Cute Tattoo Designs: Aesop Rock

<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-elliott-d-smith.html">Yesterday</a>, we enjoyed the tattoos and poetry of <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-elliott-d-smith.html">Elliott D. Smith</a>. Today,  we get to check out the work of his roommate, Jared Singer.<br /><br />I met Jared, along with Justin, last month at the Barnes & Noble  flagship store. Like Elliott, Jared's tattoo is a work "in progress" inked by the incomparable <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/artists/">Joy Rumore</a> at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a> in Brooklyn.<br /><br />Check out Jared's upper right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRT6A4JluB4M1FFjHr8xLcgy3ZMQihuSGDjL7o2H2OAVZh1AsJ00kFOwMR963shHecED_G0H7C5ZcNQAq5xoiBlUt8SKdfz24qSdrkcrpMsjdLrg5qrA3a-FYVpdPfDJRpY7lpfDIaffo/s1600/Jared+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRT6A4JluB4M1FFjHr8xLcgy3ZMQihuSGDjL7o2H2OAVZh1AsJ00kFOwMR963shHecED_G0H7C5ZcNQAq5xoiBlUt8SKdfz24qSdrkcrpMsjdLrg5qrA3a-FYVpdPfDJRpY7lpfDIaffo/s640/Jared+detail.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><br />Jared explained that this tattoo has two origins. First, it was inspired  by lyrics from a group called <a href="http://legendarymusic.net/">Living Legends</a>. More specifically, the words "I'm so fly,  even my shadow has its own friends."<br /><br />The other motif in this piece comes from the lyrics in "9-5ers Anthem," by <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aesop-Rock/104163806285550?ref=ts">Aesop Rock</a>, that proclaim, "I tend to underestimate my own average."<br /><br />Jared says he originally conceived of the piece consisting of "shadows  with other shadows". Joy drew up the design and said, "How about this  instead?"<br /><br />The rest is history. Well, sort of. As mentioned at the top of the post, this sleeve-to-be is still a work in progress.<br /><br />Jared shared this poem with us: <br /><br /><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Last Love Letter from an Entomologist</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Dear Samantha,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I’m sorry, we have to get a divorce.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know that seems like an odd way </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">to start a love letter, but let me explain.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Its not you,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">it’s definitely not me,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">it’s just, human beings don’t love </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">as well as insects do.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I love you far too much to let what we have </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">be ruined by the failings of our species.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So instead,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I’m going to leave you now,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">while I can still remember you fondly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I saw the way you looked at the waiter last night,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know you would never do anything,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">you never do, but still I </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">saw the way you looked at the waiter last night.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Did you know that when a female fly </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">accepts the pheromones put off by a male</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">It rewrites the way her brain works, </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">destroys the receptors for pheromones.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Sensing the change, the male fly does the same.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When flies love each other,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">they do it so hard,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">that they can never love anything else ever again.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">if either one dies before procreation</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">both sets of genetic code are lost forever.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that is dedication.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">After breaking up with Elizabeth</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">we spent three days dividing</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">everything we had bought together</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">like if I knew which pots were mine,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">like if I knew which drapes were mine,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">the pain would go away.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When two praying mantises mate,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">the nervous system of the male</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">begins to shut down.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">While he still has control over his motor functions,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">he flips onto his back</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">exposing his soft underbelly to his lover like a gift.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">She then proceeds to lovingly</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">and I do mean lovingly</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"> dice him into tiny pieces</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">which she  shoves carefully into mouth</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">wasting not a single morsel,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">even the exoskeleton must go.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">She does this so that </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">so that when their children are born</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">she has a first meal to regurgitate to feed them.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that is dedication.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I could never do that for you.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So I have a new plan.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I plan on spending the rest of my life committing petty injustices.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will jaywalk at every opportunity</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will steal things I could easily afford</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will be rude to strangers</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope you will do the same.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope reincarnation is real.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope that these petty crimes cause me to be reborn as a lesser creature.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6058251288236499429&postID=8493457638909191833" name="_GoBack"></a>I hope we are reborn as flies.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So that we can love each other as hard as we were meant to.</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">~ ~ ~ </div>We also have the good fortune of having video of Jared performing this piece at the <a href="http://www.bowerypoetry.com/">Bowery Poetry Club</a> in 2009:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="294" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B3wsSdPzAuQ" title="YouTube video player" width="469"></iframe><br /><br />Jared Singer is a poet and audio engineer who lives in New York City. While he may have physically grown up with his peers, he has never forgotten the imagination, magic, and nerdiness that were  corner stones of his childhood. He hopes to remind others of these more  creative times. He has been published by <a href="http://www.downdirtyword.com/">The Legendary</a>, <a href="http://unionstationmag.com/">Union Station  Magazine</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/swappoetry">The Spoken Word Almanac Project 2010</a> and has also appeared on  the <a href="http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/">Indiefeed Peformance Poetry</a> Podcast. He is the<a href="http://original.bowerypoetry.com/urbana/"> NYC Urbana</a> 2009 Grand  Slam Poetry Champion, The 2009 NYC <a href="http://www.louderarts.com/">Louder Arts</a> Individual World Poetry Slam representative and a member of the 2010 <a href="http://www.nuyorican.org/poetryslam.php">Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam Team.</a><br /><br />Much thanks and appreciation to Jared for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br />  <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.<br /><br />If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Jared Singer

Yesterday , we enjoyed the tattoos and poetry of Elliott D. Smith . Today, we get to check out the work of his roommate, Jared Singer. I me...

Cute Tattoo Designs

The Tattooed Poets Project: Jared Singer

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