Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life...

Couldn't post, though. Too busy trying to scoop out of all the white stuff coming down. The downside is that it causes school to be cancelled, and means I have to find other things to fill my day with. BID...

Sorry, my bloggy, that I've been neglecting you. Been that kind of year. But to get things back on track, I'll start with a short diddy.

My daughter, fondly known as "Satan," wanted a drawing of a four-leafed clover a while back. Take that back...demanded a drawing. "Just draw the damned thing!" was what I remember in pressing her for why when it would be an easy matter to find clipart on the internet of clover images. Finally it came out,...she wanted it for a tattoo. (For the record, her sisters, Megan and Emily, disapproved of their older sibling "scarring" herself.) But I finally relented. I got the "greatest father on earth routine" when I'm being compliant. In another post, I'll have to tell you about becoming "scum of the earth" another time. BID...

So here's what I designed...


I found out it just wasn't for her, but for her and a girlfriend as they were both going to get the same tattoo. (Nothing like compounding my sin by scarring someone else's kid.) So her friend, Erin, aka "E.W.T.N.A."(no, I'm not explaining the initials, or what they truly say. Sorry.) got the tattoo as well, and here's how it turned out...


My daughter, who lives by the credo that children were put on the earth to kill their parents, further scarred me by telling me where said tattoo is presently located. Megan and Emily were mortified. I was horrified. What can I say? I'm just not into tattoos!

My dad has a tattoo...the Marine Corps emblem, on his shoulder with his ID #. When I was a kid and asked him about it, he told me never to get a tattoo, claiming it was the stupidest thing he ever did. And when I hear a lot of stories about escapades involving getting tattoos, they usually start with some version of "...and I was drunk..." It seems like tattoos, having your eyebrows shaved, and getting the "clap" all begin with that short phrase. Not a ringing endorsement.

Which brings me to the modern age and being requested to design a tattoo for someone. I guess some people don't get drunk before getting a tattoo, but have carefully thought it out. (And no, I'm not starting a new career in body decoration.) But I have been flattered that Taryn has wanted me to design a tattoo for her foot. She asked me this well over a year ago, and I've drug my feet. One, for some personal reasons...it seems that in Judaism, which I've been studying, frowns on tattoos, mirroring similar comments from Rabbi Paul of the "body being the Temple of God" The second reason is the permanent factor...it's there for a lifetime. And lastly, because I would really hate to do a design for her that would be disappointing to her.

So we've been doing some brainstorming, going over things that might work versus things that don't. She wanted a particular quote from a favorite song incorporated into the design, something that means a great deal to her. Here's a rough of where we are with it. Still needs some refining, but I haven't posted for a looooooonnngg time, and needed to...


After I told her of a quote I'd recently discovered for myself, she asked if I'd considered getting it tattoo'd. Probably the closest I've come to doing it.

My "quote," by the way, is something written by Peter Ham of Badfinger fame..."Don't let tomorrow be just any day..."

Incidently, today is my dad's birthday even though he denies being born on Groundhog's Day.

"Erev Tov!"