You’re A Genius All The Time, Nothing is worth more, Cartel

 

This belongs to “kinko88″.

This is my first tattoo, done by Matt at Evolved in Columbus, OH. The quote is from Jack Kerouac; it’s his first on a list of thirty tips for “spontaneous prose” (what he called his own writing style). I chose this quote because I’ve been fascinated by the Beat Generation–their literature, poems, the relationships between different members of the circle, ideas in general–since I first read On the Road and “Howl” in high school. I write poetry and stories casually (using an old typewriter of course!), and am always jotting down little phrases that come to my head, so I thought this quote was especially appropriate. And no, the “yr” is not a typo, it’s how Kerouac wrote it.

“scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy”

- Jack Kerouac

This belongs to Zoe.

This tattoo is from Jack Kerouac’s 30 rules on writing. It’s his 29th rule, written in his handwriting on my forearm. Took me a while to pull and place all of his unique little characters together (printed out a lot of his handwritten correspondences to get his handwriting as accurate as I wanted), but it’s finally done. I’m so happy with it, and it’ll serve as a reminder to value myself, especially when I’m writing.

Got this done at Harlem Hype Tattoos in New York City, by Sherman Patrice.