So the last week has been good. Started filling in this tattoo that walked in... she came in with just the outline and needed color. She also has this birthmark underneath that we're covering as well. More to come on this.
Done at the Portside shop, he found this lettering online so we went with it. He sat great for this tattoo, didn't even flinch.
Did this heart at the NJ location this week. She came in with more family members to remember their father who has passed.
This was done this week in NJ as well. She wanted to remember her friend who passed away as well, but we put a spin on it and did cherry blossoms and birds with it. She sat good for it, we worked on her for a while too! Hope to see her back for more!
Had alot of fun with this one, I got to do a cherry blossom branch again and got more experience with the lower back area. It's not the easiest but practice makes perfect!
Did this one yesterday at the NJ location... she just walked in and wanted lettering to match the placement on her other foot. I liked this placement alot and she let me draw up the lettering how I like to.
This one above is a coverup in progress. I've recently done a hibiscus coverup on her arm, this entire piece connects. One more session then we're done!
Diamond done yesterday in NJ as well. This was his first one too! Had some fun playing around with the greys so I hope to see this back healed. Still need more work on my greywash but I'm getting there.....
More to come!
Monday, April 30, 2012
The Tattooed Poets Project: Puma Perl
Our final installment of the fourth annual Tattooed Poets Project is from a repeat contributor, Puma Perl. Puma graced us last year with this contribution.
Puma wanted to share her newest tattoo with us, and I couldn't possibly turn her down after I saw it:
Puma explains:
Puma sent us a Coney Island-themed poem, to boot:
CONEY ISLAND FEBRUARY
He leaves,
the sounds
of a concrete
boardwalk
trailing behind him
and I dream
of bass players
and Coney Island,
broken benches
and Coney Island
and I dream
of warm peaches
and Coney Island
burlesque babes
and Coney Island
I dream
I dream of
Coney Island
and I wake,
hands filled
with pussy,
unsatisfying,
but I go on
because
progress
must continue.
Puma Perl is a NYC-based writer, performance artist, and curator. Her poetry and fiction have been published in over 100 print and online journals and anthologies.
She is the author of the award-winning chapbook, Belinda and Her Friends, and a full length collection, knuckle tattoos.
She lives and writes on the Lower East Side and has facilitated writing workshops in community based agencies and at Riker’s Island, a NYC prison. She is a founding member of DDAY Productions, which presents poetry and performance events. Link to her blog for info about book purchases and events: http://pumaperl.blogspot.com/.
Puma wanted to share her newest tattoo with us, and I couldn't possibly turn her down after I saw it:
Puma explains:
"This tattoo was just finished ... on Saturday 2/18/12. It is a companion piece to the mermaid with the Wonder Wheel on my back, which I sent you last year. I guess the Coney Island Theme will continue as Coney Island is torn down, or 'redeveloped.' Both pieces were done by Emma Griffiths, who now works out of Tattoo Culture."As I live in south Brooklyn, near Coney Island in Bay Ridge, I can't help but be partial to Coney Island-themed tattoos.
Puma sent us a Coney Island-themed poem, to boot:
CONEY ISLAND FEBRUARY
He leaves,
the sounds
of a concrete
boardwalk
trailing behind him
and I dream
of bass players
and Coney Island,
broken benches
and Coney Island
and I dream
of warm peaches
and Coney Island
burlesque babes
and Coney Island
I dream
I dream of
Coney Island
and I wake,
hands filled
with pussy,
unsatisfying,
but I go on
because
progress
must continue.
~ ~ ~
Puma Perl is a NYC-based writer, performance artist, and curator. Her poetry and fiction have been published in over 100 print and online journals and anthologies.
She is the author of the award-winning chapbook, Belinda and Her Friends, and a full length collection, knuckle tattoos.
She lives and writes on the Lower East Side and has facilitated writing workshops in community based agencies and at Riker’s Island, a NYC prison. She is a founding member of DDAY Productions, which presents poetry and performance events. Link to her blog for info about book purchases and events: http://pumaperl.blogspot.com/.
Thanks to Puma Perl for her contribution and for rounding out this year's Tattooed Poets Project!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
The Tattooed Poets Project: Shana Wolstein
Our penultimate tattooed poet is Shana Wolstein, who sent us this photo:
Shana explains:
My Journey of Over 6,000 Steps
The best way to cure a cold
is to climb up the tallest mountain
you can find. Spot as many lucky
birds, rest on every turn, and when
a man offers to carry you—refuse.
When you think you can't go any further,
you will. Like the bird pacing
the ground and shuffling dirt
with his beak, you need patience.
When you close a lock, throw the key
down the mountainside, it can only make
the bond stronger. Forget about food,
or what you thought it was, question
the safety of bottled water, watch old
women climb faster than you, watch
the clouds erase your time, the sun
write it on the walls, the dry stones bleach.
Shana Wolstein has her MFA from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where she was the 2011 recipient of the Herb Scott Award for Excellence in Poetry. She has been published by Third Coast Magazine, Anomalous Press, Hinchas de Poesia, OVS Magazine, and more. Still in Kalamazoo, she works as Coordinator for the Prague Summer Program and Managing Editor of the academic journal Reading Horizons.
Thanks to Shana for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Shana explains:
The word 'always,' was the first tattoo I got. It's on my left-wrist, facing me. The song 'Always,' by Irving Berlin, was what my mother used to sing to us when we were sad as children. My sister got a similar tattoo and when my dad asked what my mother would have said, we both had to sheepishly grin because the answer was always 'Wait until I'm dead.'
I got it while I was studying abroad in China and visiting Hong Kong, a few months after she passed away. I wrote [the following] poem after visiting Tai Shan or Mount Tai, one of the 'Five Sacred Mountains' in China. According to Wikipedia 'it is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal.' "
My Journey of Over 6,000 Steps
The best way to cure a cold
is to climb up the tallest mountain
you can find. Spot as many lucky
birds, rest on every turn, and when
a man offers to carry you—refuse.
When you think you can't go any further,
you will. Like the bird pacing
the ground and shuffling dirt
with his beak, you need patience.
When you close a lock, throw the key
down the mountainside, it can only make
the bond stronger. Forget about food,
or what you thought it was, question
the safety of bottled water, watch old
women climb faster than you, watch
the clouds erase your time, the sun
write it on the walls, the dry stones bleach.
~ ~ ~
Shana Wolstein has her MFA from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where she was the 2011 recipient of the Herb Scott Award for Excellence in Poetry. She has been published by Third Coast Magazine, Anomalous Press, Hinchas de Poesia, OVS Magazine, and more. Still in Kalamazoo, she works as Coordinator for the Prague Summer Program and Managing Editor of the academic journal Reading Horizons.
Thanks to Shana for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Tattooed Poets Project : Joolz Denby
Our second tattooed poet today, Joolz Denby, hails from Great Britain. Not only is she a tattooed poet, she is a tattoo artist, as well, tattooing out of her shop, Studio Bijoux, in Bradford, UK.
Joolz sent us this photo of one of her tattoos:
Joolz explains:
You can also read and hear more of her work on her website here.
We're honored to have Joolz contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project. As one can tell from her wikipedia entry, she's an accomplished figure in England both in poetry and tattoos.
Thanks to Joolz for participating!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Joolz sent us this photo of one of her tattoos:
Joolz explains:
"This tattoo is from the Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle and it is a facsimile of my handwriting. It was done by one of my tattoo masters, Adam Dutton at Lifetime Tattoo in Derby UK where I did my apprenticeship. I had it done in memory of my father, Captain Ron Mumford of the Highland Light Infantry and the Territorial SAS. I loved and still love him very much indeed. He was a soldier, a scholar and a gentleman."Here's Joolz performing a poem:
You can also read and hear more of her work on her website here.
We're honored to have Joolz contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project. As one can tell from her wikipedia entry, she's an accomplished figure in England both in poetry and tattoos.
Thanks to Joolz for participating!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
The Tattooed Poets Project: Ali Jacs
On this, the penultimate day of our fourth annual Tattooed Poets Project, we will be featuring a pair of tattooed spoken word artists.
First up is Ali Jacs, who shared her tattoo in its sketch stage
Ali explains:
First up is Ali Jacs, who shared her tattoo in its sketch stage
and in its final state:
"I got the ... tattoo in January 2010 after a bit of a dark yet very enlightening stage in my life ... The tattoo artist Elton Buchanan is trained in the Maori style of the Te Arawa tribe in New Zealand. There is fair bit of symbolism in this - frangipani flower petals symbolize personal awakening, of which I did a fair amount in 2009! There are fish scales which symbolize the 'taniwha', or mythical Maori protector who dwells in the ocean, there is weaving to symbolize strength in family and friends and there are two Manaia - guardian spirits of the earth, sea and sky. Blending in some contemporary culture, there is a treble and bass clef to highlight my connection with music.
Which ties in quite well with my poem, which I've provided [below] ... most of my poetry these days is focused on performance poetry and this particular piece focuses on the music that we hear in every day occurrences and the sounds that bring this world alive."Here is the poem that Ali has shared:
Ali Jacs is a performance poet from Wellington, New Zealand. After getting involved in the spoken word community in the Canadian prairies, Ali returned home to New Zealand in 2010. She won 2nd place in the 2011 Going West Writer’s Festival Poetry Slam in Auckland and in October 2011, won 2nd place in New Zealand’s inaugural National Poetry Slam. Having travelled extensively across Canada and Europe, Ali’s poetry is inspired by people, landscapes and cultures encountered on the road, exploring themes of politics, sexuality, social and environmental justice and the madness of these crazy times. Ali runs the monthly performance poetry series Poetry in Motion in Wellington, New Zealand and has recently finished her first chapbook Romantic Pragmatism. You can also check her out on her new website www.alijacs.com.
Thanks very much to Ali Jacs for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The tattoo is reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Tattooed Poets Project: Danielle Shutt
Our next tattooed poet is Danielle Shutt., who sent us two photos.
First is a shot from right after she got inked in June 2007:
And then, a close-up of the tattoo:
Danielle explains:
Sometimes I Have to Go Around Will’s Curb
Barbed wire reached to scratch a warning at his window;
or, the slaughter-cows flicked their tails like traffic guards,
and in dusk a roadside tree flashed him old scars
to beg off new bruises.
But really, there's nothing looking dead there. No car parts
or patches of uprooted grass, none of his teeth half-ground
into the pavement. The wooden stretch of new fence
isn't as stark as I'd expected.
I guess he kept all the mess of it with him, smashed under
his face, caulked behind his eyelids; or, it's in the red dirt
and bone dust sent up by the tractor hitched to his lungs,
pulling slow on these back roads.
Thanks to Danielle for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
First is a shot from right after she got inked in June 2007:
And then, a close-up of the tattoo:
Danielle explains:
"My wrist tattoo came out of my own mindless notebook scribblings. It's two intertwined S's, representing my younger siblings' first names. We've been through a lot together. I got the tattoo when I was 23 and living in Richmond, VA. There was a particularly strong surge of family-related peril and tumult back then, and I found myself wanting something that would keep my brother and sister close to me--something less morbid than the black cloth bracelet I'd been wearing. I knew the drawing was exactly 'right,' but it took me a while to commit anyway. I'm the kind of person who needs to be bitten by impulse before I get my body involved in anything. (This includes dancing and doctor appointments.)Danielle shares this poem, as well, which originally appeared in thINK, a letterpress book published by Bowe Street Press at Virginia Commonwealth University:
In this case, a grande margarita and my friend Kristen did the trick. Kristen accompanied me to River City Tattoo, where a nice guy named Reverend Bob tattooed the symbol on my wrist in less than three minutes. I was happy with it. I always will be.
I get asked all the time about what the tattoo means, which is cool because I love talking about my sibs. I still think of the tattoo as a comfort, but more often these days it reminds me of my brother and sister's hard-fought survival, which in turn reminds me to stay strong, too."
Sometimes I Have to Go Around Will’s Curb
Barbed wire reached to scratch a warning at his window;
or, the slaughter-cows flicked their tails like traffic guards,
and in dusk a roadside tree flashed him old scars
to beg off new bruises.
But really, there's nothing looking dead there. No car parts
or patches of uprooted grass, none of his teeth half-ground
into the pavement. The wooden stretch of new fence
isn't as stark as I'd expected.
I guess he kept all the mess of it with him, smashed under
his face, caulked behind his eyelids; or, it's in the red dirt
and bone dust sent up by the tractor hitched to his lungs,
pulling slow on these back roads.
~ ~ ~
Danielle Shutt completed her MFA in Creative Writing at Eastern Washington University in Spokane, WA, where she taught writing courses and served as a poetry editor for Willow Springs. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Hayden's Ferry Review, Redactions: Poetry & Poetics, PANK, Copper Nickel, DIAGRAM, and Hotel Amerika. Thanks to Danielle for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Tattooed Poets Project: Francesco Grisanzio
Every year I meet at least one of the poets featured on the Tattooed Poets Project. Francesco Grisanzio lives in New York and I got the chance to personally photograph his tattoos, which he offered up for us here on Tattoosday:
Francesco explained:
"My tattoos are of the characters from a comic strip I draw, or at least used to draw.
It's been a few years since I made a new strip. The comics haven't been published, but I did receive a great rejection letter from the paper at UMass Amherst when I was a student there.
They said something along the lines of 'We love the art, but you know that this content is unpublishable. Clean it up and we'll talk.'
The tattoos were done in Woonsocket, RI at American Art Tattoo."Francesco offered up this poem:
Teenage Heaven
After Eddie Cochran
freedom, Eddie, is what it boils down to.
Sharp crew cut cardigan,
our dearest son,
patriot, toe tap child rebel against homework,
enjoy the benefits of citizenship.
You’ve earned it.
Here’s three dollars.
Have a swell weekend.
We trust you not to make a mess.
But it’s not just youthful ignorance
or innocence where you choose to do what’s right on your own.
We’ve been to the drive in show,
seen peacock letterman, gorilla arm not content on headrest.
How dare you chuckle. She’s just a child.
My God, Eddie, there’s nothing “little snack” about six hotdogs.
That’s beyond ingestion. Where will they all go?
What are your intentions with our daughter?
We know she’s beautiful, but show restraint.
Little lady, you’re young. This is heaven.
You can run. This is America.
Please. He’s an animal. A beast.
And, Eddie, we’re very disappointed in you.
~ ~ ~
Francesco Grisanzio is currently working on his MFA in poetry at The New School. He earned his BA in English from UMass Amherst. His work has appeared or will be appearing in Word Riot, Fawlt, Why I Am Not a Painter, Strange Machine, and Interrobang!? Magazine.
Thanks to Francesco for his contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Thanks to Francesco for his contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
The Tattooed Poets Project: Julie Kantor
As we wind up the Tattooed Poets Project on this, the home stretch of April, we are double-posting to accommodate the record number of submissions we received this year.
Our second tattooed poet of the day is Julie Kantor.
Julie sent us these photos:
Julie explains:
Here is one of Julie's poems:
From the series: Land
12)
Waters flush north under concrete & steel, rods down
planted, now dry cracks through road we drive over, see
red lines run lengthen out from sky blue & darkening,
say “let's trace this back to where the sun doesn't even
want us w/it,” beam bridge can't take us across all the way
w/out drop before we stand safely or span the land’s
end to its own mirrored opposite. Those could be our feet
on the ground, but we ride this straight across the dividing
line where trains’ tracks alongside plains lead away from
& hear the river call us down, would one body’s dead
weight be enough to pull us into, first think we tie our-
selves w/knots we won't learn the names of, but tangle is
thick w/width, & water's feel enough for loss of, & if we can’t
sustain w/just us then we shouldn’t have to begin with.
Julie Kantor just completed her first manuscript, the currently unpublished, The Beautiful West. She is a M.F.A. candidate in poetry at Columbia University where she teaches in the Undergraduate Writing Program. She is also a musician and plays in the new band, Cycles. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Thanks to Julie for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Our second tattooed poet of the day is Julie Kantor.
Julie sent us these photos:
Julie explains:
"It was a very early morning in Portland, OR. I picked up my best friend, Jess, to get breakfast. On the way to the cafe, we saw two guys, each had a shopping cart packed to the brim. They were laughing with each other, smiling these huge smiles. Jess turned to me and said, 'If we were bums, we would still be best friends. Bum friends.' I suggested, strongly, that we get matching shopping cart tattoos. After breakfast we found this small tattoo shop with no name off Glisan that just opened. Inside, we made a deal with the shop's very green apprentice to do both tattoos for $40. The 'bf' in the tattoos stands for bum friends."
Here is one of Julie's poems:
From the series: Land
12)
Waters flush north under concrete & steel, rods down
planted, now dry cracks through road we drive over, see
red lines run lengthen out from sky blue & darkening,
say “let's trace this back to where the sun doesn't even
want us w/it,” beam bridge can't take us across all the way
w/out drop before we stand safely or span the land’s
end to its own mirrored opposite. Those could be our feet
on the ground, but we ride this straight across the dividing
line where trains’ tracks alongside plains lead away from
& hear the river call us down, would one body’s dead
weight be enough to pull us into, first think we tie our-
selves w/knots we won't learn the names of, but tangle is
thick w/width, & water's feel enough for loss of, & if we can’t
sustain w/just us then we shouldn’t have to begin with.
~ ~ ~
Thanks to Julie for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
The Tattooed Poets Project - Heather Truett
Up next on the Tattooed Poets Project is Heather Truett, who sent us this photo:
along with a shot of the tattooist at work:
These may appear as three seemingly simple Hebrew letters, but there is more to this piece than just a Hebrew word, as Heather elaborates:
My Brother is the Poem
My brother is the poem that exists,
still busily writing itself
in the hills of my hometown.
He leaves for work, welding
in leather and heat and without
a single complaint, because, hell!
He needs the job.
He strings out verse and stanza,
tripping over the meter
on seventy acres of God's creation.
Don't let them mine you too,
Big Brother.
It's with rhythm and flow that
he pays the bills and loves the wife and
suffers the pain of parenthood that stabs
with its cliche sword, double-edged.
Who knew? Who predicted
snowflakes and razorblades?
My brother, cigarette lit and smoke circling,
is the poetry falling
to earth, right there,
in Eastern Kentucky, while I
only call myself a poet, writing
in the air conditioned suburb, pretending
I got out, when I never did,
not really, anyhow.
Years pass and miles unroll like
so much butcher paper
down the holler, but my body still grows roots
back home, there, in Nat's Creek,
Daniel's Creek, Homer's trailer,
white house with black shutters,
minnow fishing, snake killing,
coal mining with the black lung,
family and the most Primitive of
Baptist churches, where
my soul gets fed, and only then
can the poem
grow branches.
Heather Truett describes herself as “Hill-born, a coal miner's granddaughter, a brilliant spark of brain with a wee bit of crazy thrown in for good measure, a writer, a poet, a wife in the bizarre world of the church, wearer of silver tiaras and painter of purple toenails, I am me. I have published poetry, essays and articles in the past. My credits include: The Mom Egg, The Paintsville Herald, Jackson Free Press, Slugfest Ltd, Abundance Press, The Invitation Tupelo, Busy Parents Online, Mommy Tales, Just For Mom and other publications (more info available on my website, www.madamerubies.com). I am currently a homeschooling Mom to a special needs child and the wife of a youth minister in Tupelo, Mississippi. I have taught poetry workshops in schools and for the homeschool co-op we participate in each semester.” You can also check out her website, madamerubieswrites.blogspot.com.
Thanks to Heather for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
along with a shot of the tattooist at work:
These may appear as three seemingly simple Hebrew letters, but there is more to this piece than just a Hebrew word, as Heather elaborates:
“The tattoo was a 27th birthday gift from a girlfriend I have known since I was 6 and she was 3. We went together. She got a Latin phrase in a beautiful script and I chose this. I had been planning a tattoo to somehow commemorate a friend who died and my own battle with depression. The verse in scripture that speaks most to me is Isaiah 61:3, which includes the phrase ‘beauty for ashes.’ The girl I wanted to commemorate, Natalie, also loved the verse. On a whim, I looked the verse up in Hebrew. I always love following a verse back to its origin and trying to understand what the words actually meant to the writer, rather than placing all trust in modern translation. When I realized the Hebrew word used to mean beauty in that verse actually means, ‘a crown of beauty,’ as in, a young girl being crowned queen and given honor and status in society, I knew I had my tattoo.
You see, every year, on the anniversary of the day Natalie died, her friends around the world don tiaras and wear them wherever they go. We paint our toenails purple, as she loved to do, and we drink a Diet Coke in her honor. There are other rituals, but these are the big three. To find the word ‘crown’ hidden there in my verse left me in tears, good tears, the kind of crying you do when someone at last understands exactly who you are and what you mean to them. I printed and double-checked the Hebrew lettering and took it with me to Devine Street Tattoo on a visit to Columbia, SC. It's not fancy, just three letters. But those three letters say so much to me every time I look at them. I placed the word on the inside of my left ankle, so when I look down or cross my legs, I see the tattoo. I don't mind showing it to other people, and I love telling how I chose it and why I got it, but it is, ultimately, for me and me alone, so I wanted it in a place easy for me to see."By way of a poem, Heather submitted this:
My Brother is the Poem
My brother is the poem that exists,
still busily writing itself
in the hills of my hometown.
He leaves for work, welding
in leather and heat and without
a single complaint, because, hell!
He needs the job.
He strings out verse and stanza,
tripping over the meter
on seventy acres of God's creation.
Don't let them mine you too,
Big Brother.
It's with rhythm and flow that
he pays the bills and loves the wife and
suffers the pain of parenthood that stabs
with its cliche sword, double-edged.
Who knew? Who predicted
snowflakes and razorblades?
My brother, cigarette lit and smoke circling,
is the poetry falling
to earth, right there,
in Eastern Kentucky, while I
only call myself a poet, writing
in the air conditioned suburb, pretending
I got out, when I never did,
not really, anyhow.
Years pass and miles unroll like
so much butcher paper
down the holler, but my body still grows roots
back home, there, in Nat's Creek,
Daniel's Creek, Homer's trailer,
white house with black shutters,
minnow fishing, snake killing,
coal mining with the black lung,
family and the most Primitive of
Baptist churches, where
my soul gets fed, and only then
can the poem
grow branches.
~ ~ ~
Heather Truett describes herself as “Hill-born, a coal miner's granddaughter, a brilliant spark of brain with a wee bit of crazy thrown in for good measure, a writer, a poet, a wife in the bizarre world of the church, wearer of silver tiaras and painter of purple toenails, I am me. I have published poetry, essays and articles in the past. My credits include: The Mom Egg, The Paintsville Herald, Jackson Free Press, Slugfest Ltd, Abundance Press, The Invitation Tupelo, Busy Parents Online, Mommy Tales, Just For Mom and other publications (more info available on my website, www.madamerubies.com). I am currently a homeschooling Mom to a special needs child and the wife of a youth minister in Tupelo, Mississippi. I have taught poetry workshops in schools and for the homeschool co-op we participate in each semester.” You can also check out her website, madamerubieswrites.blogspot.com.
Thanks to Heather for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Tattooed Poets Project: Will Roby
Today's tattooed poet is Will Roby.
It is also the birth date of the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
You might think these two items are unrelated, but you'd be wrong.
Here is the tattoo Will selected for us:
Will elaborates:
Stupefactive
Half a glass full, optimistic warbling grackles; they pester me.
To the dogs with them! It's abrasive, this new sweater, get it off me.
So restrictive, I'm in shackles, knuckles tickled. Stupefactive
glance along a mirror, that old meme, "coexistence or bust." Alternator
of my heart, spark plug liver: must they rust so fast? A last jitterbug
then no more jumpstarts, I'll have to quit her. Shrug twice
if you understand, here's a sidesplitter: never once changed the oil, bugs
all jammed up in the works, tin foil holding up the engine mount. And count
the parts you couldn't sell, the fans and belts, good for nothing, hell,
the junkman sniffs the air. There you have it, glass half full, a queasy
spare tire of a feeling. Easy, Tiger, someone says, a glass half full
might be the only thing to crack through that thick skull.
Will Roby is a poet living in Texas. His poems have appeared at 32 Poems, Tri-Quarterly, Umbrella,The Melic Review, Karawane, Yareah Magazine and others. He's madly in love with Emily Van Duyne and their child Hank.
Thanks kindly to Will for contributing his tattoo and poem to this year's poetic adventure on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content.
It is also the birth date of the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
You might think these two items are unrelated, but you'd be wrong.
Here is the tattoo Will selected for us:
Will elaborates:
"I am a huge fan of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, and I'm interested in covering my entire back with words. You'll notice the edge of an image of Texas, but other than that, all of my tattoos are text-based. The artist is a friend of mine, who requested to be called simply 'Heath.' The inspiration is simple: to remind me that my thoughts are capable of becoming reality if I allow them."Will selected this poem to share here on the Tattooed Poets Project:
Stupefactive
Half a glass full, optimistic warbling grackles; they pester me.
To the dogs with them! It's abrasive, this new sweater, get it off me.
So restrictive, I'm in shackles, knuckles tickled. Stupefactive
glance along a mirror, that old meme, "coexistence or bust." Alternator
of my heart, spark plug liver: must they rust so fast? A last jitterbug
then no more jumpstarts, I'll have to quit her. Shrug twice
if you understand, here's a sidesplitter: never once changed the oil, bugs
all jammed up in the works, tin foil holding up the engine mount. And count
the parts you couldn't sell, the fans and belts, good for nothing, hell,
the junkman sniffs the air. There you have it, glass half full, a queasy
spare tire of a feeling. Easy, Tiger, someone says, a glass half full
might be the only thing to crack through that thick skull.
~ ~ ~
Thanks kindly to Will for contributing his tattoo and poem to this year's poetic adventure on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Mischa Barton bikini pictures
Mischa Barton would've given commuters quite the eyeful on their morning coffee run yesterday.
The St Trinian's actress was busy filming on the streets of Los Angeles in little more than underwear.
Wearing just a leopard print bra and knickers set, Mischa showed off her svelte frame and narrow midriff as she larked about with a male co-star - dressed similarly in Fred Flintstone-style Y-fronts.
Meet the Flinstones: Mischa had a male co-star wearing similar leopard print style underwear
Semi-dressed: Mischa was seen with her pink shorts pulled half way on as if casually dressing in her bedroom
Mischa is believed to be the star of Noel Gallagher's new music video, although Mail Online is currently waiting for confirmation from both her and his representatives.Putting on a show: The cameraman seems rather amused by Mischa's antics
Thanks to her 5ft 9in frame, there was no need for heels to give her height a boost, relying solely on red trainers and still maintaining elongated legs as if on a red carpet.
Mischa was also seen wearing a patterned dress, while posing with a female friend, which is later ripped off as she feigns embarrassment from passers-by who stare at her nearly-nude body.
Maybe some clothes would be more ideal: An assistant helps protect Mischa with a rug
Play nicely: Mischa and her co-star seemed to have an altercation before she fled
Keeping warm: Mischa covered up in a white towel robe between takes
The O.C. star is currently venturing onto the fashion scene, joining forces with mother Nuala to launch a new shopping website, Mischa’s Place.
The pair will sell bohemian style clothing, as well as accessories and beauty products.
Later this year, she will open her vintage boutique in Shoreditch.
Intimate: Mischa and her co-star were the centre of attention surrounded by cameras
Covering up: Mischa's shoot seemed to start innocently with the actress fully dressed
Oscar-worthy: Mischa feigns embarrassment as onlookers burst into laughter
Victoria Secret Angels Model Bra Pictures
Victoria's Secret sure know how to get a girl's attention.
Their new push-up bra is said to provide plenty of 'uplift'.
And, if the model pictures and video are anything to go by, they are right.
Angelic: Featuring [left to right] Elyse Taylor, Erin Heatheron and Lindsay Ellingson in a dreamy summer sequence, the campaign entitled Angels in Love, is bound to set some hearts racing
Featuring blonde 'Angels' Erin Heatheron, Lindsay Ellingson and Elyse Taylor in a dreamy summer sequence, the campaign entitled Angels in Love, is bound to set some hearts racing.
The short video was shot - rather incongruously - by Michael Bay, who is better known for the Transformer movies, as well as Friday the 13th and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
But it seems that Bay wanted to take some time out from slasher flicks and giant robots to film the underwear models in Miami, Florida.
We can't imagine why.
Director's cut: The short video was shot - rather incongruously - by Michael Bay, who is better known for the Transformer movies, as well as Friday the 13th and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Dreamy: The company claim that the new Dream Angels 2-Cup bra is the 'most comfortable yet' and 'gives you the support you need with that extra boost to feel your sexiest this summer'
Bohemian: The models enjoyed a few days at the Miami beach for the shoot with Bay and the crew
Fragrant: The company has also launched a new perfume, Love Is Heavenly, to go with the lingerie
Ellingson said that she was just as surprised that Bay was selected to shoot the commercial.
'It seems like this was different than anything he's done - not even one explosion,' she told People magazine.
I loved the bohemian feel and the flower headbands,' she said.
'Miami is one of my favourite places to shoot. We were barefoot and outside in a gorgeous atmosphere.'
The company claim that the new Dream Angels 2-Cup bra is the 'most comfortable yet' and 'gives you the support you need with that extra boost to feel your sexiest this summer'.
And while the MailOnline can't vouch for the range's non-pinch or squeeze factor, the super-feminine hues of hot pink, purple and floral lace sure are pretty.
The company has also launched a new perfume, Love Is Heavenly, to go with the lingerie.
With notes like mandarin flowers, water lily and musk, is sounds as feminine as the bras and panties.
The Tattooed Poets Project: Alex Dryden
Today's tattooed poet, Alex Dryden, shared his body art with us, displaying what to many poets, and fans of poetry, is a universal image:
That is, of course, a red wheelbarrow, a common item made famous by William Carlos Williams' iconic poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
And a shot of them together:
As for verse, Alex shared this poem:
Corpus
—she was the kind of girl
you suspected
had something really sweet
written in
the braille of her
bikini line.
Something about flowers or
the uselessness
of melancholy and how good
things happen
to those who wait politely and say please. So,
I checked.
“Thanks,” it said. It was damp and difficult
to read.
“I haven’t been fucked like that since I was an
alter boy.
Thanks.” It was the second “thanks” that really
threw me.
When she woke, she smiled politely
I made
coffee politely and made my face look
sensible and clean.
I haven’t checked since. I don’t even read her e-
mail anymore.
Once, I held the door open for her mother, she said
thank you
and I stammered “sorry” pretty loud. It was really the second “thanks”
that threw me.
Alex Dryden is a MFA candidate in Poetry at The New School. His work was most recently published on The Best American Poetry blog.
Thanks to Alex for this contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
That is, of course, a red wheelbarrow, a common item made famous by William Carlos Williams' iconic poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
~ ~ ~
Alex elaborates:"When we were kids, my mother made my brother and me memorize and recite poems. Though we didn't talk about it until we were adults, we were both stricken by the authority and presence of 'The Red Wheelbarrow.'
For years we had thought about getting tattoos that worked together as a set but had never found a suitable subject. In 2010, he went back to school as English major while I was entering the first year of my MFA in creative writing. While visiting over the winter break and planning our mother's 60th birthday party, talk came around to the poems we memorized a kids and renewed our efforts to find a good set of tattoos. 'The Red Wheelbarrow,' with two perfect, ready made images, solved our dilemma. That night we drew up a pair of white chickens for him and a red wheelbarrow for me and the next day had them done.
Because Williams made use of the rhythm and diction of the American vernacular, we choose a local tattoo parlor that seemed analogous. The website for Hell Bomb Tattoo, in Wichita, KS, displayed an index of, what we imagined to be, classic Mid-Western tattoo art."I asked Alex if he could send along his brother’s tattoo, as well, and he happily obliged:
And a shot of them together:
As for verse, Alex shared this poem:
Corpus
—she was the kind of girl
you suspected
had something really sweet
written in
the braille of her
bikini line.
Something about flowers or
the uselessness
of melancholy and how good
things happen
to those who wait politely and say please. So,
I checked.
“Thanks,” it said. It was damp and difficult
to read.
“I haven’t been fucked like that since I was an
alter boy.
Thanks.” It was the second “thanks” that really
threw me.
When she woke, she smiled politely
I made
coffee politely and made my face look
sensible and clean.
I haven’t checked since. I don’t even read her e-
mail anymore.
Once, I held the door open for her mother, she said
thank you
and I stammered “sorry” pretty loud. It was really the second “thanks”
that threw me.
~ ~ ~
Alex Dryden is a MFA candidate in Poetry at The New School. His work was most recently published on The Best American Poetry blog.
Thanks to Alex for this contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Uma Thurman channels Marilyn Monroe (photos)
Check out leading ladies who've channeled the late great bombshell on TV, film, and even music videos
Oscar-nominated actress Uma Thurman is the latest star to sport Marilyn Monroe's platinum mane and perfect red pout. In this exclusive photo, the actress vamps it up as the late great bombshell in a musical number on NBC's "Smash." In the series, Thurman (who was pregnant during production) plays Hollywood starlet Rebeca Duvall who snatches the role of the blonde icon away from Ivy (Megan Hilty) and Karen (Katharine McPhee). Check out more exclusive photos of Thurman as Rebecca singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
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