Two for Tattoosday: A Purple Lotus and the Fletcher House

In keeping with the spirit of duality, today's post is a two-for-Tattoosday Tuesday special.<br /><br />Yesterday outside of <a href="http://www.thegarden.com/">Madison Square Garden</a>, amid throngs of <a href="http://www.ironmaiden.com/">Iron Maiden</a> and <span id="goog_997700808"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Dream Theater<span id="goog_997700809"></span></a> fans, I met two guys who just happened to be there. If you want to see a great Maiden tattoo, look back in the archives <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/11/eddie-graces-eggheads-shoulder.html">here</a>.<br /><br />I met <a href="http://www.romanrimer.com/">Roman</a>, who conceived and performs in "<a href="http://magnettheater.com/viewshow.php?showid=35311">Evolution</a>," showing Tuesday, July 13, and Tuesday, July 20, at the <a href="http://magnettheater.com/">Magnet Theater</a> (254 W. 29th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues). With him was Louie, who directs the show which is billed as "international and comedic true stories intertwining spirituality, sex, laws, identity, drug vusts, discomfort, fear and discovery from a spontaneous road trip down south".<br /><br />Roman shared first, which seemed only fair, as it was his tattoo I noticed,creeping out from under his left sleeve:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyaByTV39f7eOWbt9spbw7u2Cah1wPauwlr-JDVl_pWmCMgfKQ-a7cdaKF0ZDCF0s3hQEm5YhCONnSBxqiGPrIxicGQbThcPEZqxCtOmla9NqyQoMc3d_5ZOk5cTuMMi9YbrXOJc7/s1600/purple+lotus+true.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyaByTV39f7eOWbt9spbw7u2Cah1wPauwlr-JDVl_pWmCMgfKQ-a7cdaKF0ZDCF0s3hQEm5YhCONnSBxqiGPrIxicGQbThcPEZqxCtOmla9NqyQoMc3d_5ZOk5cTuMMi9YbrXOJc7/s640/purple+lotus+true.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />He got this purple lotus because he likes the color purple (the actual color more than <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088939/">the movie</a> of the same name). And the lotus is special because, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism">Buddhism</a>, he understands the lotus to symbolize "freedom of attachment and desire".<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7AgVFkATDQwKJj6PqUvuiwA9-WnBWxeiJX_Bpj7aPj82cr7rFm9d2iZ_alcZYPc6mLORT4BrtCQH4VSi6h9dT2GJRqBvoulIh2JFiRQsKwbYjJgyq-46T7jXuu-6JD3ex2MtO77Q/s1600/purple+lotus+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7AgVFkATDQwKJj6PqUvuiwA9-WnBWxeiJX_Bpj7aPj82cr7rFm9d2iZ_alcZYPc6mLORT4BrtCQH4VSi6h9dT2GJRqBvoulIh2JFiRQsKwbYjJgyq-46T7jXuu-6JD3ex2MtO77Q/s400/purple+lotus+collage.jpg" width="353" /></a></div><br /><br />This tattoo took 3 to 4 hours and was inked by <a href="http://www.senaspace.com/">David Sena</a> when he was at <a href="http://www.risingdragon.com/">Rising Dragon</a> when they were at their 23rd Street location, although Sena is now at <a href="http://www.northstartattoo.com/index.php">North Star Tattoo</a>, the shop he co-founded in the East Village.<br /><br />Louie's tattoo was much smaller, but it had a more elaborate story:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHf43FzhIB1h7mfiMcNliGoAVBPi-YZ8tZG3O0OR9_eyfLCUw1ClHL9iANWwmS6qCLUbR2bj2l6TOOUztp4urJ-rBkDYzQK8bS2fK8Bu_tQWOQ-XAvmwkJk-XYRpw1LtYmslWfKxL/s1600/Fletcher+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHf43FzhIB1h7mfiMcNliGoAVBPi-YZ8tZG3O0OR9_eyfLCUw1ClHL9iANWwmS6qCLUbR2bj2l6TOOUztp4urJ-rBkDYzQK8bS2fK8Bu_tQWOQ-XAvmwkJk-XYRpw1LtYmslWfKxL/s400/Fletcher+House.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />This small design, on the outer left ankle of, represents a house in <a href="http://vancouver.ca/">Vancouver</a>, British Columbia, in which he and seven different people lived at different times during their college days. The house and the memories they all shared together there are so important, that Louie and six other friends share the same tattoo.<br /><br />The narrative took on a more elaborate spin, as Louie explained that his group of friends came up with a family name to represent the denizens of this house. They were/still are "the Fletchers," all residing in the Fletcher House. He likened them to an extended family like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramones">The Ramones</a>, and they chose the name because it sounded tough.<br /><br />So, as Louie a.k.a. "Rock" Fletcher tells it, his friend "Slim" Fletcher drew up the simple design for the house tattoo, and they had it inked at <a href="http://www.addictioninknyc.com/">Addiction Ink NYC</a>. Over the years, when one of the Fletcher family came to town, they went down to the shop to have the family member tattooed with the same design, not necessarily on the ankle, like Louie/Rock.<br /><br />It should be noted that Kim Fletcher, who is a relatively new mom (congrats Kim), has avoided the tattoo, so the rest of her Fletcher family created a needlepoint design of the house for her, so that she has the tattoo in a different shape and form, needled, but not in her flesh. Yet. Now that it is written here, forever on the pages of Tattoosday, it is only a matter of time. Kim Fletcher, you destiny is calling.<br /><br />Thanks again to both Roman and Louie for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to catch their play "Evolution" at the Magnet. If you show up at the box office and mention this post, you won't get any kind of discount, but I'm sure that they'll be thrilled to hear that you showed up as a result of their contribution here!

Two for Tattoosday: A Purple Lotus and the Fletcher House

In keeping with the spirit of duality, today's post is a two-for-Tattoosday Tuesday special. Yesterday outside of Madison Square Garden ...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Eboni Hogan

On this final day of the Tattooed Poets Project 2010, we have a double treat - the tattoos and poetry of both Jeanann Verlee (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/05/tattooed-poets-project-jeanann-verlee.html">here</a>) and her friend Eboni Hogan.<br /><br />What follows is a tat-alogue of Eboni's body art.<br /><br />She prefaces her work with the following proclamation:<br /><blockquote><br />"A Note About The Artist: A majority of the work (the shoulder piece, the peacock and the cherry blossoms) on my body were done by an amazingly talented artist named Craig Spencer out of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/whatevertattoo">Whatever Tattoo II</a> on St. Mark's Place who was also my boyfriend of almost four years until fairly recently. Yay! It's a sado-masochistic love story! Some liken this to getting a man's name tattooed across my boobs but I can say he is truly one of the only artists I trust with my flesh."</blockquote><br />And now the ink:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6xFXRXrZKWcfmeQiEWhvWm6m3p78mxBmrPoQk1QInyVW9_dktklHrJmUs-jzvGmIcdpHd7bPMUwwwQHakYmhGn78De7FXzOiSzYBgUQzYf41p8Ppt4C_MN_H1Q0_Z3nm9Os23CTX/s1600/eboni+feathers+1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463266346092367506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6xFXRXrZKWcfmeQiEWhvWm6m3p78mxBmrPoQk1QInyVW9_dktklHrJmUs-jzvGmIcdpHd7bPMUwwwQHakYmhGn78De7FXzOiSzYBgUQzYf41p8Ppt4C_MN_H1Q0_Z3nm9Os23CTX/s400/eboni+feathers+1.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a><blockquote>"This shoulder piece is a custom design that took the most amount of tweaking before I actually got it inked. There are three quill pens, a skeleton key and a key hole, all tied together with ribbons. I'd had a strange dream one night in which a creepy old woman handed me a set of keys, tied to three feathers and told me that if I could find the door, the key would let me out...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCeB4Kn9MoNg5-lbhtKOVcjnzBxYNaGxo9gVP1P9QeOcGKC1Q6hPYnxcB3S1ghpT2oyrzbJOaPpkzVzgixowPKmUB1n0Rnmxc7fVJcWsZf5zZxEaMssRaQguZQ7tiwDHyS5goBZRSP/s1600/eboni+feathers+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463266437586234706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCeB4Kn9MoNg5-lbhtKOVcjnzBxYNaGxo9gVP1P9QeOcGKC1Q6hPYnxcB3S1ghpT2oyrzbJOaPpkzVzgixowPKmUB1n0Rnmxc7fVJcWsZf5zZxEaMssRaQguZQ7tiwDHyS5goBZRSP/s400/eboni+feathers+2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />...In my dream, I draped the key over my shoulder for safe keeping (dream logic...) but when I finally reached the promised door, the key and the feathers were adhered to my skin. The image stuck when I woke up and I talked to the artist about designing a similar piece. He suggested that the feathers be quill pens to pay homage to my love of poetry."<br /></blockquote>Next we have an image linked inexorably to the history of tattoos in the West, with its background in naval history. It was inked by an unidentified artist at <a href="http://www.capitolcitytattoo.net/">Capitol City Tattoo</a> in Madison, Wisconsin:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UC1Z_BFNgpaJ_LNe9zQfusSFl1KgUEcRyWFtw1wQBA_AN9sNC3XBzPhYbq-cbWPmuJrx5YQ9946BArUsgeCvlXsSs_G3RugwtaEZOkU0srrMXbpYGEd_WGH4PebJj6p8D6si7PR0/s1600/eboni+anchor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463265878026922706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UC1Z_BFNgpaJ_LNe9zQfusSFl1KgUEcRyWFtw1wQBA_AN9sNC3XBzPhYbq-cbWPmuJrx5YQ9946BArUsgeCvlXsSs_G3RugwtaEZOkU0srrMXbpYGEd_WGH4PebJj6p8D6si7PR0/s400/eboni+anchor.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" /></a><br /><blockquote>"I adore old school tattoos of the Sailor Jerry variety. I am also really active in the poetry slam community and every team I have ever been coined "the anchor"- the poet put up towards the end of a slam to (fingers crossed) make a home run. At the 2008 National Poetry Slam in Wisconsin, I decided it would be suitable to get this piece on my ribs."</blockquote><br />Next up we have some cherry blossoms on the back of Eboni's right biceps:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRVLZ8BkcsoByVZb8NFRxY-d5wWLSv4wDJZFUfu_FA-tG0DgRrbwfHv_WWhzVDXrHey21ET0Iujt8YB8cMjqRvVg6UMkLjrBq3NnE3f1hgao6BQeH7msxnp6H6YZok1RzIFkfQE55/s1600/eboni+blossoms.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463265543103624066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRVLZ8BkcsoByVZb8NFRxY-d5wWLSv4wDJZFUfu_FA-tG0DgRrbwfHv_WWhzVDXrHey21ET0Iujt8YB8cMjqRvVg6UMkLjrBq3NnE3f1hgao6BQeH7msxnp6H6YZok1RzIFkfQE55/s400/eboni+blossoms.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">"Blossom on the tree you know how I feel</span>. Text by unknown artist, <a href="http://www.addictioninknyc.com/">Addiction Ink</a>, St. Mark's Place, cherry blossoms by Craig Spencer. If my life were a television series, <a href="http://www.ninasimone.com/">Nina Simone's</a> song "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeling_Good">Feeling Good</a>" would be the theme song. On my worst days, this is the never-fail anthem. The particular phrase that I decided on just happens to be the line in the song that feels infinitely more magical when sung at the tops of one's lungs. Try it."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" style="background-image: url(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/LOrqDx5dOp4/hqdefault.jpg);" width="425"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LOrqDx5dOp4&hl=en_US&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br /><br />And last, but not least, this lovely peacock:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6QLohj8P7cwMHgasodcZYlh84FEM8FsE8cjDXYXzqzEQRGCMKcUNdRd7VXUuSK5mmyM96n1r4MIjiIYqUXwy1u21e7kOZ5kE-sJyWT1HeqBwPuWdD_99ybibUfKFls5y1iODPKj7/s1600/eboni+peacock.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463265413435337874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6QLohj8P7cwMHgasodcZYlh84FEM8FsE8cjDXYXzqzEQRGCMKcUNdRd7VXUuSK5mmyM96n1r4MIjiIYqUXwy1u21e7kOZ5kE-sJyWT1HeqBwPuWdD_99ybibUfKFls5y1iODPKj7/s400/eboni+peacock.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 161px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />"Peacocks are symbols of renewal and are revered by multiple cultures across the world. Furthermore, let's face it- they got a whole lotta swag. I found a vintage painting of a peacock that I loved though it's not the traditional green and blue image people are used to seeing. I got it on my left hip so that it could also serve as a cover-up for a pretty awful tattoo I got when I was 17 and foolish."<br /><br />Thanks to Eboni for sending along so many tattoos for us here at Tattoosday. Be sure to head over to BillyBlog to read one of her poems, dedicated to poet Jeanann Verlee, <a href="http://oxypoet.blogspot.com/2010/05/tattooed-poets-project-eboni-hogan.html">here</a>. Jeannann's tattoo (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/05/tattooed-poets-project-jeanann-verlee.html">here</a>) precedes this post, and <a href="http://oxypoet.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-jeanann-verlee.html">her poem</a> is dedicated to Eboni.<br /><br />24 year-old poet, actress and Bronx native, Eboni Hogan, has performed in over 30 U.S. cities and facilitated workshops from refugee camps to prestigious universities. She studied theater at New York University's <a href="http://www.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html">Tisch School of the Arts</a>. She is the winner of the <a href="http://wow.poetryslam.com/">2010 Women of the World Slam Poetry Slam</a>, the 2008 <a href="http://www.gotpoetry.com/News/article/sid=47993.html">Urbana Grand Slam Champion</a> and a two time representative of the <a href="http://www.nuyorican.org/Poetry/poetry.html">Nuyorican Slam Team</a>. She is published in the anthologies <a href="http://www.penmanshipbooks.com/pb/wp_b6e99345/wp_b6e99345.html">His Rib</a> and <u>Double Lives</u> and recently released her first collection of poetry entitled <a href="http://www.penmanshipbooks.com/PENMANSHIP_BOOKS/Eboni.html">Grits</a> through <a href="http://www.penmanshipbooks.com/PENMANSHIP_BOOKS/Home.html">Penmanship Books</a>.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Eboni Hogan

On this final day of the Tattooed Poets Project 2010, we have a double treat - the tattoos and poetry of both Jeanann Verlee ( here ) and he...

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