tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37646088599266279522024-03-13T04:03:29.256-07:00silenciadoelvientobodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.comBlogger593125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-34559527783137858092012-04-12T00:09:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.234-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Emily HarrisonToday we have another tattooed poet from "across the Pond".<br /><br />Emily Harrison sent us this lovely tattoo from the United Kingdom:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgG8gW_r-1ODZYxwPfppXWnL6NS6d24BJhSbnHgRv4SncNVEH-cAtQ3dOjcnlGu6XPEI6Ez7p71viXu4IPnGBV8pDpwhylChqfshab6rfJDp9MVY1Wgat6P2xXK2WQ1RAeTXzimTT7Dg/s1600/crow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgG8gW_r-1ODZYxwPfppXWnL6NS6d24BJhSbnHgRv4SncNVEH-cAtQ3dOjcnlGu6XPEI6Ez7p71viXu4IPnGBV8pDpwhylChqfshab6rfJDp9MVY1Wgat6P2xXK2WQ1RAeTXzimTT7Dg/s400/crow.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Emily explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It was the first appointment of the day on my 18th birthday at <a href="http://www.sinkingtheink.co.uk/">Sinking The Ink</a> in Swindon and I finally got to get the tattoo. I ignored friends and family warning me not to commit to such a lifelong commitment at such a 'young and impressionable age' and, being quite the goody-two-shoes for most of my life, went for it. My inspiration is <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/113">Ted Hughes'</a> collection of work, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0571099157/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0571099157">Crow</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0571099157" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (sometimes I can bend the truth slightly and give a nod if anyone asks <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/130">Edgar Allen Poe</a>) and I now have a perching taxidermy crow to match it."</blockquote>By way of poetry, Emily has offered up this item for our enjoyment:<br /><br /><b>Instantly Your Biggest Fan</b><br /><br />I want to hear you describe my look <br />as blood in the sugar bowl<br />my attitude as the paddling pool<br />blown onto the M4 causing a pile up<br />you don’t<br />love me<br />you should<br />when we go to the seaside<br />I wont even moan<br />when I drop my ice cream<br />and when you offer me yours<br />I wont accept <br />I’ll make your tongue ache<br />until its like you’ve been <br />sucking on fudge <br />you’ll have dreams <br />where you save me<br />from wreckages<br />burning freak accidents<br />the one you love<br />and the one who loves you<br />are never ever the same person<br />now fall in love with me<br />as if I were a French girl<br />on a postcard<br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I generally don't comment on the poems, but I like this one very much and am thankful Emily sent it our way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Emily Harrison won the <a href="http://www.towerpoetry.org.uk/">Christopher Tower Poetry Prize</a> in 2010 and is set to be published in the April edition of <a href="http://popshotpopshot.com/">Popshot Magazine</a>. Her poetry is scarlet, penetrating, funny and honest. Emily does beautiful, stark and memorable words. She has red hair, perpetual lipstick and high heels. She adds, "I find inspiration from the men in my life; some painfully thin, most aggressively passionate, all with strange hair cuts."<br /><br />Thanks to Emily for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.0929609180893749" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></b> </div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-63455228447970869222012-04-11T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.234-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Sammi SkolmoskiWhenever possible, I try and correspond our posts with corresponding dates. So, when <a href="http://madnessbarely.tumblr.com/">Sammi Skolmoski</a> sent this tattoo in, April 11 seemed appropriate:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG8Xml7fyq7xNVJzQYPfgibc7uOFl9E0dhMYjmIWRUP0N0rXHSgLBZqGlx5F8e9obUmXn-4IjClk4caYaYufiC26PAeATqPjyPQMcYF7LuWhSLAdVu-1B4hCLZlP6QBryil9ZcMv3e0Q/s1600/blue+monday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG8Xml7fyq7xNVJzQYPfgibc7uOFl9E0dhMYjmIWRUP0N0rXHSgLBZqGlx5F8e9obUmXn-4IjClk4caYaYufiC26PAeATqPjyPQMcYF7LuWhSLAdVu-1B4hCLZlP6QBryil9ZcMv3e0Q/s640/blue+monday.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Why this tattoo today? April 11, 2012 marks five years since the great <a href="http://www.vonnegut.com/">Kurt Vonnegut</a> passed away and, as Sammi explains:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">" 'Goodbye, Blue Monday' is the alternate title of Vonnegut’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_of_Champions">Breakfast of Champions</a>. It is my favorite book - one in which Vonnegut’s masterful use of satire and science result in a climax where he, as author, enters the pages as master/manipulator supreme, to indefinitely release his indentured characters from narrative confinement. The 'meta' relationship between writer and character — that they answer to, and are, the same person — changed my attitude toward writing, and rid me of the dreadful seriousness I often assigned it. <br /><br />And, I just adore sunflowers. The floral manifestation of a ruling cosmic entity! The perfect warrior to bid goodbye to any blue Monday’s to come."</blockquote><br />Sammi credits this piece to <a href="http://mariodesa.com/home.html">Mario Desa</a> at the <a href="http://chicagotattoo.com/home.html">Chicago Tattooing & Piercing Company</a>.<br /><br />Not only do we get this tattoo from Sammi, but she has also provided us with one of her poems:<br /><br />ALCHEMIST’S LAMENT<br /><br />He is monochromatose<br />transmuted by kaleidoscope<br />inherent in his daily dose<br />of bioluminescent dope.<br /><br />A regulated water bath<br />that leavens into churning gas<br />facilitates the stoneward path<br />of drowning yellow jars of glass<br /><br />the philosophic red and white<br />beheld as sacred, even nigh,<br />rears ancient alchemistic plight<br />of whole salve dangling near his thigh.<br /><br />~~~<br /><br />Sammi Skolmoski is a writer and multimedia artist living in Los Angeles who curates a quarterly lit zine called “<a href="http://madnessbarely.tumblr.com/">Madness, Barely</a>” and is a frequent contributor to <a href="http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/">San Diego Citybeat</a>. She surrounds herself with mystics, gazes at the sky, and plays her records LOUDLY. <br /><br />Thanks to Sammi for her contribution to The Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-22703675679146906142012-04-09T23:57:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.234-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Traci BrimhallToday's tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.tracibrimhall.com/">Traci Brimhall</a>, who shares this single word with us:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWA0T-6sMQPZ8DfusSxdRphv1R26JcCposnOHQSJ4Ewnc9TSQPnqOfV1Yj5iP8Y4LmtrhQZJvFx6ZImHLbTFt1UFZ7LtFs-x6-9IArMZK0cj5ZCfd7Sn3s05QJCjPjQH6vNZ3Gip-Gms/s1600/Brimhall-tattoo-duende.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWA0T-6sMQPZ8DfusSxdRphv1R26JcCposnOHQSJ4Ewnc9TSQPnqOfV1Yj5iP8Y4LmtrhQZJvFx6ZImHLbTFt1UFZ7LtFs-x6-9IArMZK0cj5ZCfd7Sn3s05QJCjPjQH6vNZ3Gip-Gms/s400/Brimhall-tattoo-duende.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Traci explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I got my tattoo last April during the <a href="http://news.siu.edu/news/March11/032311amh11064.html">Little Grassy Literary Festival</a> at Carbondale, IL. I was in Carbondale to do a reading from my first book, when I got the email that my second book had been accepted. I wanted to do something to mark the occasion, something both wild and permanent, and there was a poet and tattoo artist, <a href="http://ruthawad.com/">Ruth Awad</a>, at the dinner table who offered to give me my first ink. I spent that night celebrating in Ruth's kitchen getting my first tattoo.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I chose the word Duende, a word the Spanish poet <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/163">Frederico Garcia Lorca</a> said represented "a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought." A guitar maestro had once explained it to him this way: 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' When people ask me to explain it, I usually say it's an art that asks you to do battle with what is darkest in you, and what comes out is already baptized by black sounds."</blockquote>Here is the poem Traci selected for us to read:<br /><br /><b>Aubade with a Broken Neck</b><br /><br />The first night you don’t come home <br />summer rains shake the clematis.<br />I bury the dead moth I found in our bed,<br />scratch up a rutabaga and eat it rough <br />with dirt. The dog finds me and presents <br />between his gentle teeth a twitching <br />nightjar. In her panic, she sings <br />in his mouth. He gives me her pain<br />like a gift, and I take it. I hear <br />the cries of her young, greedy with need, <br />expecting her return, but I don’t let her go<br />until I get into the house. I read <br />the auspices—the way she flutters against <br />the wallpaper’s moldy roses means <br />all can be lost. How she skims the ceiling<br />means a storm approaches. You should see <br />her in the beginnings of her fear, rushing <br />at the starless window, her body a dart, <br />her body the arrow of longing, aimed, <br />as all desperate things are, to crash <br />not into the object of desire, <br />but into the darkness behind it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~</div><br />Traci Brimhall is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393086437/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0393086437">Our Lady of the Ruins: Poems</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0393086437" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (W.W. Norton), selected by <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/214">Carolyn Forché</a> for the 2011 <a href="http://barnard.edu/headlines/traci-brimhall-awarded-barnard-women-poets-prize">Barnard Women Poets Prize</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809329972/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0809329972">Rookery (Crab Orchard Series in Poetry)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0809329972" style="border-style: none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (Southern Illinois University Press), winner of the 2009 <a href="http://craborchardreview.siuc.edu/firstpo.html">Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award</a>. Her poems have appeared in <a href="http://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2010-winter/selections/the-sunken-gospel/">Kenyon Review</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2010/08/through_a_glass_darkly.html">Slate</a>, <a href="http://www.vqronline.org/author/5891/traci-brimhall/">Virginia Quarterly Review</a>, <a href="http://www.nereview.com/back-issues/vol-32-no-2-2011/traci-brimhall-somniloquy/">New England Review</a>, <a href="http://www.missourireview.com/content/dynamic/author_detail.php?author_id=1352">The Missouri Review</a>, and elsewhere. She was the 2008-09 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellow at the <a href="http://creativewriting.wisc.edu/fellowships.html">Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing</a> and currently teaches at <a href="http://www.wmich.edu/">Western Michigan University</a>, where she is a doctoral associate and <a href="http://www.umflint.edu/graduateprograms/kcp.htm">King/Chávez/Parks Fellow</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Traci Brimhall for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0393086437" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0809329972" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br />This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.<br /><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-74893362062576604282012-04-09T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.234-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Gary McDowellOur next tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.garylmcdowell.com/">Gary McDowell</a>. Here's what Gary had to say about his ink:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I remember thinking as a teenager that I’d never get a tattoo. It wasn’t because I didn’t like them. I did. It wasn’t because I was afraid of the pain. I wasn’t. I think it had something to do with the fact that I had no idea what I would ever want permanently etched into my skin. But as I grew older and my obsessions and faiths and vocations started to align, I reconsidered, and now I don’t ever want to stop.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Both of my tattoos come from an artist, Blaine, at <a href="http://www.babybluestattoo.com/">Baby Blues Tattoos</a> in Bradenton, FL. My wife’s family has a condo on Anna Maria Island, FL, and so we visit every summer. In the summer of 2006 I got my first tattoo (the kanji for “poet/poetry” on my right wrist).</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHkUyUNrRqsWlHq0Oh6vpBrQ0JTZd2j3uI_fDNipcakZM5M32khwD8UoD7e9nvkOTFyBd4s_7V7RK6pC6vD8Frk0kWb29KOdba5PGRCC06hUyccbKFS6PqLq1UDcL21HqkMyRBpgSLpM/s1600/McDowell_wrist_tattoo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHkUyUNrRqsWlHq0Oh6vpBrQ0JTZd2j3uI_fDNipcakZM5M32khwD8UoD7e9nvkOTFyBd4s_7V7RK6pC6vD8Frk0kWb29KOdba5PGRCC06hUyccbKFS6PqLq1UDcL21HqkMyRBpgSLpM/s400/McDowell_wrist_tattoo.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq">The impetus for it was simple: I’m right-handed and a poet, and so the thought of having poetry on my wrist appealed greatly to me.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Blaine did such a good job that in the summer of 2008, I went back and got my left calf worked on.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2e9KXkm7kfuizYiGRHPHX6xoc5c_h6fMMmTj7u6fsEWULQleULuBfnQagFB8cRC3Ijk_DDM23IvzzgApnx4XjeIAIrKemG4ZqnwQNddvQnvdzpPNTlAopcjosOVh5sUxKnFTgj-Zxf0/s1600/McDowell_calf_tattoo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2e9KXkm7kfuizYiGRHPHX6xoc5c_h6fMMmTj7u6fsEWULQleULuBfnQagFB8cRC3Ijk_DDM23IvzzgApnx4XjeIAIrKemG4ZqnwQNddvQnvdzpPNTlAopcjosOVh5sUxKnFTgj-Zxf0/s400/McDowell_calf_tattoo.JPG" width="313" /></a></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">At the time, my wife was pregnant with our first son, and we planned to name him Auden; though his name was not totally derived from the poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden">W.H. Auden</a>—my wife found the name in a baby book and dug it before she even knew it was a famous poet’s surname—I wanted to do something to commemorate my Auden’s impending arrival, and so I decided on two of my favorite lines from Auden’s 'The Question': 'And ghosts must do again / What gives them pain.' It’s a gorgeous reminder that we must conquer our fears, take a stance against what haunts us."</blockquote>Gary sent us the following poem which, in his words, "exemplifies my work best":<br /><br /><br />THIS SUMMER WITH FISCHL<br /><br /> <i>Waukegan, IL, June-July 2009</i><br /><br />I must repent for this summer I’ve spent beyond creatures,<br /><br />for the mysteries I’ve seen in a world<br /><br />that thinks there are none, a world where we’ve named things—<br /><br />garage, fence, robin, poem—so that we can feel<br /><br />something when we destroy them.<br /><br />I must repent for the chlorophyll in the leaves,<br /><br />the time I’ve spent in the pool, no raft,<br /><br />just my convexed back keeping me afloat,<br /><br />for the hours wasted hoping the clouds above me<br /><br />would form into something recognizable, something real<br /><br />and weighted, so that I could be touched by something<br /><br />other than a man begging for change outside the library.<br /><br />I must repent for the sunflower, its aching, arcing<br /><br />reach for light, for staring at the woman next-door,<br /><br />her meticulous morning routine: compact the trash<br /><br />in the can with a snow shovel, add a full bag from the kitchen,<br /><br />return the lid to the can, and weight it with a ham-tin filled<br /><br />with pennies. I too wouldn’t have believed it.<br /><br />Every time I turn my head to look out the window,<br /><br />I see a harsh light through the blinds, striping everyone with shadows,<br /><br />I see Bad Boy: a teenaged boy, a purse full of money,<br /><br />a nude woman (his mother?) on her bed, her leg bent, arched<br /><br />toward her mouth—is she hungry, dreaming, bored?<br /><br />John Yau says it’s the tiger stripes of light and dark<br /><br />splayed across the woman that make her an animal, but I’m glad<br /><br />she’s uncaged. What it must feel like to be stitched together, <br /><br />thefted-after like a bowl of apples and bananas in a Freudian dream?<br /><br />In another painting, a woman crawls naked through a backyard,<br /><br />huddles against a row of hedges. While I haven’t seen that,<br /><br />I must repent for the squirrel that fell from the tree,<br /><br />for my dog who wouldn’t let go of its neck.<br /><br />The hours I spent looking at beach scenes: I repent.<br /><br />The incest, the drinking, the affairs, the nudity: I repent.<br /><br />The thinking beyond line, beyond shape: I repent.<br /><br />I repent: the patio tomato plants, watercolors, prints,<br /><br />maquettes of the neighbor’s new garage, king crab legs<br /><br />for dinner, a nude sunbather on her belly, her back damp, <br /><br />her boombox sweating Shakira, Marc Anthony, and then silence.<br /><br />The eavesdropping, the baseball on the radio, sweet peas and carrots.<br /><br />For the old man across the street, his bad hips, his garbage can<br /><br />that I move to the curb, his cane, too short for his arms: I repent.<br /><br />In many of the paintings, I imagine a dialogue between<br /><br />two quarreling lovers—or is it a monologue, a palette of yellows and reds<br /><br />through the kitchen window each morning, their cups of coffee<br /><br />barely settled on the counter before they begin. I must repent <br /><br />for the unneighborly innuendos, the pile of dog shit<br /><br />on the driveway that someone will surely step in, unaware that they have<br /><br />until later, much later. I must repent for repenting, for repeating<br /><br />myself, but this summer of recycling bins and large paper bags full<br /><br />of lawn clippings has named me differently, and Fischl, his naked<br /><br />eyes, have given me a hard-on for all things domestic:<br /><br />gossiping, love-making, dog-walking, putting myself ahead<br /><br />of myself only to find myself lost in myself, lost because<br /><br />nothing is what it seems here. I must repent for spending so much <br /><br />time with the mysteries of texture, with a book that weighs more <br /><br />than my son, with my neighbors as if my neighbors were paintings, <br /><br />as if their lives were canvassed, colored, hung on my eyelids. <br /><br />The streets, the beaches, the neighbors: all starkly lit scenes,<br /><br />a robust sense of everything having been played and replayed, <br /><br />rehearsed like Sleepwalker, that skinny boy in the porch light, cock in hand. <br /><br />The lawn chairs empty, and we watch him like we want to help him, <br /><br />like we can touch him ourselves and make him stop, but he won’t stop,<br /><br />not until the lights go out or the sun rises or we fall asleep watching.<br /><br />I must repent for not watching more closely the bagpipe-lined<br /><br />streets, for the way the doves peck at the window when they’re angry<br /><br />or confused or cold or hungry. Perhaps I haven’t been<br /><br />completely beyond creatures. Perhaps my creatures, destroyed, <br /><br />I thought, before I started here, are merely lost in the lines, <br /><br />the colors, the textures of a painting I have yet to encounter.<br /><br /><br />--originally appeared in <i>Indiana Review</i>, Vol 32, No 1<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Gary L. McDowell's first full-length collection of poems, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935716042/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1935716042">American Amen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1935716042" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~jpdancingbear/dhp.html">Dream Horse Press</a>, 2010), won the 2009 Orphic Prize for Poetry. He's also the author of two chapbooks, <a href="http://store.cooperdillon.com/product/they-speak-of-fruit">They Speak of Fruit</a> (Cooper Dillon, 2009) and <u>The Blueprint</u> (Pudding House, 2005), and he's the co-editor of <a href="http://www.rosemetalpress.com/Catalog/prose_poetry.html">The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Prose Poetry: Contemporary Poets in Discussion and Practice </a>(Rose Metal Press, 2010). His poems have appeared in dozens of literary journals, including <a href="http://www.bhreview.org/2011/03/01/spring-2011/">The Bellingham Review</a>, <a href="http://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-review/">Colorado Review</a>, The <a href="http://indianareview.org/">Indiana Review</a>, <a href="http://catpages.nwmissouri.edu/m/tlr/">The Laurel Review</a>, <a href="http://www.nereview.com/">New England Review</a>, <a href="http://www.ninthletter.com/">Ninth Letter</a>, and <a href="http://www.quarterlywest.utah.edu/">Quarterly West</a>. He lives in Nashville, TN where he is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at <a href="http://www.belmont.edu/">Belmont University</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Gary for his contribution to this year's Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1935716042" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-80351870962266756192012-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.234-07:00Celtic knot stuff<div style="text-align: justify;">This was done quickly, that's probably with it's not very regular in shape. Oh well, even when I spent hours it's not much better :] </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq2PQ3qp33Y3jh9fzudSVd0hBKRVxfw1fzlN24yv_H1cfj9In2BQCFNTfVDBIR_MCWvmzM72WOTR_0Lkn80LdrptgJSpKVMyqYcichw4tg7QJjUDgmNh55COwvqvZg4B6qazzPjzJa_Q/s1600/celtic_tattoo_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq2PQ3qp33Y3jh9fzudSVd0hBKRVxfw1fzlN24yv_H1cfj9In2BQCFNTfVDBIR_MCWvmzM72WOTR_0Lkn80LdrptgJSpKVMyqYcichw4tg7QJjUDgmNh55COwvqvZg4B6qazzPjzJa_Q/s400/celtic_tattoo_2.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celtic tattoo design</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">This <span href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dc:type" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">work</span> by <a href="http://tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license"> Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Oh, and to the guy from hannalovinda.blogspot: I have no problem with you republishing some of my stuff, but at least keep the "This work by tattoos-and-doodles..." untouched. Rebloging it does not make it a "work by hannalovinda". Thank you :p )</span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-78185062409164994152012-04-08T00:23:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Kayla SargesonOften people winder where I find all of our tattooed poets. Many come to us via word-of-mouth and through social media. This year, I found an anthology of poets "under 25," and figured that would be a good resource. Today's post, along with a few others, originated from that volume.<br /><br />Today's tattooed poet is Kayla Sargeson. She is sharing this whimsical tattoo, which is her ninth:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oe0-wdetutdUoMGE8KSg1-yDjraNWvBr7_qpcRqDe8KniDQb9odFdmuQB1N8F5kDPDH7byXV3plbj4uhtEqQPImQNmRBBmBUeu2WGWKZD3BhZhRcIp-cD7Ii-AE4yzEj9jTinvOkg0I/s1600/alien+chicken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oe0-wdetutdUoMGE8KSg1-yDjraNWvBr7_qpcRqDe8KniDQb9odFdmuQB1N8F5kDPDH7byXV3plbj4uhtEqQPImQNmRBBmBUeu2WGWKZD3BhZhRcIp-cD7Ii-AE4yzEj9jTinvOkg0I/s400/alien+chicken.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><br />This is Kayla's tattoo of an alien head that proclaims “I like chicken.” The artist is <a href="http://classytattooing.com/home.html">Pete Larkin</a> at <a href="http://www.kyklops.com/">Kyklops Tattoo</a> in Pittsburgh, PA. <br /><br />I'll let Kayla explain the rest:<br /><blockquote>For the past year-and-a-half, I’ve been pursuing my MFA in Chicago, a city I’ve grown to hate. I feel like I don’t fit this city, or maybe it just doesn’t fit me. Regardless, I feel like an alien here that had to leave her home planet. Thus the alien tattoo. I go back and forth between Chicago and Pittsburgh often and during one of these visits, my mentor <a href="http://janbeatty.com/">Jan Beatty</a> was dropping me off at Kyklops [Tattoo]. She said “why don’t you have your alien say ‘I like chicken.’” I thought this was the funniest thing in the world, so I said “okay.” I walked into the shop where Pete was working on the alien. He showed me the sketch and I said “It looks perfect, except can the alien say ‘I like chicken’?” “Absolutely” said Pete and we were both standing in his little work station, cracking up. Because I have so many tattoos, I quit going for ones that have some soft, sentimental back story. I love to laugh and I like to be amused. I wake up to my alien every day and every day he makes me laugh. </blockquote>Kayla sends us this poem:<br /><br /><b>Hellwave</b><br /><br />Eleven tattoos and can’t stop<br />want my body covered/<br />no space for that night at the fraternity house:<br />body cracked open like glass.<br />I want a needle in my skin.<br />I’m the queen wasp thick and pissed off.<br />My friends say <i>girl you’re on the fringe</i>/<br />father likes to get me drunk/show off:<br /><i>This is my smart daughter. The pretty one’s at home.</i><br />I know the push of a hand on the back of the head/<br />faceful of cock/<i>baby no teeth</i><br /><i>do what I tell you</i>/stepfather’s raised fist: <i>bitch I’ll hit you.</i><br />At the Rock Room, for a tit grab<br />it’s all-you-can-drink-all-night.<br />I’ll suck you off for a joint.<br />I’m looking for my studded Sid Vicious cliché:<br />skinny punk with the bass guitar.<br />He’s got the chain wallet, leans <br />against his amp and almost looks alive.<br />He rides a Fat Boy/he’ll get me out of here.<br />We’ll ride the hellwave screaming.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Kayla Sargeson earned a BA in creative writing from <a href="http://www.carlow.edu/">Carlow University</a> in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Award for Excellence in Creative Writing: Poetry. Her work has appeared in the national anthology, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061896373/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061896373">Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets under 25</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061896373" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, selected by <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/174">Naomi Shihab Nye</a>, as well as <u>Voices from the Attic Volume XIV</u>, and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6989836-dionne-s-story">Dionne’s Story</a>. Her poems also appear, or are forthcoming in, <a href="http://www.5ampoetry.com/">5 AM</a>, <a href="http://www.colum.edu/columbiapoetryreview/">Columbia Poetry Review</a>, <a href="http://chironreview.com/">Chiron Review</a>, <i>Paper Street</i>, <a href="http://opheliastreet.com/">Ophelia Street</a>, <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/">the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</a>, and <a href="http://www.phantomlimbpress.com/Phantom_Limb/Home.html">phantom limb</a>. She is attending the MFA program at<a href="http://www.colum.edu/"> Columbia College Chicago</a>, where she is recipient of a <a href="http://www.colum.edu/Academics/DMTC/DMTC_Student_Handbook/dmt-c_criteria_for_maintaining_the_follett_fellowship.php">Follet Fellowship</a> and serves as an editor for the <a href="http://www.colum.edu/columbiapoetryreview/">Columbia Poetry Review</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Kayla for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-89251697058560341312012-04-07T00:20:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Jo LangtonSay what you will about the Tattooed Poets Project, but it has been dominated by Americans these past four years. Unless I'm forgetting someone, we've only had one poet featured from outside the U.S., and that was <a href="http://www.readthismagazine.co.uk/onenightstanzas/?page_id=2">Claire Askew</a>, whose ink appeared back in 2009 <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/04/claire-askews-two-naomis.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Well, this year we are expanding a bit more, including a few more poets that reside outside of the States, and our first such shining example is Jo Langton.<br /><br />Jo is sharing two tattoos, both of which were done by artists at <a href="http://www.afflecks.com/">Affleck’s Palace</a>, in Manchester UK. She doesn't remember the artists' names and explains,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I got both of these tattoos in a bit of a grief stricken haze. I did not form a relationship with the artists in question, I turned up on the day and they slotted me in there and then. I didn’t want the artist or the tattooing experience to overshadow the meaning." </blockquote>This first tattoo was done in the spring of 2008:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTM1AN03MX2Yj-i3Y4lBo5R5WHtcZ2NmXpgI6Z6qbHDseCUVEs2OiWGPnTlF2HJeen5HP_RiyGxca-D2lQLHRKCnrUdkcYC5BO12c4swt4sd2rZZUjEUvOHGeecMKbuysDi_P2pRfme1Y/s1600/Let+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTM1AN03MX2Yj-i3Y4lBo5R5WHtcZ2NmXpgI6Z6qbHDseCUVEs2OiWGPnTlF2HJeen5HP_RiyGxca-D2lQLHRKCnrUdkcYC5BO12c4swt4sd2rZZUjEUvOHGeecMKbuysDi_P2pRfme1Y/s400/Let+Go.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Jo elaborates:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"The inspiration for this tattoo came, in part, from my over-indulgence in the song '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Let_Go.ogg">Let Go</a>' by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/froufrou">Frou Frou</a> (featured on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_State_(film)">Garden State</a> soundtrack) and equally from the death of my Grandad. I wanted something visual to remind me to let go of my past misdemeanours and lack of motivation, and to signify a push forward in my life that sprung from my Granddad’s last words to me 'keep on keeping it up' in relation to the study of my degree."</blockquote>She also shared this tattoo that was inked last summer, in 2011:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpW8xxPJV4b9X5VaI_wL_HXN1A2AbVwG2OEPYw_mMCddNO-HtRBdhctkuPxURwwDbIBqfbbeC0ERGH1fDNfvFO8P4qH9vnboWupoKgG0KU-JEw1l6IF5rGByDROiRSVKEsjSSR6CbxPoM/s1600/Hold+On.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpW8xxPJV4b9X5VaI_wL_HXN1A2AbVwG2OEPYw_mMCddNO-HtRBdhctkuPxURwwDbIBqfbbeC0ERGH1fDNfvFO8P4qH9vnboWupoKgG0KU-JEw1l6IF5rGByDROiRSVKEsjSSR6CbxPoM/s640/Hold+On.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><br />Jo Continues:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"When my Grandpa died a couple of years later, it felt only natural for me to once again, signify this time in my life. I had completed my degree and achieved a First Class Honours. Neither of my grandfathers were around to see this, but I know they both would have been proud to know I had made it. I was proud of myself, and proved that holding on to what I wanted from life would have fruitful effects, just as my Grandad had said three years earlier."</blockquote>Here's a poem from Jo:<br /><br /><b>SAY IT W / POIS [ON] </b><br /><br />she tried <br />silent <br />He pursed <br /><br />‘Perhaps’ crisply,<br /><br />pressing it against her and resentful unexpectedly<br /><br />found another, eh ? you say, we go inside. <br /><br />Indoors he bent over the doll <br />seemed singularly loath to touch <br />kind of stuff before the ox heart <br />answer and <br /><br />surprised, you know <br />know anything about these horrible things <br />[I haven’t told her / if that’s what you mean] <br />admitting ? <br /><br />folding his pale soft hands together <br />them on his turquoise knees <br />see the doll <br />its chief disfigurement <br />deliberately inflicted <br /><br />either / a / sharp / knife / or / scissors <br /><br />the human shape of the thing made it particularly sinister.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Jo Langton is a poet from Manchester, UK, currently studying her MA in Creative Writing at the <a href="http://www.salford.ac.uk/">University of Salford</a>. She had her first chapbook published with Liverpool-based small press <a href="http://www.erbacce-press.com/#">Erbacce</a> and it can be found <a href="http://www.erbacce-press.com/#/jo-langton/4555536943">here</a>. She has since gone on to be published online in <a href="http://barehandspoetry.tumblr.com/">Bare Hands</a>, <a href="http://issuu.com/railroadpoetryproject/docs/issue3">The Railroad Poetry Project</a>, Streetcake and <a href="http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/">3AM Magazine</a>. She has a set of hand sew tea bags with word-leaves forthcoming from <a href="http://zimzalla.co.uk/">Zimzalla</a>.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks to Jo for sharing her poem and tattoos with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-88938423828722020502012-04-05T23:25:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam "Bucho" RodenbergerToday's tattooed poet is <a href="http://triphoprisy.blogspot.com/">Adam "Bucho" Rodenberger</a>. He sent in this sweet tattoo that is ideal for a crafter of words:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_lXYT68IuIKhLZPg_M965-G0gqU7EchQIMRIsVADVs8uk5Gib2i13f3HJsDu1Gi6OrLSkAnnB4Vf156FZkLRCfN6RCWFDNSoQlsdbaKzCj8HaH-9BMakHfhQncmRXqaPu4_i4IOFG84/s1600/feather+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_lXYT68IuIKhLZPg_M965-G0gqU7EchQIMRIsVADVs8uk5Gib2i13f3HJsDu1Gi6OrLSkAnnB4Vf156FZkLRCfN6RCWFDNSoQlsdbaKzCj8HaH-9BMakHfhQncmRXqaPu4_i4IOFG84/s400/feather+ink.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />Bucho explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It had been 12 years since I'd last gotten a tattoo and, having moved to San Francisco in 2009 to pursue my MFA in Writing, I felt it was time for another mile-marker. I had been writing off and on since 1995, but got much more serious about the craft around 2003. By the time the summer of 2010 rolled around, I had completed one novel, half-completed two others for my program, and had a slew of publishing credits for some of my flash fiction and my poetry. I wanted something big, something grand and awe-inspiring, something that would keep me motivated to continue writing even when stuck in the worst of ruts.<br /><br />I always wait a year before getting any new ink done purely to make sure I want it. Once this grace period was over, I searched out artists in the bay area and found <a href="http://www.seventhsontattoo.com/gordon_combs.php">Gordon Combs</a> at <a href="http://seventhsontattoo.com/">Seventh Son Tattoo</a>. His art was both lifelike and cartoonish at the same time but without sacrificing any seriousness and I knew that he was the one I wanted. Thankfully, after months of trying to get an appointment settled, I went in for a six-hour session and had the whole piece done in a day. What I like most about the piece is that, when my arm is bent, the feather appears to be dipped into the spilled bottle of ink on the forearm. The effect is quite nice and I've received a lot of compliments on it, even though my artist is the guy who deserves the praise." </blockquote>The following was submitted by Bucho for Tattoosday:<br /><br /><b>Paris<br /></b><br /><br />Bless me, pages,<br />for I have not penned<br />and it has been several months<br />since my last confession.<br />I lack the paper<br />to summarize concisely<br />as the pen-born word<br />must be writ precisely.<br />If this ink runs,<br />my hand is unsteady.<br />My apologies,<br />I have put faith in armadas<br />to bring Helen home<br />while prayer-lighting<br />straw gods up in slow effigies<br />and my hands have<br />benedictioned themselves until weary.<br /><br />Bless me, pages,<br />for I have now penned<br />and it had been several months<br />since my last confession.<br />I prayed at your altar<br />and recited your hymns,<br />crafted cursive letters<br />birthed by Seraphim.<br />I spun tales towards the heavens<br />and made deals with below<br />while awaiting armadas<br />with Helen in tow.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br />Adam “Bucho” Rodenberger is a 33 year old writer from Kansas City living in San Francisco. He has been writing off and on since 1995, but consistently since 2004. He holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy & Creative Writing and completed his MFA in Writing at the University of San Francisco in 2011. <br /><br />He began as a poet, but soon moved to flash fiction and short stories, only turning to longer works of fiction once he arrived in San Francisco. He is currently working on five experimental novels in the magical realism and surrealism genres. <br /><br />Among his publication credits are <a href="http://www.rpwriters.com/M_Dec2007/Bucho.html">Red Pulp Underground</a>, <a href="http://www.alorsettoi.com/one/fables_rodenberger.html">Alors, Et Tois</a>, <a href="http://gloomcupboard.blogspot.com/">Gloom Cupboard</a> (#15), <a href="http://www.upthestaircase.org/bucho.htm">Up The Staircase</a> #1, and <a href="http://www.santaclarareview.com/node/39">Santa Clara Review</a>.<br /><br />You can visit Bucho at <a href="http://triphoprisy.blogspot.com/">Fists & Angles, Christs & Angels</a> <a href="http://triphoprisy.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Bucho for his participation in the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-58627771549543339372012-04-04T23:50:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Rob GansonNext up on the Tattooed Poets Project is Rob Ganson, who informs us "I am tattooed over 75% of my body with award winning ink by my friend Ron Stephens of Tattoo Alley in Ashland, Wisconsin." <br /><br />Rob has sent us a plethora of tattoos, a sample of which follows:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxL3oWRu6ORsWcGlkoxgCH8osJcvgPw9UoxwEo1NZKpw75yWYEw9VdZ_xAx1RtHEFkZhePK07dFyzQ4DKN6VH2yxpIRowPGup-U6pFv_W-NalVUvcnwyIZGFAZ3VCpcC4-btuqM0i4TGo/s1600/rob+back+piece.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxL3oWRu6ORsWcGlkoxgCH8osJcvgPw9UoxwEo1NZKpw75yWYEw9VdZ_xAx1RtHEFkZhePK07dFyzQ4DKN6VH2yxpIRowPGup-U6pFv_W-NalVUvcnwyIZGFAZ3VCpcC4-btuqM0i4TGo/s640/rob+back+piece.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br />"The back piece was Ron's interpretation on a <a href="http://www.frankfrazetta.org/">[Frank] Frazetta</a> painting called 'The Moonmaid.' "<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://johneaves.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/moonmaid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://johneaves.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/moonmaid.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><br />Next up is this portrait of Jim Morrison:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-QHBYSEOO_uUfS9pyaoQZbAAT_3KNIOx_D94kHDErd93YiaS3uiGk3wTAJSZ1Acz7HQtJ3bT5UAD9hJaHTEFW1basLfFBihiSgoqfuaCniEqhSYegbEDnpJjCxwtTGfRXsB3uZUsy30/s1600/jim.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-QHBYSEOO_uUfS9pyaoQZbAAT_3KNIOx_D94kHDErd93YiaS3uiGk3wTAJSZ1Acz7HQtJ3bT5UAD9hJaHTEFW1basLfFBihiSgoqfuaCniEqhSYegbEDnpJjCxwtTGfRXsB3uZUsy30/s400/jim.JPG" width="296" /></a></div><br />Rob says this tattoo of the self-proclaimed "Lizard King" was inspired by Morrison's introduction of poetry to the masses of the rock audience.<br /><br />And, well,<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP_qraFd80oDTqWIR_dgsCUeQPnimQ8gS1wHtnJ_X6MTgwZtTjOFUiihtvGysfsOYCSjewx7QsURJ8yfl23HVNeH6s0kvH580x8ejST-woEB-WBDkpLggfWcucr6OnvcbQvznmBsgcDk/s1600/frank.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP_qraFd80oDTqWIR_dgsCUeQPnimQ8gS1wHtnJ_X6MTgwZtTjOFUiihtvGysfsOYCSjewx7QsURJ8yfl23HVNeH6s0kvH580x8ejST-woEB-WBDkpLggfWcucr6OnvcbQvznmBsgcDk/s400/frank.JPG" width="175" /></a></div><br /> this homage to "Frank Zappa ... happened because, well, Zappa RULED!"<br /><br />And just so we can pay tribute to other great figures in music, Rob also shared this portrait of the Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdkacgABFwmssshix6w2CYBVD3oSoino2JqcsSDCc7rRMm3Pjdp4bjvYdOecLFshnRrs3OLScoUJILp2oVTyH2-HzOPIMsPKWF8maAlMtYGWLAmqfHQCN26QQ_PBLpn7VLYFfpT1aw08/s1600/keith.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdkacgABFwmssshix6w2CYBVD3oSoino2JqcsSDCc7rRMm3Pjdp4bjvYdOecLFshnRrs3OLScoUJILp2oVTyH2-HzOPIMsPKWF8maAlMtYGWLAmqfHQCN26QQ_PBLpn7VLYFfpT1aw08/s400/keith.JPG" width="375" /></a></div><br />and the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlr9kArBkaOmPE6iwa6PUgONMCeT31__IS7qWRbDJkF4zzNltJArtfIixoyk71P_KufNsMndpBUxXoPY6POrgrwwrsDnJ7Md864F165u65Xzo0C538igBCQAZIJzoc_-iwXMqZfmubWQ/s1600/robert.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlr9kArBkaOmPE6iwa6PUgONMCeT31__IS7qWRbDJkF4zzNltJArtfIixoyk71P_KufNsMndpBUxXoPY6POrgrwwrsDnJ7Md864F165u65Xzo0C538igBCQAZIJzoc_-iwXMqZfmubWQ/s320/robert.JPG" width="176" /></a></div><br />All in all, quite a collection of music legends on Mr. Ganson's body!<br /><br />As for a poem, Rob sent me several poems for submission and I chose this one:<br /><br /><b>Echoes 13</b><br /><br /><i>“I turned silences and nights into words. What was unutterable, I wrote down. I made the whirling world stand still.” ― Arthur Rimbaud</i><br /><br />What use a poet<br />but to hurl language<br />like a spear, to<br />sear the eye<br />of the<br />reader?<br /><br />And you, dear reader - <br />plagued by open eyes - <br />must bear the brunt<br />of moments - <br />blunt trauma -<br />served like<br />songs.<br /><br />I unfurl burly invective<br />best left to nightmare<br />to make jejune<br />spirits swoon<br />forever,<br /><br />and as the world churns<br />absent these nightmares<br />the echoes fall - <br />moments caught<br />in poet's leaves <br />freeze like<br />Coleridge's<br />window.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br />Rob Ganson is a poet from the shore of Lake Superior. He has been published in three volumes of poetry, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/rob-ganson/float-like-a-butterfly-sing-like-a-tree/paperback/product-781858.html;jsessionid=BBC5072194F3675967D5B2F6D27F3943">Float like a Butterfly, Sing like a Tree</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Follow-Clear-River-Down-Ganson/dp/0578009196">Follow the Clear River Down</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Of-Horses-Rob-Ganson/dp/1257983954/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332692018&sr=1-1">A Storm of Horses</a>, as well as in numerous anthologies and journals. He tends to write on themes of nature and the human condition.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl11lLoA34vueruajQKsKCF_nz2iHLbbLtRsNeDJ_iDI-xicm8t74YG1AqjJfEe4EurrJ8L6qsJm08FwZ7zD7ifrFLKRZ2DwzmgAoW4mz8q6us5wfFjAx1bwaa94GLhhp8cJo4wbRxavs/s1600/cover+half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl11lLoA34vueruajQKsKCF_nz2iHLbbLtRsNeDJ_iDI-xicm8t74YG1AqjJfEe4EurrJ8L6qsJm08FwZ7zD7ifrFLKRZ2DwzmgAoW4mz8q6us5wfFjAx1bwaa94GLhhp8cJo4wbRxavs/s400/cover+half.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><br /><br />Thanks to Rob for sharing his cool tattoos and poetry with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br />This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoos are reprinted with the poet's permission.<br /><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-38646735165305541212012-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Andrea EnglandOur next tattooed poet is Andrea England, who submitted this photo of her tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uVis6rjvbtQ687M0ctgQRJiiRgPwcfWosv7_SoG8LNTPDlm2oUpXg9Vnan35rf13M-DhNObp-cCnYjRStvmSHRNB5EHjuHUs5ef8fmNuA3FhWwnLaFJp_LDnepDTOJMyXCNcg8UpZ0U/s1600/andrea+england.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4uVis6rjvbtQ687M0ctgQRJiiRgPwcfWosv7_SoG8LNTPDlm2oUpXg9Vnan35rf13M-DhNObp-cCnYjRStvmSHRNB5EHjuHUs5ef8fmNuA3FhWwnLaFJp_LDnepDTOJMyXCNcg8UpZ0U/s400/andrea+england.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Andrea explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"In 2001, I was able to take a trip to Ireland, the place of my mother’s ancestry, a place that she regretted never having visited. When I returned from Ireland I decided to tattoo her maiden initials on my arm in the original Celtic font used in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells">The Book of Kells</a>; CFM stands for Catherine Fallon McGinnis. </blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEp6YFDGv40NAtbfOVjLQxaATSGJ5JvgDz9xPxNU_atNgnze3M0dWuRPTjp3GcVKipfzurfYiV8kmonaWHEmvtR89zgFV4F2reYOIhGGJ_gCRQpGgIW5uhQjAs1uTgAj_DqRIHX1udLs/s1600/celtic+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEp6YFDGv40NAtbfOVjLQxaATSGJ5JvgDz9xPxNU_atNgnze3M0dWuRPTjp3GcVKipfzurfYiV8kmonaWHEmvtR89zgFV4F2reYOIhGGJ_gCRQpGgIW5uhQjAs1uTgAj_DqRIHX1udLs/s320/celtic+detail.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://chameleonbodyarts.com/home.html">Chameleon</a> in Harvard Square was my choice shop. The funny part is I had a difficult time convincing the artist to work on the inside of my arm. He kept asking me, 'Are you sure you want it there? You aren’t going to be able to hide it. Are you sure you don’t want a smaller font?' After some heckling, he gave me what I wanted. I take pride that she is there, and can’t hide from me or the world."</blockquote>Here is one of Andrea's poems:<br /><br /><b>Discourse of Bric-a-brac</b><br /><br />Insomnia in a twin bed,<br />the screech of brakes before<br />inevitable. Like the stray dog<br />gigolo, tags intact, jangling,<br />neighbors clamoring over each.<br />Who locked whom out. Get out.<br />Last time. The woo before sex, the sex,<br />the prayer you will drift asleep first<br />and the skateboard wheel as it fills each rut<br />in the walk just before the little boy falls.<br /><br />Oklahoma City, the morning after<br />snow when you’ve only thin sandals.<br />That cold burning you thought you could<br />control by sleeping in separate beds,<br />stingray on the beach, insides pecked out,<br />still breathing and that sad miracle.<br />It’s disregarding the phone at 4am,<br />the trill of it or the painter in the dream<br />when he whispers, <i>You can open your mouth</i><br /><i>if you want to.</i> This indecision.<br /><br />Because your roommate would kill the spiders<br />behind the blinds, because the dishes in the sink<br />are desire and desire clutter.<br />Because in the sixth grade you wore<br />deodorant but no scent, underwear in the shower,<br />and watched the cool kids kiss formulas<br />out of each other after school. It’s because<br />by Darwin’s calculations we’re still here<br />surviving, fit to love best uneven,<br />even when there’s no love left.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Andrea England is a student, a mother, poet, and teacher, who resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her work has appeared, or is forthcoming in, <a href="http://passagesnorth.com/">Passages North</a>, <a href="http://www.cutthroatmag.com/">Cutthroat Magazine</a>, <a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/">The DMQ Review</a>, <a href="http://rhinopoetry.org/">RHINO</a>, and others. Dogs and cold, snowy winters are also worth mentioning as objects of her affection.<br /><br />Thanks to Andrea for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.18809133558534086"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></b>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-13245917075966685752012-04-03T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Karrie WaaralaOur next tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.poetrysideshow.com/">Karrie Waarala</a>, who chose to share this stunning tattoo:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.24618310341611505"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYfQBpVwZwDD-_hiqLdsx8QvobCt9jr8rtuVc0SDN5q6EEYP3sAFgegYZcVM4JKU7tXdln_KedzE8t6zEaaiLDuQ7_aRuh6-oq5qzLlbpACaQTNtHdF3nHiA4D535TfWYctH8qiKIa9A/s1600/Waarala+tiger+tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYfQBpVwZwDD-_hiqLdsx8QvobCt9jr8rtuVc0SDN5q6EEYP3sAFgegYZcVM4JKU7tXdln_KedzE8t6zEaaiLDuQ7_aRuh6-oq5qzLlbpACaQTNtHdF3nHiA4D535TfWYctH8qiKIa9A/s640/Waarala+tiger+tattoo.jpg" width="480" /></a></b></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.24618310341611505"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Located on her upper right arm, Karrie explained the origin of this art:</span></b><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This tattoo is a painting by my favorite artist, <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/marc/">Franz Marc</a>, whose career full of bold, colorful animals was cut far too short by his death in World War I. I had known I wanted a Marc tattoo for some time and had been shopping around for the right artist to do the work. I was getting a variety of unsatisfactory answers to my queries until I brought the design to <a href="http://www.xstattoo.com/portfolio_matt.html">Matt Hessler</a>, who owns <a href="http://xstattoo.com/">XS Tattoo</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in Rochester, MI. He knows art, liked the project, and he's done all of my work since.”</span></b></blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The painting replicated in the tattoo is called “The Tiger” and dates to 1912, one hundred years ago.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://data.whicdn.com/images/12110315/Franz-Marc-Tiger-GC-731x1024_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://data.whicdn.com/images/12110315/Franz-Marc-Tiger-GC-731x1024_large.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Karrie shared this tattoo, she chose the following poem, which originally appeared in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/">Arsenic Lobster</a>:</span><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7725150894839317"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Franz Marc, on the Occasion of His Thirty-Sixth Birthday</span></b><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7725150894839317"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(February 8, 1880 – March 4, 1916, Verdun)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Was it a day like the crush of all days,</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">soot and stink smearing hours into each other,<br class="kix-line-break" />death marching on spindly legs across trenches,<br class="kix-line-break" />palette reduced to churned mud, choked sky,<br class="kix-line-break" />crusted blood on gunmetal.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Did you steal any slaughter moments,<br class="kix-line-break" />borrow butcher’s pigments long enough<br class="kix-line-break" />to catch war’s angry tigers, pour them<br class="kix-line-break" />haphazard into kaleidoscopes,<br class="kix-line-break" />or push the peasant heft of draft horses<br class="kix-line-break" />deftly through sharp prism angles.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Did any of your singed nape hairs stir<br class="kix-line-break" />hint at the slow whistle of incoming days,<br class="kix-line-break" />head bursting into spray of colors<br class="kix-line-break" />thrumming with life as your canvases,<br class="kix-line-break" />while orders flapped on insufficient wings<br class="kix-line-break" />declaring you too vital to be ground into France.</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you hear the animals weep?</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7725150894839317"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></b><span style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</span></b></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Karrie Waarala holds an MFA from the <a href="http://usm.maine.edu/stonecoastmfa">Stonecoast Program at University of Southern Maine</a> and is a teaching artist at </span><a href="http://poetrycoop.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Rooster Moans</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> poetry cooperative. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://ironhorsereview.com/">Iron Horse Literary Review</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/author/karrie-l-waarla/">PANK</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://thecollagist.submishmash.com/submit">The Collagist</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/">Arsenic Lobster</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.radiuslit.org/">Radius</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. In addition to a <a href="http://www.pushcartprize.com/">Pushcart Prize</a> nomination for her poetry, Karrie has received critical acclaim for her one-woman show, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://poetrysideshow.com/content/long-gone-poetry-sideshow">LONG GONE: A Poetry Sideshow</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is based on her collection of poems about the circus. She really wishes she could tame tigers and swallow swords. </span><br /><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thanks again to Karrie for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7725150894839317"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span></b></div><div><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7725150894839317" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-14381309836024621132012-04-02T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.235-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Eric Morago<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">This morning's tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.ericmorago.com/">Eric Morago</a>, who shares these lines of verse from his forearm:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGpwrRoprJFNc4lWfyeZivuZ1VJbQ9liUveWRWovxh9Yq9qK4oo5hqHN22E3WldmswsLCfJwgqvV1vtkn17E30W4KXk2SgLZEt_JMvRpgB28LP7OwFmltJwIbedU5pteIeaz9uBcCerQ/s1600/MoragoTattoo1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGpwrRoprJFNc4lWfyeZivuZ1VJbQ9liUveWRWovxh9Yq9qK4oo5hqHN22E3WldmswsLCfJwgqvV1vtkn17E30W4KXk2SgLZEt_JMvRpgB28LP7OwFmltJwIbedU5pteIeaz9uBcCerQ/s640/MoragoTattoo1.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I am a BIG <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/394">Charles Bukowski</a> fan, so I immediately recognized these lines ("what matters most / is how you / walk through the / fire") when I saw the photo. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eric explains:</span></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">"The tattoo is taken from a the title of a collection of </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">poems </span></span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">by Charles Bukowski.</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSCgEa7HBFWADwy4xYSv_p4Ph1jHXQG48ThZ4s_w0mUNLkqD-uI3qjmTxES5UUqR5UK3fkAcc1_V8oWlEPZqoEv6RrkM5RLfcL-Qx-eA9YW6CiRYC3ImArN9l25tQ36xZVBFpz66ZST0/s1600/buk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSCgEa7HBFWADwy4xYSv_p4Ph1jHXQG48ThZ4s_w0mUNLkqD-uI3qjmTxES5UUqR5UK3fkAcc1_V8oWlEPZqoEv6RrkM5RLfcL-Qx-eA9YW6CiRYC3ImArN9l25tQ36xZVBFpz66ZST0/s400/buk.jpg" width="236" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">I got [the tattoo] over Thanksgiving break at a local tattoo shop (Body Art Tattoo) in my hometown of Whittier, CA during my first semester of grad school. I had just finished grading a bunch of papers as well as writing my own for a class and was just overwhelmed by what the next two years had in store for me that I wanted to do something commemorate the struggle ahead. So that when all was said and done, M.F.A in hand, there was also tangible proof (besides a piece of paper) for what I had I succeeded in obtaining. And the words would be a damn good reminder on those occasions where papers and grading and thesis deadlines loomed in the distance." </span></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">By way of poetry, Eric offers up this tattoo-related gem:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">ENTANGLED</span></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">A beautiful portrait of destruction,<br />her back is tattooed from shoulder<br />to shoulder—a giant octopus tears<br />boats apart with unworldly tendrils.<br />This turns me on. I am a prepubescent<br />again thinking I’ve found ambrosia<br />between the pages of Victoria’s Secret<br />catalogues. I get dizzy, lost in fantasy.<br />How though its body is submerged<br />in murky water, hidden by shading,<br />I believe the monster is winking at me.<br />I sit, imagine freckles into tiny frenzied<br />sailors jumping ship into the dark of her<br />skin, sinking down spine’s curve,<br />drowning, or falling into the creature’s<br />waiting, open-beaked mouth. I would<br />never tell her any of this, of course.<br />Better she stay in the peep, a shadowy<br />figure of myth. And like a yarn-spinning<br />seadog swearing by fantastical beasts—<br />all tentacles, sharp snouted and snarl<br />toothed—I too am ensnared, imagination<br />entangled in the suction-cupped arms<br />of wanting. It is all I can do to fight,<br />struggle being pulled under an inky<br />veil where our eyes can clearly meet,<br />where any and all mystique is gone.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">~ ~ ~</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eric Morago is a <a href="http://www.pushcartprize.com/">Pushcart Prize</a>-nominated poet who believes performance carries as much importance on the page, as it does off. Currently Eric is an an associate reviewer for <a href="http://poetix.net/">Poetix.net</a>, poet-in-residence with <a href="http://calworkforce.org/">California WorkforceAssociation</a>, and teaches workshops for <a href="http://redhen.org/">Red Hen Press’</a> <a href="http://redhen.org/about-us-2/writing-in-the-schools/">Writing in the Schools</a> program. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.moontidepress.com/publishing/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/image/What-We-Ache-For-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.moontidepress.com/publishing/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/image/What-We-Ache-For-cover.jpg" width="210" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">His first full length collection of poetry and prose entitled, <a href="http://www.moontidepress.com/our-books/what-we-ache-for/what-we-ache-for/">What We Ache For</a>, is available from <a href="http://www.moontidepress.com/">Moon Tide Press</a>. Eric holds an <st1:stockticker>MFA</st1:stockticker> in Creative Writing from <a href="http://www.csulb.edu/">California State University, Long Beach</a> and lives to write in Whittier, CA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks to Eric for sharing his poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-70013856557024373862012-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project: Noelle KocotWe are launching this, our fourth year of celebrating tattooed poets for National Poetry Month, with the work of an amazingly talented writer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noelle_Kocot">Noelle Kocot</a>. I had first approached Noelle about participating last year, but it never came to fruition.This year, however, we were able to pull it together.<br /><br />First, here's a glimpse of Noelle's tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrkPXnQRMQtDtghbyo_0SXpdGFy5-GkwTJgbdoI_r7NX7juxAM8Q6GdUiIDpvsvebGoU9nK4Wpnsm9aVEualqKtMaT5Fu-y-bg5Kzk6Dtw0TVMpSCGgInHfG-KgN-sLXEdPKVsPyVZ_I/s1600/kocot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrkPXnQRMQtDtghbyo_0SXpdGFy5-GkwTJgbdoI_r7NX7juxAM8Q6GdUiIDpvsvebGoU9nK4Wpnsm9aVEualqKtMaT5Fu-y-bg5Kzk6Dtw0TVMpSCGgInHfG-KgN-sLXEdPKVsPyVZ_I/s320/kocot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />As tattoos go, this is fairly simple and straight forward. It's the name "Damon," but it's not just any name.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DFqE1VhEu4LRTFyEgWcHTE-EsS5OF8009_fait1lOmABRxpMUeI96x5xtNBBBP3deMYvw0x0Bc35_ZnbOwAipmcILZ0e_nO30OZcuipkspflEqAhe_WOT53KlU1-GRll09it1WfLbWc/s1600/kocot+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DFqE1VhEu4LRTFyEgWcHTE-EsS5OF8009_fait1lOmABRxpMUeI96x5xtNBBBP3deMYvw0x0Bc35_ZnbOwAipmcILZ0e_nO30OZcuipkspflEqAhe_WOT53KlU1-GRll09it1WfLbWc/s320/kocot+detail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Damon Tomblin was Noelle's husband, who died on March 10, 2004. She had his name memorialized in December, later that year. This is her only tattoo. I'd point you to <a href="http://dewclawjournal.com/issue-3/damon-tomblin/">this page</a> from <i>dewclaw journal</i> to read a little more from Noelle about Damon, and hear a few movements from a sonata Damon composed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Noelle offered us the following poem, which originally appeared in <i><a href="http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/home-page">Tin House</a>, </i>and was later included in her book <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933517395/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1933517395%22%3ESunny%20Wednesday%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1933517395%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E">Sunny Wednesday</a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><u>12<sup>th</sup> Wedding Anniversary</u><u><br /></u><u><br /></u>Jailed and decreased, my doughnuts rise.</blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Have a feather, don’t ask why,<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>There is a <st1:place>Coney Island</st1:place> in my eye.<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Hair and plaid rabbits,<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Anniversal belief is the strongest to go<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Over a listless sky, a prevenient frost.<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Let’s go to the Cloisters<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>And all you can eat sushi<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>My tattoo should be healed now.<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>Dear, you are a norming legend in the kitty-star.<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>I eat for two, on the evening of<br /><o:p></o:p></blockquote><blockquote><o:p> </o:p>We knew each other before our faces and our names.</blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">~ ~ ~</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></b></div><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Noelle Kocot</b><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> is </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">the author of five full-length collections of poetry,</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> including most recently, </span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_225933655">The Bigger World</a></i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.wavepoetry.com/catalog/98-the-bigger-world"> </a>(</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Wave Books, 2011) and </span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.wavepoetry.com/catalog/68-sunny-wednesday">Sunny Wednesday</a></i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> (</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Wave Books,</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">2009). She has also recently published a limited-edition collection of translations of the poems of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Corbi%C3%A8re">Tristan Corbière</a>, as </span><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poet-Default-Tristan-Corbiere/dp/1933517603/ref=sr_1_sc_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331345217&sr=1-3-spell">Poet By Default</a></i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> (</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Wave Books,</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">2011). Kocot has received numerous honors for her poetry, including a <a href="http://www.nea.org/">NEA</a> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">fellowship</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 10px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">and inclusion in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1198464601">The Best American Poetry </a></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://bestamericanpoetry.com/pages/volumes/?id=2001">2001</a> and <a href="http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2011/12/the-best-american-poetry-2011to-be-human.html">2011</a>.</span> <br /><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span><br /><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Thanks to Noelle for her contribution, and helping us launch this, our fourth year of the Tattooed Poets Project!</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1933517395" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. Photos courtesy of Noelle Kocot. Poem reprinted with the author's permission.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-14556461059602226052012-03-31T05:24:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00The Tattooed Poets Project, Volume 4<span id="internal-source-marker_0.6283497952390462"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems incredible to me that this April, in 2012, we’ll be celebrating National Poetry Month on Tattoosday for the fourth year in a row, by showcasing the tattoos of poets. Not necessarily literary tattoos, but tattoos of the literary.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the idea first struck me in early 2009, I didn’t know if a) it would work, and b) if I would be able to pull it off. Every year, somehow, I manage to execute at least thirty days of inked poets, and, with apologies to Lennon/McCartney, I get by with a little help from my friends.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2012 is slightly different. Faced with a big family event in February, I got an early start and went from worrying about not filling the calendar to the heretofore unimaginable - too many contributions? Someone posted the call for submissions on a UK writer’s board, and I was flooded with e-mails offering up their poetry and ink. I started - gasp!- to decline inquiries.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The end result is a month packed with tattooed poets. There will be days with double posts so, if you are in the habit of checking in daily, you may want to visit back in the evenings, as well, so as not to miss anyone. Of course, I always point people to the Tattooed Poets Project Index (www.tattooedpoets.com) to get the complete rundown.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for checking in, and happy national poetry month!</span></span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-47138330028099029932012-03-26T02:27:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00RoBear Shares a Pin-UpA familiar face passed me in Penn Station a couple weeks back and I jumped at the opportunity to talk to him - it was <a href="http://www.askrobear.com/about">RoBear</a>, from the <a href="http://tlc.discovery.com/">TLC</a> series <a href="http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/ny-ink">NY Ink</a>.<br /><br />For those of you not familiar with the show, RoBear is the floor manager at <a href="http://www.woostersocial.com/">Wooster Street Social Club</a>, the setting for the show.<br /><br />I first encountered RoBear last May, when I was one of the lucky people selected to take part in "Roosterfest," a fundraiser segment of episode seven on season one. $50 rooster tattoos were on order and I got, in my opinion, the best one - from <a href="http://www.meganmassacre.com/">Megan Massacre</a>. I documented the experience <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/12/long-story-about-small-tattoo-or-megan.html">here</a>.<br /><br />So, here I was, talking to RoBear in Penn Station and, well, I had to ask, would he mind sharing one of his tattoos?<br /><br />Much to my happiness, he was game and, after a moment of thought, rolled up his right pant leg to reveal this tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdrFUgWKL9hfmB-TB3-lTg6CG2nhqytkMpKgr2KiHEFuPRH7-3ealixDHCXuTWd3E2DKgMRVBo5FLxbNMdFMo8TFFD2QEn2ltCJdJ3PqtsiBa0oEUNQzY3AOObC1bYzH3GHd7rWn9Wgw/s1600/robear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdrFUgWKL9hfmB-TB3-lTg6CG2nhqytkMpKgr2KiHEFuPRH7-3ealixDHCXuTWd3E2DKgMRVBo5FLxbNMdFMo8TFFD2QEn2ltCJdJ3PqtsiBa0oEUNQzY3AOObC1bYzH3GHd7rWn9Wgw/s640/robear.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><br />RoBear explained that the pin-up is based on his long-time friend Natascha de los Angeles, and he elaborated by e-mail:<br /><br />"I got the tattoo to commemorate my friendship to the girl who named me Robear when I was sixteen. We met at a BIGLNY (Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian NY) youth group back in the day at the <a href="http://www.gaycenter.org/">Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center</a> on West 13th Street and right after meeting she said I was 'cute, a little furry and that she was going to call me Robear.' It totally stuck and she has never one since called me by my birth name, which is Robert.<br /><br />So, after getting the job on NY INK, since the name was so catchy, I wanted to thank [Natascha] and celebrate our friendship that has spanned almost 20 years now ... my artist, <a href="http://www.tattoobio.com/tony-silva">Tony Silva</a> of <a href="http://www.highrollertattoony.com/">High Roller Tattoo</a> in NY, and I came up with this pinup specifically for her. [Natascha] is a pastry artist and chef in Manhattan, so I did the bakers hat, apron and her holding one of her own cakes she has made. Her website is <a href="http://www.artesanalsweets.com/">Artesenal Sweets</a> ... She is a constant inspiration and muse for me and all I do with my fashion, interior design and culinary arts, since she emcompasses everything that is beautiful and creative to me. A truly unqiue and special woman that will be in my life forever."<br /><br />RoBear was also kind enough to send a crisper photo of the tattoo<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvtOrsubc28cxP2alIFo6U9KeVT4ysZni71SAFaYJhVWxHiuK0qAyPkTAGcDJVFZINDVOliAMKhJDR3nS98QzQYuSTrjX5WpPkj1TdkEh0gwPrwHtzeCQ2YRub-wxyd4lCgYLFK75Xe0/s1600/Copy+of+Natascha+Pinup+by+Tona+Silva(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvtOrsubc28cxP2alIFo6U9KeVT4ysZni71SAFaYJhVWxHiuK0qAyPkTAGcDJVFZINDVOliAMKhJDR3nS98QzQYuSTrjX5WpPkj1TdkEh0gwPrwHtzeCQ2YRub-wxyd4lCgYLFK75Xe0/s640/Copy+of+Natascha+Pinup+by+Tona+Silva(2).JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pin-Up by Tony Silva, Photo Courtesy of RoBear</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">and a picture of him with Natascha for reference below:</span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVo3RFwwgM5jPe7kpgDVsP1ojGpvYyz8JK7-d8ziTFE7EMwQPgj57k2QIM4lDWi2mHGviTRqEU345tPUhdqyvw6krFFCJK5ZZJuIjLg1jNsY4f7X2A1s4LpJo4_B7RUQHMPjBPZWVb_4/s1600/74447_471888439172_844504172_5409909_5062926_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVo3RFwwgM5jPe7kpgDVsP1ojGpvYyz8JK7-d8ziTFE7EMwQPgj57k2QIM4lDWi2mHGviTRqEU345tPUhdqyvw6krFFCJK5ZZJuIjLg1jNsY4f7X2A1s4LpJo4_B7RUQHMPjBPZWVb_4/s400/74447_471888439172_844504172_5409909_5062926_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natascha de los Angeles & RoBear, photo courtesy of RoBear</td></tr></tbody></table>I want to thank RoBear for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday. It's obviously a piece with a lot of deep personal meaning, and he was kind enough not only to let me take a photo in Penn Station, but also to send along more pictures and give me a complete back story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can catch RoBear on repeats of NY Ink on TLC. Still no word on whether the show will be picked up for a third season. You can also become a fan of RoBear on his Facebook fan page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tattoo-Alley/152087438165639?ref=ts#!/pages/RoBear/188533444522867">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5158679701853544" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></b> </span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-2045927756980497332012-03-25T10:00:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00Bio stuff...It started ok at the top, but I messed a bit the lower part, I think.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmUj_lhCHY9Fu9d4Fwdyi4VNPpQ9OwR1i0YrmeZPrXvvRl1BCuHhrp8-QWfH62ty0fK993JdCmEQ3OJOSPtF9d8RgvTr3zu1FqThLhlR0g2KNzbAfZhuPXbPxSS0OGeObTM72f_mpa6s/s1600/bio-stuff-tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmUj_lhCHY9Fu9d4Fwdyi4VNPpQ9OwR1i0YrmeZPrXvvRl1BCuHhrp8-QWfH62ty0fK993JdCmEQ3OJOSPtF9d8RgvTr3zu1FqThLhlR0g2KNzbAfZhuPXbPxSS0OGeObTM72f_mpa6s/s400/bio-stuff-tattoo.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">This <span href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dc:type" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">work</span> by <a href="http://tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license"> Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License</a>.</span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-71567373288926970182012-03-23T03:28:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00Matt's SkullIt's always a bonus when I run into a tattoo artist somewhere other than a tattoo shop.<br /><br />For example, I spotted <a href="http://mattytat.com/">Matthew Adams</a> on the platform of the 34th Street Station, waiting for a downtown A train last week.<br /><br />Like most artists, he had a lot of ink, so he picked this one piece to share:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_UR2GrK8z-danpp0s2EJ2UwpXBVjCNOcCUvMcyiyqL4q3s3jHhGXVmzR7piwQe0BphPzs_hw3KUxP1yA6GYW0ipFmnb7QAffZzBTl8SYgaRsrS0Gsv4ooOVu-5YGPWBaRYkUU1z8lbM/s1600/skull+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_UR2GrK8z-danpp0s2EJ2UwpXBVjCNOcCUvMcyiyqL4q3s3jHhGXVmzR7piwQe0BphPzs_hw3KUxP1yA6GYW0ipFmnb7QAffZzBTl8SYgaRsrS0Gsv4ooOVu-5YGPWBaRYkUU1z8lbM/s640/skull+1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />And on the back side of the forearm:<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rDifgQEdzxMjpNGwXT00KwyPqKWHsio-qJbHhmCYjB6-BylkNKzALHx-WsJHGeA4ZudCMvBVU4nZymECjrWTKomWRRbA4L347saCqU61rZA7e5hbcFnwI5Y9br7vwjjLir2aBRwx-60/s1600/skull+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rDifgQEdzxMjpNGwXT00KwyPqKWHsio-qJbHhmCYjB6-BylkNKzALHx-WsJHGeA4ZudCMvBVU4nZymECjrWTKomWRRbA4L347saCqU61rZA7e5hbcFnwI5Y9br7vwjjLir2aBRwx-60/s640/skull+2.jpg" width="324" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Matt works at <a href="http://sacredtattoo.com/">Sacred Tattoo</a> in Manhattan with <a href="http://www.lalotattoos.com/">Lalo Yunda</a>, who is the artist that inked this incredible skull.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As it turns out, I have featured Matt's work on the site before <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/07/andy-honors-hercules.html">here</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/06/leesas-memorial-tattoos.html">here</a>, as well as <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/09/daves-portrait-of-his-great-grandfather.html">this piece</a> by Lalo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks to Matt for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.4653893108267886" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-83200021402372314372012-03-20T03:25:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00Marianna Shares the First Rose of SpringToday is the first day of spring! It's always a joyous time here at Tattoosday, as the temperatures rise and all the tattoos of my fellow New Yorkers come out of hibernation.<br /><br />Last week we were experiencing a lovely end-of-winter day with warm temperatures and I encountered this lovely first rose of spring on the F train:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOkFLFRCQ-LC079q-tRVsUUofx8hp0gpy-zvW-lgiHhS1I8MqHe9vU1-hiIlLitVKXuL3Wqv3II4UrHKbBvchQ0q7suksmccjFwVRE9mDlAWw31fdHTbIQzFWEwvDD6oKeuVeg8zBJ1I/s1600/rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOkFLFRCQ-LC079q-tRVsUUofx8hp0gpy-zvW-lgiHhS1I8MqHe9vU1-hiIlLitVKXuL3Wqv3II4UrHKbBvchQ0q7suksmccjFwVRE9mDlAWw31fdHTbIQzFWEwvDD6oKeuVeg8zBJ1I/s640/rose.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />This rose, on the upper left arm of a woman named Marianna, was just popping off of her skin having been freshly inked the day before by the talented <a href="http://www.eliquinters.com/">Eli Quinters</a> at <a href="http://smithstreettattoo.com/">Smith Street Tattoo Parlour</a> in Brooklyn. Eli's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/06/sean-shares-host-of-traditional-tattoos.html">here</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/06/two-amazing-tattoos-from-patrick-of.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Marianna had a lot of other interesting work in progress going on, so perhaps we shall see more from her in the future. In the mean time, however, we have this lovely rose which she offered up in celebration of the end of winter.<br /><br />Thanks to Marianna for sharing her beautiful flower with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-76733389524118815172012-03-19T03:37:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.236-07:00Musician Monday: Camille Harp's Bird Flies FreeIt has been a while since we celebrated "Musician Monday," but the early onset of spring has brought out the tattoos and last week in Penn station, I met Camille, who shared this part of her left sleeve:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkoA3ADfp9WfUxQEP-KeWv1AjqaWRZnF4pYq9Mo8dWhWtEAvfafqEtAF5Vnl_4wq8WawD1yQxPKFmfDtsMml5wQFoqDz_SFH8GtNVquCcDXE7qrx48eoayhn7kxfCnP1gZAoyejARNQM/s1600/half+sleeve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHkoA3ADfp9WfUxQEP-KeWv1AjqaWRZnF4pYq9Mo8dWhWtEAvfafqEtAF5Vnl_4wq8WawD1yQxPKFmfDtsMml5wQFoqDz_SFH8GtNVquCcDXE7qrx48eoayhn7kxfCnP1gZAoyejARNQM/s640/half+sleeve.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br />We focused on this segment in particular:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWBdFWXjHOi0FQA1reqlYJiveb-afpc4hwA93zpRbKEIwAEuFEdPxXfLy0iJqgMqFFX0B2wjOk3aGaRQJe2OtDdelnyOPdeYHDO8-YwvuSKBudE2mydLhhI7hDwx7rCoJ5IW99A5Fh5Q/s1600/half+sleeve+detail+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWBdFWXjHOi0FQA1reqlYJiveb-afpc4hwA93zpRbKEIwAEuFEdPxXfLy0iJqgMqFFX0B2wjOk3aGaRQJe2OtDdelnyOPdeYHDO8-YwvuSKBudE2mydLhhI7hDwx7rCoJ5IW99A5Fh5Q/s640/half+sleeve+detail+3.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><br />Camille told me she went to her artist, <a href="http://ferntattoos.com/">Fernando Casillas</a>, at <a href="http://thinkinkhome.com/home.html">Think Ink Tattoo</a> in Norman, Oklahoma, and just told him she wanted a bird flying out of a cage. "I just like the idea of setting yourself free," she explained. Work from Think Ink has appeared on Tattoosday previously, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-jeff-simpson.html">here</a>.<br /><br />It wasn't until the following day, when I noticed that Camille had followed us on Twitter, that I realized that she was a musician. I had caught her while she was heading back to Oklahoma, and was nervous about catching the right train and making her flight in time.<br /><br />Camille, as it turns out, is <a href="http://www.camilleharp.com/">Camille Harp</a>, a singer-songwriter from a musical family, who has an album forthcoming called "Little Bit of Light". If you go to <a href="http://camilleharp.com/">CamilleHarp.com</a>, you can download her song "One by One". It's a lovely song that only makes me wish I could hear her in concert. She has a wonderful voice and soulful tone.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W47F-FTbYheO2NwU0ExtcFMXN48YbI_f_L0qrlm6hqO59fsZo7jeWrcOh2uwVmVPTKLzSPa3QfcxPZ5qRyEFnu_wvSnJIBpOqKtdQJ-400m63ZPnvSgGv1RwUN6ooyWXDEpISV0W1P8/s1600/ShowImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0W47F-FTbYheO2NwU0ExtcFMXN48YbI_f_L0qrlm6hqO59fsZo7jeWrcOh2uwVmVPTKLzSPa3QfcxPZ5qRyEFnu_wvSnJIBpOqKtdQJ-400m63ZPnvSgGv1RwUN6ooyWXDEpISV0W1P8/s400/ShowImage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />You can also grab her record "Like the Rain" <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/camilleharp">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Camille for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! Please check out her website and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camille-Harp-Music/192030854164178?sk=wall">her fan page on Facebook</a> and support this wonderful artist!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMzIxNTMyNTEzNzUmcHQ9MTMzMjE1MzI2MTU2MiZwPTI3MDgxJmQ9YmFubmVyX2ZpcnN*X2dlbiZnPTEmbz*4N2Iy/ZGNkYzY*Zjk*Yjg3YWYwMDk3OTVmMzQ5MWYxZCZvZj*w.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a4/1752950/432957/Artist/0/User/link"><img alt="Camille%20Harp" border="0" src="http://www.reverbnation.com/c./a3/1752950/432957/Artist/0/User/res.gif" /></a></div><br />We'll leave you with a performance from 2010, in which Camille sings with her mother in Oklahoma City:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="369" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PTo8-3l_8-I" width="500"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.5674498262856745" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-43703128379078810412012-03-16T03:07:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Jason's Two Stars Lead the WayLast week, I spotted Jason walking through Penn Station and took the opportunity to ask him about some of his tattoos. He says he has about twenty-four in all, so I took a picture of his forearms, from the photo here you can see six of them, including a Celtic knot and the phrase "Let it be...".<br /><br /><strike></strike><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIRfoFisfbf8KA8Y74CIlF4AZfaDbRY2O-AYvLx-IgGBaYkJMBIpXxGkfO3pty71zwl7xrlEI5KSlpBwxVtNcJVgVPlMNCklUhXpcQ2S8RUV1-JVP4Adz6ZekL1hoKjNH4gwK6Xe5jls/s1600/stars+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIRfoFisfbf8KA8Y74CIlF4AZfaDbRY2O-AYvLx-IgGBaYkJMBIpXxGkfO3pty71zwl7xrlEI5KSlpBwxVtNcJVgVPlMNCklUhXpcQ2S8RUV1-JVP4Adz6ZekL1hoKjNH4gwK6Xe5jls/s640/stars+2.jpg" width="502" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, Jason drew my attention to the two stars, which were his first two tattoos. I'll let Jason explain, in his own words:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">"The crumbling star was originally meant for my broken aspirations, something I dreamt up when I was a kid. And then, the outline of the green star ... the green, for me, it means rejuvenation, you know, new ideas, new paths, just different things to inspire me."</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The two stars were not done at the same time, but the crumbling star was inked at <a href="http://www.addiction-nyc.com/">Addiction NYC</a> in the East Village. The green star followed a couple weeks later and was completed in Brooklyn, at <a href="http://www.inkmantattoo.com/">Inkman Tattoo Studio</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jason told me he likes to get new tattoos when he travels, what I like to call a "tattoorist," if you will. New ink is always a great way to commemorate places one has visited.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks to Jason for sharing these two stars with us here on Tattoosday!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.22328101168386638" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span> </span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-88963337929637280912012-03-12T03:02:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Steve's Zombie Apocalypse - In ProgressA couple weeks back, on an unseasonably warm and sunny February day, I spotted Steve on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Plaza">Penn Plaza</a>, wearing a short-sleeve shirt, with some pretty cool ink peeking out from his arm.<br /><br />Intrigued, I approached him, and started up a conversation about his tattoos. He showed me several pieces, including this, a back piece that is in progress:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlAroHh5wS3kiPGXS3d8kZxM3ub3VVU8k9-SPabiVJJEgyXc9oghPwwZ3eLZPtCWE3gEGJQLTUmhmAUui5hvQjHinSXGutf0zT1kdWSRbTsTGt3Z3EEnfuEY_MZAmft2YW0f-GfZ3QR0/s1600/zombie+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlAroHh5wS3kiPGXS3d8kZxM3ub3VVU8k9-SPabiVJJEgyXc9oghPwwZ3eLZPtCWE3gEGJQLTUmhmAUui5hvQjHinSXGutf0zT1kdWSRbTsTGt3Z3EEnfuEY_MZAmft2YW0f-GfZ3QR0/s640/zombie+back.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Take a closer look - this is pretty cool. I spoke to Steve at length about his work. He had recently left the U.S. Marines, where he had been stationed overseas in Japan. It was there that he chanced upon an artist named Aya, at a shop called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silent-Ink/222871351072215">Silent Ink</a>, located in the city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwakuni,_Yamaguchi">Iwakuni</a>.<br /><br />As Steve, explained it, Aya is a deaf-mute (thus the shop name) and he became a huge fan of her work while serving in Japan. "It's a full zombie apocalypse scene," he told me, and he plans to fly out to Washington State when Aya next travels to see her fiance in the U.S., so she can complete the work.<br /><br />I always defer to the contributor, as to whether they want to share work in progress, and Steve had no qualms about letting us see this early stage of the back piece. I was able to get a closer look at the completed sections:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtae6cWyTN7BusopwOqhWdAs9G9T8NIyldNhqcqWmL-nsBr1AoI16xiifLxHL5c8g04VhK68du5cE3Kd7JXyW1jOXwQ7VfGZ3gu28Y0mW0zBPgScOWA6ZJddMTXr-B9BrDvy-MdiYeJU0/s1600/zombie+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtae6cWyTN7BusopwOqhWdAs9G9T8NIyldNhqcqWmL-nsBr1AoI16xiifLxHL5c8g04VhK68du5cE3Kd7JXyW1jOXwQ7VfGZ3gu28Y0mW0zBPgScOWA6ZJddMTXr-B9BrDvy-MdiYeJU0/s640/zombie+detail.jpg" width="625" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I just love the colors and shading behind the tree that borders the upper right arm:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDLbIFVtCTXgBGdfkpI_oHMwgCX8N2I-XQsxhLMmXAYNNn9LEvF4cCXe7zQeMkijmLBg3L0aXn6SlqtOY5ExWGXyqbFfqkEnY0DFg5Rh5akJKozpbRztAk5YoeDpSIwvFT6tysLfvqBo/s1600/zombie+tree+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDLbIFVtCTXgBGdfkpI_oHMwgCX8N2I-XQsxhLMmXAYNNn9LEvF4cCXe7zQeMkijmLBg3L0aXn6SlqtOY5ExWGXyqbFfqkEnY0DFg5Rh5akJKozpbRztAk5YoeDpSIwvFT6tysLfvqBo/s640/zombie+tree+detail.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Steve estimates that she has already spent approximately 38 hours on his canvas over several sittings. "I like to sit for a long time," he told me. I certainly look forward to hearing back from him when Aya has completed this work!<br /><br />Thanks to Steve for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-64972732253430644812012-03-11T16:28:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Owl treeThis is the kind of random doodle that happens when I sit in front of a paper sheet with no idea, heh :)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6usZDRdMD73_2Q2rnktLKtDo9dzv67E7uY_FNgOjZV38G0r6RlZt-_vSAW8dUBzo-hkzpN3rLyG6ABVC-NXUqYaDTPa75XsK2o_doOON8946aX9ziPZqJezcsSx884mMqDVzb0oGtgQ/s1600/owl_tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6usZDRdMD73_2Q2rnktLKtDo9dzv67E7uY_FNgOjZV38G0r6RlZt-_vSAW8dUBzo-hkzpN3rLyG6ABVC-NXUqYaDTPa75XsK2o_doOON8946aX9ziPZqJezcsSx884mMqDVzb0oGtgQ/s320/owl_tree.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">This <span href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dc:type" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">work</span> by <a href="http://tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">tattoos-and-doodles.blogspot.com</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="license"> Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License</a>.</span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-43308806959981916662012-03-11T11:54:00.000-07:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Inkbursts: Spring Awakening<div>So I'm digging these inkbursts for now. This is the third in the series, each piece composed on the New York City subways.<br /><br />On Thursday it was 60 degrees in the Big Apple and, I read somewhere that this has been the fourth warmest winter on record. You wouldn't know that from the paucity of posts these last few months, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy.<br /><br />We had a bat mitzvah to throw in February, and I have been working behind the scenes recruiting contributors for our upcoming fourth annual<a href="http://www.tattooedpoets.com/"> Tattooed Poets Project</a> in April. To which I can exclaim, "More poets! More tattoos! More FUN!"<br /><br />I used to feel guilty about letting a day go by post-less. I pictured inked fans worldwide waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, only to be gravely disheartened by yet another day gone by without a new Tattoosday post. No more. This blog is neither the center of my universe, nor a viable way to help support a family of four. I have come to terms with that.<br /><br />But, with spring rapidly approaching and blog traffic at an all-time high (50,000+ visits per month in January and February!), I am in high spirits and am hoping to do a lot of great things with Tattoosday in the months to come. Thank you for checking in and checking us out! </div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-43335332219911246952012-03-09T03:58:00.000-08:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Danielle's Mother Walks with Her<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Last week I met Danielle in Penn Station and spotted this tattoo on her left foot:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOT75THIbHadG3LDWbGl2xr5OZ3DLPg4NUuPKHrppsYbc9flnOicFRk8GUpE8aSpB2mBKOsEyJEkcSNV7Ot1tSHnOlGcnmEYuvKEEFZmGAAoqPqIGXtP3dMM1N6L6j8uY2PeYsZD43J0/s1600/nov+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOT75THIbHadG3LDWbGl2xr5OZ3DLPg4NUuPKHrppsYbc9flnOicFRk8GUpE8aSpB2mBKOsEyJEkcSNV7Ot1tSHnOlGcnmEYuvKEEFZmGAAoqPqIGXtP3dMM1N6L6j8uY2PeYsZD43J0/s400/nov+7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">She explained that November 7, 1958 was her mother's birth date. Danielle was just a little girl of eight years old when her mother passed, and she got this, her only tattoo, to memorialize her mom.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The reason she got it on her foot was because her mother's funeral card had the famous "Footprints" prayer:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">“<b>Footprints:</b><br />One night a man had a dream. In it he was walking along a beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">When the final scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints and realized that they came at the hardest and saddest times of his life.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Bothered about this, he questioned the Lord, saying "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most burdensome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you the most you would leave me."</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Lord replied, "My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." </blockquote></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p>She had this done at a tattoo convention by an artist from Long Island's <a href="http://www.davincitattoo.com/">DaVinci Tattoo Studio</a>.</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p>Thanks to Danielle for sharing this very personal tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3764608859926627952.post-6397716947463564252012-03-08T08:26:00.000-08:002012-04-12T17:36:53.237-07:00Inkbursts: I See Your Tattoo but I Won't Ask You About It<div><p>I take pride in the fact that I can sit on a train and spot tattoos.</p><p>I'm not talking about the obvious, but the subtle.</p><p>Remember, I have been inkspotting for over four and a half years (!). I am adept ar detecting scribbles on feet, a word on an inner wrist, and the edges of sleeves peeking out from under sleeves.</p><p>Does this help me? Rarely. My general rule is, if I can't identify it, I won't ask someone about it.</p><p>Imagine, someone walking up to you and asking to see more of your barely visible ink. It reeks of creepiness, a characteristic I so desperately want to avoid, as it is well-documented that the world is full of people who do not respect tattooed people's boundaries, and often demand to see someone's tattoos, as if it is their right.</p><p>But, I digress.</p><p>This all started because I spotted an interesting shape on a guy's inner left wrist on the R train this morning. I wanted to ask him about it, but I didn't.</p><p>It was way too early for that.</p></div>bodonkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429918890280868073noreply@blogger.com0