My Tat...

Okay so I realised that my limited reading public here may have not seen this:




Alright, well I did it! and I didn't pussy out! :) It was nothing like I thought it would be. Did it hurt? sorta... it wasn't painful really... it was unpleasant and certainly not the best feeling in the world... but I would say having my wisdom teeth out or stitches, or falling off the hood of Erin Everson's car senior year of HS hurt worse!


I got it done at Tattoo Charlies here in Lexington. I could not give them a better recommendation if I tried. Every thing about it was very calming to me. I am not your typical tattooee (though now a days that kinda seems to be changing). But Charlotta (who did mine) was so kind and nice. She was very calming in her demeanor and her actions. She talked to me the whole time and just made me feel at ease... and besides that she did such a kick ass job on my tats. I mean I couldn't have asked for a better translation of what I wanted... which I guess I should let you guys see:





and a little closer view:


and before one single person asks... NO it's not the number thirty (though yes I did get these for my 30th birthday)... it's is the sanskrit symbol for "OM" which Ben calls the heathen symbol... however it's meaning is very divine...

"Om or Aum is of paramount importance in Hinduism. This symbol (as seen in the image on the right) is a sacred syllable representing Brahman, the impersonal Absolute of Hinduism — omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all manifest existence. Brahman, in itself, is incomprehensible; so a symbol becomes mandatory to help us realize the Unknowable. Om, therefore, represents both the unmanifest (nirguna) and manifest (saguna) aspects of God. That is why it is called pranava, to mean that it pervades life and runs through our prana or breath."

"According to the Mandukya Upanishad, "Om is the one eternal syllable of which all that exists is but the development. The past, the present, and the future are all included in this one sound, and all that exists beyond the three forms of time is also implied in it". from http://hinduism.about.com/od/omaum/a/meaningofom.htm

"Before the beginning, the Brahman (absolute reality) was one and non-dual. It thought, "I am only one -- may I become many." This caused a vibration which eventually became sound, and this sound was Om. Creation itself was set in motion by the vibration of Om. The closest approach to Brahman is that first sound, Om. Thus, this sacred symbol has become emblematic of Brahman just as images are emblematic of material objects.

Just as the sound of Om represents the four states of Brahman, the symbol Om written in Sanskrit also represents everything. The material world of the waking state is symbolized by the large lower curve. The deep sleep state is represented by the upper left curve. The dream state, lying between the waking state below and the deep sleep state above, emanates from the confluence of the two. The point and semicircle are separate from the rest and rule the whole. The point represents the turiya state of absolute consciousness. The open semicircle is symbolic of the infinite and the fact that the meaning of the point can not be grasped if one limits oneself to finite thinking". from http://www.omsakthi.org/worship/mantra.html

"The Definition of Om: The supreme and most sacred syllable in Sanskrit. It is believed to be the original primordial vibration of the universe, after the big bang. It is uttered as a mantra and in affirmations and blessings to connect all living beings. Made of the three sounds (a), (u), and (m), representing various fundamental triads:
Beginning, Middle, End
Past, Present, Future
Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Creation, Preservation, Destruction

Om in Judaism and Christianity: Indian mystical thinking influenced Judaism in many ways. Scholars believe Aum (Om) became Amen and, as such, was later incorporated into Christianity. Amen is said to mean "so be it", though this may be a later interpretation. Amen is widely mentioned in the Bible. It is used during worship (Revelations 3:14) as an expression of benediction (1 Chronicles 16.36), for expressing one's love of God (2 Corinthians 1:20), or as sign of gratitude". from http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/tao_heal/om01.html



so there you have it. The Tats and the meanings. I will say this... now that they are healed, I'm almost ready for another one... i could see this being addictive... but I think I can hold off! :) now Ben wants one! (a Godzillia one no less... ahh that man o' mine)

so let me know what you think!

A Literary Hero Passes on

I cannot express how influential the book "A Wrinkle in Time" has been in my life. I can no longer remember the the first time I read it (maybe at 6 or 7), but I have read it so many times since that I have bought 3 copies of it over the years. The story of the Murray's captured my fascination and really opened up my mind to the world of sci fi and fantasy... Hell, I still read the Time series to this day... and it still pulls me in like it did almost 24 years ago. It also opened my eyes to the world of theatre... the first real play I saw was a production of "A Wrinkle in Time" at Stage One in Lousiville. I was mesmerized, I was in love.

If you have never read them, I cannot shout it loud enough... GO READ THEM NOW!!!!!! It's not just a kids books (any more than Harry Potter is)...it reads on different levels... much like Narnia does (though perhaps not with the same obviousness ).

But I just want to say thank you to someone who helped foster my intense love of reading and helped me to discover the worlds beyond our everyday one!


Writer Madeleine L'Engle, 88; Author of 'A Wrinkle in Time'
By Adam BernsteinWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, September 8, 2007; B05
Madeleine L'Engle, 88, a prolific author whose best-known novel, "A Wrinkle in Time," won the top prize for children's literature and was considered among the most enigmatic works of fiction ever created, died Sept. 6 at Rose Haven nursing home in Litchfield, Conn.
The cause of death was not disclosed by the family, but she reportedly had a cerebral hemorrhage in recent years.
"A Wrinkle in Time," published in 1962, won the American Library Association's Newbery Medal for best children's book. It went through more than 60 printings, was adapted for television and other media and helped establish Ms. L'Engle among the best-selling children's authors of her generation.
Yet "children's author" did not begin to describe the breadth of her output, which included more than 50 books of adult fiction and nonfiction, poetry, plays and many volumes of memoirs. Reviewers noted a timeless quality in her best fiction, which blended themes of adolescent pain, spiritual and emotional insight, ethical decision-making and, above all, adventure and entertainment.
Ms. L'Engle was a veteran author by the time "A Wrinkle in Time" was published, and the book cemented her reputation as a major literary figure. The novel weaved together aspects of theology and quantum physics and featured a female protagonist, which was unusual at the time.
The plot concerned three New England youngsters -- the socially awkward Meg Murry, her young brother, Charles Wallace Murry, and her older, more popular friend, Calvin O'Keefe. They use time travel and extrasensory perception to free the siblings' scientist father, who had vanished from the family after discovering a mysterious source of evil. They find him on a planet where absolute conformity rules.
The book introduced many readers to a "tesseract," a principle, according to the narrative, that allows the youths to "travel through space without having to go the long way around."
Ms. L'Engle tried to sell "A Wrinkle in Time" to a dozen publishers before Farrar, Straus and Giroux agreed -- with the caveat that the author should not expect much public reaction. She, in turn, had it written in her contract that the company could have the rights to the book forever, anywhere in the universe, except the Andromeda galaxy.
"A Wrinkle in Time" was an instant sensation and attracted critical praise that culminated in the Newbery.
The novel consistently encouraged debate, with some literary observers speculating that Ms. L'Engle's strong Anglican faith was a major influence.
Writing in the New Yorker in 2004, poet Cynthia Zarin said the book can be read as "science fiction, a warm tale of family life, a response to the Cold War, a book about a search for a father, a feminist tract, a religious fable, a coming-of-age novel, a work of Satanism" -- Ms. L'Engle said that Christian fundamentalists continually tried to ban it -- "or a prescient meditation on the future of the United States after the Kennedy assassination."
Ms. L'Engle demurred from analyzing the book too much, once saying, "It was only after it was written that I realized what some of it meant."
Madeleine L'Engle Camp was born Nov. 29, 1918, in New York. Her father, Charles Wadsworth Camp, was a foreign correspondent and author of thrillers, some of which ("Backstage Phantom," "House of Fear") were turned into films. Her mother, also named Madeleine, was a pianist from a prominent Jacksonville, Fla., family.
Ms. L'Engle, a demure child, said she was abandoned by her parents at a Swiss boarding school. "I shook hands with the matron, and they vanished," she told the New Yorker.
They later enrolled her in schools in Jacksonville, where she once was horrified to see an alligator crawl up a porch front, and a girl's prep school in Charleston, S.C., where she bloomed socially and was named c l a s s president.
Her father died about that time, and some critics noted that it was probably not coincidental that many of her books include searches for lost fathers.
Ms. L'Engle was involved in theater and playwriting at Smith College, where she graduated in 1941, and afterward spent two years as assistant stage manager for a production of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard."
She married one of the show's actors, Hugh Franklin, who had a recurring role on the TV soap opera "All My Children." He died in 1986. A son, Bion Franklin, died in 1999.
Survivors include two daughters, Josephine Jones of Goshen, Conn., and Maria Rooney of Mystic, Conn.; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
In the early 1950s, Ms. L'Engle and her husband settled in Goshen, where they owned and operated a general store. In later years, she taught at an Episcopal day school and was a librarian at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, both in Manhattan.
Although she had written and published novels since 1945 -- her debut book, "The Small Rain," was about a young pianist's struggle between art and love -- it was not until 1960 that she wrote her first widely recognized work.
That book, "Meet the Austins," was the first novel in a series about a Connecticut family and its struggles with jealousy, love and death. A later book in the series, "A Ring of Endless Light" (1980), was a Newbery finalist.
As with the Austins series, Ms. L'Engle was compelled by popular demand to create more books with the Murry children, including "A Wind in the Door" (1973), "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" (197, "Many Waters" (1986) and "An Acceptable Time" (1989).
Over the years, the characters of Meg and Calvin, who becomes a biologist, marry and have a daughter, Polyhymnia.
The author did not claim to have any special knowledge of science while writing the books.
She once told National Public Radio that she was in a phase of searching for a better understanding of theology when "I just came across a phrase of Einstein's, which completely excited me. He said, 'Anyone who is not lost in rapturous awe at the power and glory of the mind behind the universe is as good as a burned-out candle.'
"And I thought, 'Oh! There's my theologian.' "
She had a long career as a public speaker, and in 2004 she received the National Humanities Medal but could not attend the ceremony because of poor health. Her newest book for young adult readers, "The Joys of Love," is scheduled for publication in the spring.
Less publicly, Ms. L'Engle struggled with difficult family relations, including her son's death from complications of alcoholism.
"I think that my characters came to me because I didn't have any family, and I wanted to have a family, and it was the only way I could get it," she told the New Yorker.
When she was reminded that she had a family, Ms. L'Engle replied: "Even so, writing the stories came out of my childhood experience