The Tattooed Poets Project: David Jonathan Newman

We have another returning Tattooed Poets Project alumnus today, David.Jonathan Newman.<br /><br />David's previous contribution appeared two years ago, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-david-jonathan.html">here</a>.<br /><br />This is a collage of a work-in-progress that David sent along for 2013:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTphPzdI9d7HetPVSmFj4ZDIwd3trMFrknYbCupi58_Uwhn8SSpy0dA2rl7o8ualOxlGJLl4-Tm2pil9-D1OT2AoPrmOP5ysQmigcq7HMOrTDu379YjTzeMtr8XXfIQQeQ9OZoV0tvt8k/s572/splittat+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTphPzdI9d7HetPVSmFj4ZDIwd3trMFrknYbCupi58_Uwhn8SSpy0dA2rl7o8ualOxlGJLl4-Tm2pil9-D1OT2AoPrmOP5ysQmigcq7HMOrTDu379YjTzeMtr8XXfIQQeQ9OZoV0tvt8k/s640/splittat+(1).jpg" width="465" /></a></div><br />David explains that this is:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"...a three-quarter sleeve on my left arm by none other than the famous <a href="http://www.larktattoo.com/index.php/artists/bruce/0">Bruce Kaplan</a>, owner of <a href="http://www.larktattoo.com/">Lark Tattoo</a> in Wesbury NY and Albany NY. We've both been very excited about this project and it's been in progress for over a year now; excited to be getting well into the color portion of it. Essentially, the tattoo is Bruce's take on a wicked thunderstorm; tidal waves, thunder and lightning, intimidating clouds and fire. Towards the end of the tattoo down by my forearms, the sun's rays come out through the cloud cover and the storm breaks. I've been through a lot in my life (just like many people) and this tattoo, like many of mine, is meant to remind me that I can get through every hardship I have coming; and that I was able to get through everything that's been thrown at me so far.<br /><br />The quote in script was a previous tattoo that Bruce has been going around... it was done years ago by <a href="http://www.davincitattoo.com/chris-koutsis.html">Chris Koutsis</a> at <a href="http://www.davincitattoo.com/">DaVinci Tattoo</a> in Wantagh NY. It says <i>It's What You Love, Not What Loves You</i> and was inspired by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kaufman">Charlie Kaufman</a> movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation_(film)"><i>Adaptation</i></a>."</blockquote><br />David sent in this recent poem of his called "the night":<br /><br />the night.<br /><br />night comes<br /><br />night comes exhaled in<br />casually flourishing in the expanse as if we acquiesced to its maturation<br />planting its flag among the corpses of our plans for the day, unaccomplished<br />and the cold<br />glacial, numbing wind searing across flesh and foliage<br />air in your lungs like an icestorm<br />liquid nitrogen eventide<br /><br />the night is isolation<br />abandonment and abated breath<br />a brilliant abattoir of allegiances meant only to separate us and conquer hearts<br />colonize your capillaries with Cimmerian shade<br />circumventing circulation<br /><br />I poured out a little of my drink for her, it froze instantly as it hit the permafrost<br />exhaled into slow smoke, dancing in the lantern light<br />frustrated that something so inanimate could take on such life<br />such alluring life in this ruination and gloom <br />I miss you<br />god, I miss you<br />the way your teeth always backdrop for your smile<br />the way we interlock perfectly before dreams take us<br />the way you shuddershake when you climax<br /><br />you left me<br /><br />and I go unaccompanied into the night<br />with this drink and these thoughts<br />and this lantern<br />and this love <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />David Jonathan Newman has been a poet and vocalist/lyricist in bands, both on Long Island, NY and in Miami, FL. He is working on a collection of poetry, writes music as a solo artist and has a blog (<a href="http://captainselfdestruct.blogspot.com/">http://captainselfdestruct.blogspot.com</a>) where he posts both his solid works and stream of consciousness ideas. He's been winning poetry contests since 6th grade, but recently he's been featured in online publications including <a href="http://www.haggardandhalloo.com/">Haggard & Halloo Publications</a>, quite a few times - and even the Tattooed Poets Project, back in 2011. He's currently floundering back and forth between wanting to pursue his poetry pseudo-career to get more of his work out there, and the soul-crushing hopelessness that any poet feels, wanting to pursue their medium in the year 2013. <br /><br />Thanks to David for once again contributing to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7961767197120935" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7961767197120935" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">©2013 The Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday</span></span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7961767197120935" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7961767197120935" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday.</span></span></b></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7961767197120935" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing this on another website 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><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></b>

The Tattooed Poets Project: David Jonathan Newman

We have another returning Tattooed Poets Project alumnus today, David.Jonathan Newman. David's previous contribution appeared two years ...

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Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met was Tom, who had some cool work to share.<br /><br />It was his <a href="http://www.mcescher.com/">M.C. Escher</a>-inspired sleeve that first caught my attention:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipilEf1KvnMRVC67MI_G1rZXQauixeuN7Zv36TLuJ4KbYa-WZZM_TgumzMY-IydIimiPVZgNdb2rM-0E9488bVA71T1WpJbJmYT1RCjhZzKDOI15BKr45lV7nD96o2fwLxLbZX50ltWmY/s615/IMG_0361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipilEf1KvnMRVC67MI_G1rZXQauixeuN7Zv36TLuJ4KbYa-WZZM_TgumzMY-IydIimiPVZgNdb2rM-0E9488bVA71T1WpJbJmYT1RCjhZzKDOI15BKr45lV7nD96o2fwLxLbZX50ltWmY/s640/IMG_0361.JPG" width="305" /></a></div><br />Among the designs from which Tom drew inspiration were Escher's "12 Birds"<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/16%20Twelve%20Birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/16%20Twelve%20Birds.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br />and his "Lizard."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/12%20Lizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/12%20Lizard.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tom credited his artist Haun Duong, located in Queens, with this work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">His other arm has a compilation of the works of the Japanese artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai">Katsushika Hokusai</a>:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1pgiiy0s7bmE1KEfIU8I-RYp07_dM3Y-bgGt6QZK8Kum-auPS_wFZFKT9luFJEUmqn4uDL33d7_IZ-3j69sxqEjTDt0Mg5vtPsUnS1Q1EN7c11ZKhLMzKykay647sSvYUg9_9Hh8fBU/s614/IMG_0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1pgiiy0s7bmE1KEfIU8I-RYp07_dM3Y-bgGt6QZK8Kum-auPS_wFZFKT9luFJEUmqn4uDL33d7_IZ-3j69sxqEjTDt0Mg5vtPsUnS1Q1EN7c11ZKhLMzKykay647sSvYUg9_9Hh8fBU/s640/IMG_0362.JPG" width="356" /></a></div><br />This is based primarily on his most recognizable work, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa">The Great Wave of Kanagawa</a></i>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/75703088/KanagawaWave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/75703088/KanagawaWave.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Tom told me that the <i>koi </i>fish represent the fact that he is a Pisces and that he has a twin sister. And there are additional elements from the Japanese master lower on the arm that represent him and his wife, along with three turtles (not pictured) which represent his kids. And inside the bicep:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rrANKXgfUdyJd1l7fZB1TVXUETeeGjSPQ9zNwduy9zPTrXaZZyA_Ytox9KDRPU7IjxfQjuOpW-rrfqKUq7Q2Egi5_9RvKnFX4mxGMiIpDxJbN7ad-SFAoRBEsP4EfVzUCU2U_2XtFs/s615/IMG_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rrANKXgfUdyJd1l7fZB1TVXUETeeGjSPQ9zNwduy9zPTrXaZZyA_Ytox9KDRPU7IjxfQjuOpW-rrfqKUq7Q2Egi5_9RvKnFX4mxGMiIpDxJbN7ad-SFAoRBEsP4EfVzUCU2U_2XtFs/s640/IMG_0365.JPG" width="258" /></a></div><br />The falcon and the snake represent the good and the bad within him.<br /><br />Thanks to Tom for sharing his great work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9506956902332604" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another website 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><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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></span></b>

Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met w...

Read more »

The Tattooed Poets Project: Christine Hamm

Today's tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.christinehamm.com/">Christine Hamm</a>:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s1600/Hamm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455298430990060498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOUhZhW_iLjnVS0X9otCFXZLQD4fWDc2F-GYTZi4c5hGRSijy0Cu0DhPfUCdRyVmyN3u0Ci1s9ukyCiXEt8ccpPmvGyafQ0VqKzqASIbfMY56WxmJOGdXUZRoGbb24WovFacYLTyd0/s400/Hamm.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />Christine, a fellow Brooklynite, explained her tattoo as follows:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>"Why my tattoo? Is it a museum on my arm? Is it some kind of message from outerspace? Children run to me just to touch it: ask me what the words mean, what I'm trying to spell. There are no words, only water.<br /><br />For many years, I had been thinking about getting matching tattoos of waves splashing up my calves to my knees, as if I were wading in the ocean, perpetually. I thought about the cost, I thought about how the tattoos would look with a miniskirt -- I realized that if I got them, I'd always want to be wearing jeans rolled up to my knees and salt-stained t-shirt. I can't carry seashells all the time in my pockets, I can't be brushing the sand out of my hair every five minutes. So I decided to take less of a plunge, enter the water one arm at a time. It started off quite slow. <span style="font-style: italic;">Are you sure you don't want a fish</span>, the artist kept asking me as we mapped out my image on tracing paper. Everybody else gets a fish. <span style="font-style: italic;">Just water</span>, I said, <span style="font-style: italic;">just waves</span>. The tattoo was to celebrate --- some kind of new awakening, finally going back to grad school to get my PhD in Lit like I always wanted, finally believing I could achieve something more. The waves are Asian-inspired; many who see my arm mention <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai">Hokusai</a>, but the water is not taken directly from him. I was thinking of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen">Zen</a> when I finally decided on these particular waves; I was thinking that if I could just be in the water, neither sinking nor floating above, if I could just be. Water has always suggested to me some kind of slower, purer imitation of our world, something more real and less sharp. Not just amniotic fluid, not just rain, but the color, the there-not there texture, the kiss of it."</blockquote></div>And that explanation, my friends, is one of the many reasons I love the Tattooed Poets Project.<br /><br />She credits the work to <a href="http://www.finelinetattoo.com/staff/">Mike Bakaty</a> at <a href="http://www.finelinetattoo.com/">Fineline Tattoo NYC</a> on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, who inked this about three years ago.<br /><br />Christine is a PhD candidate in English Literature<span style="font-style: italic;">,</span> teaches at <a href="http://www.cuny.edu/index.html">CUNY</a> in New York City, and was runner-up to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens">Queens</a> Poet Laureate. Her second book of poetry, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.plainviewpress.net/gallery2/pages/Saints-&-Cannibals.htm">Saints & Cannibals</a>, </span>is coming out this spring. For more about her, go to her blog <a href="http://chamm.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />To read a poem from Christine, as part of the Tattooed Poets Project, head over to BillyBlog <a href="http://oxypoet.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-christine-hamm.html">here</a>.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Christine Hamm

Today's tattooed poet is Christine Hamm : Christine, a fellow Brooklynite, explained her tattoo as follows: "Why my tattoo? Is it a...

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Brazilian Butterfly

It was a long week and I was heading home. I had just hit the subway station at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Street%E2%80%93Herald_Square_%28BMT_Broadway_Line%29#BMT_Broadway_Line_platforms">34th Street/Herald Square</a>. The entrance I was using, by chance, was the Southwest exit into the <a href="http://www.manhattanmallny.com/">Manhattan Mall</a>. A woman walked by me with this tattoo:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fXidydsBgdnJ1iP8hP64mmX1lVTEXbI-T888i8q4pMk27sgRDWMrQJIC0o7RGGI5Y5oRd8qt0IYC0eQDL3rlI4s20a_vJozITcxpRHt2Teu05GfJ6TzpHhjaP2x4-b8Mvmqf02lJoOM-/s1600-h/100_5296.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118033602835847474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0fXidydsBgdnJ1iP8hP64mmX1lVTEXbI-T888i8q4pMk27sgRDWMrQJIC0o7RGGI5Y5oRd8qt0IYC0eQDL3rlI4s20a_vJozITcxpRHt2Teu05GfJ6TzpHhjaP2x4-b8Mvmqf02lJoOM-/s400/100_5296.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>I couldn't help it. I had to stop and ask her what the story was. Butterflies are pretty common as tattoo matter, but this was the most unusual and stunning one I had seen. This butterfly is unique in that she designed it herself and then worked with the tattoo artist in <a href="http://www.nyack.org/">Nyack</a> over a three month period to perfect the design.<br /><br />The butterfly body consists of the symbol for infinity, which I thought was a cool touch to represent the eternal.<br /><br />She was totally open to me taking closer shots of each of the four quadrants of the wings, each of which was a slightly different size, by design, so that no two aspects of her life were the same.<br /><br />Renata is originally from Brazil, and the two bottom sections have ocean elements because she grew up in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo">São Paulo</a>, near the sea. The left and right bottom sections each bear the first initials of her parents, M & A.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztCYS83pKm3PvBFnwlAPoFdB5lbYZHX3XYivggTyETJN5GlsUhDFQJPPDk3zxIh_wivzUttFDgLRxQxBRojxr8nIn1CpiojtHnNnKye2ihblBVlLeraHHrSZEuiWJfApzGAn0E_7M49qD/s1600-h/100_5298.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118033332252907778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztCYS83pKm3PvBFnwlAPoFdB5lbYZHX3XYivggTyETJN5GlsUhDFQJPPDk3zxIh_wivzUttFDgLRxQxBRojxr8nIn1CpiojtHnNnKye2ihblBVlLeraHHrSZEuiWJfApzGAn0E_7M49qD/s400/100_5298.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4-2oJ_Lf9yKCggvfNL1AuiBXrASYr3tdrgOF3ZgW6G1K18ZuuVeRxF4qjgQyhNqQgk7cunGb3xUzFDmRBBPuCqhovn4egPLC34cDxMWNknPDgTh6HpI5JzcnFfgL41V4LrU-h1DtW8e7/s1600-h/100_5299.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118033194813954290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4-2oJ_Lf9yKCggvfNL1AuiBXrASYr3tdrgOF3ZgW6G1K18ZuuVeRxF4qjgQyhNqQgk7cunGb3xUzFDmRBBPuCqhovn4egPLC34cDxMWNknPDgTh6HpI5JzcnFfgL41V4LrU-h1DtW8e7/s400/100_5299.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />The top sections are beautifully-rendered representations of the sun and the moon, completing the worldly representations in the wings of the butterfly.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92sfAEyEWcMa1VeXvqDVFTZRHBY8KCUwtS8bsTFTT19JKA17I0O3p-AgQTYhL8QGI2NUmJs0TQhsdw-4Ljjl94GKnqcNvOK8HJcrfJoIqyPoKEl2h1gmFoEp_-4AoR6zgIaGn-_85lDP5/s1600-h/100_5300.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118033521231468834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92sfAEyEWcMa1VeXvqDVFTZRHBY8KCUwtS8bsTFTT19JKA17I0O3p-AgQTYhL8QGI2NUmJs0TQhsdw-4Ljjl94GKnqcNvOK8HJcrfJoIqyPoKEl2h1gmFoEp_-4AoR6zgIaGn-_85lDP5/s400/100_5300.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhyphenhyphenfP6Hj7z77xsqMwm4LpYUlZRpOP6wJ4FMBca5co154jF612z6A0d-HBzFvp7hJ81CSBhg_dfbmcSQFqkEokgoMBAPelWGwTp7MBZQr-78MMDBgUFDIx1ZkC26jJ5icKgG8CBfoGc4rV/s1600-h/100_5297.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118033431037155602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhyphenhyphenfP6Hj7z77xsqMwm4LpYUlZRpOP6wJ4FMBca5co154jF612z6A0d-HBzFvp7hJ81CSBhg_dfbmcSQFqkEokgoMBAPelWGwTp7MBZQr-78MMDBgUFDIx1ZkC26jJ5icKgG8CBfoGc4rV/s400/100_5297.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Thanks to Renata for her time as she explained this marvelous tattoo to me. I gave her my e-mail address so she can send me the information on the artist, so he can get credit for this lovely piece of body art.

Brazilian Butterfly

It was a long week and I was heading home. I had just hit the subway station at 34th Street/Herald Square . The entrance I was using, by cha...

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