135. a WALK in the WOODS

Bill Bryson 1998

A highly informative book about the author's fond, hilarious, and totally entertaining experience while walking the Appalachian Trail. As he and his fellow unlikely hiker and traveling companion Stephen Katz walk the trails and commune with nature, in a funny, descriptive but sometimes satirical way, he also gives tidbits of information regarding some of his thoughts on America and the environment.

'Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town.'(opening lines)

'Nearly everyone I talked to had some gruesome story involving a guileless acquaintance who had gone off hiking the trail with high hopes and new boots and come stumbling back two days later with a bobcat attached to his head or dripping blood from an armless sleeve and whispering in a hoarse voice, "Bear!" before sinking into a troubled unconsciousness.'(5)

'The path they built had no historical basis. It didn't follow any Indian trails or colonial post roads. It didn't even seek out the best views, highest hills, or most notable landmarks. In the end, it went nowhere near Mount Mitchell, though it did take in Mount Washington and then carried on another 350 miles to Mount Katahdin in Maine.'(29)

'It was hell. First days on hiking trips always are. I was hopelessly out of shape -- hopelessly. The pack weighed way too much. Way too much. I have never encountered anything so hard, for which I was so ill prepared. Every step was a struggle.'(35)

'Finally with a weary puff, you roll over, unhook yourself from your pack, struggle to your feet, and realize -- again in a remote, light-headed, curiously not-there way -- that the view is sensational: a homeless vista of wooded mountains, unmarked by human hand, marching off in every direction. This really could be heaven. It's splendid, no question, but the thought you cannot escape is that you have to walk this view, and this is the barest fraction of what you will traverse before you've finished.'(36)

'There is no point in hurrying because you are not going anywhere. However far or long you plod, you are always in the same place: in the woods. It's where you were yesterday, where you will be tomorrow. The woods is one boundless singularity. Every bend in the path presents a prospect indistinguishable from every other, every glimpse into the trees the same tangled mass. For all you know, your route could describe a very large, pointless circle. In a way, it would hardly matter.'(72)

'At the time of our hike, the Appalachian Trail was fifty-nine years old. That is, by American standards, incredibly venerable. The Oregon and Santa Fe Trails didn't last long. Route 66 didn't last long. The old coast-to-coast Lincoln Highway, a road that brought transforming wealth and life to hundreds of little towns, so important and familiar that it became known as "America's Main Street," didn't last long. Nothing in America does. If a product or enterprise doesn't constantly reinvent itself, it is superseded, cast aside, abandoned without sentiment in favor of something bigger, newer, alas, nearly always uglier. And then there is the good old AT, still quietly ticking along after six decades, unassuming, splendid, faithful to its founding principles, sweetly unaware that the world has quite moved on. It's a miracle really.'(104)

'I don't mean to suggest that hiking the AT drives you potty, just that it takes a certain kind of person to do it.'(114)

'That was the trouble with the AT -- it was all one immensely long place, and there was more of it, infinitely more of it, than I could ever conquer. It wasn't that I wanted to quit. Quite the contrary. I was happy to walk, keen to walk. I just wanted to know what I was doing out here.'(177)

'In America, alas, beauty has become something you strive to, and nature an either/or proposition -- either you ruthlessly subjugate it, as at Tocks Dam and a million other places, or you defy it, treat it as something holy and remote, a thing apart, as along the Appalachian Trail. Seldom would it occur to anyone on either side that people and nature could coexist to their mutual benefit -- that, say, a more graceful bridge across the Delaware River might actually set off the grandeur around it, that the AT might be more interesting and rewarding if it wasn't all wilderness, if from time to time it purposely took you past grazing cows and tilled fields.'(200)

'I still had my wits about me. Or at least I felt as if I did. Presumably, a confused person would be too addled to recognize that he was confused. Ergo, if you know that you are not confused then you are not confused. Unless, it suddenly occurred to me -- and here was an arresting notion -- unless persuading yourself that you are  not confused is merely a cruel, early symptom of confusion. Or even an advanced symptom. Who could tell? For all I knew I could be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state characterized by the fear on the part of the sufferer that he may be stumbling into some kind of helpless preconfusional state. That's the trouble with losing your mind; by the time it's gone, it's too late to get it back.'(225)

"Well, has it occurred to you what a ranger would say if he found you setting off the Hundred Mile Wilderness with a newspaper delivery bag? Do you know they have the power to detain anyone they think is not mentally or physically fit?" This was actually a lie, but it brought a promising hint of frown to his brow. "Also, has it occurred to you that maybe the reason paperboys don't get hernias is that they only carry the bag for an hour or so a day -- that maybe it might not be so comfortable lugging it for ten hours at a stretch over mountains -- that maybe it would bang endlessly against your legs and rub your shoulders raw?"(237)

'It is an extraordinary experience to find yourself face-to-face in the woods with a wild animal that is very much larger than you. You know these things are out there, of course, but you never expect any particular moment to encounter one, certainly not up close -- and this one was close enough that I could see the haze of flealike insects floating in circles about its head. We stared at each other for a good minute, neither of us sure what to do. There was a certain obvious and gratifying tang of adventure in this, but also something much more low-key and elemental -- a kind of respectful mutual acknowledgment that comes with sustained eye contact. It was this that was unexpectedly thrilling -- the sense that there was in some small measure a salute in our cautious mutual appraisal. I was smitten.'(241)

'I had come to realize that I didn't have any feelings towards the AT trail that weren't confused and contradictory. I was weary of the trail, but still strangely in its thrall; found the endless slog tedious but irresistible; grew tired of the boundless woods but admired their boundlessness; enjoyed the escape from civilization and ached for its comforts. I wanted to quit and to do this forever, sleep in a bed and in a tent, see what was over the next hill and never see a hill again. All of this all at once, every moment, on the trail or off.'(271)

Broadway Books, First Paperback edition 1999
274 pages
Book borrowed from the library
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge

134. the WOMAN in WHITE

Wilkie Collins 1859-1860

Secrets and mysteries abound in this classic Victorian thriller. Even the scatter of foreshadowing of impending gloom did not seem to take away from the thrill of slowly and leisurely uncovering the layers of truth the story offers. A collection of narratives in epistolary form, explain the puzzling appearance and the later disappearance of Anne Catherick, the woman in white, and her important role in the future life of Laura Fairlie, a woman who also just happens to look like her.  Laura's half-sister, Marian Halcombe proves to be a very brave and persistent sleuth, a trait that even captivates the villain Count Fosco. Walter Hartwright, Laura's drawing teacher who later falls in love with her, is equally unyielding and determined to clear her good name.  A very enjoyable book. 

'This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve.'(opening line)

'There in the middle of the broad, bright high-road -- there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven -- stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments, her face bent in grave inquiry on mine, her hand pointing to the dark cloud over London, as I faced her.'(47)

'At any time, and under any circumstances of human interest, is it not strange to see how little real hold the objects of the natural world amid which we live can gain on our hearts and minds? We go to Nature for comfort in trouble, and sympathy in joy, only in books.'(79)

'Yes, my hardly earned self-control was as completely lost to me as if I had never possessed it; lost to me, as it is lost every day to other men, in other critical situations, where women are concerned. I know, now, that I should have questioned myself from the first. I should have asked why any room in the house was better than home to me when she entered it, and barren as a desert when she went out again -- why I always noticed and remembered the little changes in her dress that I had noticed and remembered in no other woman's before -- why I saw her, heard her, and touched her (when we shook hands at night and morning) as I had never seen, heard, and touched any other woman in my life?'(90)

'The foreboding of some undiscoverable danger lying hid from us all in the darkness of the future was strong on me. The doubt whether I was not linked already to a chain of events which even my approaching departure from Cumberland would be powerless to snap asunder -- the doubt whether we any of us saw the end as the end would really be -- gathered more and more darkly over my mind. Poignant as it was, the sense of suffering caused by the miserable end of my brief, presumptuous love seemed to be blunted and deadened by the still stronger sense of something obscurely impending, something invisibly threatening, that Time was holding over our heads.'(101)

'When a sensible woman has a serious question put to her, and evades it by a flippant answer, it is a sure sign, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that she has something to conceal.'(163)

'There are many varieties of sharp practitioners in this world, but I think the hardest of all to deal with are the men who overreach you under the disguise of inveterate good-humour.'(175)

'Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace -- they drag us away from our parents' love and our sisters' friendship -- they take us body and soul to themselves, and fasten our helpless lives to theirs as they chain up a dog to his kennel. And what does the best of them give us in return?'(203)

'The unsolved mystery in connection with this unhappy woman is now rendered doubly suspicious, in my eyes, by the absolute conviction which I feel, that the clue to it has been hidden by Sir Percival from the most intimate friend he has in the world... There are many kinds of curiosity, I know -- but there is no misinterpreting the curiosity of blank surprise: if I ever saw it in my life I saw it in the Count's face.'(262)

'Women can resist a man's love, a man's fame, a man's personal appearance, and a man's money, but they cannot resist a man's tongue when he knows how to talk to them.'(278)

'Men little know when they say hard things to us how well we remember them, and much harm they do us.'(281)

'Any woman who is sure of her own wits is a match at any time for a man who is not sure of his own temper.'(332)

'That sublime self-forgetfulness of women, which yields so much and asks so little, turned all her thoughts from herself to me.'(565)

a Penguin Book Edition
646 pages
Book owned
Book qualifies for: Victorian Challenge
                               100+ Reading Challenge

"First Taste" Art Show at Bound for Glory Tomorrow Night!

In case you're wondering where I'll be on Friday night, the plan is for me to attend the opening of Bound for Glory's first art show.

Now, I'm not a big fan of Staten Island (nothing against the people, just my least fave borough), but the fact that the show is curated by Friend of Tattoosday, Magie Serpica, makes it worth the effort. Magie originally appeared on Tattoosday here.

Here is the spiel from the show's Facebook page:

"First Taste"

This is our first art show at Bound For Glory! It will feature the art of many awesome local Staten Island artists, as well as select works from some tattooers nationwide.

The art will be for sale and a portion of the proceeds will go towards Project Hospitality, a local charity which feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless and cares for people with HIV/AIDS.

...The opening reception will be on Friday Jan 28th at 8pm. There will be refreshments, which will be generously donated by local businesses such as Starbucks, Jeans Fine Wine & Spirits, and The CupCake Bar NYC.

Everyone is invited!

This show is curated by Bound For Glory's lady tattooer Magie Serpica

Participating Artists:

Mike Shane
Richie Clarke
Kev/psyn of RobotsWillKill
Chris of RobotsWillKill
Ethan Morgan
Cynthia Von Buhler
Dave Borjes
Brendan Coyle
Amanda Curtis
Chris Sorrentino
Lauren Monardo
Terry Lee Chandler
Charles Tagle
Marina Inoue
Frank Kempo
Chelsea Bunn
Danny Loveridge
Justine Lordo
Veng of RobotsWillKill
Vinny Rega
Tara Anne McCloskey Chillemi
Jennifer McMenemey
Magie Serpica
Nick Caruso
Emma Griffiths
Alexander Rivera
Tom Connors
Victor Modafferi
Sarah Smith (sas photos)
Scott Bakoss
Steve Lapcevic
Sweety
Miss Elvia
Demetrius Felder
Maya Ventura
Bert Krak
Gina Venosa
Mike Hooligan
Eric Perfect
Alex Sherker
Dennis Del Prete
Charlie Foos
Steven Huie

We will be selling raffle tickets for an awesome gift package including: a gift certificate from Comic Book Jones, Some T-Shirts from Robots Will Kill, & "An hour in the chair" with Magie Serpica!

Assuming I can dig my sister's car out from under a new foot of snow by tomorrow evening, I plan to attend and report on it next week, with a photo or two, to boot. Hope to see you there!

Tattoorism: Sean Returns, Part 2

Last week, I shared more of reader Sean's vast tat-alog here. It's time to finish off our inventory of this very generous fan o' the site. Let's see what we have:

...I got a clipper ship on my upper arm.  The ship is navigating through a background of clouds and lightning bolts and has a banner underneath reading “Hope.”  Its meaning follows the same idea behind my anchor tattoo.  Hope is a huge part of having a positive mental attitude, which I try (sometimes with little luck, of course) to hold at all times.  It’s a reminder that you can make it through stormy parts of your life, no matter how bad they get.  It’s also done in the traditional style I love so much.  The tattoo was done by Mike Schweigert at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.

While attending [the 2010] Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, I decided to get a tattoo to commemorate my first convention.  For as many years as tattoos have been a part of my life, this was my first convention...I got a blue rose with a candle spouting out of it in between my sparrows and flower on my outer elbow. 

I’m a firm believer in everyone having a different reasoning for getting tattoos.  Some are used as place markers in one’s life, some are used to remember an event, some have deep profound meanings and some are just aesthetically pleasing. I could probably come up with some in depth meaning behind the tattoo, but in the end, I got it to commemorate my first tattoo convention and that’s pretty much the only reason.  Done by Rocco at Death or Glory Tattoos in Westbrook, Maine.

Finally, I got my outer elbow to forearm done with a snake coiling through a skull and dagger and impaling itself on the dagger’s blade.  

I usually try to go out of my way to ensure that my friends/family/other people in general are happy, more often than I would like to admit, putting their happiness before my well-being.  This tattoo serves as a reminder for me not to do that so much, and to focus on myself sometimes.  The snake can be viewed as a protection figure, coiling around and through the rest of the tattoo, but has also caused injury to itself by doing so.  Basically, its my reminder that as much as I would like to help others, I need to keep my own happiness and well being in mind before I choose which action to take or I’ll end up injuring myself in the process.  Done by Mike Schweigert at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.

A hearty thanks to Sean for continuing to share his tattoos with us over the years!

at the WIZARDING WORLD of HARRY POTTER

Just a few of my favorite pictures from the magical Harry Potter land. A truly amazing, awesome trip!!!

Some pictures of Hogwarts castle:

Entrance to my favorite ride: the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - a quidditch simulation

While waiting in line for the ride, you also feel like you are touring the Hogwarts castle:

some of these portraits talk to each other

at Honeydukes

Olivander at his Wand shop

Delicious Butterbeer which is root beer with foamy Butterschotch topping

Newsday on Tuesday?

Newsday on Tattoosday?

So winter makes me consider desperate measures. As I've trickled down to two or three posts a week (believe me, it hurts me more than it hurts you), I've occasionally toyed with the idea of reporting on other things in the tattoo community, other than the Bill-o-centric encounters I have in the City That Never Sleeps. I've even gone so far as to write a few posts and then never published them. The reality is, however, I am facing a scarcity of inkspotting occurrences, and I'm just going with the flow.

So, here we go.....

I recently got an email from someone representing a Guide to Art Schools website, listing Tattoosday among the top 45 tattoo blogs. Considering how specific the site is, I'm honored to be included, especially among some of my favorite tattoo cyber-destinations. You check out the list here:
http://www.guidetoartschools.com/library/best-tattoo-blogs.

And since we're throwing around the work "Best, " I received word about a  new tattoo reality show currently in production for the Oxygen Network. Its working title is "Best Ink" and it sounds rather compelling. Check it out:

Capturing the drama and culture of the tattoo scene, "Best Ink"(WT) will feature approximately 12 top tattoo artists as they compete for a cash prize and bragging rights. These unique artists will produce bona fide masterpieces on skin -- something rarely seen in the competition world. The permanent artwork will be created for -- and on -- real people in a variety of challenges to showcase the artists' talents. Only one artist will win the ultimate prize of BEST INK (WT)

Casting details are here.



And, finally, in a creepy news story, but one that certainly nipped at my curiosity, the artists at Sacred Art Tattoo Studio in Tucson are getting some publicity, as they had the dubious distinction of tattooing Jared Loughner last fall. Not to feed into the media frenzy surrounding this guy, but I was curious, so I just had to look into it. Read all about it here.

So what do you think? Should Tattoosday Newsday becoming a regular feature? Feel free to comment below.

Tattoos I Know: Paul's Taíno Ink

Last summer, my friend Paul had some new work done by Pierre at The Fort Apache Tattoo Studio near Penn Station. You can see some of his old work here and here and here and here (yes, he's a regular!).

Fort Apache is up several flights of stairs, but it is conveniently close to my day job, which makes up for the aerobic ascension to the shop on 31st Street.

This is what Paul had tattooed on his right forearm:

These four symbols are petroglyphs from the Taíno culture in Puerto Rico. They are one way Paul has chosen to acknowledging his and his ancestors' culture, in ink.

From top to bottom, the symbols each have literal meanings, and then personal meanings for Paul. The triangular piece is a zemis, pointing in three directions - to the sky and the Creator, to the underworld and the realm of the dead, and to the world of the living.

The second petroglyph is Sol, or the sun and the fourth design is the coqui, or frog.

Thanks once again to Paul for sharing his latest installment of ink here with us on Tattoosday!

READING AWAY

at the WIZARDING WORLD of HARRY POTTER
Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
January 21-26, 2011

All pictures taken from Universal Studios Website

I am hoping to read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and continue rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I am so excited! Be back soon!!

133. CHARLOTTE'S WEB

E. B. White 1952
with illustrations by Garth Williams

If you've ever felt nostalgic for a really good, wholesome and hugely entertaining book, this is the book for you.  How can we forget the story of Fern's pet pig Wilbur, who found the most unlikely best friend in a delightful and skillful spider named Charlotte?  It's a  story of friendship and loyalty, set in a place where the children are truly innocent and carefree, where the changing seasons of country life are heralded by creatures such as crickets in the fall, birds in the summer and frogs in the spring, and where even the rat Templeton becomes a helpful and adorable hero.  I love this book now more than I ever did. It is so far my top favorite children's book. 

'"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
"Out to the hoghouse," replied Mrs. Arable. "Some pigs were born last night.'(opening lines)

'The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell -- as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world.'(13)

"What do you mean less than nothing?" replied Wilbur. "I don't think there is any thing as less than nothing. Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It's the lowest you can go. It's the end of the line. How can something be less than nothing? If there were something that was less than nothing, then nothing would not be nothing, it would be something -- even though it's just a very little bit of something. But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is."(28)

'The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest days of the year. Lilacs bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade. Apple blossoms come with the lilacs, and the bees visit around among the apple trees. The days grow warm and soft.'(42)

"What do people catch in the Queesborough Bridge --- bugs?" asked Wilbur.
"No," said Charlotte. "They don't catch anything. They just keep trotting back and forth across the bridge thinking there is something better on the other side. If they'd hang head-down at the top of the thing and wait quietly, maybe something good would come along. But no --- with men, it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider."(60)

'Templeton, of course, was miserable over the loss of his beloved egg. But he couldn't resist boasting. "It pays to save things," he said in a surly voice. "A rat never knows when something is going to come in handy. I never throw anything away."(74)

'On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty. This morning each thin strand was decorated with dozens of tiny beads of water. The web glistened in the light and made a pattern of loveliness and mystery, like a delicate veil. Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast. He noted how clearly it showed up and he noted how big and carefully built it was. And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the center of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said:

SOME PIG!'(77)

'Wilbur blushed. "But I'm not terrific, Charlotte. I'm just an average for a pig."

"You're terrific as far as I'm concerned," replied Charlotte, sweetly, "and that's what counts. You're my best friend, and I think you're sensational. Now stop arguing and go get some sleep."'(91)

"But for that matter I don't understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle.'(109)

'It is not easy to look radiant, but Wilbur threw himself into it with a will. He would turn his head slightly and blink his long eye-lashes. Then he would breathe deeply. And when his audience grew bored, he would spring into the air and do a back flip with a half twist. At this the crowd would yell and cheer.'(114)

a Harper Trophy Edition

184 pages

Book owned
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge

Niki's Memorial Foot

Alas, with winter setting in, spotting tattoos in public is seasonably challenging. Thank goodness for ink on uncovered extremities, like hands and the occasional foot!

Case in point, earlier this month I met Niki in Penn Station after spotting this dagger on her foot:

She had this, one of her three tattoos, done three or four years ago a couple of years after her father had passed away.

It is a memorial that is based on a necklace her dad wore. When I asked her, after the fact, if she still had the necklace, she said she didn't, but said it was a lot like this one. She added "my dad bought it the Christmas before he passed away and it really showed off his sarcasm and style because he was very much into motorcycles and whatnot".

Wisely, in my opinion, she kept the design, but excised the words on the necklace from the tattoo!

Niki had this done by Marc at Ink Link Tattoos & Piercings in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Thanks to Niki for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoorism: Sean Returns, Part 1

Back in 2009, one of our loyal readers, Sean, submitted a whole slew of his work for our viewing pleasure. You can read the original posts, here and here.

Why do I bring this up now? Last summer, Sean sent us more of his tat-alog of work and I had been saving it for a rainy day. Since it's a rainy, sleety, snowy day, I thought I should share more of what Sean sent along. And since he sent a lot, I'm splitting it into two posts. What follows is the first installment. Italics represent direct quotes from Sean.

I got the ditch of my elbow done probably about a year or so ago.  It is a flower of sorts, of my own design, made up of various geometrical shapes.  The tattoo represents two parts of our world, nature (the floral shape itself, petals, leaves, etc.) and science (the geometric shapes making up the flower).  I believe that one should not base their ideals solely on nature or science/technology, but on a mixture of the two.  It represents my appreciation for both nature and science.  Basically, I am fascinated by technology and the sciences that are its basis, but at the same time do not feel that science should trump nature all together but rather, have the two working together in harmony.  It was done by Robert “Binky” Ryan at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.

The sparrows circling my outer elbow were my next pieces done.  I had attended a Marine museum in Philadelphia which had a great exhibit on the tattoo culture surrounding the Navy and sailors in general throughout history.  According to the exhibit, sailors would earn the right to a single sparrow tattoo after traveling 5,000 miles at sea and a second sparrow after 10,000 miles.  I am not much for sailing, but the idea of the sparrow representing travel and all the hardships, journeys, and successes that surround that travel appealed to me.  Further, I have a general appreciation for American Traditional tattoos and their overall aesthetics.  These were done by Rich Heller at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ. 

Don’t quite remember when I got my feet finished up, but it was sometime within the last year and a half or so.  My feet are tattooed with a sun and moon, which I drew myself about 6 years ago.  The duality of the sun and moon, and various meanings that these two symbols hold are why I had them tattooed.  The idea that each represents night and day, or two opposites that work together to make up a whole, are what drew me to having the designs placed on my feet.  Further, it represents the two sides that I have to myself, a lighter, happy, and caring side and a darker, selfish side.  I feel a person cannot fully understand themselves without acknowledging and accepting all parts of their personalities.  I also gave the sun and moon, a dark, kind of macabre, look as I am a huge horror fan and have always been attracted to the darker side of things.  Originally, I had them inked by Robert “Binky” Ryan (then at Body Art World in Pt. Pleasant, NJ but now Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ) in 2004.  They were done in grey wash and I was happy with them for about 5 years, in which point I decided to have them colored in, and had some background added.  The color and background were added by Brody Longo at Slingin’ Ink in Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ.

The next piece I got was an anchor on my inner forearm.  The anchor represents all the things that drag me down in life.  Across the anchor is a banner that reads “P.M.A.” the abbreviation for positive mental attitude.  I feel the first step in pushing through any kind of hardship in life is to have a positive attitude, and the rest will follow.  I want to say the original use of PMA was in a Bad Brains song, but I pulled it from its use in the Glassjaw song “Piano.”  This tattoo is also a throwback to the band Glassjaw, as they have been my favorite band for I would have to say at least 10 years now and I have experienced just about every emotion possible while listening to their albums.  So as an added bonus, the tattoo brings me back to all those memories.  The tattoo was done by Rich Heller at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.


Thanks to Sean for sharing all of this with us here on Tattoosday, and for patiently waiting for me to post it!

Stay tuned for part 2.....

lebih baik membatik dari pada men tatto

betapa indahnya bukan bila kita melukis di sebuah kain, selain indah kita juga melestarikan kebudayaan indonesia.

bukan mentatto badan kita agar indah,itu salah besar! selain dilarang oleh allah swt. tatto juga dapat menjadi halangan bagi kita bila kita melamar sebuah pekerjaan,atau sebagainya.
memakai kain batik juga mencerminkan kita cinta indonesia, betapa besar harga budaya di dunia, budaya bisa menjadi icon negara didunia, sampai-sampai icon negara kita BATIK direbut oleh negara lain,
cintailah budaya indonesia, jangan men tatto badan kalian karna badan itu indah tanpa dirias sedikit pun karna tuhan telah menciptakan sedimikian rupa seindah mungkin tanpa memakai sehelai benang sedikit pun,namun dimana kita sebagi manusia yang mempunayi akal dan akal sehat kita lah yang sadar betapa baiknya kita memakai pakaian yg sepantasnya syukuri apa yang telah di berikan oleh tuhan, membatik lebih indah dari pada menatto !

132. CLOCKWORK ANGEL

The INFERNAL DEVICES Book 1

Cassandra Clare 2010

This is my first venture to the supernatural world of Cassandra Clare, having not read the Mortal Instruments books and I can say that this part paranormal, part steampunk book is a nice and welcome change. Set in Victorian London 1878, 16 year old Tessa travels from New York to find her missing brother Nathaniel but instead is thrown into the world of Shadowhunters, warlocks and vampires. She also discovers that she herself is a Shape-changer. The first in a series of three books, the story is fast paced, action packed, with a subtle romantic angle and enough unanswered questions to keep me waiting for the next one.

'The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts. William Herondale jerked back the dagger he was holding, but it was too late. The viscous acid of the demon's blood had already begun to eat away at the shining blade'(opening lines)

'Tessa could not remember a time when she had not loved the clockwork angel. It had belonged to her mother once, and her mother had been wearing it when she died. After that it had sat in her mother's jewelry box, until her brother, Nathaniel, took it out one day to see if it was still in working order.'(6)

'If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all?'(17)

'Suddenly she heard Aunt Harriet's voice in her head: When you find a man you wish to marry, Tessa, remember this: You will know what kind of man he is not by the things he says, but by the things he does.'(33)

'Charlotte nodded. 'I am one of the Nephilim -- the Shadowhunters. We are ... a race, if you will, of people, people with special abilities. We are stronger and swifter than most humans. We are able to conceal ourselves with magics called glamours. And we are especially skilled at killing demons."'(59)

'It was always the same: nothing at first, then the flicker of something at the back of her mind, like someone lighting a candle in a dark room. She groped her way toward it, as the Dark Sisters had taught her. It was hard to strip away the fear and the shyness, but she had done it enough times now to know what to expect -- the reaching forward to touch the light at the center of the darkness; the sense of light and enveloping warmth, as if she were drawing a blanket, something thick and heavy, around herself, covering every layer of her own skin; and then the light blazing up and surrounding her -- and she was inside it. Inside someone else's skin. Inside their mind.'(74)

'Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.'(87)

'Now that she had worn other faces, seen through other eyes, how could she ever say any face was really her own, even if it was the face she had been given at birth? When she Changed back to herself, how was she to know there wasn't some slight shift in her very self, something that made her not who she was anymore? Or did it matter what she looked like at all? Was her face nothing but a mask of flesh, irrelevant to her true self?'(111)

"I believe in good and evil," said Jem. "And I believe the soul is eternal. But I don't believe in the fiery pit, the pitchforks, or endless torment. I do not believe you can threaten people into goodness."(175)

"Sophie said to me once that she was glad she had been scarred. She said that whoever loved her now would love her true self, and not her pretty face. This is your true self, Tessa. This power is who you are. Whoever loves you now -- and you  must also love yourself -- will love the truth of you."(197)

"Whatever you are physically -- all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have a soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. Whatever the color, the shape, the design of the shade that conceals it, the flame inside the lamp remains the same."(283)

'Twenty bridges from Tower to Kew

Wanted to know what the River knew

For they were young and the Thames was old,

And this is the tale that the River told.

-Rudyard Kipliing, "The River's Tale"'(310)

a Margaret K McElderry Books First Edition

478 pages

Book owned
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge

remember

"CINTA TERLARANG"

karya sederhana oleh:

frisnanda

Dia adalah orang kelima yang datang ke dalam hidupku untuk menawarkan diri sebagai orang yang spesial bagiku. Dia, adalah orang kelima dalam hidupku yang datang untuk mengatakan aku pantas untuk dicintai. Atau mungkin hanya untuk sekedar bilang bahwa, aku patut untuk dipuaskan. Bahwa hasrat yang telah lama aku pendam ini, harus dipuaskan, dengan cintannya.

Seperti orang pertama yang datang dalam hidupku, diapun datang dari sebuah dunia yang tak nyata, dari dunia maya yang mereka namakan internet. Seperti orang pertama, dia juga datang padaku, ketika kami hanya sempat berbincang dalam beberapa baris kalimat saja. Dia juga seperti orang kedua, yang datang kedalam hidupku, seperti datangnya tikus kedalam liang gerombolannya, hanya karena memiliki satu hal yang sama : kami sama sama berbau busuk. Dan bahwa kami juga sama sama memiliki sebuah urusan yang perlu untuk dituntaskan, urusan yang hanya bisa dituntaskan dengan mengatas namakan ‘cinta’, Cinta yang terlarang!

Dia juga masih sama seperti orang ketiga yang hadir dalam hidupku. Hadir karena dia mencari pengganti orang yang bisa memberi dia apa yang dia butuhkan. Penganti orang yang di masa lalu sudah memberi mereka sebuah kepuasan, sebuah kedamaian, sebuah gengaman tangan yang erat. Pundak yang kokoh tempat mereka bersandar saat tiba tiba kepala meraka terasa begitu berat. Mereka membutuhkan dada yang bidang, tempat mereka meregut kehangatan di dalamnya. Yang dia kira, dada itu adalah dadaku. Ya, bahkan sebelum pertemuan pertama kami.

Dia datang, untuk hanya sekedar berkata kalau dia butuh seseorang yang sungguh setia, yang bisa mengerti dia apa adanya. Yang selama ini aku temui adalah orang yang hanya membutuhkan tubuhku, hartaku, padahal mereka tau aku tak berharta sesenpun, keluhmu di malam perkenalan kita. Malam dimana kita berbincang tanpa saling memandang. Berbicara tanpa saling menatap dan bersuara. Malam dimana kita bertukar informasi hanya dengan menarikan jemari kita diatas tombol tombol kibot. Bahkan sebelum dia tau, orang seperti apakah aku ini, dia sudah yakin kalau akulah yang sungguh mereka cari.

Dia masih juga sama saja seperti orang keempat yang hadir dalam hidupku. Yang hadir karena kita memiliki masa lalu yang sama, asal yang sama. Masa lalu dan asal yang sama sekali bukan untuk dibanggakan. Kami, sama sama dari lumbung buaya. Dari kubangan lumpur babi yang sama sekali tak indah untuk ditunjukkan pada orang lain. Kami berasal dari dunia hitam kelam yang bahkan para penghuninyapun takut untuk mengakui bahwa meraka adalah bagian dari dunia hitam kelam itu.

Dia datang malam ini, masih dengan alasan klise seperti alasan orang orang sebelumnya. Yang juga datang di malam hari untukku, dari tempat yang jauh di tepian kota ini hanya untuk memuaskan rasa penasarannya akan sosok tubuhku. Sosok yang hanya dia ketahui lewat seberapa tinggi aku, berapa berat badanku dan berapa usiaku. Sosok yang hanya dia tau lewat foto yang aku pasang di jejaring sosial. Foto yang sudah aku olah sedemikian rupa sehingga tampak menarik. Yang tentu saja, itu adalah perangkapku untuk menjebakmu, karena aku, tak seindah fotoku….

***

“ kamu di mana?” tanyaku setelah sekian lama aku menunggunya di dalam udara malam yang menusuk kulit.

“ aku masih di pertigaan keempat, kemana ini arahnya” terdengar suaranya di seberang sana, kecil dan lembut, namun tegas sekali rasanya.

“oh ya, belok ke kiri, nanti setelah perempatan kedua, belok kekanan lalu putar balik di depan restoran. Setelah pom bensin pertama, kamu belok kiri, aku tepat di kiri jalan di bawah lampu merah.”

“oh, ok, nanti aku hubungi kamu kalau aku bingung ya….”

“ya”

Hubungan telepon terputus, meninggalkan aku sendirian di sini, berteman dengan kesepian dan kepulan asap kenadaraan bermotor yang tak pernah tertidur di kota neraka ini.

Yah…, hatiku mendesah….

Ada perasaan berat yang mengantung di sana. Ada perasaan yang tidak bisa aku definisikan sebagai perasaan apa. Entahkah aku harus senang ataukah aku harus bersedih. Entahkah aku harus melompat tinggi tinggi untuk menyatakan kebahagiaaku ataukah aku harus bersujut menyesali keputusan ini.

Aku tau ini adalah keputusan yang terlarang. Aku tau ini adalah dosa besar yang mungkin tak termaafkan, karena akupun tak bisa memastikan bila aku sanggup untuk meninggalkan dosa ini. karena ketika kenikmatan itu sudah membuncah ke ubun ubun kepalaku, ketika kepuasan itu sudah membuncah mencengkram seluruh ragaku, sanggupkah aku untuk berpaling dan meninggakan kehidupan seperti ini selamanya? Aku tak yakin. Maka itulah akupun tak yakin kalau dosaku ini akan termaafkan. Karena aku tak yakin aku bisa bertaubat dengan taubat yang sebenarnya. Dan untuk itu, harusnya aku bersedih.

Tapi dalam waktu yang bersamaan, aku merasakan kebahagian yang tak terperikan. Betapa tidak, setelah orang ke empat, entah sudah berapa lama waktu berlalu. Sudah berapa malam yang aku lalui dengan kesendirian, sudah berapa hari aku buang waktuku untuk kuhabiskan tanpa seorang yang spesial di dekatku? Aku sudah tak mampu menghitung rasanya.

Saat ini, ketika ada orang yang bersedia mengisi kekosongan ini, bukankah pantas kalau aku berbahagia? Bukankah pantas kalau hatiku berbunga bunga? Aku juga manusia yang butuh dan haus akan kasih sayang….

Tapi lamunanku bubar saat sebuah sepeda motor berhenti tak jauh dari tempat aku berdiri. Pengendaranya adalah seorang dengan gaya yang trendi, rambutnya pirang pendek dengan jaket kulit hitam yang memberi kesan mendalam pada penampilannya. Dia memandang sejenak padaku. Tapi aku tetap diam mematung. Inikah orang yang aku tunggu tunggu? Orang yang terlalu sempurna untuk aku!

Dia merogoh saku jaket kulitnya, mengeluarkan sebuah hape keluaran terbaru. Setelah menekan beberapa tombol, dia medekatkan hapenya ke arah telinganya.

Ada yang bergetar di saku celanaku. Itu hapeku. Ada telepon masuk. Aku angkat. terdengar suara berat di seberang sana, suara yang orang yang aku tunggu tunggu.

“kamukah itu?” tanyanya. Seiring dengan gerakan bibir orang di depanku.

“ya ini aku,” jawabku.

Kumatikan hapeku, kumasukkan kedalam kantung celanaku, lau mendekat kearahnya. Sambil mengulurkan tangan kusebutkan namaku. Dia menyambutnya dengan seulas senyuman hangat yang membuat hatiku berdesir. Ada kegairahan yang hangat menggelayut mesrah di nadiku,

“ayo, ketempatku,”

“yap…” balasnya.

Hatiku, perasaanku, pikiranku kemudian melesat bersama laju sepeda motorku. Ada perasaan yang saling berkelebatan di sana. pesaan senang yang tak terperikan, juga perasaan bersalah yang mendalam. Aku bimbang, tapi aku tak berhenti untuk memintanya membatalkan perjanjian kita malam ini. sampai akhirnya, malam ini kami lalui sebagai malam terindah yang pernah kita lewati. Malam ini, satu kenyataan lagi aku sadari dari dirinya. Karena ternyata, dialah tipe orang yang aku cari selama ini

***

Sudah hampir seminggu dia tak ada kabar. Tak bisa aku hubungi dan dia tak membalas sms aku. Sudah aku coba bermalam malam, sudah aku harap hari demi hari kabar darinya, bahkan setiap pesan yang masuk dalam hapeku aku harap itulah kabar darinya.

Tapi ketika mejelang hari kesepuluh tak ada kabar darinya, keresahan dalam hati ini mulai menghilang secara ajaib. Ada perasaan pasrah dan hampa yang kemudian menyerang. Seperti sebuah perasaan tulus akan sebuah kehilangan. Ada perasaan ganjil dari keputusan untuk melupakan dia selamanya. Ya, aku mulai merasakan perasaan yang sama ketika aku tidak bisa menghubungi lagi orang orang sebelum dia.

Aku hanya ingin tidur aja malam ini. Cuma ingin meletakkan kepalaku sejenak di atas bantal kesayanganku. Memendam semua kesedihan ini di dunia mimpiku. Mengikatnya erat dan tak akan aku biarkan dia hadir lagi dalam kehidupan nyataku. Bagiku, malam itu adalah malam yang indah, malam yang harus aku sukuri dan aku sesali. Malam di mana seharusnya aku merasa manusia paling bodoh sekaligus paling beruntung telah berkenalan dengannya.

Malam ini masih sama dengan seperti malam yang sebelum-sebelumnya. Masih juga sama dengan malam ketika aku belum bertemu dengannya, malam dimana aku bersanding bersamanya atau pun malam malam setelah itu. Malam ini masih juga malam yang gelap. Malam dengan bintang dan bulan yang sahdu di musim kemarau yang kering.

Seperti juga yang aku lakukan di malam malam itu, malam inipun aku berusaha keras menutup mataku. Mengheningkan seluruh ciptaku. Berusaha untuk beralih dari dunia nyataku ke dalam dunia mimpiku. Dan juga tentunya masih sama bagiku, seperti setiap detik jam yang terbuang berlalu dalam malam malam kesedirian aku. Aku masih saja sulit memejamkan mata. Insomnia tingkat tinggi!

Bayangan malam, banyangan kesedihan, banyangan kerinduan silih berganti menghampiri alam sadar dan alam bawah sadarku. Ada bayangan setiap orang yang hadir di sana. ada banyangan orang pertama yang pendek dan tambun. Tapi mampu mengerti aku apa adanya. Ada selintas siluet gambaran orang kedua, yang berkulit hitam dengan tubuh yang tangguh. Dengan tenaganya yang seperti selalu terpacu. Kemudian orang ketiga hadir dalam mimpiku. Orang yang kurus dengan postur yang tinggi dan wajah yang bersih. Dia selalu tersenyum dengan bentuk bibirnya yang begitu manis. Lalu orang keempat yang bertubuh besar, yang bergumam dengan dialek yang sama degan dialekku. Dia datang dengan kata yang berapi api dan pergi dengan kabar yang segelap malam yang muram.

Lau hadirlah dia, orang kelimaku. Orang termanis dalam hidupku. Orang terindah dalam mimpiku. Orang yang ada dalam anganku. Dia, ya hanya dia yang bisa mengimbangi aku di setiap malam basahku. Malam malam terkutuk yang selalu aku runtuki. Malam bernoda kelam yang selalu aku sesali pernah aku lalui dalam hidupku. Tapi bersama dia, malam itupun benar benar aku sukuri. Manusia pujaan setiap insan ada di sampingku. Menempelkan bahunya di bahuku. Meneteskan setiap tetes air matanya di dadaku, menguburkan setiap asanya di dalam damainya hatiku. Dia, ya, dia adalah yang aku cari selama ini. dia adalah hal terindah yang pantas saku kagumi.

Aku mengaguminya setiap jengkal lukisan wajahnya. Lukisan alam yang maha kaya. Pahatan yang membuat setiap detak jantung insan manusia yang memandangnnya berhenti berdetak, untuk kemudian bernyanyi indah memujinya. Aku menghayati setiap inci dari lekukan tubuhnya. Tubuh yang seperti porselen yang indah, indah terpahat dengan kokohnya. Aku memuja setiap detail dari kakinya, dari tangannya, dari setiap goresan halus di kuku kukunya. Aku memujanya, ya, aku memujanya malam itu. Aku menelannya dalam sukmaku sampai tak bersisa di kala fajar datang dan dia minta aku untuk mengantarkannya pergi.

“aku akan kembali, aku janji….” Ucapmu kala itu. matamu yang berbicara, tapi suaranya aku dengar dengan hati beningku.

“aku akan menunggumu, aku tidak akan mencari penggantimu sebelum kau benar benar ingin melupakan aku…..”

Ada sentuhan lembut perpisahan, ada goresan tajam awal kehilangan. Di pagi itu, pagi yang basah di wajah kita. Pagi yang harum oleh wewangian alami yang di ciptakan alam untuk setiap kita…..

Aku masih ingat, selekat ingatan yang kemaren, seulas senyum perpisahanmu yang aku lekatkan erat di hatiku. Inginku teriakkan kata aku sayang kamu sejak jejak pertama langkahmu pergi meninggalkan tempat terkutuk itu, tempat terindah yang pernah aku kunjungi.

Tapi, wahai manusia terindahku, kemanakah kau sampai sejauh ini? bagaimana kabarmu di hari kedua puluh ini? mungkin inilah saat yang tepat bagiku untuk melupakanmu, mengiklaskanmu dan mencari penggantimu untuk mengobati hatiku. Walau sebenarnya aku ragu, adakah yang lebih indah darimu untukku….?

Baru saja kuketikkan sebuah nickname di MIRC ketika sekelebat bayangmu tiba tiba kembali melintas di nadiku. Tapi aku harus tegar. Aku harus bisa melupakanmu. Aku harus dan akan bisa untuk mencari penggantimu…Ada yang menyapaku di chatroom yang baru aku masuki ketika hapeku bergetar, lalu sebuah nada yang aku setting khusus untukmu berkumandang. Aku menoleh, memandang sorot sedih di layar hapeku. Hatiku, sekali lagi berdesir.

“ pa kbr ms, maf lm aq g mnghub ms. Hapeq yg lm kmaren bru aq ambil dr service center. ni jg bru aq pkai lgi, jdix slma bbrapa hr ni, aq pake hape cdngan. No ms da di hape yang di service i2 ms. Jdi s-X lg ma2f klau aq g da kbar bbrpa hr ni. Aq jg g mau trima tlpn msk dri orng g knal”

Aku mendesah, lalu masuk pesan kedua, masih dari dia

“ms, aq syang km. ms maukah ms jd milik aq slamanya? Kita bs menikh ms, wlau di negara ni cinta qt tak bsa ber1, tp di ngra lain, qt msh bsa mjdi spasang suami istri. Aq ingn jdi istrimu ms. Lz…”

Hatiku hancur rasanya. Aku ingin berteriak untuk melukiskan isi hatiku. Inikah anugrah? Atau inikah musibah. Inikah sanjungan ataukah aku sudah sedemikian terkutuk dicintai orang seperti dia setulus hatinya?

Pesan ketiga masuk sepuluh menit kemudian,

“ms, koq g da blesan? Dah tdurkah? Ms q dah b-X-x skt hti ms. Lau ms g bs menerima aq, aq mungkn dah gk bs hdup lebh lma lgi…..

Aq syng kmu mas….”

Nadiku mendidih, otakku menegang. Mataku terpejam, tubuhku bergetar. Aku sama sekali tidak mengira akan seperti ini jadinya. Akankah aku menerima permintaanya? Cinta ini, perasaan ini, aku tau adalah cinta dan perasaan terlarang. Aku harus menerima kenyataan kalau akhirnya aku jadi sampah masyarakat bila aku menerima cintanya dan menjadikan dia istriku. Tapi sungguh, sungguh lelaki sepertinyalah yang aku maui. Ya, dia adalah lelaki terindah untuk lelaki tangguh sepertiku! Cinta ini terlarang karena aku, mencintai sorang lelaki. Rinduku terlarang karena aku merindukan kemesraan dari orang yang sejenis.

Inikah kutukan ataukah ini anugrah? Inikah berkah ataukah ini kutukan? Haruskah aku terima dan berbahagia hanya bersamanya walau dunia dan Tuhan sekalipun adalah musuhku? Atau haruskah aku tolak cintanya dan rela melihat jenazahnya tak lama setelah ini? padahal dialah orang yang benar benar aku cintai dan aku rindukan selama ini?

rinduku telarang, cintaku tak terestui, hidupku adalah buah simalakama yang sebenarnya…..

Clark's Tattoo Incorporates Utah Wildflowers and a French Surrealist

Back in October, I briefly met Clark when I was passing through Penn Station at the end of the day. He was waiting for a train, so we didn't have a lengthy discussion, but he did let me photograph his right forearm:

There are two significant elements to this work. Clark is originally from Utah, and he has chosen to acknowledge this in ink by having Utah wildflowers incorporated in the piece.

The figure is bordered by the French phrase "Nul n'est censé ignorer" which can be translated as "ignorance is no excuse." The figure is based on the work of French painter and poet Francis Picabia.


Clark credited both Jonah Ellis and Joss Macetti at Graceland Brooklyn for work on this tattoo.


Thanks to Clark for sharing this with us here on Tattoosday!

A Diversion: A Tattoo Across Time

Well, folks, at one point I had over fifty days of material backlogged, but I've been rationing of late, and tattoobernating a bit. I've less than seven days of posts remaining and this cold weather has everyone hiding their ink because of the cold.

So, until it heats up, check out this piece by writer Shonna Milliken Humphrey in tomorrow's New York Times.

It's a very nice essay and it is ink-related.

Read more about the author here.

131. MADAME BOVARY

Gustave Flaubert  1857
Translated from French by Francis Steegmuller

In this classic book with wondrous prose, Emma Bovary is a madame with an absolutely restless heart. Intense feelings of disenchantment, unfulfillment and discontent surround her life.  She is forever in search of luxury, ardent love and passion and mistakenly assumes that a better lover and an altogether better life awaits her. And so she forgets her daughter Berthe and deceives her husband Charles, all in this endless search. What fraud, lies and cunning manipulations will she commit to attain it? Whose lives will she hurt ruin and destroy? 

'We were in the study-hall when the headmaster entered, followed by a new boy not yet in school uniform and by the handyman carrying a large desk.'(opening line)

'Before her marriage she had thought that she had love within her grasp; but since the happiness which she had expected this love to bring her hadn't come, she supposed she must have been mistaken. And Emma tried to imagine just what was meant, in life, by the words "bliss," "passion," and "rapture"--- words that had seemed so beautiful to her in books.'(40)

'She loved the sea for its storms alone, cared for vegetation only when it grew here and there among things; and she rejected as useless everything that promised no immediate gratification --- for her temperament was more sentimental than artistic, and what she was looking for was emotions, not scenery.'(42)

'She  might have been glad to confide all these things to someone. But how speak about so elusive a malaise, one that keeps changing its shape like the clouds and its direction like the winds?'(47)

'Indeed the closer to her things were, the further away from her thoughts turned. Everything immediately surrounding her --- boring countryside, inane petty bourgeois, the mediocrity of daily life --- seemed to her the exception rather than the rule. She had been caught in it all by some accident: out beyond, there stretched as far as eye could see the immense territory of rapture and passions. In her longing she made no difference between the pleasures of luxury and the joys of the heart, between elegant living and sensitive feeling.'(68)

'Deep down, all the while, she was waiting for something to happen. Like a sailor in distress, she kept casting desperate glances over the solitary waste of her life, seeking some white sail in the distant mists of the horizon. She had no idea by what wind it would reach her, toward what shore it would bear her, or what kind of craft it would be--- tiny boat or towering vessel, laden with heartbreaks or filled to the gunwales with rapture.  But every morning when she awoke she hoped that today would be the day; she listened for every sound, gave sudden starts, was surprised when nothing happened; and then, sadder with each succeeding sunset, she longed for tomorrow.'(72-73)

"Have you ever had the experience," Leon went on, "of running across in a book some vague idea you've had, some image that you realize has been lurking all the time in the back of your mind and now seems to express absolutely your most subtle feelings?"(99)

'Future joys are like tropic shores: out into the immensity that lies before them they waft their native softness, a fragrant breeze that drugs the traveler into drowsiness and makes him careless of what awaits him on the horizon beyond his view.'(113)

'As for Emma, she never tried to find out whether she was in love with him. Love, to her, was something that comes suddenly, like a blinding flash of lightning --- a heaven-sent storm hurled into life, uprooting it, sweeping every will before it like a leaf, engulfing all feelings. It never occurred to her that if the drainpipes of a house are clogged, the rain may collect in pools on the roof; and she suspected no danger until suddenly she discovered a crack in the wall.'(119)

'He had had such things said to him so many times that none of them had any freshness for him. Emma was like all his other mistresses; and as the charm of novelty gradually slipped from her like a piece of her clothing, he saw revealed in all its nakedness the eternal monotony of passion, which always assumes the same forms and always speaks the same language.'(224)

'Whereas the truth is that fullness of soul can sometimes overflow in utter vapidity of language, for none of us can ever express the exact measure of his needs or his thoughts or his sorrows; and human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.'(224)

'With her ever-changing moods, by turns brooding and gay, chattering and silent, fiery and casual, she aroused in him a thousand desires, awakening instincts or memories.'(313)

'Lying became a need, a mania, a positive joy --- to such a point that if she said that she had walked down the right-hand side of a street the day before, it meant that she had gone down the left.'(319)

'But casting aspersions on those we love always does something to loosen our ties. We shouldn't maltreat our idols: the gilt comes off on our hands.'(333)

'No matter: she wasn't happy, and never had been. Why was life so unsatisfactory? Why did everything she leaned on crumble instantly to dust?'(334)

First Vintage Classic Edition January 1992
411 pages
Book owned
Book qualifies for : Victorian Challenge 
                               100+ Reading Challenge 

Celina's Tattoo Gives Her Strength and Courage

Last month, I received a phone call when I was walking through the Borders at 2 Penn Plaza. I sat down in one of those comfy chairs and noticed, once I had finished speaking on the phone, that the young lady sitting next to me had an interesting tattoo on her right wrist. I asked her about it and Celina kindly shared it with us here:

Celina explained that she had originally hoped to have this done in Aramaic, but that she and her artist couldn't find the proper script, so she chose this one instead. It's an old Hebrew script, which I can recognize a significant part of, thanks to my many years of Hebrew school in Hawai'i.

The words translate to "Be strong and courageous," from Deuteronomy 31:6:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

The Hebrew phrase,     
 חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ
is spoken by Moses, on behalf of God, addressing the Israelites after they have fled Egypt and are about to embark on the journey that takes forty years and eventually leads them to the Promised Land.

This phrase resonated with Celina, who had this tattoo done before she moved to New York from the San Francisco Bay area, and was about to embark on a journey into the unknown.

She credited the artist Chris Evans, in Santa Cruz, California, with inking this tattoo.

Thanks to Celina for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

130. GIFT from the SEA

Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1955

This short,  uncomplicated but vastly inspiring book was written by the author while taking respite for two weeks alone in a simple cottage on the beach at Captiva island.  She collects five shells: channelled whelk, moon shell, double-sunrise shell, an oyster bed and a paper nautilus, all of which prove symbolic of the different stages in a woman's life. Her thoughts form this beautiful book--- her gift from the sea. Not surprisingly, I find this book so timeless and maybe even more relevant now during our busy days of multi-tasking. The one book I reread in January each year. 


'I began these pages for myself, in order to think out my own particular pattern of living, my own individual balance of life, work and human relationships.'(opening line)

'The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach---waiting for a gift from the sea.'(17)

'My shell is not like this, I think. How untidy it has become! Blurred with moss, knobby with barnacles, its shape is hardly recognizable any more. Surely, it had a shape once. It has a shape still in my mind. What is the shape of my life?'(22)

'But I want first of all---in fact, as an end to these other desires---to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can.'(23)

'I have learned by some experience, by many examples, and by the writings of countless others before me, also occupied in the search, that certain environments are more conducive to inner and outer harmony than others. There are, in fact, certain roads that one may follow. Simplification of life is one of them.'(24)

'What a circus act we women perform every day of our lives. It puts the trapeze artist to shame. Look at us. We run a tight rope daily, balancing a pile of books on the head.'(26)

'The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask.'(32)

'Only when one is connected to one own's core is one connected to others, I am beginning to discover. And, for me, the core, the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.'(44)

'Perhaps middle age is, or should be, a period of shedding shells; the shell of ambition, the shell of  material accumulations and possessions, the shell of the ego. Perhaps one can shed at this stage of life as one sheds in beach-living; one's pride, one's false ambition, one's mask, one's armor.'(84-85)

'When each partner loves so completely that he has forgotten to ask himself whether  or not he is loved in return; when he only knows that he loves and is moving to music---then, and then only, are two people able to dance perfectly in tune to the same rhythm.'(106)

'For relationships, too, must be like islands. One must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits---islands, surrounded and abandoned by the tides. One must accept the security of the winged life, of ebb and flow, of intermittency.'(109)

'The waves echo behind me. Patience---Faith---Openness, is what the sea has to teach. Simplicity---Solitude---Intermittency ... But there are other beaches to explore. There are more shells to find. This is only a beginning.'(Closing lines)

a Pantheon book edition
128 pages
Book owned