Comments | literarytattoos: advice on quote selection, placement

tray_la_la in literarytattoos

advice on quote selection, placement

May 08, 2009 20:42

This is my first post, but I absolutely love this community! I am thinking about getting another tattoo for the first time in eight years and am trying to work out what I want/what would work. Ideally, I'd like it on the ribs, but I'm highly afraid after reading about how much it hurts. My first tattoo didn't hurt at all, but it's on my backside, ( Read more... )

henry david thoreau, placement, rib tattoo, william butler yeats, emily dickinson

Comments 16

salamanderrrr May 9 2009, 01:29:33 UTC

none of the 3 snippets can capture exactly what it means to you, but that's the point, it's for you. you know what it means, and if you have to explain it a few times, so be it. i particularly love the first idea, the dickinson quote. sure the ribs are going to be painful, but not a horrible experience. if you really want it there, you should do it :)

tray_la_la May 9 2009, 07:03:44 UTC

yeah, i'm thinking i'll just have to suck it up and go for it. i can't imagine any other place i'd want to put it anyway. and i love the dickinson quote too. i think i'm most torn between that and the yeats reference.

omgggg May 9 2009, 02:44:34 UTC

I have a quote on my ribs and it didn't hurt all that bad, actually. Even in the spots that it did hurt, I can hardly remember the pain now because of how happy I am with my tattoo. :)
Also, whenever I get tattoos I eat gobstoppers. I get completely distracted for some reason. Try it! haha.

Re: tray_la_la May 9 2009, 07:04:47 UTC

oh good, that's reassuring. and i'll definitely try the gobstoppers, lol.

this_repetition May 9 2009, 06:35:51 UTC

I'm a firm believer that Emily Dickinson poems, since so many of them are so short like this one, can't really be summed up in a single line because that line makes no sense out of context.

tray_la_la May 9 2009, 07:08:59 UTC

i agree that single lines from her poems never really communicate the whole message, but i think it's not too difficult to connect this line back to the main theme of love, if that makes any sense.

norton_gale May 9 2009, 11:49:47 UTC

But will the rib placement stretch out the quote if you ever become pregnant?

*wonders*

tray_la_la May 9 2009, 22:10:38 UTC

fancy seeing you here! *squishes*

someone commented below that it wouldn't stretch if i were to become pregnant, but i'm okay with taking the risk anyhow. my other tattoo is also in a place prone to stretching and i accepted when i got it that my body might distort it at some point.

norton_gale May 10 2009, 02:34:56 UTC

Hi! I love this comm... it gives me lots of ideas for my next tattoo, should I ever make the decision to get it. :)

It probably depends on the individual person's anatomy - I have a scar over my lower ribs that has stretched during pregnancy, but if you don't mind the risk, it's all cool.

harlequintgirl May 9 2009, 17:30:00 UTC

About a year and a half ago, I got about ten words tattooed below my left breast... The artist who was tattooing me said that he'd seen men literally rip coats in half with the pain of getting their ribs tattooed. I am not a fan of pain, and yes, it did hurt VERY bad, but I LOVE my tattoo, and sometime in the next year I'm going to get a similar quote beneath my right breast. I thank god that we can't remember pain!
I love that Yeats quote, but I really like your thoughts behind the Emily Dickinson line.
Oh, and no, rib tattoos shouldn't stretch if you get pregnant unless you get it quite low.

tray_la_la May 9 2009, 22:15:32 UTC

thanks for the tip about the stretching! as of now, i am also really torn between the yeats reference and the dickinson poem.

funnily enough, i am much more persuaded by women saying they coped with the pain than i am scared off by stories of men breaking down in tears. despite stereotypes about men's toughness, it's us ladies that are equipped to deal with tremendous amounts of pain (and then, yes, forget all about it!) :)