I have my online news readers set to alert me when juicy old lady news hits the net. My computer was smokin around the edges and nearly jumping off the table a few days ago, and I dropped everything to see WHAT?!? What’s up in old lady land? Did Madeleine Albright get a new brooch?

No, something even more earth-shattering. At 81, Judi Dench got a tattoo. Judi Dench. At 81 years of age.  She has both a temporary tattoo on her shoulder that says “007” and a permanent tattoo on her wrist that says “Carpe Diem”. Seize the day!  Good reminder for us old ladies. Helen Mirren also has a small symbol tattoo, where her thumb meets her hand.

The online journal, Sixty and Me reports that older women are getting more tattoos. Heck yes! They attribute this trend to the independence we learned growing up in the 60s. In other words, we not only do what we want, but we like to visibly show you just how feisty we are. And yes,  I have also been considering a tattoo (and pink ends in my gray hair). The only reason I have not gotten one is because I have not decided what or where. Where is the most critical issue. I don’t want to look like an old lady who wants to seem younger by getting something ostentatious. I definitely don’t want to ruin my employment chances by getting a barbed wire fence tattoo on my neck. I don’t need a heart or something suggestive on my chest since only the mammogram tech would see it, and they have already seen it all.

What? What? The obvious contenders are a bird, a Christian symbol, a quote from Scripture or a flower. An owl? A snowy owl? Who knows. I will decide someday when I figure out how to justify spending $100 on a silly body ornament.

Any suggestions? Long live Judi Dench!