happy deepavali!

The rest of this post doesn't have anything to do with Deepavali, other than the fact that because it's a national holiday today (because of Deepavali), I get to stay home and post about random things, like tattoos. I've been a huge fan of the Miami Ink TV series, mainly because it's given me so many ideas of what tattoo I want to get (I've been wanting one for 5 years). Some of the people who appear on Miami Ink come with really moving personal stories, some come for aesthetics, and basically, therin lies my dilemma. Do I want a tattoo full of personal meaning with a story behind it, or should I get something that pleases me because it's beautiful? These two qualities don't have to be mutually exclusive, but in my case, it sort of it. The picture I selected for beauty is an illustration called Music by Alphonse Mucha, whose lovely drawings are typical Art Nouveau, an artistic style I love. It doesn't really mean anything too personal to me, other than the fact that I feel peaceful and inspired when I look at it. My other idea for a tattoo was to get one of a Mandarin idiom I love because it's something I live by, and have the words tattooed across my back, with a few swallows flying around it (maybe 5, one for each of my family members). I like this idea, but at the same time I want something intricate too. I have a feeling that I will be mulling this over all the way to 22 December, when I'm due to have the tattoo.