plan to wear a sugar skull tattoo, I think it's appropriate to bear some of the weight of its past as well.

Tattoo by John Biswell

Jenova writes: "I got my nipple pierced about 2 years ago...The piercer was incompetent and likes to pierce everything with a ring (which I'm told never heals properly) Anyway my piercing never healed properly and ended up growing around the piercing a bit. I allowed it to close up but it didn't go back to its old shape and so I ended up repiercing it. Again he used a ring. I changed it to a barbell and now 12 months on from that, it's still healing and is deformed compared to my other nipple."

What kind of jewelry do you think heals better and why? What has been your experience?

It's interesting that both of these news links appeared in the same week. While the mayor of Columbus, Nebraska was making apologies for trying to push a tattoo business out of town, a UK Mayor was preparing to officiate the grand opening of a new tattoo shop in Diss.

This past June, the mayor of Columbus, NE told Dustin Milligan, owner of a newly established downtown tattoo shop, that he and the other business owners in that building didn't want him or his rif-raf clientele there. After a public outburst that left the mayor with his tail tucked between his legs, he made a personal apology to the shop owner and wished him luck in his business. Of course, you know how they say you can tell if a politician is lying - Mayor Moser covered his assets on that one by making the apology over the phone.

Fortunately, not all mayors have it in for tattoo establishments. In fact, mayor Jane Trippett-Jones of Diss (UK) officiated the opening ceremony for Bliss, Diss' newest tattoo shop, after an equally unusual downtown parade to mark the grand opening of the business. Now that's how to do it!