The Tattooed Poets Project: Jill Alexander Essbaum's Poetic Feet (and Jessica Piazza's Too!)

UPDATED! See below....I've decided to launch this special National Poetry Month Tattoosday feature with the wonderful tattooed feet of Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of several collections of poetry, the most recent being Harlot.Although this month I will be featuring tattoos on poets, not every tattoo is poetic, in the literal sense. Jill's inked feet are.Jill met me in the Starbucks at 7 Penn

The Tattooed Poet's Project: An Introduction

April is National Poetry Month!In addition to the "regular" Tattoosday features, every day in April will feature a different poet's tattoo(s).Poets across America have contributed photos of their tattoos for us to enjoy, with each post linking back to BillyBlog, where one of their poems will be posted on the corresponding day.Not all the poems are tattoo-related, but many are. Please come back

Tattoorism: Christina's Fleur-de-lys

For those of you visiting Tattoosday for the first time, I refer to posts based on reader submissions as Tattoorism. That is, tattoos from out of town visiting us here in the blogosphere.There was a pleasant surprise in my in box this morning:Skeptics may say, "What's the big deal? It's just a fleur-de-lis!" But we here at Tattoosday don't think that way. Tattoos aren't just designs inked into

Jorge's Attabeira Tattoo Pays Tribute to His Puerto Rican Heritage

Last May, I spent a few minutes on the N train talking to a woman named Patricia who had a cool tattoo on the back of her neck (see the post here). She disembarked before I was able to get all the facts on the piece, but I still posted the blurry photo.No, I didn't run into her again. But I did meet Jorge, who had a similar piece on his inner left forearm based on the fertility goddess Atabey, or

Xrin Arms Explains His Tattoos

I ran into Anthony after work while passing through the Amtrak section of Penn Station.He was in town to perform in Brooklyn and was waiting for his ride. He performs under the name "Xrin Arms," which he pronounced as "Your-in-arms". He's a techno punk musician currently on tour. Here's the flier for the gig he was playing that night:He had an unusual series of tattoos which he allowed me to

Two Tattooed Tourists on a Tuesday

Sometimes the hand of Fate guides the Tattoosday blogger as he journeys through the streets of New York. At lunch, a change in traffic signals prompted me to veer East, sending me into a bank vestibule that I rarely, if ever, frequent.I could have ventured into a dozen branches or drug stores to do my business but this is where I ended up on a day that started frigid, but was still in the

Only God Can Judge Him

A nice surprise last night when, out of the blue, a previous Tattoosday subject, John, sent me his latest tattoo.I met John initially at the 3rd Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge, back in the earlier days of the blog, where he displayed a leg piece in progress here.He later had the piece finished and we featured it, in all its glory, here. In addition, he sent me photos of his other three tattoos

Tattoorism: Joltin' Joe Swings for the Fences

A couple weeks back, I posted a really cool Marilyn Monroe tattoo with a New York Yankees spin.To give Joe DiMaggio his proper due, we have this leg piece above, sent to us by Craig, who explains:"[Had] this tattoo done last February. I am a big Yankee fan .... [I] like watching all the old timers on TV anytime I can. Wanted something different.....something that stood for what baseball was, back

Megan's Numeric Neck tattoo

On a day when my wife was tattooed with a lucky "13," it seemed fortuitous when our waitress at dinner unveiled her numeric tattoo:Born on April 7, Megan had these hash marks inked onto the back left side of her neck.Because of the numbers 4 and 7 being significant in her life (aside from their analagousness to the seventh of April), she chose a rather unorthodox forty-seven lines, inked up like

Tehila's Amazing Tattoos Rest Deep in Her Faith

After my wife got her "13" tattoo (story here), we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations at 7:00 pm. So, we headed to Chelsea, then walked down 23rd Street to the Housing Works Thrift Shop.It was there, while browsing, that I met Tehila, who was visiting from Washington, D.C. It was this tattoo that jumped out at me:Quite an elaborate neck tattoo, which was in part designed by her

An Interlude

The previous post featured our recent adventures at Dare Devil Tattoo on Friday the 13th.I wrote specifically about my wife Melanie getting her lucky 13 tattoo on her birthday. People who know me and know Tattoosday were excited not just for her, but for me as well. They knew I'd be surrounded by tattoos, and that I would therefore be busy talking to people about Tattoosday, and collecting

Friday the 13th: A Tattoosday Adventure

Today has finally arrived. A much-anticipated Friday the 13th. My wife, Melanie's, birthday. She was born on a Friday the 13th, so whenever it falls in March (the last one was in 1998, the next one is in 2015), it's always an event.This Friday the 13th, I've taken the day off and plan on spending a large chunk of it with Melanie, waiting in line for what has become a New York City tradition: a

Tattoorism: Sean Stops by To Unveil More Amazing Work

A month ago, I posted a bit of tattoorism; Sean from New Jersey sent me photos of his left leg, an intricate Japanese-style piece, complete with koi, dragons, a lotus, and a pagoda.Sean has been kind enough to update us here on Tattoosday with two more pieces, the first being this cool gypsy head that is tattooed on the inside of his upper left arm:As he was in the last post, Sean is not only

Kait, On Her Own Two Feet

While passing through Borders at 2 Penn Plaza, I spotted Kait's feet, both tattooed on their outside edges. She graciously allowed me to take pictures of both pieces.On her left foot is a green bow, inspired in part by the fact that she is known where she grew up for always having a bow on her, whether it be in her clothing or in her hair. It's her trademark, of sorts, and the tattoo insures that

The Tattoosday Book Review: High Voltage

As a viewer of the cable show Miami Ink, I watched with great interest when Chris Garver brought his friend Kat Von D. into the shop as a guest tattooer in the show's early days. Kat's portrait work is phenomenal, and she is an extremely charismatic person.The problem with reality shows like Miami Ink, its spin-off L.A. Ink, and the A&E Series Inked, is that the producers feel, and perhaps

Ratings Widget Added

Hey Tattoosday fans! Check out the bottoms of each post. I've added a ratings widget, so you can vote on the tattoos you like!

Tattoos from the Blogosphere: CoccoRossie's Triple Play

I recently received an email from "Coccorossie" who blogs here.She checks in on Tattoosday from time to time and offered to share a few of her tattoos.Since she took the time to share them with me, I thought it was only fair to share them with you.This "Omerta" tattoo is on her right side, on the ribcage. Omerta, traditionally understood as "Code of Silence," reflects her attitude:"My omerta

Takeshi's Reminder that Life is Precious

On a day of unlikely inkspotting (8+ inches of snow, frigid temperatures, blustery winds), I thought I would be okay without my camera. Fortunately, I had one on my phone.Fortunately because, during a brief sojourn into Borders, I met Takeshi, who was visiting from Boston. And he had quite a few tattoos.Takeshi offered up this neck piece for the Tattoosday audience:The words "Hold On" refer to

Fundraising Drive This Wednesday (3/4) at Red Rocket Tattoo

We pause a moment for an announcement...Chris, who I met on jury duty, and shared his tattoo here, sent me the following message:Dear Friends and Fans of Red Rocket Tattoo,A very loved artist in our tattoo family has suffered a tremendous loss. His eldest daughter was tragically killed on the night of February 26th. As he and the rest of his family suffer this loss, we suffer right along side and