julia says that most of her friends now have a tattoo. "I think they're popular for a number of reasons. One is because iy's much easier to have them done safelu these days. It' s much cheaper to have them done on vacation here in Asia, too; it's much more expensive back in the U.S Also, the associationwith criminals and truck drivers is disappearing. Plus, of course, it's now quite trendy, especially as movie stars like Angelina Jolie have tattoos.