Letters on the M Train (Tattoosday Plays the Alphabet Game)

Continuing our alphabetical adventure through the subways, I set my sights on the M train (Wonder what's going on? I recap A through L here).

I took the L one stop to 6th Avenue, where I switched for the M.

12:27 Waiting for the M.

12:35, on a northbound M, when I met Casey.

Casey had some tattoos marked on his hands which I found interesting:

Looking at the visible tattoos in this image, you'll see four letters. From left to right, there's a "C" on his index finger, a "T" on the middle finger, another "C" on his ring ringer, and a "K" below the knuckle of his pinky. Casey explained that the letters were initials of his siblings, and they are all based on fonts from French childrens' books. So, the first C and T are based on the font in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince. The second C and the K are based on fonts from Edmond à la plage.

These tattoos were also on his hand:

He pointed out that he tattooed the word "love" himself and the "R.O.T." stands for "Right On Time," a nickname he got from kids he was counseling that refers to his punctuality.

Thanks to Casey for sharing these interesting hand tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Come back tomorrow to see what happened on the next train!

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Li's Tattoo Recalls Saint Exupéry

A tattoo means the most to the person who has endured the process.

A tattoo often represents more than what meets the eye.

I met Li along the New Jersey Transit corridor of Penn Station.

She has five tattoos, and chose this one to share with us here on Tattoosday:


What I find intriguing about this piece is that it is not abundantly clear to a stranger what it is.

Li had this tattoo based on, she said, a drawing by Jean Piaget, that depicts the author Antoine de Saint Exupéry rolling an orange along the keys of a piano.

Saint Exupéry, most notably the author of The Little Prince, is Li's favorite author.

Li told me that the writer rolled the orange over the keys, which produced a soothing noise which helped his wife sleep at night,

I could not find the drawing to which Li refers, but I did find this reference, in Saint-Exupery: A Biography, by Stacey Schiff:

At Silvia's he devised a game he called "des oranges sur le piano." By rolling one orange up and down the black keys and a second over the white he was able to produce what sounded to most ears like honest Debussy.

This tattoo was inked by Rachel, formerly of No Ka Oi Tiki Tattoo, in Philadelphia.

Thanks to Li for sharing her fascinating tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!