Sep 26

So it goes #13

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This tattoo belongs to Mathis.

This was posted as a part of “So it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 116 times. Can you help me collect 116 “so it goes” tattoos? 13 down, 103 to go.

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Sep 25

busy busy busy

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busy2

Katherine explains her tattoo:

From Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

“Busy, busy, busy is what a Bokononist whispers ‘whenever [he] thinks about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.’”

It is placed on the foot in reference to boko-maru.

“The boko-maru is a Bokononist ritual for ‘the mingling of awarenesses’. It consists in two people extending their legs, thrusting their arms behind them for support, and putting their bare feet together.”

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Sep 25

Preludes

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ts eliot tattoo

“I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.”

This is Drew’s tattoo:

This quote is take from Preludes by T.S Eliot.  I first encountered this poem at age 15, and remember it as the first piece of poetry that really struck me.  Almost 15 years later, and I made a career change into the performing arts, and made the decision to have it tattooed on my right wrist.  It has become something of a mantra, and a reminder.  The work was done by Apro, at West Side Tattoo in Brisbane, and I could not be happier with it.

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This is Glexi’s tattoo.

My tattoo comes from the artist Banksy… “There is always hope” was engraved on the wall where this stencil was found.

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This is Heather’s tattoo:

This quote has meant a lot to me since I was a young girl… when I finally decided to get a tattoo I knew this would be the one.

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“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it…”

- Confucius

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I was really excited when I saw a Jurassic Park tattoo in my inbox.  JURASSIC PARK.   How awesome is that?

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“Life finds a way.”

- From Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

This tattoo is on Whitney and was done by Keir at Gemini Tattoo in Philadelphia.

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Hi, I’m back.  I’ve been away for most of the summer, and just got back from working in Quebec.  On to the tattoos.  Two a day for the rest of September!

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And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

- From Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This tattoo belongs to Cassie Niemeyer.

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Aug 20

Alice

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This is Miss B’s tattoo, inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

B says the tattoo was done by Edgar Sick Clown at Old London Road Studios in Kingston Upon Thames, London.

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Aug 19

Defy Gravity

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defy gravity tattoo

This is Kat’s tattoo:

It says “Defy Gravity” and is from the play Wicked. I actually just saw the show for the first time recently, but I fell in love with it instantly. The showstopping number “Defying Gravity” was not only a highlight of the play for me, but its message of empowerment really spoke to me. I wanted the tattoo from the moment the show let out, as a reminder to just go for it in life and not let anyone or anything hold me down :)

Wicked (songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman) is based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.

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AF_Ffth_Bizniz

This tattoo belongs to AF and references the opening paragraph of Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, the first volume of The Deptford Trilogy.

“My lifelong involvement with Mrs. Dempster began at 5:58 o’clock p.m. on the 27th of December, 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.”

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  • Welcome to Contrariwise

    This is a website about literary tattoos. That is, tattoos based on books, poems, lyrics, and many other literary sources.

    My email address is jen@contrariwise.org, so send your comments / suggestions / praise / hate that way. If you want to submit your own tattoo (please do!), see this page.