Geek Ink is a fairly representative book of “geek” culture tattoos with brief biographies of some of the tattoo artists.
I have to say though, there were far more Star Wars ideas in here than Star Trek. In that particular showdown, the Trekkies were not representing. I know there are major fans of the Star Trek franchise out there… where are you guys?! Not getting tattoos, I guess.
I was also disappointed in their collection of literary tattoos. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Little Prince were there, of course. There were a few science fiction themes. But nothing from other beloved classics like Where the Wild Things Are, or poetry, or various mythologies beyond a few generic-looking fairy tale castles.
Are book readers not into tattoos? This one is. 🙂 I was particularly drawn to the hyper-realistic tats of plants and animals.
Recommended for people looking for tattoo ideas or who appreciate gorgeous body art. Despite my quibbles, this is a beautiful book created by incredibly talented artists, and which would look great on your coffee table.
The self-styled “anti-guru” Sarah Knight adds another volume to her quirky, profanity-laden self-help series with You Do You.
The focus, as you can guess from the title, is the art of allowing your authentic self to shine through without feeling guilt or being so far out of the social norms that you border on “psychopath.”
You Do You is about accepting your strengths and your flaws, whether those flaws are self-identified, or just things that you’re perfectly happy about but that other people seem to have a problem with. Or, should I say, that you WOULD be happy about, if you felt a little more confident in yourself…” loc 146, ebook.
And, like the previous books, Knight doesn’t stint on the bad words. She admits she kept the title clean so a certain publication *cough* New York Times *cough* would print the all the words of the title in their sought after Best Seller list.
Which Knight has made before… but had her titles censored for their content.
“The advice in this book boils down to one simple mantra: Stand up for who you are and what you want. How do you do that? Stop letting other people tell you what to do, how to do it, or why it can’t be done.” loc 188, ebook.
I enjoyed You Do You, but I felt it wasn’t as strong as Knight’s other titles because she spends so much time rehashing material she has already covered elsewhere.
That being said, I like Knight’s style, her famous diagrams and her illuminating stories. This is an author who has been there, done that and cussed about it.
My favorite diagram in You Do You is Knight’s “ouroboros” or symbolic, conjoined serpent of wisdom picture. The text with the cute doodle says: “Is it right or wrong? You won’t know unless you have the confidence to take a risk and find out. If you regret your decision, then accept the consequences, swallow the lesson, and start over. With confidence.” loc 1995, ebook.
Verges on mystic Eastern wisdom, doesn’t it?
She encourages all readers everywhere to let the strange sides of yourself out- within certain boundaries. Don’t hurt anybody. Don’t take advantage of people. Be reasonable within your freakishness.
“Now, with those ground rules established, I do declare that we, as a society, should celebrate weirdness in all its forms- and that the right to be weird should be inalienable- just like the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” loc 2130, ebook.
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