Voice Post

[gement]

Comments

[eeyorerin]

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's certainly a fascinating one.

[annissamazing]

I think you should go for it.

[maribou]

I think it's a good idea, but you should think on it for a while. Also the auto-transcription of this post is amusing.

[gement.livejournal.com]

I look pretty manic without appropriate use of periods and commas. How did it handle "Gallifrey" before my sister went in and fixed it?

Edit: AHA! "feel of Gallagher." ... Would that be the sensation of violently pulped watermelon hitting you in the face?

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Well at least it didn't read as 'feet of Galloway', when I can see certain English accents causing.

[garillama.livejournal.com]

Doooo iiiiiit!

[capnexposition.livejournal.com]

wait wait, you're shaving your head? o_o

[gement.livejournal.com]

I take it you missed the early stages of the Hair Adventure?

http://gement.livejournal.com/84893.html
http://gement.livejournal.com/85067.html
http://gement.livejournal.com/87056.html

I've been quiet about ensuing changes because I haven't had the energy to deal with cropping and formatting pictures, but I intend to release relevant data soon.

[capnexposition.livejournal.com]

Well I remember the original shorter haircut, which I approved of at the time (and continue to approve of, despite having not seen it in person), but I didn't hear about shaving completely.

Huh.

[garillama.livejournal.com]

I can't wait for pictures!

Icon love

[annissamazing]

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I adore this icon. Also, this is the first time I've ever done an "icon love" post. Thanks!

[ursuscelticus.livejournal.com]

I once knew a woman who shaved her head and had the entire top of her head tattooed with a giant lotus flower with an Ohm symbol in the middle of it. Kinda cool, actually. Then she let her hair grow back in. Course, it *was* the mid-90s when she did that, and she *was* in her early 20s. Guess that probably doesn't help, huh?

[ilmarinen.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's gonna be painful. Not sure if that's a plus or a minus for you.

I wish I could feel inspired enough to want a tattoo. There is odd mix of feelig I'd have to like the artist and art a lot, and for it to have some significance, which would require the artist know me, etc.

-B.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I know a great many people who are careful about their emotional relationship with the pattern and placement (which is something that I'm still chewing on). Aside from relationship markings, I'm not sure I've heard anyone talk about their relationship with the artist past "I trust him to do good work and he knows what my piece is about."

[ilmarinen.livejournal.com]

Well,there are potentially two levels of artist here. One is the designer of the actual image/symbol/etc. The other is the tattoo artist who would engrave it on my skin. I know they can be, and often are, the same person, but not always.

For the first, wearing, becoming, part of someone else's creation (art image/expression) feels very personal. It would work if they were very distant to me, to the extent that they were a non-entity to me. Such as, if it was a image that no longer "belongs" to a particular person--part of culture of mythology, or something like that. But then that's probably not very original or personal to me. If I was more of an artist, I could design my own, or work with a tattoo artist to design it.

The tattoo artist is engaged in an intimate act of tattooing me, but that could be a somewhat impersonal relationship--just as I'm ok with my dentist sculpting my rear molar. There is most a matter of comfort with the person and trust in their competency.

If that all makes sense.

-B.

[gement.livejournal.com]

It does make sense. Possibly below the level of your definition of art in the last comment: Unless one goes with the absolutely strict line-art version of something, there's going to be art involved in deciding exactly *how* to represent it. (I've been chewing on how I'd like to work with that if I do this.)

So I guess there's art that is bigger than the artist and artist that is bigger than the art, if that makes sense. Someone realizing his or my vision of how Thor ought to look is doing it in service of Thor, and possibly of my idea. Or whatever else. Lee's getting a trash monster done on his leg. He's the one with the idea of the trash monster, he's just getting someone else to do the physical drawing part and telling them if it looks right.

Then there's being wowed by the designer's vision (or possibly by the relationship energy with the designer) and saying, "You designed something incredible and I think it would look good on my leg!" or "This would be very symbolic of Us." And that's more about the designer than the design.

The middle ground being, "I like Thor (or trees, or personally powerful symbol of choice). I don't know what it should look like, though. How would you put Thor on me?" which is I think what most people do.

I guess in my mind the symbolism, the archetype, always comes first and always comes out of ME, and the rest of the design work is steering, thinking of the artists as, well, tools, like the dentist. What an interesting realization.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Outside Agitator says do!

[gement.livejournal.com]

You're a terrible influence. :)

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Can I still wink without seeming like Sarah Palin?

[gement.livejournal.com]

In two days, it won't matter.

(If the unthinkable happens, is there room at your house? I have a master's, so I think they'll let me in.)

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

No. Bring tent.
Not going to happen, through. Unless there's shenanigans!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't believe this election is steal-able, for technical reasons I won't dwell on, because of course I have never considered the matter on even a purely theoretical level.
I never think bad thoughts!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I also have no thoughts on how to orchestrate a coup d’état. My mind just doesn't go to places like that, even in my darkest thoughts.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

And I have never given any thought at all to how one might go about deleting all the financial records of an entire cabinet.

[gement.livejournal.com]

You're a bad, bad man.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

And Canada has made absolutely no elaborate contingency plans since 1815 about how to disable the U.S. if they ever tried to forcibly annex us again. None. No.
We are a bad, bad country.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

You could always immigrate someday, anyway, just because you groove on the country, and want to help make it groovier...
But that, if and when, should happen on *your* schedule.
But I'd be very proud to be there as you swore allegiance to the Queen.:)

In two days, it won't matter.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

You betcha!

[mathochist.livejournal.com]

I'd think that if you want something permanently tattooed on your body, you'd want it somewhere where it *wouldn't* be covered up all the time. So you could at least show it off whenever you want to. But your head would be covered all the time, unless you decide to keep it shaved.

What about getting it somewhere like the nape of your neck, or off to one side on the back of your neck, where your hair would cover it if it was longer than buzz cut, but you could also lift your hair to show it when you wanted to?

[gement.livejournal.com]

I considered that on the first wave of "I could hide it" along with thigh, bikini line, side of breast, the other relatively hide-able places.

But I like necks, and I have a good long neck that I like showing off. The big thing about my skin as a canvas is that sometimes the whitespace is the most effective use of it. I like being able to lift my arms and turn around naked and just see the curves of me without distractions.

The point of the tattoo for me would be more a pledging allegiance than a showing people the design. Doctor Who means certain things to me, pacifism and pursuit of truth and justice and brilliance and not taking oneself too seriously. The shape, with its curves and rotational symmetry and Art Deco sensibility, adds a grounding sense of order and music and math to the Doctor's loose cannon.

I'd rather just know it's there, if that makes any sense. Good consideration, though. Thanks for helping me articulate that.