Tattoo dreams
by V.E. on May 17th, 2009
filed under beauty, personal, wtf
I had a dream about tattoos last night. I had done… something… or was a part of something, I don’t remember what, and I had two (or three?) friends with me in this area of town that looked like… well, it reminded me of Tokyo in the late Edo or early Meiji era (think Samurai Champloo or Himura Kenshin). The dirt street was lit by hanging lanterns and there was some kind of shrine temple down the way, a little. It was.. very Japanese in setting.
Anyway, we were deciding on tattoos. We’d made some kind of pact, or I’d won something (or lost something, I don’t really remember) and two of us—me and a girl who I kept thinking was octaveleap but who wasn’t actually her—were getting something on our backs. It was to be the same thing, so we had to agree. Somehow, we came up with the idea of a flute, in pieces, diagonally across our backs from the upper left shoulder to the lower right hip. At the end of the flute near the hip, there would be a heart. I have no idea why we decided on that, and I remember thinking, “Can’t we at least change it to a clarinet, so I can remember Angela?” And then, the flute pieces kept looking more and more like vertebrae and the discussion was getting way out of hand because the tattoo was morphing right before my eyes and I didn’t know if I wanted a morphing tattoo on my body.
And then someone mentioned that I couldn’t have that idea done on my back, anyway, because my entire upper back was already covered in an elaborate tattoo of a crown of flowers. And this whole time, we’re sitting there, out in the open on the street in the middle of festival season and people are walking by in yukata and holding pinwheels and little goldfish in plastic bags like it was some carnival and my friend and I were only getting airbrush or henna tattoos.
I remember thinking, “Why the feck are we hanging out in the Tokugawa period? I’ve never even been to Japan.” And people were oogling at the crown of flowers on my back, even though I’m 100% sure I was fully clothed the entire time. And before I was even fully awake, I was in front of the mirror checking for errant tattoos that I hadn’t consciously signed up for. No crown of flowers and no vertebrae flute.
Hey, I never said any of the dream actually made sense.
One-sentence commencement speeches
by V.E. on May 17th, 2009
filed under beauty
[...courtesy of PostSecret. Or: Wear Sunscreen for our generation.]
In the real world, you must wear shoes.
You can do anything. But not everything.
Illegitimus non carborundum — don’t let the bastards grind you down.
Sometimes it’s more than okay to be terrified.
Wonder.
Understand the difference between being an adult and growing up…
Always remember to bring your towel.
Everything in life is only for now. Life may be scary, but it’s only temporary. This too shall pass.
Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
If you’ll regret it in the morning, sleep ’til noon.
Your GPA doesn’t matter.
You’ll regret the things you didn’t do, more than the things you did.
leap……and the net will appear
A theory can never be proven right so all you can do is keep proving it wrong.
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.
Take the chance—even if you are scared—you might hate it—it may not work—it may work—you might love it—but don’t live to regret not taking it.
“to do is to be” —nietzsche
“to be is to do” —kant
“do be do be do” —sinatra
only your song matters in the end
Amor vincit omnia—Love conquers all things.
Stop looking at the shell and see the pearl.
He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.
The true test of your character will be in how you treat those you DO NOT have to be nice to.
The darkest hours are the hours in which we discover ourselves.
Contrary to popular belief, these are not the best years of your life, just the least complicated.
if you do nothing else, fight a bear. that way, no matter what you face, you can always know you’ve seen worse.
There is always time for a dance break. Turn the music up, and keep on until you’re laughing.
Don’t be afraid of death… be afraid of the unlived life.
Sing in the car.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you any experience is not “a real world experience.”
when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…. I HOPE YOU DANCE.
Every once in awhile allow your ambition to border on cutthroat, it will scare the hell out of people who might otherwise take advantage of your kindness.
Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.
Everything worthwhile leaves bruises.
