Virginia's Flowers Forecast Spring

This is a quick one for Monday morning, on the last day of February, with spring looming just around the corner. Here's one of Virginia's tattoos:

Virginia is a long-time reader and fan of Tattoosday who I have met on anumber of occasions. This is the first piece she has shared with us.

This floral tattoo is at the top of her right shoulder and was done by Craig Rodriguez at Hand of Glory in Brooklyn.

She explains further, "We are all hoping for an early spring. Daffodils and forget-me-nots. It is a memorial tattoo. I always bring yellow flowers to the cemetery when I honor my family members."

Work from Hand of Glory has appeared previously here on Tattoosday. A piece of Craig's was featured here.

Amen to the early spring! Thanks to Virginia for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

138. JONATHAN STRANGE & Mr NORRELL

Susanna Clarke 2004

This magnificent history of English magic (oh how I wished there really was one) is truly magical, albeit long, the book by itself as it was written,  and also because of the very detailed footnotes that the author included (they are fascinating though, and worth the read). Set in 19th century England,  the book is as much the story of the ultimate magician John Uskglass, the King Raven, as it is the story of the rivaling practical magicians Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange. The magic is dark and grandiose, but in a quiet sort of way, the telling very imaginative, beautifully descriptive and mesmerizing. 

'Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every  month and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic.'(opening lines)

'Mr. Segundus wished to know, he said, why modern magicians were unable to work the magic they wrote about. In short, he wished to know why there was no more magic done in England.'(4)

'Mr. Norrell determined to establish himself in London with all possible haste. "You must get me a house, Childermass," he said. "Get me a house that says to those that visit it that magic is a respectable profession -- no less than Law and a great deal more so than Medicine."'(40)

"But really a magician has need of so few tools. I will tell you a little trick, my lord, the more apparatus a magician carries about with him -- coloured powders, stuffed cats, magical hats and so forth -- the greater the fraud you will eventually discover him to be!"(108)

"Two magicians shall appear in England..."
A sort of exclamation broke from Mr. Norrell, an exclamation that began as a cry and ended as a soft, unhappy sigh.
"The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me;
The first shall be governed by thieves and murderers; the second shall conspire at his own destruction;
The first shall bury his heart in a dark wood beneath the snow, yet still feel its ache;
The second shall see his dearest possession in his enemy's hand..."(123)

'Curiously, no one noticed that the strange malady that afflicts her ladyship was to a precision the same as that which afflicted Stephen Black. He too complained of feeling tired and cold, and on the rare occasions that either of them said anything, they both spoke in a low, exhausted manner.'(169)

"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange.
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."(304)

'Fairies do not make a strong distinction between the animate and the inanimate. They believe that stones, doors, trees, fire, clouds and so forth all have souls and desires, and are either masculine or feminine. Perhaps this explains the extraordinary sympathy for madness which fairies exhibit.'(365)

'English magic, said Mr Strange, had grown up upon English soil and had in a sense been nurtured by English rain. Mr Strange said that in meddling with English weather, we meddled with England, and in meddling with England, we risked destroying the very foundation of English magic.'(384)

'In the end is it not futile to try and follow the course of a quarrel between husband and wife? Such a conversation is sure to meander more than any other. It draws in tributary arguments and grievances from years before -- all quite incomprehensible to any but the two people they concern most nearly. Neither party is ever proved right or wrong in such a case, or it they are, what does it signify?'(398)

"Without the blessing of health and reason, riches and beauty are worthless indeed!"(427)

'Houses, like people, are apt to become rather eccentric if left too much on their own; this house was the architectural equivalent of an old gentleman in a worn dressing-gown and torn slippers, who got up and went to bed at odd times of day, and who kept up a continual conversation with friends no one else could see.'(452-453)

'It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take notice of his song except his fellow human beings. This is true even if his son is surpassingly beautiful. Other men may be in raptures at his skill, but the rest of creation is, by and large, unmoved. Perhaps a cat or a dog may look at him; his horse, if it is an exceptionally intelligent beast, may pause in cropping the grass, but that is the extent of it. But when the fairy sang, the whole world listened to him.'(469)

'It is the contention of Mr. Norrell of Hanover-square that everything belonging to John Uskglass must be shaken out of modern magic, as one would shake moths and dust out of an old coat. What does he imagine he will have left. If you get rid of John Uskglass you will be left holding the empty air.'(493)

'In his weakened state Childermass had been thinking aloud. He had meant to say that if what he had seen was true, then everything that Strange and Norrell had ever done was child's play and magic was a much stanger and more terrifying thing than any of them had thought of. Strange and Norrell had been merely throwing paper darts about a parlour, while real magic soared and swooped and twisted on great wings in a limitless sky far, far above them.'(512)

"Such nonsense! declared Dr. Greysteel. "Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful?"
"Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner," said Strange. "That has a sort of moral usefulness, I suppose, in making one feel uncomfortable and encouraging sober reflections upon one's imperfections."(587)

"Now I know very little of English magicians. They have always seemed to me parcel of dull, dusty old men -- except for John Uskglass. He is quite another matter! The magician who tamed the otherlanders! The only magician to defeat Death! The magicians whom Lucifer himself was forced to treat as an equal!"(639-640)

'Chauntlucet: a mysterious and ancient spell which encourages the moon to sing. The song the moon knows is apparently very beautiful and can cure leprosy or madness in any who hear it.'(footnote 4, page 695)

"This house is built upon the King's land, with stones from the King's abbey. a river runs by it -- not more than two hundred yards from this room; that river has often borne the King in his royal barge upon its waters. In my kitchen-garden are a pear-tree and an apple-tree -- the direct descendants of some pips spat out by the King when he sat one summer's evening in the Abbot's garden. Let the old abbey stones be our envoy; let the river be our path; let next year's apples and pears from these trees be our handsel. Then we may name him simply 'The King'. These stones, this river, those trees know none other!"(745)

'...and everything changed. The sun came out from behind a cloud; it shone through the winter trees; hundreds of small, bright patches of sunlight appeared. The world became a kind of puzzle or labyrinth. It was like the superstition which says one must not walk upon lines between flag stones -- or the strange magic called the Doncaster Squares which is performed upon a board like a chessboard. Suddenly everything had meaning.'(763)

Bloomsbury Publishing First US Edition 2004
782 pages
Book borrowed from the library
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge

PERSONAL NOTE: Sorry for the mishap on my inadvertently posting the wrong one. If you are here for my one year anniversary post, it was a premature Ooooops.  But a year already indeed... in a month this blog is one year old. 

Tattoosday Weekend Recap

I just wanted to share some interesting tidbits that have come my way over the last few weeks:

First, someone has been sharing links in the comments section anonymously on several recent posts. As is my custom, I only approve comments if they are related to the post in question. Nonetheless, the links point to a YouTube channel for Sullen TV. I thought I'd share one here, which features the artist Nikko Hurtado, and interested parties can explore their YouTube channel here.

~

The other day I came across a cool site called FreshTrends.com that has a really nice collection of body jewelry, a lot of which would look great with a new tattoo. It's definitely worth a look!

~

Last June, I featured this tattoo by artist Scott Campbell. I was recently told about this short film on the site Nowness.Be sure to check it out!

~

And finally, we're about a month away from April, and our third annual installment of the Tattooed Poets Project. I wanted to give a shout-out to one of last year's poets, Erica Rivera, whose tattoo was featured here. Her new book Maneater is available on Amazon:

Visit the Man Eater Facebook page for a taste of Erica Rivera's writing.

Repost: The World is Full of Kings and Queens

In lieu of something new, something borrowed, or something blue, I am offering up a post from three years ago, in Tattoosday's infancy, from January 2008:

I've been relying heavily on Tattoos I Know since the end of summer, but today, in the chill of January, I spotted a cool tattoo on a stranger and added him to the Tattoosday gallery:


It was in the mid-30's when I asked Frank about his tattoo. He gladly offered up his newest piece, this playing card queen.

Frank is heavily-inked. He briefly flashed a leg and an arm covered with tattoos. But we stuck with this one. This particular piece, his newest, was done by Mike Profetto at Designs by Michael Angelo in Brooklyn.

When I asked him why he had this queen of hearts, he said it only made sense to complement the king of diamonds on the right side of his neck:


Incidentally, that's a spider on the back of his neck, between the two royal tattoos.

The queen, being the newer piece, is much brighter and crisper.

Frank is the first Tattoosday subject to offer up side neck pieces. He gave me his contact information, so I hope to feature Frank's work again in the future, with more detail about his tattoos, and the stories behind them.

Thanks again Frank!

*******

February 26, 2011: Alas, we never heard from Frank again....

Lost and Found: Toni's Cameo

I'm calling this a "lost and found" post because it features a tattoo that was a buried treasure in my e-mail archives. I was sitting on my living room couch when the existence of the photo surfaced in my head. "Whatever happened to that e-mail?" I asked myself and, after a brief search I found it. So, let me explain....

At the end of November, my wife Melanie received an e-mail from someone she met through her job. She often encounters people with tattoos and, if the work is interesting, and the subject arises, she will act as an ambassador to Tattoosday.

Toni is one such person who checked out the site, took pictures of her tattoo, and sent them to Melanie. She showed me the photos and promptly forwarded me the e-mail, which then sat for a spell in my in box before I inadvertently filed it away until I recalled it two months later.

So, without further ado, here is Toni's tattoo:

Not only did Toni send along this picture of the small cameo tattoo on her wrist, she sent along a healthy story to accompany the piece. We'll let her tell us about it in her own words:

My mother passed away six years ago on 11/17/2004. For a long time I wanted to get a tattoo in memory of her without doing the RIP MOM thing I’ve seen so many times before. I think it’s nice, but it is not my style. A little over two years ago my sister and I were going out with some friends for dinner and my sister was wearing this very Victorian-style blouse. Pinned to the front collar of the blouse was a cameo that has been in my family for many years. It was passed down from my Grandmother to my mother and now to my sister. As soon as I glanced at it, it hit me! I will get a tattoo of this Cameo and then realized it would not only be for my mom. My mother, my sister, and I are obsessed with the Victorian era! We love everything Victorian. My grandmother loved the Victorian times as well. 

 

So I decided to bring the cameo with me to Twin Moon Tattoo shop [in Floral Park, Long Island] and had the artist Cindy sketch the cameo ... I love this tattoo so much, not only because it represents an era that I love but it also represents the three most important women in my life: my Grandmother, my Mother, & my sister! [Cindy] thought it was a little strange that I wanted it just below the inside wrist of my right arm and suggested I put it on the back of my neck or make it really big and put it in the middle of my back. I had explained the meaning behind the tattoo and how important it was for me that I see it everyday....That being said, she agreed and sketched it the actual size of the cameo and tattooed it on the inside of my arm right below the wrist.

Thanks to Toni for sending along the photo and the story behind it to Melanie, and for consenting to share her lovely cameo tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Cat's Hands-ome Tattoos

I met Cat earlier this week at Borders, which has been the go-to locale for inkspotting during a very sparse winter.

He has fifteen tattoos, but we discussed the two I noticed, on the tops of his hands:

The tattoos are variations on Celtic pagan designs that he modified to make his own.

The right hand represents the chalice of the goddess, who represents expressiveness and creativity. Wiccan principles acknowledge that the goddess is the source of all expression.

Cat's other hand is decorated with a Celtic triquetra. The three markings around the design are letters drawn in the Theban script, each corresponding to the first initials of his three children.

Cat says that these, as well as his other tattoos, were inked by Neo at Village Moon Tattoos in Jackson Heights, in the borough of Queens.

Readers interested in these tattoos may also be interested in checking out our old friend Livia Indica's site NeoPagan Ink.

Thanks kindly to Cat for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tom Cruise Will Sing on 'Rock of Ages'

LOS ANGELES - Actor Tom Cruise will sing in her latest film 'Rock of Ages'. Cruise who has won three Golden Globe Awards that will play a musician named Stacee Jaxx.

'Rock of Ages' is a movie made from the musical of the same title. The film will be directed by Adam Shankman.Previously, Shankman has successfully directed the movie musical Hairspray in 2007.

"I think we will see Rock'n'Roll god in him. He (Cruise) fought very hard in this movie, I never look at another actor" said Shankman as reported by the Toronto Sun, Wednesday (02/23/2011).

In the film, Cruise would sing a few songs the '80s and '90s. One is a song from Bon Jovi titled 'Wanted Dead or Alive'.

Reportedly, the actress Anne Hathaway will also be involved in the 'Rock of Ages'. He planned to sing a duet with Cruise 'Want To Know What Love Is'.

Emirsyah Reach 'Person of The Year 2010'

Hong Kong - President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk, Satar was named 'Person of The Year 2010' version of Orient Aviation magazine is the official magazine of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). Emir considered able to return the Garuda crash of debt bondage that makes the company go public.

The award was handed over directly by the Chief Executive of Orient Aviation, Barry Grind rod at the Island Shangri-la Hotel, Supreme Court Road, Central, Hong Kong on Sunday (15/02/2011). The event was attended by Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Giovanni Bisignani.

Over the past under the leadership of the previous Emir, Garuda also has won awards from a number of international aviation associations including the World Aviation Agency, Skytrax as the Most Improved Airline In the World in 2010. Garuda also has won awards from the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) as the Top Asian Airlines Service Quality Survey.

Emir expressed optimism in leading four-star airline. In 2013, Emir target Garuda become a 5 star aviation company.
Until now, the airline has five stars that are Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Qatar Airways, King Fisher, Cathay Pacific and Malaysian Airlines.

Stocks that depend on the market. Meanwhile, Giovani states, the development of aviation industry in 2015 are very potential. The prospect that world aviation potential. However, to face the future of the industry, all of which related to the aviation industry must change.

Wall Street Down, Again Penetrating Oil US. $ 100

New York - The index of shares on Wall Street fell for two consecutive days as the crisis in Libya, which make oil prices more transparent level of U.S. $ 100 per barrel.

In trading Wednesday (23/02/2011), the Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) closed dropped to 107.01 points (0.88%) to the level 12205.78. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell 8.04 points (0.61%) to a level of 1307.40 and the NASDAQ slumped 33.43 points (1.21%) to a level of 2722.99.

Meanwhile, world crude oil prices for light sweet finally penetrate the level of U.S. $ 100 per barrel, for the first time since October 2008. Oil prices have surged to $ 10 dollars in 2 days.
Oil prices continue to soar because of fears of supply disruptions in Libya, which is now the fourth largest oil producer in North Africa. Conflict in Libya known to the more heated because the government continues to suppress the demonstrators who asked Khadafy down.

Light, sweet crude had surged to 5% through U.S. $ 100 per barrel, before it finally closed up 2.68 dollars to U.S. $ 98.10 per barrel. Brent Oil closed up 4.47 dollars to as low as U.S. $ 111.25.
Stock indices on Wall Street for 2 consecutive days to respond to declining crude oil price hikes due to the crisis in Libya. Shares slump occurred in trading volume are quite thick.

"We already have a solid increase in the stock market for a longer period, and completely without correction. So in the long run, is a good thing for the market to get a little correction," said Wayne Schmidt, chief investment officer of such Investment Gradient quoted by Reuters on Thursday (02/24/2011).

NASDAQ slumped due to slump in technology stocks. Shares of Hewlett-Packard (HP) were recorded slumped 9.6% after cutting its earnings projections in 2011 due to decline in PC demand.
Trading volume was active, i.e., transactions on the New York Stock Exchange reached 10.32 billion shares, above the daily average reaches 7.99 billion.

Frank's Laserbeak Tattoo Transforms His Flesh

I met Frank in the Penn Plaza Borders yesterday and stopped to ask him about his tattoos.

"How many do you have?" I asked and he responded vaguely "a lot". That generally means at least a dozen, if not more, and he offered up this two-part tattoo, from his right arm:

This is a Transformer. More specifically, "Laserbeak," a Transformer that does reconnaissance.

This is one of the first tattoos that Frank got and, as one would expect, he had this done because he likes Transformers.

He credited the tattoo to Cort Bengston at Cort's Royal Ink Tattoo Studio in Patchogue, New York.

Thanks to Frank for sharing these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

137. the SHINING

Stephen King 1973

In a picturesque remote town somewhere in Colorado, sits the Overlook, a grand old hotel that is the setting of this expectedly disturbing and frighteningly vivid book. The perfect storm builds up to an explosive ending when Jack Torrance, a short-fused recovering alcoholic, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny, a five-year old with the gift of the 'shining' move in to the hotel as it's out-of-season caretakers, and the hotel with it's equally sinister garden starts to slowly take over their lives.

'Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick.'(opening line)

'Watson shrugged. "Any big hotels have got scandals," he said. "Just like every big hotel has got a ghost. Why? Hell, people come and go. Sometimes one of em will pop off in his room, heart attack or stroke or something like that. Hotels are superstitious places. No thirteenth floor or room thirteen, no mirrors on the back of the door you come in through, stuff like that,'(25)

'He had been frightened, had tried to explain to them that there was nothing wrong, that this sometimes happened to him when he concentrated on understanding more than what normally came to him. He tried to explain about Tony, who they called his "invisible playmate."(32)

'Don't go, Danny...
Then the wind gusted again, making him squint, and the shadow by the bus stop was gone... if it had ever been there at all. He stood by his window for
(a minute? an hour?)
some time longer, but there was no more. At last he crept back into bed and pulled the blankets up and watched the shadows thrown by the alien streetlight turn into a sinuous jungle filled with flesheating plants they wanted only to slip around him, squeeze the life out of him, and drag him down into a blackness where one sinister word flashed in red:
REDRUM.'(64)

'And in the bug, which moved upwardly more surely on the gentler grade, he kept looking out between them as the road unwound, affecting occasional glimpses of the Overlook Hotel, its massive bank of westward-looking windows reflecting back the sun. It was the place he had seen in the midst of the blizzard, the dark and booming place where some hideously familiar figure sought him down long corridors carpeted with jungle. The place Tony had warned him against. It was here. It was here. Whatever Redrum was, it was here.'(71)

"You got a knack," Halloran said, turning to him. "Me, I've always called it shining. That's what my grandmother called it, too. She had it. We used to sit in the kitchen when I was a boy no older than you and have long talks without even openin our mouths."(89)

"...a lot of folks, they got a little bit of shine to them. They don't even know it. But they always seem to show up with flowers when their wives are feelin blue with the monthlies, they do good on school tests they don't even study for, they got a good idea how people are feeling as soon as they walk into a room. I come across fifty or sixty like that. But maybe only a dozen, countin my gran, that knew they was shinin."(90)

'There was an iron scream behind his lips, but he would not let it out. His mommy and daddy could not see such things; they never had. He would keep quiet. His mommy and daddy were loving each other, and that was a real thing. The other things were just like pictures in a book. Some pictures were scary, but they couldn't hurt you. They... couldn't... hurt you.'(105)

'They watched until the car was out of sight, headed down the eastern slope. When it was gone, the three of them looked at each other for a silent, almost frightened moment. They were alone. Aspen leaves whirled and skittered in aimless packs across the lawn that was now neatly mowed and tended for no guest's eyes. There was no one to see the autumn leaves steal across the grass but the three of them. It gave Jack a curious shrinking feeling, as if his life force had dwindled to a mere spark while the hotel and the grounds had suddenly doubled in size and become sinister, dwarfing them with sullen, inanimate power.'(112)

'Once, during the drinking phase, Wendy had accused him of desiring his own destruction but not possessing the necessary moral fiber to support a full-blown deathwish. So he manufactured ways in which other people could do it, lopping a piece at a time off himself and their family. Could it be true? Was he afraid somewhere inside that the Overlook might be just what he needed to finish his play and generally collect up his shit and get it together? Was he blowing the whistle on himself? Please God no, don't let it be that way. Please.'(203-204)

'The bewilderment seemed to grow and for a moment she saw his true face, the one he ordinarily kept so well hidden, and it was a face of desperate unhappiness, the face of an animal caught in a snare beyond its ability to decipher and render harmless. Then the muscles began to work, began to writhe under the skin, the mouth began to tremble infirmly, the Adam's apple began to rise and fall.'(256)

'The whole place was empty.
But it wasn't really empty. Because here in the Overlook things just went on and on. Here in the overlook all times were one.'(339)

'Dying was a part of living. You had to keep tuning in to that if you expected to be a whole person. And if the fact of your own death was hard to understand, at least it wasn't impossible to accept.'(349)

First Pocket Books trade paperback edition, October 2002
505 pages
Book borrowed from the library
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge
____________________________________

Personal Note: I could not stop reading this book,  and it was perfect for the 16-hour flight to the Philippines.  It definitely made the long flight seem shorter. It was a busy two weeks, and only found myself finishing three books instead of the six books I planned.  Thanks to all the thoughtful well wishers. A few pictures from the trip:

overlooking Laguna de Bay

catching the sunset

  Jackfruit (Langka) Tree

Bonafide Bags Winners and Special Discount for Tattoosday Readers!

Congratulations to the following readers who were among the winners selected among the 51 commenters on the original Bonafide Bags post.

American Pride winners:

Theresa Senato Edwards
Beverly Cornell
Thumper


Day of the Dead winners:

Kristina V.
Jason
Alex


Koi Winners:

Alicia
Crackle
Sammie K


American Traditional Winners:

Virginia
Sarah
KC


I will be emailing winners by Monday. If you are a winner and don't hear from me, please follow up with me at tattoosday@gmail.com.

For those of you who didn't win, I thank you for participating and suggest you check out this amazing offer from the folks at Bonafide Bags:

We also thought we would like to reward your readers for participating and give them some incentive as well to get some bags whether they win or not. We created a discount code specifically for the readers of Tattoosday to receive an additional 10% off any order of at least $20.  They can get the savings by entering the following code in the voucher section of the checkout page, the code is "tattoosday".  This code is good through March...if we want to create new designs and keep pumping them out from lots of different artists, we have to sell these to make that happen.

Please take advantage of this great offer and head over to Bonafide Bags and get some!

Thanks to all of our readers who made this giveaway so much fun for all! And thanks to the good folks at Bonafide Bags.

incredible slam dunk, Griffin won the contest

Los Angeles - One of the highlights of NBA All-Star event is the slam dunk contest. This time, Blake Griffin emerged as the winner after doing a brilliant dunk.

Those who witnessed the dunk Griffin's well-deserved admiration. At the Staples Center on Sunday (20/02/2011) afternoon local time, Griffin is getting 95 points in the first round advance to the finals dunk contest for dealing with JaVale McGee.

In the first round, McGee, who is the Washington Wizards center, could make the audience chuckle in awe after he did dunk with three basketballs at the same time. But what Griffin in the last round is more brilliant.
Welcoming assists from teammate on the Los Angeles Clippers, Baron Davis, Griffin jumped over the hood of a car KIA Optima. The 21-year-old forward flight, with the accompaniment of the song "I Believe I Can Fly" song by choir, and finally hit the ring with his dunk.

Griffin won the vote by 68%. Compare with McGee that "only" gets 32%.
Youth born 16 March was indeed grown up watching dunk contest in Oklahoma there. He claimed to get this idea because there are no special rules for the conduct dunk, and try to show a spectacular show for the spectators.

"There is pressure on us to display a good show. But I think, they do a good job," he said in Yahoo sports.
"When they came first to me, they say that there is no regulation. I immediately thought, 'So, I could jump my car?" Yes? Oh, maybe I should do it '.
"I feel, I can do it. Then the Baron came up with the idea that choir accompaniment," he said.

Supermassive black hole in a dwarf galaxy

Supermassive black hole in a type of galaxy where nobody expected to find one? Henize 2-10 is a small, mostly unremarkable compact dwarf galaxy. Its estimated dynamical mass is about 10¹⁰ M_⊙, only a few percent of our galaxy's mass, and its distance from us is about 30 million light years. It is irregular in shape and does not fit in any category of the standard Hubble sequence.


The only respect in which Henize 2-10 has attracted attention – for several decades – before now is an extremely high rate of star formation in comparison to its size. The rate is 10 times that of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that is also irregular in form and has approximately the mass of Henize 2-10.


This research – An actively accreting massive black hole in the dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 – recently published Nature, now offers good evidence that at the center of Henize 2-10 is an active black hole of substantial but somewhat uncertain mass between 2×10⁵ M_⊙ and 2×10⁷ M_⊙. That's a lot – it could exceed the mass of the Milky Way's black hole, ~4.2× 10⁶ M_⊙.


The evidence presented that Henize 2-10 contains an actively accreting massive black hole is pretty good. It includes detection of radio emissions with a substantial non-thermal component. In other words, much of the radio emissions is due to something besides black body radiation – perhaps synchrotron radiation typical in active black hole jets. There is also a point source of high-energy X-ray emissions coming from the same location as the radio emissions. The evidence that these emissions are due to an active black hole isn't perfect. In particular, long-baseline interferometry shows gaps in the radio source, and the radio spectrum does not have the shape of a typical radio galaxy's. But consideration of other possible explanations indicates that the alternatives are rather improbable.


However, the paper concludes "the massive black hole in Henize 2-10 does not appear to be associated with a bulge, a nuclear star cluster or any other well-defined nucleus. This unusual property may reflect an early phase of black-hole growth and galaxy evolution that has not been previously observed. If so, this implies that primordial seed black holes could have pre-dated their eventual dwellings."


The authors are implying that this black hole could have existed before Henize 2-10 itself. And further, since galaxies in the very early universe (z≥7) have many similarities to Henize 2-10 (as well as certain differences), that many of these very early galaxies could also have formed around pre-existing massive black holes.


These concluding observations should, on the basis of the evidence provided, be regarded as rather speculative. There are substantial logical gaps in the reasoning.


For one thing, Henize 2-10 is pretty unusual based on its high rate of star formation. This implies an unusual and probably chaotic recent history. And so there really isn't much solid reason to think that the central black hole predated the galaxy.


How closely Henize 2-10 resembles very early galaxies is also open to question. The earliest stars, which made up the earliest galaxies, had very low metallicity and therefore tended to be much larger, brighter, and short-lived than stars forming in the present era. The assumption that galaxy evolution would be pretty similar between now and then is hard to make.


Some of the popular media accounts go even further and suggest that "most" galaxies probably formed around pre-existing black holes. Even if that were true for Henize 2-10, all that can legitimately be inferred is the possibility, not the necessity, of that circumstance in most cases.


There have been reports of the existence of supermassive black holes in galaxies without central bulges (not just irregular galaxies) – here, for example. There have even been studies of active black holes in the early universe that may have predated their galaxies, one of which I wrote about in this article: Which came first - the galaxy or the black hole?. There are also cases of fairly normal galaxies, such as M33, that seem to have at most a very small central black hole – see here.


So it's certainly a very real issue whether, at least in some cases, central black holes form before their galaxies, but the present study is just another interesting data point, not the last word on the subject.

Reines, A., Sivakoff, G., Johnson, K., & Brogan, C. (2011). An actively accreting massive black hole in the dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 Nature, 470 (7332), 66-68 DOI: 10.1038/nature09724

Further reading:

• Dwarf Galaxy Harbors Supermassive Black Hole – 1/9/11
• Ginormous Black Hole May Solve Longstanding Mystery – 1/9/11
• Baby Galaxy Hosts Monster Black Hole – 1/10/11
• Astronomers Discover Supermassive Black Hole in Center of Tiny Galaxy – 1/9/11
• Supermassive Black Hole Peeks From Behind The Skirt Of A Dwarf Galaxy – 1/10/11
• Huge Black Hole Found in Dwarf Galaxy – 1/10/11
• Henize 2-10: A Surprisingly Close Look at the Early Cosmos – 1/10/11
• A Black Hole “Too Big” For Its Galaxy – 1/12/11
• Supersized Black Hole Seen in Small Galaxy – 1/11/11
• Dwarf galaxy solves supermassive mystery – 1/10/11
• Dwarf galaxy hides a cosmic 'Little Big Man' – 1/10/11
• New Evidence Shows Black Hole Growth Preceding Galactic Formation – 1/9/11
• A tiny galaxy that hides a big secret – 1/11/11
• Itty Bitty Galaxy Home to Gargantuan Supermassive Black Hole – 1/11/11
• Massive black hole found in nearby galaxy – 1/11/11

Healthy habits can Carry Disease

Not always exercise habits and eating organic food is guaranteed to get a healthy life. Did you know that the habit can actually make you sick?

According to Drs. Erika Schwartz, Medical Director of Cinergy Health there are six common habits that some people healthy but actually are not.Even habits that will make you sick. Here are six habits of those who quoted from the Huffington Post:

1. Sports

or aerobic exercise should not be excessive, enough to do when the holidays if you want to really exercise. Excessive exercise will only make you tired and easily hurt.

Body and mind really does not require 30-45 minutes for 3-4 days a week to make a healthful activity. But if you want workout every day, you should simply walk or yoga. Sports swimming, tennis, golf and team sports can be done once a month.

2. Avoiding sunlight

Prevent exposure to sunlight is likely to prevent the entry of vitamin D into the body. Though vitamin D is essential for the body and can boost the immune system.

To avoid the sun's ultraviolet rays can damage the skin, you should use a sunscreen (sun block) before the activity outdoors. However, the use of moisturizing lotions should also be not too much because it would block sunlight to the skin.

3. Always use a special antibacterial soap or gel

Antibacterial products are able to prevent someone from germs, bacteria or viruses. But use that too often will weaken the body's antibodies. Antibacterial agents will not only kill the bad bacteria but also good bacteria that are actually useful to balance the flora of bacteria in the body. Use these products properly and stop being someone who wants to stay clean at all times.

4. Excess or lack of sleep

the average person takes about 8 hours per day to sleep. If you are lacking or too many hours of sleep than they should, your body will not be able to think, process and functioning optimally. Even a few hours of sleep study says that less or more is not good for the skin, causing dizziness, depression and appetite increases.

5. Being in the room air conditioner

While both AC to prevent someone from symptoms of dizziness or fainting due to heat, but should not be too much for air conditioning. Content of cold air contained in the AC may contain many bacteria and other dirt particles.

Every hour you should turn off air conditioning, open windows, the way out of the room and breathe fresh air. Do not forget to clean the air filter with warm water and soap every month. If you are in a full-conditioned office space, bring a jacket to maintain body temperature if the air is too cold, get out of the office at least for lunch or afternoon snack.

6. Consume organic food

Not all foods labeled organic was organic really, because many are still using pesticides. Not only must spend more money, but you also risk being fooled by the label. Organic food does not need to be called as a healthy food. With proper handling and processing, the risk of food contaminated with foreign substances can be overcome.

A Reaper for a Saturday

A couple weeks ago, I ran into Vinny at a Duane Reade on 86th Street in Brooklyn.

He had several tattoos and shared this one, on his left forearm:

Thanks to Vinny for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Protest hit Libya

Unprecedented demonstrations sweeping the Middle East and North Africa spread Wednesday to Libya, where police clashed with anti-government protesters in the coastal city of Benghazi, an independent source told CNN.

Several people were arrested after police confronted the protesters, the source added.
Anti-government sentiment has also manifested itself on the streets of Algeria, Jordan, Syria and Yemen.
In Yemen, Sanaa University students protested Wednesday, calling for an improved curriculum, but the demonstration rapidly morphed into an anti-government stand.
Participants said government supporters outside the university gates hurled rocks, but the situation stayed under control. Activist Abdul Rahman Barman said three anti-government protesters were injured when government supporters attacked them after the demonstration. In nearby Bahrain, thousands of people marched in a peaceful funeral procession for Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was killed when clashes erupted during the funeral for another protester.
Iranian authorities said Jaleh belonged to the pro-government Basij militia and was shot to death by the outlawed People's Mujahedeen of Iran.
International journalists are barred from covering Iran's unrest, but a protester told CNN that police fired tear gas and beat people with batons.
Tunisia lifted its midnight-until-4 a.m. curfew, though a state of emergency remains intact, the state-run Tunis Afrique Presse said.
Weeks of demonstrations forced the ouster of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.
source : CNN

Arsenal beat Barca only in five minutes

Arsenal struck twice in five minutes late on as they staged a stirring comeback to beat Champions League favourites Barcelona on a night to savour at the Emirates.

Robin van Persie equalised 12 minutes from time with a shot that somehow eluded Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes at his near post before substitute Andrey Arshavin sent Arsenal's fans into ecstasy with a crisp finish that gives them a slender lead to take to Spain.
Barcelona, ironically, looked in control as the game entered its final phase, but once Van Persie levelled the mood inside the Emirates helped sweep Arsenal to victory.
Meanwhile Arsenal's resilience and dogged determination as Barcelona dominated possession for lengthy spells met with Wenger's approval.
Messi, inevitably, was the creator with a pass that cut Arsenal open, leaving the lethal Villa to stride forward and score with typical expertise.
As Wenger's side struggled to recover Szczesny did well to block Pedro at his near post before the Gunners broke the Barcelona stranglehold and Van Persie should have done better than to fire wildly off target when well placed.
Arsenal stuck to their task, despite Barcelona enjoying prolonged periods of possession, and they drew level with 12 minutes left. Arshavin showed the other side of his game when a moment of defensive vulnerability almost let in Dani Alves in stoppage time - but Arsenal survived to keep their Champions League hopes alive. 

source : bbc sports

Ashley's Ink: On Her Own Two Feet

I met Ashley in the New Jersey Transit section of Penn Station last week after I spotted this tattoo on her right foot:

Now, if you've not read the Harry Potter series, perhaps it is best to skip the rest of the post, because it might not make a lot of sense.

Those in the know will understand what I mean when I explain that the ghostly creature on the top of Ashley's foot is the patronus of Severus Snape, as described in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment of the seven-part series by J.K. Rowling. The patronus takes the shape of a doe.

The quote above the doe is "It's real for us..." as remembered by Snape when speaking with Lily Evans, the girl at Hogwarts who became Harry's mother. Identical creatures appear when they cast the patronus charm.

Ashley's friend drew it up and she had the piece done at Tattoo Nation in Wayne, New Jersey by Matt "Monty" Montleon.

This is one of two tattoos that Ashley has. The other resides on her left foot:

The snowflake was also inked by Monty and is a memorial to Ashley's grandmother, whose last name was Snow.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

US Special Agent Shot in the Line of Duty

Two US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been shot in Mexico, US officials have said.

The pair, described as "special agents" were attacked while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey. No details were provided on their condition or the precise location of the attack.

The investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office, said the area lacked enough border agents to stop illicit activity such as gun running and illegal immigration. 

'Line of duty'
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency described the two victims as "special agents" based in the US capital, AFP reports. The agency said they were "shot in the line of duty".
The agency said it was working with the state department, US law enforcement and Mexican authorities to investigate the shooting.
Though there are high levels of violence among members of competing drug cartels within Mexico, US officials are rarely targeted.
However, in March 2010 a US consulate employee, her husband and a Mexican linked to the American consulate were killed by drug gang members in Ciudad Juarez.
The US government said it spent $3bn last year on controlling its southern border.
Security at the US-Mexico border has long been a hot political issue, with many in the Southern United States calling for more to be done to stop drug smugglers and human traffickers from entering the US.

World Bank said :"Food Price at Dangerous Level"

The World Bank says food prices are at "dangerous levels" and have pushed 44 million more people into poverty since last June.

According to the latest edition of its Food Price Watch, prices rose by 15% in the four months between October 2010 and January this year. Food price inflation is felt disproportionately by the poor, who spend over half their income on food.

The Bank called on this week's G20 meeting to address the problem.
The World Bank's president, Robert Zoellick, said in a statement: "Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world."

He also said that rising food prices were an aggravating factor of the unrest in the Middle East, although not its primary cause.
Rapid food price inflation in 2008 sparked riots in a number of countries. At that time, the World Bank estimated 125 million people were in extreme poverty. 

The World Bank says prices are not quite back at those levels - just 3% below - although they are 27% higher than a year ago.
A separate report earlier this month from the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said that world food prices had hit a record high in January. 

Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 group of developed and developing nations are meeting later this week in Paris. 

source : bbc.co.uk

Tottenham win the war on San Siro Stadium

Tottenham Hotspur FC will entertain AC Milan in a fortnight's time with the cushion of an aggregate lead after Peter Crouch's goal earned Harry Redknapp's side a first-leg win at San Siro.

The second half had been largely memorable for the acrobatics of Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who twice denied Mario Yepes. But with the match seemingly destined for a goalless draw, Aaron Lennon raced from his own half, leaving Yepes in his wake, and into the Milan box where he teed up Crouch to sweep the ball in.

Christian Abbiati was called into action four times in the opening 15 minutes, holding on to shots from Crouch and Rafael van der Vaart and twice beating the lanky striker to the punch after Lennon broke down the right.

Milan, deploying Thiago Silva in central midfield due to injuries, created little in the first half other than Zlatan Ibrahimović's low cross which was destined for Robinho, but anticipated by Gomes, and a wayward free-kick from the subdued Sweden striker on the half-hour. The hosts were grateful to be on terms at half-time after Amelia tipped Van der Vaart's shot over, three minutes before the interval.

The hosts came even closer to breaking the deadlock, Gomes displaying extraordinary athleticism to claw Yepes's goalbound header over the bar on 48 minutes. Milan continued to press forward, Pato combining well with Flamini, whose shot was blocked by Wilson Palacios.
Source : uefa.com

Melanie's Marilyn

A trip to the laundromat on Saturday yielded a meeting with a young lady who had a couple visible tattoos on one of her feet and an ankle. Fortunately, my curiosity got the better of me because, when I asked her about them, she revealed much better work, namely this phenomenal Marilyn Monroe portrait on her inner right forearm:

This stunning work was created by the incomparable Virginia Elwood at New York Adorned. I have been fortunate to encounter Ms. Elwood's work previously here and here.

Melanie is a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe and she is proud to wear this icon on her sleeve. Clicking on the tag for Marilyn Monrow below will reveal other Marilyn tattoos that have appeared previously on Tattoosday.

Thanks to Melanie for sharing this phenomenal portrait with us here on Tattoosday!

Tottenham turn attentions to other Milan giant

After getting the better of FC Internazionale Milano in the group stage, free-scoring Tottenham Hotspur FC return to San Siro to take on AC Milan in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Harry Redknapp's side got the better of Milan's city rivals, FC Internazionale Milano, in the group stage. Previous meetings.

Tottenham prevailed in the clubs' one previous two-legged encounter in the 1971/72 UEFA Cup semi-final. Keeping goal for Milan was Fabio Cudicini, father of Tottenham's reserve custodian Carlo.

Since overcoming Liverpool FC in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final, Milan have failed to win in five meetings with English teams. After a 2-0 aggregate loss to Arsenal in 2007/08, they drew at Portsmouth FC in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage before a 7-2 aggregate defeat by United 12 months ago.

Besides facing Milan and Inter, Spurs' only other encounter with Serie A opposition was a 2-0 loss at Udinese Calcio in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.
William Gallas captained the Arsenal side that beat Milan in 2007/08.

Heurelho Gomes was in the PSV Eindhoven team defeated on away goals by Milan in the 2004/05 semi-finals.

Tottenham's January signing Steven Pienaar was in the AFC Ajax team that lost 3-2 on aggregate to Milan in the 2002/03 quarter-finals, scoring in the 3-2 second-leg defeat at San Siro. He also played in Ajax's 1-0 group-stage defeat in Milan the following season.

source : uefa official site

Pop Ladies Rule at Grammy Awards

Lady Gaga, who was carried down the Los Angeles event's red carpet in a giant egg, won three awards including best pop vocal album for The Fame Monster. Rapper Jay-Z and soul star John Legend also picked up three awards apiece. British breakthrough artists Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons also lost out in that category. But UK artists fared better elsewhere.

Sir Paul McCartney won best solo rock vocal performance for his live album Good Evening New York City, while a Beatles box set won best historical album. Other British winners included synth-pop duo La Roux, who won best electronic/dance album, Iron Maiden, for best metal performance, and Sade, for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals.
Stadium rock band Muse picked up best rock album for The Resistance. The trio, who performed at the ceremony, saw off competition from veterans Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and Jeff Beck.
In other categories, Rihanna's Only Girl in the World was named best dance recording and US rock duo The Black Keys picked up best alternative album for their sixth release, Brothers, beating Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire.
The ceremony at the Staples Center featured a string of flamboyant, star-studded performances and collaborations. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow joined a feather-clad Cee Lo Green Jim Henson's puppets to give a colourful performance of the hit single Forget You. And Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger earned a standing ovation for his debut Grammy performance, delivering a rendition of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love in tribute to Solomon Burke, who died last year.
source : BBC News

Tattoosday's Bonafide Bags Giveaway!

Last month I enviously watched as the good folks over at TattooSnob had a contest in which they gave away some really cool items from Bonafide Bags. I reached out to the good people at Bonafide and asked if they'd like to do something with our readers, and they were very receptive to the idea.

So check these out:

Bonafide's Japanese Koi (left) and Traditional (right) Designs

Bonafide's American Pride (left) and Day of the Dead (right) Designs

They're very sturdy and look really cool - perfect for a trip to the supermarket or the beach. They're made from recycled plastic and my lovely bride is already rocking her Japanese Koi bag. There are two sizes of each design. Check out Bonafide's website here for more product specifics, including close-up views, as well.

How do you win a set? Leave a comment on the post below and winners will be randomly selected and receive a matching set of these Bonafide Bags. That's one large all purpose bag and its matching lunch/gift bag counterpart, or a $15.00 value. I have three sets of each of the four designs, so that's twelve winners in all.

Now, let's see if we can outdo the readers at TattooSnob. They garnered 63 comments/entries in their giveaway, so our goal is 70 reader comments by Saturday, February 19, at 11:59 PM, EST. Tell us which one is your favorite design, or any other related comment, and you'll be eligible to win!

Note: I have a filter on comments so if you don't see it right away, it's because I need to approve each submission to make sure it's not spam.

Sexy Idea Tattoo

Sexy Idea Tattoo

Jenise's Tattoo is Decorative and Practical

Normally I would have prefaced this as a "Tattoos I Know" post, since the contributor, Jenise, has been a friend of mine since 1984. However, since we haven't actually seen each other in person in over twenty-five years, I've never actually met her tattooed self in the flesh.

Nonetheless, Jenise has been a fan and supporter of Tattoosday since its inception and has, from early on, told me that "one of these days" she'd send me shots of the tattoo circling her right wrist. Imagine my surprise when, out of the blue, the pictures finally arrived this week. So here it is:

Jenise credits Clay at Willie's Tropical Tattoo in Daytona Beach, who inked these in February 2008. The piece was "designed to reflect [her] Hawaiian bracelet and it took [the artist] 2 hours to get it just the way he wanted it before he put the stencil on...".  As for the words "Peanut" and "Shellfish," the tattoo also acts as a quasi medic alert bracelet, indicating two foods which make her seriously ill. So there's a practical aspect to the piece, as well.

On a humorous note, she added "NO... these are NOT the nicknames of my children, I have been asked that more times than I can count".

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

Miguel's Vision Reveals What Lies Within

A few weeks back, I popped in at my wife's workplace, and she introduced me to Miguel, the husband of one of her colleagues. In warmer weather, she had seen that Miguel had a tattoo, and she thought I would be interested in talking to him about it. Unfortunately, at the moment, it was in the high 20's outside and Miguel had on layers of clothing, which covered the artwork on his upper right arm. I did, however, ask him to send me a photo when he got the chance.

Miguel was good to his word and e-mailed me the following photo:

Miguel told me that, one night, a couple of years ago, during a difficult time in his life, he had a dream about the tattoo and, when he awoke, he drew up the image he had seen in his mind. The vision, to him, "represents the evil that people have inside". He took the idea to Sunset Tattoo in Brooklyn, and one of the artists  created the piece.

Thanks to Miguel for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Jenny's Skeleton Key

January was a bleak month here in New York City. The second snowiest month ever did not bode well for inkspotting, but on the last day of the month, I met Jenny, a graphic designer, at my local bookstore.

Jenny had two tattoos visible, but has nine others as well. She offered up this cool skeleton key tattoo on her inner left forearm:

She told me that the tattoo's orientation on her arm is, if you'll pardon the pun, key. It points toward her heart and represents the fact that she makes her own decisions in her life, or in her own words, "I open my own doors".

She had this done by Mumia at Omega Tattoos in Queens. She added that all her tattoos are in black and gray, saying it is a matter of personal preference and that colors don't translate well on her skin.

Check out Jenny's website here to see some of her design work. I especially like this example of her design for a tattoo shop.

Thanks to Jenny for sharing this special key with us here on Tattoosday!

Posts about sirtuins

♦ Sirtuin proteins (11/16/07)

♦ The discovery of sirtuins, part 1 (11/17/07)

♦ The discovery of sirtuins, part 2 (11/20/07)

♦ Sirtuin news (1/21/08)

♦ SIRT1 and cancer (10/26/08)

♦ Testing the Fountain of Youth in the lab (2/7/11)

READING AWAY

in the  PHILIPPINES
February 3-21, 2011

(All pictures taken from Google images search)

Books I am planning to read:





Be Back Soon!!!!

136. the LITTLE PRINCE

Antoine de Saint-Exupery 1943
with illustrations by the author
translated from French by Richard Howard

There will always be room on my list for a simple book such as this, a gentle reminder to all of us about what truly is important. When a pilot is forced to land his plane on a desert, he meets an extraordinary Little Prince who teaches him the secret to cherishing life.  The same message keeps getting told in so many ways, I know, but are we actually getting the message? 

'Once when I was six I saw a magnificent picture in a book about the jungle, called True Stories. It showed a boa constrictor swallowing a wild beast.'(opening lines)

'Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.'(2)

'Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: "What does her voice sound like?" "What games does he like best?" "Does he collect butterflies?" They ask: "How old is he? "How many brothers does he have?"..."How much money does his father make?" Only then do they think they know him.'(10)

'Authority is based first of all upon reason.'(31)

'This is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you are truly a wise man.'(32)

'Trying to be witty leads to lying, more or less.'(48)

'But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass. Since she's the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three for butterflies). Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she's boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.'(63)

'One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.'(63)

'What moves me so deeply about this sleeping little  prince is his loyalty to a flower -- the image of a rose shining within like the flame within a lamp, even when he's asleep...'(69)

'... if you should travel to Africa someday, in the desert. And if you happen to pass by here, I beg you not to hurry past. Wait a little, just under the star!'(85)

A Harvest Book edition
85 pages
Book owned
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge


Thanks to Suko @ Suko's Notebook for her sidebar picture of the book, the reminder that I finally had to read it. 

A Quartet of Tattoos from Greg

I met Greg outside of Madison Square Garden last fall, and he happily shared several of his tattoos, inspired by magic and mythology. On his upper left arm is this wizard:

On his upper right arm, he shared this dragon:

Below that, on his forearm, is this fiery skull:

And, in a tribute to his Irish heritage, is this coat of arms, with the Irish colors:

Greg credited Eddie and Ray, at Lucky Hearts Tattoo in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the artists responsible for his work.

Thanks to Greg for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Rilke On the Flesh

It's February 1, which means we are only two months away from the start of a new edition of The Tattooed Poets Project, and I have begun assembling the first posts for this annual extravaganza.

What better way to acknowledge this looming event, but to post a poetic tattoo?

The following piece is one that I spotted at the end of last summer on Penn Plaza. Belonging to a young lady named Rosa, it has been one of my few remaining 2010 leftovers:

What I noticed first was not that this was a line of verse, but that it was placed on the body in an unusual way. Most lines of poetry, when manifested on flesh, are on the arms and wrist, or the lower legs and occasionally a back. This tattoo runs from the front of to her back, vertically climbing and descending from her shoulder.

The line is in German, and represents a piece from Rainier Maria Rilke's Duino Elegies.

Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich

Or, in context:

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels’
Hierarchies? and even if one of them pressed me
suddenly against his heart: I would be consumed
in that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains
to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.

 Those are the opening lines of the first elegy, translated by Stephen Mitchell.

Rosa didn't give me much insight as to why she had the line tattooed, but it is quite a powerful statement.

When I asked her who the artists was, she replied only that it was someone in Brooklyn that went under the name "The Milk Maid". This sounded familiar at the time, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Of course, I came to be reminded that The Milk Maid is the moniker of Joy Rumore, at Twelve 28 Tattoo, quite a wonderful artist, whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Rosa for sharing this lovely line of verse with us here on Tattoosday!