Yellow Mustard Blog

Two posts in one day! Wow!

I am getting the tattoo itch again, and I think I'm going to get one (or two) for my birthday. The question is...what should I get?
I am one of those people that wants their tattoo to be completely unique and artistic, so they end up getting a tattoo of a star on their arm, only to find that EVERYONE, including their great-uncle from Poland, has a star tattoo. On their arm. Way to go, wunderkind.

My first tattoo, of Braque's doves was definitely unique and I'm proud of that. I also like that it's on the back of my neck, it's like my little secret :)
But lately I've been wanting something people can see, so I've been thinking about getting a design on my wrists. In keeping with my bird theme, I thought about maybe getting one of those sailor swallows on each wrist. No, you pervert, not the phrase "sailor swallows" but the actual drawing of swallows. Sailors used to get them tattooed on their arm when they had successfully traveled like, 5,000 nautical miles and back. It was a symbol of hard work and achievement. And of course, in my usual fashion, I am going to rape this time-honored tradition in order to look cool.

I have also heard that recently released prison inmates get swallows tattooed on their wrist. So maybe I'll look like a bad-ass!! I guess with my one piercing and two tattoos, I'm more like bad-ass lite...but it's a start.

I am also really interested in getting a textual tattoo...a word or phrase or poem written on the skin. Lately I've been obsessed with Pablo Neruda, and I think it would be cool to get a quote or poem of his...somewhere. I also so a girl with a tattoo that said, "I have a strong will to love you for eternity" written on her hip. That's a line from a book by Milan Kundera. (He wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and I love his stuff too)
Would it be horribly wrong to steal someone else's beautiful tattoo idea and use it for my own? I have this fear (keep in mind, I am a neurotic loser) that when if I go to a tattoo place and ask for this, they'll be like, "Hey! This is the exact tattoo in the exact place as another girl. You tattoo plaigarist!!!"
Also, you walk a very fine line between "eloquent" and "maudlin" when getting a text tattoo. So I feel like whatever is inked on me better really really mean something.

Here are some quotes I am thinking about getting, please comment if you like. They're mostly about love (when using Pablo Neruda material, it's usually about love or pain) because I'd like to get something to honor my new husband :)

1.
"These are the things that I want:
A room made of books
A house made of flowers
A love made of us"

2.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;so I love you because I know no other way.
or
so I love you because I know no other way than this:
where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that when your eyes close I fall asleep.

3.
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists
aromas, light, metals
were little boats that sail toward those isles of yours that wait for me

4.
You gather things to you like an old road.
You are peopled with the echoes and nostalgic voices.
I awoke and at times birds fled and migrated
That had been sleeping in your soul

0r in Spanish:
Acogedora como un viejo camino.
Te pueblan ecos y voces nostálgicas.
Yo desperté y a veces emigran y huyen pájaros que dormían en tu alma.

5.
"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.”

6.
"I want to do to you what spring does with the cherry trees.”

and of course:
"I have a strong will to love you for eternity"