Wednesday, May 09, 2012

WWYD? Literary tattoos

When I was younger, I wanted a tattoo. I had half an idea for it (mostly just that I wanted one), and I had a place on my body I had planned to permanently mark myself. But I didn't go through with it. I majorly chickened out.

One of my reasons against it is that I had nobody to go with. Who wants to do a scary, painful thing alone? The second reason? The pain. My threshold for pain is quite small. The third reason? The most important reason of all... I've never made up my mind FOR SURE as to what sort of tattoo I wanted.

Ages ago, I was on the Facebook page of a friend from high school.  She had just posted photos of a new tattoo.  I clicked on the album out of curiosity and found myself looking at her tat on her foot of a lyric from a Britney Spears song.  I blinked and it was still there.  Huh, I thought.  That's ... different.  And then I read the comment that one of her friends had written in response to her photo.  I can't quite recall, but he said something along the lines of tattoos being permanent reminders of a temporary feeling.  For some reason, that one comment made me think long and hard about what sort of tattoo I'd be considering.  Its importance to me, its reason for being.  I wanted a tattoo to mean something.

During the crippling indecision that followed, I'd pretty much given up on that idea of ever having a tattoo.  Until I picked up the following book... 


Max from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - I adore the two books by Stephanie Perkins that I've read so far.  For 3/4 of Anna and the French Kiss, I felt like I was reading perfection.  So while I had high expectations for Lola and the Boy Next Door, I wasn't prepared to fall in love with it as I did so completely with Anna.

Somehow, I managed to love Lola even more.  And it was really Lola that I loved so much as opposed to either of her love interests.  I thought Cricket to be utterly cute and sweet and geeky-adorable but at the start of the book, I also loved Max, Lola's older rock star boyfriend.  Mostly because of the awesomeness of his tattoo.  I'm pretty sure that I'd fall in love with ANYBODY who has a literary tattoo - especially if that tattoo is from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Seriously. 



So, naturally, the idea of tattoos have been on my mind again.  And I'm after an awesome literary tattoo.  Something children/YA book related.   

What would you do?

17 comments:

  1. I've always wanted to get a tattoo too but just haven't had the nerve to do it. A Where The Wild Things tattoo would be awesome.

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    1. I agree! And I've been on the fence about a tattoo since I was 16. Just can't make up my mind.

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  2. I always thought I didn't like tattoos... It's the commitment thing. But a literary tattoo or a lyrics one might just swing it for me! Probably a Josh Ritter lyric... There's some wonderful Harry Potter tattoos out there too. I have a blog post about this somewhere :)
    That's interesting about Where the Wild Things Are, I think Maurice Sendak died within the last few days. There was a really good blog post on the Wordpress homepage, freshly pressed, about him.
    This is a great idea x

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    1. Snoekbrown.com

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    2. He did die recently :(

      When I was younger, I thought I'd prefer something sort of pretty rather than thoughtful and now I'm leaning towards a quote or image that's book related. But I'm still not sure!

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  3. I love this post! I got tattoo when I was 18 a few weeks after I left home. No regrets, although it's on my belly and I tend to keep it covered up these after having 2 kids!
    Weirdly, I was pondering getting another one on my foot.
    I love the idea of a book related one. maybe one of your favourite book quotes? (as long as it's not too long!)

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    1. The thing is, I'm not one to collect book quotes. Nothing immediately springs to mind when I think of 'favourite book quotes'... Hmm.

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  4. I could never get a tattoo! Because I couldn't stand the pain involved! Haha :) And also, you know, it's there FOREVER, so you absolutely can't change your mind! I would probably get something stupid and then regret it when I was old!

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    1. I think that's why I've been debating the tattoo thing for more than a decade! :)

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  5. 4 little ladies as an ode to Little Women?

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  6. I love this post. It's now almost ten years since I got my first tattoo, and I've been trying to get my next one for years. I've been finding it so hard to find something to commit to as it'll be something I see every day (my other one I have to make an effort to see), that idea of tattoos being permanent reminders makes a lot of sense to me and why I've been so non-committal. I like the idea of something text based, but I don't really have the space... or want something big enough to have a quote. It's so hard isn't it!

    I must read Stephanie Perkins' books, this post has renewed my desire to read them :D

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    1. It IS hard. I don't know how people make the decision seemingly so easily! :)

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  7. This is my first time i visit here. I found so many entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here! Keep up the good work

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    1. I think you're a spambot, but I can't tell for sure. You are, aren't you?

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  8. I really really want "I solemnly swear that I am up to not good" tattoed onto my body, on the right hand side of my ribs and when I'm old I want to get "Mischief Managed" on the left. In between the two I want to do everything that I've ever wanted to achieve in my life! :)

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