An Ode in Ink

My friend Cayley and I recently got tattoos together. This was her first tattoo, a gift from me to her for her 21st, but also a symbol of our friendship - having met years ago in the punk scene, we decided to commemorate our 'punk years' by both getting lyrics from the same band we loved growing up, and still love madly today - The Distillers.

Cayley and I were once listlessly driving home from a party in Pretoria the night before, hungover, thirsty for Creme Soda and recoiling from a night being played back in our heads. We were exhausted, and were sitting in comfortable silence listening to music; the windows open, catching the spring breeze. The Distillers' Dismantle Me came on and we both immediately perked up, and with smiles that had replaced our idle lips, began singing our hearts out. There were two lines that seemed to stick with us: "Dismantle me" and "the sky is deeper than a dream". We looked at each other and in almost perfect unison like Jessica and Elizabeth from Sweet Valley, declared how these lyrics would make great tattoos. We marveled. We got excited. Then we spent the rest of the trip home toying with which line we liked more.

Fast forward almost a year and we found ourselves at Tattoolya one Saturday afternoon.

Our friend Mica did the tattoos for us; beautifully and delicately like only a girl can. She was the final link in the chain. We all met in the same scene, and Mica is also a Distillers fan (in fact, her first tattoo she ever got is also comprised of their lyrics), so it felt right that she be our tattoo artist.

Cayley and I both wanted to bring across the ease of simpler times, and incorporate where we are in life now - we are both writers, so decided to go with a typewriter font each. Simple but relevant. 

I went with Courier. I fucking love Courier. 

The conclusion of our car-ride debate was finally revealed and laid to rest in ink: she got Dismantle Me. on her shoulder, and I got the sky is deeper than a dream on my leg.

Fresh ink.