Emily Vieweg on the Tattooed Poets Project

Today's tattooed poet is Emily Vieweg, who is very generously sharing all of her tattoos:

Emily elaborates:

"My first tattoo was my lower back, designed by an online acquaintance. A broken heart, sewn together with the initials of my two angel babies. Unexpected pregnancies that ended in miscarriage in my 20s ... My left shoulder blade is a dedication to my son. My right shoulder blade is an angel on my shoulder. The center kanji symbols says Dragon-Woman-Mother-Love."

 The back tattoos were inked at Fine Line Tattoo in Topeka, Kansas.

Emily notes "my right wrist reminds me that no matter what job I have and no matter where I am in life, that I am a writer." This was done at 46 & 2 Tattoo in Fargo, North Dakota.

She adds, "my pink breast cancer awareness ribbon [is] for my mother who is now 8 years breast cancer-free."

Emily notes "Sunflowers are my sister's favorite flower. She is on my ankle because she is my stability. Tulips are my favorite flower." The tulips were done at 46 & 2, and the sunflower was inked at Addictions Tattoo in Fargo.

Emily sent us the following poem, which was originally published in Void Magazine in 2006, and then republished on www.writingraw.com in 2015.

Not Another Empty Table 

A trip home brings me closer
to friends, in theory. I grab
dinner at a bar, gasping a
short breath and sip my ice water,

place my napkin gently on my lap.
I don’t want another year of
tables with service for one.
My quesadillas, no onions, appear

with a salad on the side – I love bar food –
A bottle of Korbel washes it down
as the seconds tick tock and tease.
I want a table full of party sandwiches

a ketchup-stained summer tablecloth
with those clip-art fish and beach toys
painted on top. I want
a full dance card

an address book overflowing
so every time I open my bag
I am loved.

~ ~ ~

Emily Vieweg is a poet and playwright originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Her work has been published in Foliate Oak, The Voices Project, Northern Eclecta, Red Weather Literary Magazine, Soundings Review and more. Her chapbook, "Look Where She Points" is forthcoming from Plan B Press. She lives in Fargo, North Dakota where she is a mother of two, pet parent, data processor, educator and human rights advocate.

Thanks to Emily for sharing her tattoos and poem with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2016 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoos are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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 http://tattoosday.blogspot.com 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.

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!

Tattoorism 101: Alli's Ink

Here's another installment of Tattoorism. Alli sent me these photos at the beginning of October, so I appreciate her patience while I've taken the time to post these. I'll let Alli speak for herself:

Hey there,

I'm an avid Tattoosday reader. I, like many others, enjoy the stories that connect us all through one mutual love: tattoos.

I have three tattoos, my first inking done at 16 in Durham, North Carolina. I don't exactly remember the name of the shop, it was really underground and kind of shady. It's the old flag saying "don't tread on me," inspired by a respect for my veteran father and love for American war history. It's on my left foot:


My second tattoo was done at Glenn's Tattoo Service Inc. in Carrboro, North Carolina by the artist Paulie Andrew. A few weeks after my 18th birthday, I went in with a friend and saw this design on the wall. I immediately asked about it, and he told me everyone always compliments it, but no one had gotten it tattooed yet. I sat on it, went back the next day, and got it tattooed on my upper back in dedication of the bond shared between my father, my sister Carly, and myself:


Through our lives, the changes in characters have been so many, but we always stuck together. Elephants are a sign of good luck, too, which is always a plus. :)


[That's the tattoo at the top of the post, as well.]

My last tattoo was inked in Athens, Ohio. Can't remember the name of the parlor right now, but it was my second day of college. Inspired by the possibility of my dreams of becoming a writer coming true, the start of real life, I got one of my favorite quotes tattooed on my right underarm:


"So it goes" is from the works [first introduced in Slaughterhouse-Five] of Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors of all time. Reading Vonnegut is one of the reasons I came to this school to pursue writing as a career, and it's also how I like to handle what life throws at me. This tattoo was also prompted by the New Buffalo song "Cheer Me Up Thank You," which I think is absolutely amazing. [Here's the video:]




Sorry about the poor focus of the pictures. If it makes the cut for the site, feel free to crop. My camera is under repair right now, so it was just randoms I found!

Thanks so much.

Alli

Thanks, Alli, for sharing your ink here with us at Tattoosday! And thank you for waiting so patiently for me to process your post!

Diablo Shows Off Her Tattoo on Hollywood's Biggest Night

Ok, so this is out of the theme, in that I am in no way involved with the photography of this tattoo. But it is a big story and so I thought I'd throw out some ink news.

Diablo Cody won the Oscar for best original screenplay last night, and she made the New York Post front page, along with her pin-up tattoo.

But there's more to this than meets the eye...

Click here to read about Diablo Cody's tattoo "drama".


She actually just recently had "Jonny's Girl" covered up. Actually quite a fine job...you'd never know it's a cover-up.

A little plug, here's her book:



You can buy it here.