It seems state Sen. Jonathan Nichols is not a fan of Crystal Gayle. The famous country singer is best known for her hit song "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." But Nichols might be trying to make sure that never happens.
In the weeks leading up to the Legislative session, silly season takes place as hundreds of bills are filed by lawmakers on everything from taxes to tuxes. It gives news organizations great fodder to waste newsprint and airtime on stories about absurd bills that will probably never see the light of day.
Nichols' bill would amend the state's tattoo law, just enacted a few years ago, to make it illegal for a tattoo artist to perform, or even offer to perform, tattooing a human eyeball. And just when CFN intern Bucky had decided he wanted to change the color of his eyes from green to neon pink.
While this act of putting a permanent stain on one's pupil seems silly, there is a trend developing. Placing artwork on skin just isn't enough any more. Now the term "gaze into my eyes" takes on a new meaning.
Over the past year, newspaper stories have documented folks wanting to literally stick a need in their eye. The procedure is not new, but has previously only been done for medical reasons. Known as corneal tattooing, doctors would normally perform such operations. But that was for people who had scars on their eyes from burns, lacerations or bruises. The procedure was also used on people with leucoma, a discoloring of the eye.
But for those who just want to make a statement or freak people out, Sen. Nichols wants to say, "No way." Hope he checked with the First Amendment of the Constitution first.
