And so it goes...

I knew someone who had the phrase "So it goes" tattooed across her collarbone. People would always ask her the significance of the tattoo and she would stare at them blankly then exclaim "It's Kurt Vonnegut! It's meaningful. It's everything."

Now I will admit I have never read Slaughterhouse Five (from which the above phrase was taken). It's one of those books I have always been meaning to read. Eventually. Since I haven't my knowledge of this phrase is only that its repeated throughout the book and holds some significance. That's it. But that phrase was able to reach out from a novel and become a person's entire belief system. Enough so that they got a tattoo of it.

I think it's a great testament of a writer's ability to stick with its audience if people are tattooing your words across their skin. I mean that shit is permanent. That's the idea anyway. Your words will be on this person's body until their skin has disintegrated. Imitation might be the highest form of flattery but tattooing someone else's words onto you might be as flattering as it gets.

Literary tattoos are insanely popular. Contrariwise features a lot of tattoos from book quotes to song lyrics. A personal favorite of mine is

via contrariwise.com

It says "the world is quiet here". The quote is from my favorite book series as a kid, "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket.  I've always loved that quote. But would I get a tattoo of it? After consideration I had to keep it real with myself. Nope. But this person did and I must say it looks very nice.

I'm also a huge fan of Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar". I found this gem:

via contrariwise.com

It says "I listened to the old bray of my heart" on the left side and "I am i am i am" on the right.Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE this tattoo. From the font to the placement I think its perfect. However, once again, no, I would not get this tattoo.

Finally, I also fell for this tattoo.

via contrariwise.com

From Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk it says "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything." Another quote that I love and that is pretty popular in the tattoo world. It's great but again not for me.

I am a person who has no tattoos and most likely would never get any because I'm sure as soon as I did I would change my mind and want a different one in a different place. I am the person who struggles to decide what to eat every day and then just as I take the first bite of my Big Mac decide I really wanted pizza. Or maybe sushi. I cannot make a decision to save my life...so hopefully I never have to.

Other people can though. And so many decide  what they should tattoo are another person's words. Although I probably won't be jumping on the bandwagon myself I am infatuated with the idea. If someone ever decided to make that commitment between words of mine and their flesh, my words would accept the proposal blushing and crying while calling all the other words over to flaunt the engagement ring.

Contrariwise also has a section for So it goes. I discovered it's a mini literary tattoo phenomenon. All caused by one man's mind. So it goes...'til death and beyond. It's chilling, but in the greatest way.

Blog Shoutout!

The best way to learn about writing is to read, read, read! I'd like to draw attention to a fellow writing blog Sea of Rhymes run by my fellow classmate Yalabe. This blog promises to be "a mixture of intellect and dope words." It delivers. Personal favorite of mine is the poem "In This Skin Of Mine". Powerful words here. It's haunting, thought-provoking, and all around a great piece. Besides writing creative pieces the blog also has interviews and random musings from the author.  Good source of inspiration!

Carrie Bradshaw is My Religion (Sort Of)

So I failed. I made up every excuse in the book. I had to watch one more show on Hulu. I had to sort through my socks and make sure they all had partners. I had to feed my dog (I don't have a dog). I had to answer all of the telemarketing phone calls that always call me at the exact same time every day to request that I be put on their do not call list. And then proceeded to have nice little chats with each of them. There might have even been a point where I decided to organize my pens by the color spectrum. My fool proof plan was a failure.

It made me realize just because I set a goal to write does not mean I will write. Clearly, writer's block doesn't work that way. So although my exercise failed I did learn an important lesson. Maybe it's time to try something different.

Avid procrastinator and T.V. watcher that I am I found myself watching an episode of Sex and the City that was focused on my exact issue (Season 5, Episode 2 "Unoriginal Sin" to be exact). Carrie was also struggling with writer's block. She was talking about how her lack of inspiration led her to write about her quest to find the perfect french fry when I wanted to jump through the screen and give good ol' Sarah Jessica Parker a hug. Hallelujah sister! She knew my pain.

                                             (via theboywiththepradabackpack.blogspot.com)

Sex and the City hasn't just helped me with my writing but others too. I was surprised to find this article on how one writer learned about writing from Sex and the City. It struck me as insane and random but I suppose that's what writing can be sometimes. Doesn't matter how you find inspiration as long as you do. And it can come from the most surprising of places. So thank you Sex and the City.

                                                            (via anygoodshow.com)

In the episode Carrie writes a poem about how men are like argyle socks (again a random inspiration) and also goes to a baptism. The theme of religion and writing about whatever your eye lands on in your room gave me an idea for my own poem that popped into my head as I drank a refreshing glass of water.

Water For the Senses


Pour some water upon my eyes they have to be baptized
Cascading waves could never erase the sin from any saint
After prayer and contrition
Water can give no redemption
Aching with no other thought
I cast my sightless eyes upon my closed lids

So there it is! My first piece of writing post writer's block. It has no real meaning. I was just working with religious and watery imagery. But it's a start. Funny how it came from trying to avoid writing instead of from a writing exercise I was forcing myself to do. Carrie Bradshaw helped me find my faith in writing again. Amen.