I’ve been planning a tattoo for a really long time now. It’s a book tattoo, surprising no one.
A coworker of mine has ‘you can’t fall off a mountain’ tattooed on her arm. It’s from Kerouac’s ‘The Dharma Bums’. That book had a pretty huge impact on my life, but I don’t want that tattoo.
‘damn’ -past version of me
My interests have a shelf life akin to dairy products, so I’m pretty wary of getting a tattoo of something I think is cool at any moment in time.
The horn from Pynchon’s ‘The Crying of Lot 49’ makes sort of a cool tattoo. To me it’s mainly a communicative gesture, an acknowledgment to others that you’re interested in certain specific searches for certain specific meanings. Or, it just looks cool??
Dr. Hilarious is a good character name, I don’t care what you say
I don’t want that tattoo either.
Some people get dewey decimal tattoos or tattoos of specific citations of books. I like the admittance of future work (love), the continual ‘going towards’ they suggest.
Uh excuse me, what about the hanging indent??
That’s getting closer, but still not quite there.
What I want are the words ‘and the tide was way out’ on my left thigh. Arranged like
and
the
tide
was
way
out
starting up near my knee and taking up as much of the leg as possible, basically. It would be ‘upside down’ for other people.
Someone has a slightly similar tattoo to this idea
The last line of the ‘main text’ of Infinite Jest, and the start of the endnotes
Infinite Jest (and all of Wallace’s books) broke down my solipsism. It taught me how deep of a kindness fiction writing can be. It made me want to live and work for other people. It stopped me from wanting to die.
I found Wallace’s work in 2011. He committed suicide in 2008.
It’s difficult knowing that you can never meet the person who’s made you least lonely.
I think the tattoo will provide a catharsis, but I’m afraid it won’t work. It’s weird to think about inscribing a permanent sadness onto your body. In a way it’s becoming a grave. I’m still leaning towards having it done. I’m not concerned here with the ultimate decision. I’m making this post to admit that I still have no real idea what to do.
Unruly Bodies 
I can completely relate to this. I have “Be Nobodies Darling” (a Poem by Alice Walker) with a heart tattooed on my side because I couldn’t let myself go through the ache of being crushed by a person because I trusted them too much, was too vulnerable, and loved them when they didn’t love me in return. To remind myself to never be somebodies darling. It is also supposed to serve as a reminder to never let other people own my emotions or my body in such a way again. However, I still do that – I still allow other people to come before myself and I still deal with that awful ache afterwards.
I think one of the interesting things about tattoos, is that they become a part of you – so much that you even forget they are there, the meanings, and why you got them until you’re in that situation and it’s like “Oh. I’ve done this before. I paid $350 and had some dude shove a needle in my skin for an hour and a half and I still forgot. Go me.” But, I don’t regret it at all. Because I know it’s there. It’s the lonely that is ever present and lingers in the back of my mind.
Obviously I couldn’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t do in regards to the tattoo, other than I can understand those emotions and how conflicting they are.
I am all in favor of a book tattoo, and not just because books are amazing and the quote has meaning for you and thought behind it. I was reading a quote on tumblr (that pass along my dash as these things do) about feminists with tattoos are showing the ultimate “f*ck you” to anyone trying to govern a woman’s body. When I got my tattoo, I did it for me, and not as a particular statement, but when I read that, I felt a wash of pride. Because it’s my body, and yours is yours, and we will do with them what makes us happy and healthy and safe, and no one should control that. So I’m glad that you aren’t concerned with the final decision just yet, I just hope that whatever you decide makes you happy.