The Tattooed Poets Project: Sue Swartz

Today's tattooed poet, <a href="http://swartzsue.wordpress.com/">Sue Swartz</a>, hails from Bloomington, Indiana, and offers up her forearm for all the world to see:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1078lq0hLuP-QDdHYIJovm6kpsbVAD2A2ftD5v64vzXh4zYo0YBp6R23lEI64ImsGTBR-ZgkeBFWIH-icQT9KNclD2Ve-e110dFaiCUIHqUfXk_ELxhOzFVBM05lvvgGvfB_xLJp7Ko/s1600/Sue+Tat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1078lq0hLuP-QDdHYIJovm6kpsbVAD2A2ftD5v64vzXh4zYo0YBp6R23lEI64ImsGTBR-ZgkeBFWIH-icQT9KNclD2Ve-e110dFaiCUIHqUfXk_ELxhOzFVBM05lvvgGvfB_xLJp7Ko/s400/Sue+Tat.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by John Narmontas</td></tr></tbody></table>Sue explains: <br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a 2-part tattoo story. On my 54^th birthday, I had the Hebrew word for truth (<i>emet</i>) imprinted on my right (i.e., writing) forearm in traditional black Torah script. I wanted a useful reminder for my art; also the word contains one letter that is a stand-in for life/God and two others that spell out the word “dead”. Okay, it was a little heavy. Two years later, this past November, when I couldn’t take looking at the damn truth anymore, <a href="http://www.volutatattoo.com/Voluta_Tattoo%3A_Fine_Art_Tattoo,_Indianapolis/Dina_Verplank__Indianapolis_Female_Custom_Tattoo_Artist%21_Oil_Painting,_Portraits,_and_colorful_Fine_Art_Tattoos%21_Stutz_Building,_Voluta%21.html">Dina Verplank</a> of <a href="http://www.volutatattoo.com/Voluta_Tattoo%3A_Fine_Art_Tattoo,_Indianapolis/Welcome_to_Voluta_Tattoo%21_Indianapolis_Fine_Artists_and_Tattooists,_Stutz_Artists,_Downtown_Indianapolis.html">Voluta Tattoo</a> in Indianapolis beautified the baldness of the lone word with a branch from the Tree of Life and a spiral/root system. </span></div></blockquote></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjox76feox9LRs4j3DxGrbVWyZlECR5Z5wYQnthS9jgUwXLO-d3b1VpzySpgH5SsK7bhq8pu833-S2Z5KHjUY8QJ9kJPjQpxx6kIeDqEE0s-FtDX6nJT3moMbXCg-_O0UHvnYqX0NR9M/s1600/Auntie+Sue+Tat+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjox76feox9LRs4j3DxGrbVWyZlECR5Z5wYQnthS9jgUwXLO-d3b1VpzySpgH5SsK7bhq8pu833-S2Z5KHjUY8QJ9kJPjQpxx6kIeDqEE0s-FtDX6nJT3moMbXCg-_O0UHvnYqX0NR9M/s320/Auntie+Sue+Tat+detail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by John Narmontas</td></tr></tbody></table> And Sue offers up this poem:<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">MID-LIFE</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Damn. Another 3 a.m. flying dream. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">This time I’m on a cement slab hurtling toward over-grown lawns </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">covered with large plastic pigs and spiked coat hangers. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">This is not what normal people dream.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Awake, I tilt (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">normal, not normal</i>) on a giant seesaw of guilt </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">by association and realize: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">I might not really know what normal is—</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">My dead – crazy bastards every one – left far too many clues, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">though not one legible note of navigational instruction. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Minds overtaken by spirals and whirligigs, Greek letters </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">and the rising price of toilet paper, they wore the warp & weave </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">of their affliction stoically. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Seamlessly, one might say, and with understated finesse. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Running off to Florida on a Tuesday-morning whim: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">In the realm of normal. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Snapped-on pills for breakfast: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Mildly normal. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Washing, washing again, again, again. Refusing to shake </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">the hand of strangers: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">Undeniably normal (well, yeah – you never know </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">who’s got what). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">With garments torn & heads made bare, they bob in and out </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">of traffic, sit close to me in restaurants, carefully chewing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">with their electrode mouths.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">My dead have secrets. That much is abundantly clear. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">I listen for whispers of their generous madness, find </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">they’ve come while I’m asleep. Bad timing is all I’ve got. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">That, and fingerprints left on the towels. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">No, I don’t shush them away: then I’d lose the true nature </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">of everything. If I don’t know what normal is, why not </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">claim these people as kin? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;">How else to name my own impurities and small derangements? </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sue Swartz is a poet, hired-gun-political writer, amateur ballroom dancer, favored grandparent, social justice activist, occasional <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogini">yogini</a>, and creator of alternative Jewish ritual. Her work has been published in <a href="http://www.cutthroatmag.com/"><i>Cutthroat Magazine</i></a>, <a href="http://www.lilith.org/"><i>Lilith</i></a>, <a href="http://www.5ampoetry.com/"><i>5 a.m.</i></a>, <a href="http://www.smartishpace.com/"><i>SmartishPace</i></a>, and elsewhere. She wishes she had a book you could buy. You can find her blog Awkward Offerings at </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://swartzsue.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">http://swartzsue.wordpress.com/</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. She makes her home in Bloomington, Indiana and believes that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Leviticus">Leviticus</a> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(</span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You are not to make gashes in your flesh for the dead nor incise marks on yourself.</i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">) goes a bit overboard.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks to Sue for sharing her truthful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! </span></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.<br /><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span> </span></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Sue Swartz

Today's tattooed poet, Sue Swartz , hails from Bloomington, Indiana, and offers up her forearm for all the world to see: Photo by John N...

Read more »

Ben Commemorates the Cat and the Tree

Ben recalls wandering off one day when he was four years old. He was up in Wells, Maine with his family and no one knew where he'd gone.<br /><br />Fortunately for Ben, someone did know: the family cat. A la <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassie"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lassie</span></a>, the feline led his parents straight to Ben, who was sitting under a tree, munching on blueberries.<br /><br />To this day, Ben regards this as a crucial moment in his life when he was saved by the cat.<br /><br />He collaborated with Brendan Rowe at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/pinsandneedlesportland">Pins and Needles Tattoo</a> in Portland, Maine to come up with a commemorative tattoo to honor this animal:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLi0h-jSijloAyNYHVN0PE6H3vyvJsUVaHW9frQAOtCSWH3M2fMoGkWq548k-exY5SIdknmvGNnmIBuhhxGuTeYN-XdHeeeDuu5SgqkDGRmWs-iW00_EzRKQaepH61gTcpkWxTbz2KaCE/s1600-h/Cat.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373836390496193874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLi0h-jSijloAyNYHVN0PE6H3vyvJsUVaHW9frQAOtCSWH3M2fMoGkWq548k-exY5SIdknmvGNnmIBuhhxGuTeYN-XdHeeeDuu5SgqkDGRmWs-iW00_EzRKQaepH61gTcpkWxTbz2KaCE/s400/Cat.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />Brendan is now working out of <a href="http://www.unbreakabletattoo.com/">Unbreakable Tattoo</a> is Studio City, California.<br /><br />The tree nearby on his left forearm, was inked, in part, to complement the cat:<br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZbnYkEvgYnVMW_8m_qL1IK89YBtLP2WCMvwyu2rrxEanmHzm0tVAyvX4bRoTcjoHFaYlug_L13d-Q_f60rC6U55BG-AWz2OXcS2ibUMyg-pXXOlC6BDVwIdXPG9SlE4VkNZTbRXtGxI/s1600-h/Tree+Klimt.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373835833707579762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZbnYkEvgYnVMW_8m_qL1IK89YBtLP2WCMvwyu2rrxEanmHzm0tVAyvX4bRoTcjoHFaYlug_L13d-Q_f60rC6U55BG-AWz2OXcS2ibUMyg-pXXOlC6BDVwIdXPG9SlE4VkNZTbRXtGxI/s400/Tree+Klimt.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />It is, however, also a nod to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimt">Gustav Klimt's</a> "Tree of Life". <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepHRB92c2y_4b3gqXjvfqhXtNZ_Sbk_kJV9Xej6d0qKUqq0LH5r93O-rXbRrHWd_QD13ARbPi1fLrNN8oJYhaNsSkdSkKX3hmzzMRRy8FkFbKKhaEqjzZSm8iRK4_iA_z-SeZyljNlNY/s1600-h/gustav-klimt-the-tree-of-life-stoclet-frieze-c-1909.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373836810781407106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepHRB92c2y_4b3gqXjvfqhXtNZ_Sbk_kJV9Xej6d0qKUqq0LH5r93O-rXbRrHWd_QD13ARbPi1fLrNN8oJYhaNsSkdSkKX3hmzzMRRy8FkFbKKhaEqjzZSm8iRK4_iA_z-SeZyljNlNY/s400/gustav-klimt-the-tree-of-life-stoclet-frieze-c-1909.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />Not an imitation, but a variation.<br /><br />Thanks to Ben for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Ben Commemorates the Cat and the Tree

Ben recalls wandering off one day when he was four years old. He was up in Wells, Maine with his family and no one knew where he'd gone....

Read more »

Tiffany's Tree of Life

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhI7NU-D8GtH5ULSBOs0wQFzMKtPfKfzLUGux29YRHQTMm5f6NOgWsKldXq3f36KR4n685XWOT7j5mK8E6ILUidinl7hS2lUfMEEnsAo6b22Y7kB1LNRB6xMH6yXO3D-kriUFWrEpqKw/s1600-h/tree-detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358253396780328514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhI7NU-D8GtH5ULSBOs0wQFzMKtPfKfzLUGux29YRHQTMm5f6NOgWsKldXq3f36KR4n685XWOT7j5mK8E6ILUidinl7hS2lUfMEEnsAo6b22Y7kB1LNRB6xMH6yXO3D-kriUFWrEpqKw/s320/tree-detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" /></a><br />I was walking through Penn Station back on July 3 when I noticed the woman ahead of me had an interesting-looking tattoo on her inner left bicep.<br /><br />But it was rush hour and I was off to a small birthday gathering so, when we went separate ways at the turnstiles, I sighed and thanked the tattoo deities for letting me meet two other people earlier in the day.<br /><br />A few minutes later, however, while pacing the platform, I ran into her again. And, well, I couldn't resist talking to her about this fascinating tattoo:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1TmNJaFgfd0cLQaVttTpBlXJcvNsMSEceU6Qg-_F2JZ7pL5vynpaSs0c-abnECNUiRzlDYQZqLeV5H9Kr0RBlLMciC-lo3ArtOb_YDPO21yFYvY-B3WU4e6Bw3ulEikQIqBjIf6_bLQ/s1600-h/tree.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358253988939736722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1TmNJaFgfd0cLQaVttTpBlXJcvNsMSEceU6Qg-_F2JZ7pL5vynpaSs0c-abnECNUiRzlDYQZqLeV5H9Kr0RBlLMciC-lo3ArtOb_YDPO21yFYvY-B3WU4e6Bw3ulEikQIqBjIf6_bLQ/s320/tree.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 320px;" /></a><br />Tiffany, who was visiting the East Coast from Los Angeles, was quick to point out that this was not the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Apparently the serpent confuses a lot of people.<br /><br />In fact, Tiffany says the tree is based on the tree of life in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat">Angkor Wat</a>, Cambodia, where she visited two summers ago.<br /><br />The presence of the serpent is due to her affection for snakes, and the image of the reptile climbing the tree in pursuit is a nod to the circle of life. The tree sustains the bird; the bird sustains the snake.<br /><br />Of the three tattoos I saw on my birthday, this one just made my day. The detail is phenomenal, and I just loved the concept of the piece.<br /><br />It was tattooed by <a href="http://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=559&Itemid=92">Henry Lewis</a> at <a href="http://www.incognitotattoo.com/">Incognito Tattoo</a> in Pasadena, although he has moved to Northrn California. Although not listed on their website, he has been associated with <a href="http://www.everlastingtattoo.com/">Everlasting Tattoo</a> in San Francisco. Incognito's site says he still makes guest appearances at the shop in Pasadena.<br /><br />Thanks much to Tiffany for capping off an awesome day by sharing her wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tiffany's Tree of Life

I was walking through Penn Station back on July 3 when I noticed the woman ahead of me had an interesting-looking tattoo on her inner left b...

Read more »

James and His Tree of Life

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUARA2U10Oz7CSYiiMCy0o0-xai2Rut_Ykc9HbPRLkSKe9yK47B96Wk-WpgpmwbAyXcYTKgGmUCYOItnk_cdpUDCfu0S6ndCRyGx8nXaWWX_hknOXp4M-2-1Z8ntIsPT685eshkv5yK96D/s1600-h/tree+of+life+1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243275616907657650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUARA2U10Oz7CSYiiMCy0o0-xai2Rut_Ykc9HbPRLkSKe9yK47B96Wk-WpgpmwbAyXcYTKgGmUCYOItnk_cdpUDCfu0S6ndCRyGx8nXaWWX_hknOXp4M-2-1Z8ntIsPT685eshkv5yK96D/s400/tree+of+life+1.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /><br />I spotted this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life">Tree of Life</a> tattoo on Court Street in downtown Brooklyn and started talking to James about it.<br /><br />It was inked by an ex-girlfriend of his about ten years ago.<br /><br />The tattoo consists of the tree of life, under which sits <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha">Buddha</a> (or <a href="http://dgautier.com/_wsn/page11.html">The Acorn Man</a>) who is holding a chalice. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJBWI5Oqlzw7rXknp-XCRrtUfvqWSoo186iqhIaUCvAn5mj8xX4ElAtPwvFJimaMOOxCreXGmpUgg-TTrohFnyvlpTYjPfe-DeMcinAhgfdIcviPTXnxDMS1_yqGADjIDm_jHFQoxKpxx/s1600-h/buddha+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243275486837638162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJBWI5Oqlzw7rXknp-XCRrtUfvqWSoo186iqhIaUCvAn5mj8xX4ElAtPwvFJimaMOOxCreXGmpUgg-TTrohFnyvlpTYjPfe-DeMcinAhgfdIcviPTXnxDMS1_yqGADjIDm_jHFQoxKpxx/s400/buddha+detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>James pointed out that he is surrounded by a serpent, although it's hard to tell in the piece.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Below it is a rune of protection.<br /><br />Thanks to James for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update:</span> One of My regular readers, Livia Indica, who blogs at <a href="http://neopaganink.blogspot.com/">NeoPagan Ink</a>, pointed me to this source, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cernunnos">Cernunnos</a> on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron"> </a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron">Gundestrup cauldron:</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyCqlrVz-GzheVXoeInAxEU0rTKI5_8hBbr2GD2SPDWJkgg1q4tXaTYn5PpRSNVafJiR9NIypWLBFWZpLQIeQUkVNK1IbXUebPBULsq7r9xLtipEFT92suCas9s8m94wbv0XVU4UJw_BV/s1600-h/cern2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245304853372835058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyCqlrVz-GzheVXoeInAxEU0rTKI5_8hBbr2GD2SPDWJkgg1q4tXaTYn5PpRSNVafJiR9NIypWLBFWZpLQIeQUkVNK1IbXUebPBULsq7r9xLtipEFT92suCas9s8m94wbv0XVU4UJw_BV/s400/cern2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />James told me it was a Buddha, but the similarity between the tattoo and this Celtic god is worth noting. Thanks Livia!

James and His Tree of Life

I spotted this Tree of Life tattoo on Court Street in downtown Brooklyn and started talking to James about it. It was inked by an ex-girlfr...

Read more »