Sunday, December 06, 2009
I was walking through Penn Station last week when I spotted Turner. Actually I spotted what looked like a tattoo on his wrist. So I stopped and asked him and sure enough, he had words on the inside of his wrist, still healing from a recent inking:
The tattoo reads "A: Don't worry".
Turner explained that he is a performer/author/speaker who worries a lot, so it's sage advice that is always good to follow.
The quote itself is from a segment in a one-man show that he performed called "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps". During one part of the show, Turner answers self-posed questions in an imagined dialog with his father. One of these questions is: "Q: What's the number one thing to think about when you're a dad?" And the answer is "A: Don't worry".
What's particularly special about this tattoo is that it is based on his father's handwriting.
Turner has a book out called Two Truths and a Lie that includes the aforementioned Becoming a Man....
Turner had this tattoo done by Big Steve in Manhattan at Fun City Tattoo.
He also gave me his card, which promotes Two Truths and a Lie. You can read about Turner at his site Undergroundtransit.com. It was there that I learned that Turner is a transgender, a woman who became a man. Of course, this adds, in my opinion, a whole different layer of meaning on the tattoo, and makes the experience of meeting Turner that much more interesting. He is just another example of what I love about writing Tattoosday. I get to meet so many people in such a wide range of diversity. It's well worth exploring his site to see clips of his shows to fully appreciate Turner as a performer.
I thank Turner for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!
Labels: Fun City Tattoo, Words