Tuesday, May 17, 2005

from krakow: oh my god! we got tattoos!

(Or, maybe we really thought about getting tattoos. Or, maybe some of us then really went ahead and got tattoos. Or, maybe it was just that some of us really thought about getting tattoos but then chickened out. Or, maybe some of us thought about getting tattoos and at least one of us went ahead and really truly did indeed get a tattoo. I've been instructed to be vague here on the blog. That by itself should say something, perhaps. Or perhaps not. Don't you just love when bloggers are precious and elliptical?)

In any case, I trace the whole thing back to Paris, where Madeline and Nina's enthusiasm for matching scarves seemed innocuous enough:



Plus, the scarves were such a good deal--at least compared to how expensive everything else seemed--that I bought a couple also as gifts for my sister.

But in Krakow, after we went on a trip looking for gifts at the medicinal tea store (prospective recipient, you know who you are), we noticed the tattoo parlor across the way. It turned out that the parlor was through a couple of heavy doors and up a flight of forboding stairs, but this was by itself enough to make us turn back:



Whatever happened from there, you would think that a tattoo parlor called "Lizard" in a foreign country where instructions provided to the tattooess would need to be provided through an intermediary might scare a person away. In any case, you can imagine that afterward at least one of us would need a nap, and all of us would need drinks.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've put the thrill back in your blog. I was just about to inform you that I would no longer be able to continue to read your blog.

Anonymous said...

jeremy's found his mojo

Anonymous said...

If it's 'veritas' --- fine. If it's "I'm available' in Polish, please be careful.

Anonymous said...

If this blog turns Polish, I am leaving. Who remembers the old Polish joke of how many Poles does it take to change a light bulb?
(4 - 1 to hold the bulb and 3 to turn the ladder - snicker snicker)

Anonymous said...

I was surprised to see how modern Poland really is. I'm wondering though if maybe Jeremy was only shown the tourist side of town?

Anonymous said...

So, did you get a tatoo on your bicep? What is it?

Corrie said...

Jeremy probably got an 'I (heart) STATA' tatoo.

Anonymous said...

But it's Poland, so they might not speak (or spell) English very well. So the "I (heart) STATA" tattoo may have come out "I (heart) SATAN". Wouldn't that be funny?

Tonya said...

I'm pretty sure that it was Nina who got the tattoo, not Jeremy.

Anonymous said...

We got some real wags here. I fling Polish sausages at their heads for laughing at my ancestors! I would curse them in Polish but it might confuse Jeremy.

Anonymous said...

I think Jeremy's tattoo reads "Born to be Mildly Vexing."

Anonymous said...

No, no, no! The tattoo clearly reads "Quantophrenic Freak."

Anonymous said...

On the knuckles of his left fist he has the letters B E L L and on the knuckles of his right fist he has the letters C U R V

Anonymous said...

On the back of his left hand he has the STATA logo. On the back of his right hand he has the ASA logo.

nina said...

It's a puzzler, isn't it? I'm going to say this much. Someone really did get a tattoo.
As for what Jeremy saw and did in Poland -- it was a lot. So much so that he is going home with blisters and bandaged feet.
One last thing: he is gifted in more than computer languages. He now speaks Polish. I swear. Took to it instantly in a desparate attempt to communicate his deep craving for a Pepsi. It was rozmowa po Polsku all the way after that.

Anonymous said...

Across his back in big, bold red letters he has a tatoo that reads, " SR,B!", which stands for Sociology Rules, Baby !

Anonymous said...

Yeah right, Nina, we believe you but did the hotel where he stayed have running water and indoor plumbing? That seems to be the burning question in some minds. Stories still circulate about Poland you know.

Anonymous said...

I would bet every dime in my bank account (which is not nothing) that Jeremy Freese did not get a tattoo of any sort. If I know anything to be true it's that Jeremy is anti-tattoo.