Potential Tattoos

I have one tattoo. It’s on my lower back, in what is considered “tramp stamp” territory, I believe, though I don't think I qualify as a tramp. It’s the scales of justice, and I got it with MJ at the end of our three years of law school. I can’t speak for her reasons for getting a tattoo, but I got mine as a reminder of why I went to law school and why I thought being a lawyer was a good idea, and as a celebration for the end of three years of hard work.

I’m debating another tattoo. Certainly now isn’t the time. I don’t have a lot of extra money and if I ever get a job interview I don’t want to go in with a new, itchy tattoo.

But I do want another one.

On the inside of my left wrist.

Options thus far:

Option 1

Gather Rosebuds
A bastardization of a quote from the Robert Herrick poem To the Virgins, to Make much of Time. The original goes “gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow may be dying.” It’s basically a carpe diem reminder.

Option 2

Own Yourself
A bastardization of a Nietzsche quote that goes “no price is too great to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

Option 3


Do not go gentle
From the Thomas Dylan poem Do not go gentle into that good night. (The more memorable line from the poem is “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”)

Option 4

Ad Astra per Aspera
Latin for “to the stars through difficulty,” or, for a translation that makes a little more sense, “a rough road leads to the stars.”

Option 5

Vi et Animo
Latin for “with heart and soul” or “with strength and courage.”