no net ensnares me
This is Kiersten's tattoo.
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you."
- Jane Eyre
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.
Lots of my blog readers appear to be up to no good.
The first is Cori:
The second is Samantha, whose tattoo is done in "James Potter's (prongs) handwriting":
Finally, Chloe, who explains:
Under regular light, it looks like a blank scroll (almost) with the three stars that appear on every page in each book. But under a black light, the quote lights up: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." (I couldn't get the best picture of it or angle with my scorpion finder light, but you get the idea.)
This is the password to the Marauder's Map, first appearing in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
"Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP"
—The Marauder's Map
hwæt
This tattoo belongs to Patricia Berdún:
It says "hwæt" and it's the first word from Beowulf.
This was my first tattoo. I got it when I finish my degree in English Studies. This was the first book we had to read and I loved it.
We read it in modern English, of course, but I love Anglo-Saxon and I wrote it like that for my tattoo.
there will be time
This is David's tattoo.
I picked out this quote because I feel like life should be like this line. Not everything needs to be in such a rush, not everything needs to be instant, and some things should be left for discovery.
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window panes; 25
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
- Excerpt from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. Read the whole poem here.
Fahrenheit 451
CoreyG's tattoo is from the original cover art for Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird
This is Bethany's To Kill a Mockingbird
Throughout the story, the mockingbird is used to symbolize innocence, and the loss thereof. I got this tattoo to commemorate my own loss of innocence, and the utmost importance of protecting my young son's innocence. As a single mother with an abusive ex-husband, it is so important to me to use my healing experience to support and protect other abused women. This tattoo helps me remember that it's healthy to forgive, but it's never ok to forget, lest old mistakes be repeated.
“Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat
This is Nikki's tattoo. It reads "Audentes Fortuna Iuvat" ("Fortune Favors the Brave") and comes from Book X, line 284 of The Aeneid
This photo is from my recent wedding. I got the tattoo several years ago after leaving a bad relationship that I should have left long before I finally got up the nerve to get out. I decided that I would follow my instincts from then on and the tattoo reminds me to make bold choices. Life's been pretty awesome ever since. (Plus, I've always loved Latin.)
Plath / Cobain
These are Eileen's tattoos.
My tattoo is from the poem Elm by Sylvia Plath. The line reads "I do not fear it: I have been there." I got this tattoo to symbolize my struggles with Bipolar Disorder and how I identify with Sylvia Plath through her literature. She is one of my greatest literary influences and I take great inspiration from the successes she had despite her own struggle with mental illness. For me, this tattoo represents that I've been to the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs, and I'm not afraid, because I survived before and I will survive again.
I also have a tattoo on my right forearm, it is a passage from Kurt Cobain's suicide note. He also was a sufferer from Bipolar Disorder. The quote reads, "And so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away." He references the Neil Young song. I have always been a huge Kurt Cobain fan, but he also committed suicide like Sylvia Plath, and that is not my intended path. For me, this tattoo is a remember that I DON'T believe this statement. I tattooed it on my forearm not because I believe him but because I don't. It is always better to stay strong and keep going.
coffee spoons
This is Elena's tattoo:
I have always had an affinity for T.S. Eliot, and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is simultaneously poignant and pretentious; what's not to love? I realized every job I've had, from telemarketing for Gevalia, working third shift in a diner, and for the last few years, serving coffee as a barista at Starbucks, has involved coffee. I drink it, I serve it, I live it. I truly have measured out my life with coffee spoons. My name's Lena, and after a useless English Lit. degree, a graduate degree, I'm still working at Starbucks; but I'm okay with that. Today, feeling slightly Prufrockian, I thought I'd make it a permanent statement.
For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?
- T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
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