Don’t Panic
This is Thom's.
I chose to get these words inked on me because I am a musician who suffers from stage fright. I used to spend an hour before a show holed up inthe corner of a venue having panick attacks. As my band became more popular I realized I had to be more approachable and, you know, talk to people. Its a subtle reminder that I'm going to be fine on stage, and that if something goes wrong its not the end of the world... even if it's the end of the world :)
This is Felicia's.
This is Michael Krenzer's.
I was taking an introductory Arabic course at the time, and the tattoo quickly became one of the most important things to remember. In addition, it's very good life advice.
This is Kenzie's.
It reminds me that no one needs to know what the meaning of life is or why we're here. It's really not important. And, of course, to not panic.
They were done by Ricky, at Jack of Hearts in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.
First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover."
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Coffee Spoons
This is Meghan's tattoo.
I fell in love with this line the first time I read Prufrock. I can honestly say it changed how I think about life.
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"
Don’t Try
"Don't Try" is written on Charles Bukowski's grave.
By navarrd on Flickr - shared under a Creative Commons License.
This is Shauna's tattoo.
I got this tattoo during a trip to Los Angeles while visiting my best friend at Immaculate Conception in Hollywood. I've wanted it ever since I began reading Bukowski and while visiting Los Angeles, there seemed no better a place or time. As an aspiring author, such advice has never resonated as true.
This is Lucero's.
This belongs to Andrew "Heid" Heaton.
"Somebody at one of these places [...] asked me: 'What do you do? How do you write, create?' You don't, I told them. You don't try. That's very important: 'not' to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out of it."
- Charles Bukowski in a 1963 letter
The Sirens of Titan
This tattoo belongs to Saoirse:
This is my Kurt Vonnegut tattoo, which I just got yesterday. It's taken from 'The Sirens of Titan
' which, not only quickly became my favourite book when I first read it, but also introduced me to Vonnegut's work. The section where Unk/Malachi and Boaz are stranded on Mercury really touched me, especially Boaz's refusal to leave and the notion that home is not a place, but an internal state of being. I travel a lot, and after this year I probably won't be back in my home country for a really long time. I got this tattoo to remind myself and my loved ones that they are my home, and in loving them I will always be "home". Having said that, my mum freaked out completely when she saw it. I guess she didn't grasp the sentiment.
“I found me a place where I can do good without doing any harm, and I can see I'm doing good, and them I'm doing good for know I'm doing it, and they love me, Unk, as best they can. I found me a home.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan
all you need is love
... and Beatles tattoos.
This is Kayleigh's.
I got this tattoo in september, ironically as I was going through a break up with my boyfriend of 7 1/2 years. We ended it just after I got the tattoo. The whole time I kept telling myself that it was true... all you need is love. If it's meant to be, it will be. Also, The Beatles were amazing and I'm certain that my heaven will be them singing.
This is Sara's.
This is Danielle's.
I got my tattoo in 2008 right before I got married. My husband was away with the military, and I wanted something to represent the life that we were choosing to live. No matter what, we would love one another and be happy, because all we would need was love.
All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
All you need is love. All you need is love.
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
- The Beatles, All You Need Is Love
Molly Millions
This tattoo belongs to James Henry.
In 2010 I had a Neuromancer
tattoo done. Namely, the character Molly Millions. I got to show it to William Gibson when he was doing a book tour for Zero History. He liked it and actually commented it was one of the closest renditions of her he had seen. The tattoo was done by Carla Hopkins at Portside Parlor in Philadelphia, PA.
Who is John Galt?
This tattoo belongs to Jakk Mulligan.
The quote is the opening line from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
. I originally read The Fountainhead
by chance when I met a nice young fellow on a cross country train trip. He had just finished the book, and I was looking for a good read. I absolutely fell in love with Howard Roark (the main character) and Ayn Rand, the author. I eventually got around to reading Atlas Shrugged and realized that it was something that contained ideas and moral values I could live with, even if not in their entirety.
"Who is John Galt?" is stated many times throughout the book, and ultimately became something of a comfort phrase and reminder to me.
This is Barbara's.
I couldn't be happier with it. The gears and chain were also inspired by the book. The lotus is for myself, and the dove is for my grandmother-- the greatest woman I've ever never known. I doubt if I will ever encounter someone who will know the answer to this question. But I know and now I carry it everywhere and that is enough for me.
This one belongs to Justin Schmitz.
I read Atlas Shrugged the summer after I graduated from college. I had just signed my enlistment contract for the US Army, and had 6 months to kill before I left for basic training. I picked the novel up on a whim one day, and immediately fell into it. Rand's Objectivist philosophy struck a keep chord with me, and upon completion of the book, I felt light and free. My outlook was altered. I adapted my own imperfect Taoist lifestyle to include Ayn Rand's principles of objectivism, and felt more whole than I had in a long time.
"Who is John Galt?" stuck with me ever since. To me, it represents the dual feeling of helplessness in the face of something beyond one's control and hope for the future despite that. Life gets difficult, we shrug and say "Who is John Galt?," and vow to work harder to achieve.
Matthew Drake has an answer:
Matthew says:
Atlas Shrugged has been my favorite book for years, and I've always agreed with Rand's philosophy. The tattoo pays homage to the book that sparked my quest for intellect, and serves as motivation for me to never give up my ambition. It also (unintentionally) serves as a quip: "Who is John Galt?" "I am John Galt." If only people that haven't read the book would stop asking me if my name was John!
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