Oh, Sarah-Rose

I am at the end of a month of tattoos and bepanthen.
For a month I have smelled like a tiny, like a child, legs and arm and finger either sticky or scabbed. I am delightful, I know.
This July I’ve gone from 9 tattoos to 13 tattoos.
(yep)

First there was my Friday the 13th tattoo. That took me from 9 to 10.

Then I heard that Char, the apprentice at Dr Morse Inc (who had tattooed Laura, a friend of mine) was offering too-good-to-be-true rates while she built up her base.
I all but jumped at the chance.
Of course she is also a very cool chick, a babe, and that Laura loved the tattoo she got from Char.

Which is how, on Sunday 29th July, I ended up at Dr Morse Inc. I was dressed sort of like a baseballer, and I walked out with three more tattoos than those I walked in with.

(you have my absolute and sincerest apologies for the instagram photos)

I’ve been a bit torn as to whether I should say I got two tattoos or three. Because, while it is split across the back of both of my legs, neither half would work without the other.

Things I learnt!
1. Your dominant side feels pain less than your non-dominant side. So tattooing my right leg before my left leg was not the wisest.
2. It is really hard to photograph the back of ones legs. It is even harder to get a flattering photo.

then there was a star danced, and under that was I born

From Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Act II scene I

DON PEDRO
Your silence most offends me, and to be merry best
becomes you; for, out of question, you were born in
a merry hour.

BEATRICE
No, sure, my lord, my mother cried; but then there
was a star danced, and under that was I born.

It’s funny to but noone has asked my why I chose this quote. I quite like that. After all, it really is none of their business. Maybe they just assumed I really really liked the quote.
I do love the play, it was my first and always favourite, and Beatrice is probably my favourite character. She is my Hamlet, the one character I would adore to play.

But why these, out of all of Shakespeare’s glorious words, I chose to have inscribed on me.
To me the words signify that that good things can come from pain, good things can come from sadness. It’s something I find calming and useful to remember.

The third and final tattoo was a bit of a whim.
It’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time but something I’ve avoided because, well, it’s really quite visible, and because it’s so small I didn’t want to book an individual appointment just for it. It took all of about 5 minutes to complete.

Then, one evening, as I sat with my second glass of wine, Char (who is on twitter) linked to a finger tattoo she’d just done. 5 minutes later I’d asked to have my own finger tattoo added on to my Sunday appointment.

This one has no story, no deeply personal meaning. I just think it’s beautiful.

And really, if my tattoos are my storybook? Sometimes illustrations can be there because they’re just beautiful.

Tags: diamond, finger, script, shakespeare, tattoo