Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos » Kurt Vonnegut

So it goes #16

Jen — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:00:27 +0000

Jamie’s tattoo is a tribute to her grandfather, who passed away in 2008. It was done by Rich at South Shore Tattoo on Long Island.

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? 16 down, 100 to go.

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So it goes #15

Jen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:00:24 +0000

This tattoo is on Samm from Chicago:

Vonnegut is easily my favorite author. I chose this tattoo for the same reason everyone else has; I’m a worrier and it reminds me that not everything is in my control.

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So it goes #14

Jen — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:00:07 +0000

This is Morgan Karan-Harwin’s tattoo:

The “So It Goes” tattoo was created by my friend Leile and me. The image itself is a triangle consisting of rock, scissors, and paper, representing cycles of success and failure, gain and loss, power and weakness, etc. Nothing is ever absolute.

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So it goes #13

Jen — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:00:53 +0000

This tattoo belongs to Mathis.

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busy busy busy

Jen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:00:57 +0000

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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Vonnegut Collage

Jen — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:00:42 +0000

It’s Saturday, and since you’ve all established exactly how much you enjoy So it Goes Saturdays, I’m going to take a break from that and post something a little different. This dedicated fan has 9 tattoos from various Vonnegut works.

This post is image-heavy!

1) Gilded Cage (Canary in the Cat House)

2) Asterisk (Breakfast of Champions)

3) “Trust Me” Skull & Cross Bones (Armageddon in Retrospect)

4) Goodbye Blue Monday (Breakfast of Champions)

5) Gravestone (Slaughterhouse-Five)

6) Breakfast of Champions t-shirt (Breakfast of Champions)

7) “Tralfamadorian” (The Sirens of Titan)

8) Kurt Vonnegut Signature

9) “So it goes…” (Slaughterhouse-Five)

That’s a lot of Vonnegut!

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So it goes #12

Jen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:00:54 +0000

This is Bekka’s tattoo:

“So it goes…” has meant a lot to me the last couple years. I’ve dealt with the loss of a mother, a friend, and a family friend, and “so it goes” has just reminded me that life continues on no matter what the circumstances. Above it is a celtic triskel, which means waaaaay more than I could ever explain in a few sentences.

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So it goes #11

Jen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:00:56 +0000

This tattoo is on Tana Barnes:

It meant a lot to me. Of all the quotes I was thinking of getting tattooed, this one I got because it was simple. I suppose it just summed up a lot of feelings in my life right now. It’s tragic, and it’s my sort of comedic relief to just.. keep going, I suppose. Life moves forward, and that’s how it goes. Plus, it was for my 19th birthday and it was free ;]

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So it goes #10

Jen — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:00:31 +0000

This tattoo is on Aaron, who “regardless of the boy spelling,” is indeed a lady.

The So it Goes tattoo I got after having my beloved cat Jello Biafra put to sleep last year. He was only four. We never really were able to figure out what happened to him, but he gradually lost the use of his front legs, our vet’s best guess was some sort of small tumor on nerve endings. We spent a lot of money and time (driving four hours to see a veterinarian neurologist, taking out a credit card specifically for the vet bills) trying to make him better, but in the end we weren’t able to save him. Some of his ashes were mixed into the ink for this tattoo.

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? 10 down, 106 to go.

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So it goes #9

Jen — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:00:09 +0000

This tattoo is on Nikki.

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So it goes #8

Jen — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:00:43 +0000

This is Jess’s tattoo:

The design is an abstract dandelion. I just thought it exemplified the sentiment perfectly. I got this tattoo about a month after Vonnegut’s death.

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So it goes #7

Jen — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:00:14 +0000

This was submitted by Chealsye.

I adore Vonnegut, and got this tattoo roughly two months after a serious two year relationship ended. The break-up drove me into depression, and near suicide. When I informed my ex’s best friend I had to stop speaking with him, he responded with the quote. Most people see it when I wear dresses and inquire about it, but never fully get it. Sometimes, weeks later, they will tell me they finally really get it, not just what it means to me, but what it means to them too. But for the ones who do not fully get it, they will one day, unfortunately. I believe it takes a lot of hurt, a death or the dying of something important to make someone understand. So it goes.

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Birdcage

Jen — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:00:51 +0000

Andy submitted this birdcage tattoo:

I got this pen-and-ink drawing by Kurt Vonnegut on my arm on January 3rd. The empty birdcage never appeared in any of his novels, but refers to a specific scene in Breakfast of Champions. The scene consists of the book’s main character, Kilgore Trout, trying to set free a pet bird he’s kept for years. When the bird refuses to leave the cage, Trout says something to the effect of ”Good choice, Bill. Now you’ve still got something to wish for.”

The image first appeared as a silkscreen later in Vonnegut’s life, when he took up pen-and-ink drawing as a hobby. These were silkscreened in limited numbers and sold on Vonnegut’s website. It became the front page of his official website on the day he died.

I began reading Kurt Vonnegut when I was thirteen and found my way of thinking both reflected and transformed in his writing. He almost single handedly guided me through high school, and his death when I was sixteen felt like losing a grandparent. I chose the birdcage as a memorial because its stark, proud simplicity reminds me of everything I love about both his literary style and his philosophy. When set against the backdrop of his death, it conveys a sentiment not unlike the subtitle of his novel Slapstick: “Lonesome no more.”

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“So it Goes” Saturdays

Jen — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:00:01 +0000

This tattoo was submitted by Bethany.

I got this tattoo about seven years ago. I was following a carload of friends to go play some basketball and we were nearly there when they turned left and I suddenly decided to turn right–I guess I’ve never liked sports. Instead I impulsively drove over to a shop and got Baby’s First Tattoo right then and there all by myself. The tattoo artist and the piercer ganged together to try to get me to place it upside from where I wanted it as to make it readable when my arm was to my side. I wouldn’t budge and they were both sure I would regret going against the “tattoo norm”. Afterwords I went home and fell asleep where my basketball friends later woke me up wondering where I had been and why in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks I had a bandage around my wrist. The end.

The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 116 times.

Can you help me collect 116 “so it goes” tattoos? 6 down, 110 to go.

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So it goes.

Jen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:00:33 +0000

“So it goes.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

This tattoo was submitted by Rheanna:

i’ve always been one to worry about stupid, pathetic things. reading slaughterhouse five helped me to realize that no matter what i do, no matter what stupid mistakes i make, no matter who dies, no matter what celebrity gets breast implants, NO MATTER WHAT – life goes on. so it goes.

I think I now have the definitive Internet collection of “so it goes” tattoos.

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Everything was beautiful…

Jen — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:00:55 +0000

This tattoo was submitted by Amy:

My tattoo is from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and it says “everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.” My friend, whom I’ve known for 22 of my 25 years, wrote this in her own handwriting for me.

I chose Kurt Vonnegut because he is the most inspirational writer I’ve ever read, and I made it a mission to read everything he’s ever written. He is so prolific I think I’ll always be finding more and more tidbits of his to read, but after I read all of his novels in chronological order, and then all of his collections of short stories and essays in chronological order (a total of more than 20 books) I decided to celebrate and commemorate my accomplishment with a tattoo.

I chose this quote for two reasons: Because it’s so iconically Kurt Vonnegut, and because the duality of it is so simple but so meaningful — it’s ironic and pessimistic, or it’s straightforward and optimistic, depending on how you read it, or on how you want to read it. It’s a stunning example of the whole of Kurt Vonnegut’s work.

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Kurt Vonnegut’s “Asterisk”

Jen — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:00:55 +0000

Submitted by S.P. Sullivan:

The tattoo is Kurt Vonnegut’s trademark “backdoor.”

I got this when I turned eighteen because I wanted to do something stupid and impulsive, but not entirely uncharacteristic of me. My father introduced me to Vonnegut; the first thing he said when he saw it was “you know that’s a sphincter, right?”

I’ve grown tired of explaining it to people, mostly because they usually look at me like I’m insane. So, when asked, I inquire to the inquirer, “Have you read Vonnegut?” If yes, it’s relatively easy to explain. If no, I just say it’s an asterisk and leave it at that. I’m often asked if it’s a botched attempt at the Red Hot Chile Peppers logo. So it goes.

Based on Kurt Vonnegut’s infamous asshole doodle, first appearing in Breakfast of Champions. There is an entire blog dedicated to this doodle: here.

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So it goes & Golden Spiral

Jen — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:00:59 +0000

“So it goes.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

The drawing underneath is a golden spiral.

(source)

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Kurt Vonnegut

Jen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:00:44 +0000

“Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

(source)

And so it was; and so it goes; and so it will be

Jen — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:00:29 +0000

From here:

Kerryn loves Kurt Vonnegut and decided to get “And so it goes” ( a recurring line from Slaughterhouse Five) tattooed on her shoulder.

Finally on the other side of three decades worth of bad shit, Gil decided to get “And so it was” tattooed on her back representing the past that she has moved on from but that made her who she is.

And Meg, the eternal optimist decided to get “And so it will be” on her right arm as a symbol of the beautiful unknown.

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