I threatened to honor Milwaukee with permanent skin ink for many years, and admired others who boldly adorned their bodies with Brew City devotion. In 2007, I even wrote an article about Milwaukee tats, and last week, I finally got one.

I went to Adambomb, 2028 N. Martin Luther King Dr., and owner Adam Werther tattooed the Milwaukee Tool logo on my left forearm. I know I am not the first Milwaukee patriot to pick this, but it has appealed to me for many years.

After owning four houses in Milwaukee, I spent a lot of time (and money) in local hardware stores, and every time I saw the red-and-white Milwaukee Tool logo on a sign or box, I admired its jaggedy font and the badass lightning bolt beneath it.

My tattoo was done entirely in black ink and it took Adam about three hours to complete the six-inch indelible image. I have numerous tattoos, but I have never had this much black ink applied. The process ranged from almost painless to annoying -- especially near the wrist -- even though I have a pretty high threshold for pain and am one of those wack-a-dos that actually likes the feeling of getting tattooed.

The healing process, however, has been painful at times. My tattoo went from weepy to scaly and my entire arm is so sore I joked with a friend about wishing I was born with detachable limbs.

But for the love of a town that Alice Cooper calls "Mila wau kay," it is worth it.