HDT Tattoo

Through a number of different people I have meet Sally , she recently sent me a Myspace message asking if I would help her with her thesis about women and tattoo's so I happily volunteered to help. I have plenty of them after all....


Here is what I said:

Name: Paige
Age: 25
Date: January 17, 2008

My tattoo is of a quote by Henry David Thoreau (HDT) "Dreams are the touchstones of our character." I got the quote after reading his dream sequence books while living in England. Its in black in a scripted font from which I wrote out my self. The tattoo runs along the outside of my forearm between my wrist and elbow in a straight line. Its simply a text tattoo.

-What does it signify?
This tattoo singnifies how I was reacting to humanity during this phase of my life. HDT thought a lot about how humans lived there lives and why they do the things they do. I feel i am a lot like that. When I fist meet people I listen very closely to what they are say and how they react in the conversation. I use that information to not only get to know them better but to see how they interact with the world around them. I realize everyone is different and I love looking at those differences and how it effects their lives.

-Why did you choose to tattoo?
I chose this tattoo because it was a quote that was meaningful to me and I wanted to share it with other people. I ended up deciding to get the quote tattooed on my arm because I wanted others to see it and think about it. And because I am a fairly shy person I would never come out and just ask someone that unless I knew them pretty well already. I thought a long time about where I wanted this quote placed and how I wanted it written. Originally I was going to have it go across my chest in more of a block font so it was right there for people to see and read (Almost like a billboard.) But after a little more thinking I decided on my arm with a scripted handwriting that way its more of a game for people to see and read. If my arms are moving people can get little peaks of it. Most people will then move there heads around so they can see what it is and what it says or they will simply ask me whats on my arm. After they have read it I usually get some kind of reaction from them. Its amazing at how different people interpret and react to it. I love this tattoo, not only does it represent me and my thinking but it helps me get to know people and interact with them when they would normally never talk to me.

-How do you feel as a woman with a tattoos?
Honestly I never thought i would be the kind of woman to get a tattoo. And after I got the first one I said never again, but a few years later I was getting another and then another and then another..... I love my tattoos I feel like they are a visible time line to my life. Women that get tattoos are no different then any other woman. Its just a different way to express yourself.
I'm proud of all of them and i like to show people and tell them the stories behind each one. I also feel like they give me this power to come out of my shell.