It's a Wonderful Tattoo

For Christmas, my wife, Jenn, told me I could get another tattoo, my second. I have wanted another one for years. My first one was a "reset button," designed to look the the "fire" button on the old Atari 2600 joysticks. I got that one in 2003 or 2004 after my divorce to remind me that I am in charge of my life and my future, not my practice wife/mother of my first child.

I have wanted a second tattoo for years, and have kicked around the idea of a Wonderful Life-themed tattoo for a while. I thought about the drawing of George lassoing the moon, but among other reasons, I decided not to do that, because that seemed to be the go-to design. I wanted something unique. And I wanted to incorporate my children in some way. So I went back to the drawing board. 

The book where I found my inspiration

And THEN I looked through the book It's a Wonderful Life: The Illustrated Holiday Classic by Paul Ruditis and illustrated by Sarah Conradsen, which I received as a Christmas gift from my parents. In it, I found two gorgeous illustrations of George Bailey praying on the bridge. I started playing with those ideas .... not suicide, but of praying and my children, and how would I incorporate them. And then I thought of the role bells play in the film.

I also wanted to incorporate my wife in the design, but I didn't want to include her name, because tattooing your wife's name on your body guarantees a divorce. That's just bad juju. Not gonna' do it. Some people suggested using her initials and putting "XXX Bridgeworks"  (where XXX are her initials) on the bridge as a way to include her. But then I realized her birth flower was holly. So that was easy.

But since I wear glasses and George Bailey doesn't, I had my tattoo artist bury the face in his hands instead of showing the face. That way, it is unclear if it is me or George Bailey praying. I also added a square and compasses lapel pin to represent my involvement in the Masonic fraternity.

So, you can look at this tattoo as simply a scene from the film inspired by a book made for children, or you can look at it as symbolic of me, praying over my children, represented by the bells, bridging my past to their future.

Below is the process of the tattoo. It was completed in two sessions. Session 1 was Feb. 5, 2021, which was the anniversary of my parents' wedding, and my grandfather's death (neither of which happened this year). Session 2 happened June 1. I might need to get the white touched up at some point, but that will be after swim season is over.

Last moment for bare arm

End of Day 1 progress Feb 5, 2021

Final tattoo, completed June 1, 2021

Can You Tell Me How They Got to Sesame Street?

Bert the Cop and Ernie the Taxi Driver in It's a Wonderful Life. 

Source: Wiki Commons

A myth has grown out of the story that the characters of Bert and Ernie in It’s a Wonderful Life inspired the names of the characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street.” 

Stephen Cox, author of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book, debunks this claim: “It’s purely coincidence, admits Henson representatives who were there in the late 1960s when Sesame Street first paved its way on television” (87).

(Left to right) Ernie and Bert
Source: http://www.factfixx.com/2011/08/10/urban-legends-bert-and-ernie-are-lovers/

Even the “behind the scenes” book about “Sesame Street,” titled Sesame Street Unpaved, by David Borgenicht, tackles the topic: “Sesame writers insist that it’s just a coincidence” (23).

A quick Google search of the phrase "bert and ernie sesame street it's a wonderful life" will also disprove the myth.

Please help me educate America. Please stop this pop-culture lie.

Sources:

Borgenicht, David. Sesame Street Unpaved. New York: Hyperion, 1998.

Cox, Stephen. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2003.

Blogging from A to Z April (2015) Challenge Theme Reveal

Source: http://goo.gl/oklQZ

For the first time ever, I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z April (2015) Challenge. The challenge will begin April 1 and continue though the end of April. I will post every day in April except on Sundays.

As with my entire blog, my theme for this challenge will be It's a Wonderful Life.

I am excited for his challenge because it has allowed me to look at this film from new angles. I have made new connections I had not seen before. I am also excited because most of my entires will have more than one word. M isn't just for money. It is also for Mother, Martini and Mary. And I will look at them all.

My daily entries will explore characters, life-impacting decisions, faith, and the American Dream. I will look at actors and actresses, concepts and feelings. This challenge is about more than nouns. I hope it inspires you in many ways.