For over ten years I’ve wanted a tattoo. I’ve wanted to get something that not only signifies who I am, but something that I will always appreciate. I’ve always felt that having something permanently etched into your body is an important decision and for the longest time I was leaning towards getting my name tattooed in hebrew. I felt this was appropriate as it was two things that would never change: My Judaism and my name.
While I liked this idea, I was never excited about it enough to actually get it done. In light of all that I went through in 2009, I finally came up with my idea for a tattoo. In continuing with the Hebrew theme, I’ve decided to get “Never Forget” or more specifically “Never Will I Forget” tattooed in hebrew.
There are many reasons for my decision, but mainly I never want to forget all that I have learned in the past year. I’ve learned about myself, relationships, the importance of your health, and most importantly, I’ve learned who I am. Additionally, the concept of “Never Forget” in Judaism relates to the importance of never forgetting what happened to the Jewish people during the Holocaust. I really like the dual meaning and I’m very excited to get my new tattoo this coming weekend.
While I haven’t finalized my decision on the font / design, I have yet to decide where I want to get it as well. Originally, I was thinking that I wanted to get it centered between my shoulder blades — however I’ve started to lean towards my right arm, as I feel as though it’s important to get it someplace I can easily see it, considering the message.
I’m getting it done at Black Heart Tatto, in San Francisco by Juan Puente. Before I get it, he said that he could do a stick-on stencil so I could see what it looks like on me before anything permanent is done. I may need to see it before I decide. I have narrowed it down to one of the following three fonts, but fortunately, I still have a few days to figure out the details.
Michelle says that the lamed in the second one looks too much like a yod. I was thinking that it has an awful lot of black ink to fill in. She also pointed out that unless the artist is really careful, the mem in third example could start looking like a samekh. (Michelle might be a bit skittish about the issue because last week was full of graphic designers making mistakes with Hebrew letters and others skipping the proofing step before doing the work.)
Hey Andrew (and Michelle), thanks for commenting! Hmm, never thought about the Yod thing in the second one — but I think you’re right. I was actually leaning towards the first or third one, but happened to see the second one yesterday and kind of dig it.
The artist I’m going to see is very good and has done hebrew tattoos before, so I’m not too concerned. He’s also going to stencil it out before he does tattooing, so I’ll be sure to watch for the mem sofit / samekh issue.
I’ll post pics when it’s complete! :)