Tattoosday's Brush with Greatness: Joan Jett in Union Square

"Timing is everything," goes one saying, and "it's the little things" is also a phrase true to my heart.<br /><br />Before we venture on a little diversion, let's remind ourselves that Tattoosday is about "meeting and appreciating body art (okay, tattoos) in the New York City area". Unless I go on the road, of course.<br /><br />There are numerous sites that can give you a road map to celebrity tattoos, for example, but I generally don't encounter star ink, so it rarely graces this site.<br /><br />Yet yesterday found me down by Union Square, seeking out a copy of <a href="http://www.bodytypebook.com/">Ina Saltz's</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Body-Type-More-Typographic-Tattoos/dp/0810982765/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2">Body Type 2</a>, which I hope to bring with me tomorrow night to the Upper West Side <a href="http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2628">where</a> Ms. Saltz will be discussing the book.<br /><br />On the way back to the subway, I had the pleasure of running into a cluster of people milling about a tattooed individual who is a genuine rock star: the lovely <a href="http://www.joanjett.com/index.html">Joan</a><a href="http://www.joanjett.com/index.html"> Jett</a>.<br /><br />I was going to just gawk and move on, like a polite New Yorker, but Ms. Jett was there for a reason, she sported a black tank with an "I ♥ <a href="http://www.peta.org/">PeTA</a>" slogan and she was talking to folks about a cause near and dear to her, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism">vegetarianism</a>.<br /><br />Unbeknown to me, this was a bit of public relations, as indicated by <a href="http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=14624">a PeTA press release</a>.<br /><br />At some point, I thought, well maybe I could get Ms. Jett to talk about one of her tattoos, in exchange for some publicity on Tattoosday.<br /><br />Good idea, and even the PeTA people seemed to think so, but I only managed to squeeze in a mutual "hi" and eye contact, as I competed with fans with much more passion than me. But more on them later.<br /><br />I took these shots of one of her tattoos as I stood nearby:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHm2JZHCAsnBKs0qQdvGVocK0zSLRRLVdf0E21IkGTujFNbNZwOj9Fudd-nBl_XNApwy_6PLhdZCEEBq3voLiZgrUcxnqHMvvohCAODZdouOuHQp3UFQay6UDlyo1pGeN1qmZB9cIo/s1600/jett+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467729383515250082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHm2JZHCAsnBKs0qQdvGVocK0zSLRRLVdf0E21IkGTujFNbNZwOj9Fudd-nBl_XNApwy_6PLhdZCEEBq3voLiZgrUcxnqHMvvohCAODZdouOuHQp3UFQay6UDlyo1pGeN1qmZB9cIo/s400/jett+2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUR2X_B_WbRzMKtqoyOEOimp4QURMUn_FZja-4x5P6ET3cSpQIOZGFM0JYJDt7JddXYnkkORh96MDOXTrfcndGzDFU1XAQgzygCkJIKH0B1-mjKPFBNOxQ4TBqXyelV6jjx42Wbli6/s1600/jett+1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467729224923411346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUR2X_B_WbRzMKtqoyOEOimp4QURMUn_FZja-4x5P6ET3cSpQIOZGFM0JYJDt7JddXYnkkORh96MDOXTrfcndGzDFU1XAQgzygCkJIKH0B1-mjKPFBNOxQ4TBqXyelV6jjx42Wbli6/s400/jett+1.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br />I even took the obligatory self-portrait of myself with Ms. Jett being interviewed in the background, just to see how dorky I could make myself appear in public:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYbjqSE_8oWybW6i89YlyARVuVRLof2D5yN6SLCM1d-4YT9h8DsQ24jO_TAVaMNZJulxT8VsFbuLynj-VoYk3jZPchw3QCzhLD73kPkgQ8XxTtCnLVJL9pA8Fr2uvHALOh8dAIMsK/s1600/me+and+joan+jett.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467728995451522082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYbjqSE_8oWybW6i89YlyARVuVRLof2D5yN6SLCM1d-4YT9h8DsQ24jO_TAVaMNZJulxT8VsFbuLynj-VoYk3jZPchw3QCzhLD73kPkgQ8XxTtCnLVJL9pA8Fr2uvHALOh8dAIMsK/s400/me+and+joan+jett.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" /></a><br />I had a great post formulated about the piece, but found myself a little late to the party, based on <a href="http://www.needlesandsins.com/2010/03/an-ode-to-joan-jetts-tattoos.html">this great entry</a> by Marisa over at <a href="http://www.needlesandsins.com/">Needles and Sins</a>, which includes links to discussion about the meanings of her tattoos.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntq1nSyCI4Tm52R_E-smbFOMPSokyvaGA6pP3HnQVn4iY7zqwQo2a_cSvYmPuC8cug1hi24N70DxmB9faYPfdL7ZxJO4yZE2B7UVpTH1XopfOFJUN0bNJ-HQV_1OvcmHtVL-W1AR1/s1600/joan+jett+tattoo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467722894514770530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntq1nSyCI4Tm52R_E-smbFOMPSokyvaGA6pP3HnQVn4iY7zqwQo2a_cSvYmPuC8cug1hi24N70DxmB9faYPfdL7ZxJO4yZE2B7UVpTH1XopfOFJUN0bNJ-HQV_1OvcmHtVL-W1AR1/s400/joan+jett+tattoo.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" /></a><br />But, remember, here on Tattoosday, it's often as much about the encounter as it is about the tattoos.<br /><br />Remember the fans I mentioned before? I met Danielle, who sports a black heart tattoo (similar to one worn by Victor <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/06/heeeeeeeeeres-victors-tattoos.html">here</a>), but had just shown Ms. Jett this cool Runaways piece in the center of her back:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sIpou1v5MSzZ5ejck4-O9REBi9Cj2nJJz4Ypc7wS1roKEuLdX9IEMjhzA0YTKcVCcgWi95dmGDxk5zygHRlc_fYkEiRhogocRBIY7bSj2J2uti6iruRLD2oWI2zs7tXX2Ei7WREm/s1600/runaways.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467729086260794050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sIpou1v5MSzZ5ejck4-O9REBi9Cj2nJJz4Ypc7wS1roKEuLdX9IEMjhzA0YTKcVCcgWi95dmGDxk5zygHRlc_fYkEiRhogocRBIY7bSj2J2uti6iruRLD2oWI2zs7tXX2Ei7WREm/s400/runaways.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 365px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />Danielle co-hosts a web show on the <a href="http://whcs.hunter.cuny.edu/">Hunter College radio station</a> called <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331037703392&ref=share&v=info">Activity Grrrls' Radio Revolution</a> on Tuesdays at 2:00pm here (<a href="http://whcs.hunter.cuny.edu/" target="_blank">whcs.hunter.cuny.edu</a>), "where to go for your weekly dose of rock n roll".<br /><br />She was thrilled at meeting Ms. Jett and loved that it was in conjunction with a PeTA promotion. Danielle is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan">vegan</a> and the tattoo artist in New Jersey used vegan ink for the tattoo.<br /><br />Danielle updated me with the following information:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I got the tattoo done in <a href="http://www.lolastattoos.com/">Lola's Tattoo Shop</a> in New Jersey, the artist's name is <a href="http://www.littlereatatattoos.com/home.html">Charlie</a>. He's also vegan. I told him I wanted a tattoo of the words 'The Runaways' through two cherries and he came up with a design.</blockquote>So it was quite a productive lunch for me. I got my book, ran into Joan Jett, took a picture of her tattoo, and then got a photo of a piece inspired by her first band, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Runaways">The Runaways</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Joan, Danielle, and the folks at PeTA for helping make this post possible here on Tattoosday!<br /><br />If you're interested in Joan Jett's testimonial about her commitment to the vegetarian cause, check it out below:<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.petatv.com/swf/video.swf?v=joan_jett_veg_testimonial_high" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="255" width="335"></embed><br />You can order a FREE 'Vegetarian Starter Kit' at <a href="http://www.goveg.com/order.asp?c=petastreamvids">GoVeg.com</a>.<br /><br />More vegetarian testimonials <a href="http://veggietestimonial.peta.org/index.aspx">here</a>.<br /><br />And here's a <a href="http://www.peta.org/vsk/">link</a> to the <a href="http://www.peta.org/vsk/">PeTA Vegetarian Starter Kit</a> which Ms. Jett was distributing.<br /><br />And finally, here's <a href="http://www.digtriad.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=141603&catid=176">a link</a> to a news brief on the event with some video in which I do not appear.<br /><br />Full disclosure: I am married to a vegetarian, but I am not one myself. I possess not the willpower to commit to such a cause, but I support and commend those that do.

Tattoosday's Brush with Greatness: Joan Jett in Union Square

"Timing is everything," goes one saying, and "it's the little things" is also a phrase true to my heart. Before we v...

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