By Heather Goldin, Staff Writer
@HeatherGoldin

Did you hear about the wrestler who decided to auction his face for $15,000 over the internet? It’s actually not a joke, although it gave me a good laugh. How do you auction a face off? You log onto Ebay and let people bid on your face for advertising. At least that’s what wrestler Eric Hartsburg did, and an “R” for Romney will forever be on a 5 by 2 inch spot on his face. The highest bidder’s tattoo idea was “too lewd,” Hartsburg said, but apparently Romney’s campaign logo was a reasonable request.

The wrestler’s auctioning fad is far from over, as he said he plans to auction off a space on his forehead. I get it that getting a tattoo is partly a personal decision, but I think the guy should have warned his wife, who didn’t know about the tattoo until just an hour before the deed was to be done. And letting someone else pick the image that you have to live with? I suppose some people will do anything for money.

Let’s be honest, though. Hatsburg is not the first individual to get a less than appealing tattoo, but his incident certainly got more noticed with the recent election hype. Here’s hoping the Republican supporter isn’t too heartbroken over the results.

Eric Hartsburg’s face may be the top hit when searching “Romney” and “tattoo” in the same sentence, but without the former governor’s name, the Google results  yield some entertaining, and sometimes disturbing, outcomes in tattoo choices.

The Poorly  Chosen Message
There are some very meaningful tattoos in the world, inked with beautiful quotes and timeless messages. But when I see a tattoo with the “yolo” loud and clear, I stop and wonder “What were they thinking?” In this category, misspelled tattoos also apply. That’s just sad, man.

The Face Tattoo
I always ask myself why someone’s face would be so important that I would need to tattoo it on in order to somehow preserve it in my memory forever. Ever heard of a camera? Guess not because a portion of the human population puts someone else’s face someone on their body. I guess I get it if it’s in memory of a loved one who’s passed, but I can’t understand a portrait of your girlfriend you dated for a year and then dumped. I think a name, if anything, would have sufficed better than an actual facial image.

Foul Humor
A funny joke with your buddies has gone too far when it ends up tattooed permanently on you. The memory of getting that tat may fade with your hangover, but the ink remains. Nothing else shows regret quite like an unwanted tattoo. A recent study from the Pew Research Center shows that 17 percent of  people who get a tattoo feel some regret. I would think twice before getting that trendy symbol or weird picture you find funny now but probably won’t in a few decades.