does anyone here have really cool handwriting?

[tomEisenbraun]

okay, so this might sound lame at first, but i assure you it's not.

i'm getting a tattoo. i've been planning on it for a few months. i'm still torn between getting it on my left collarbone or just under the crook of my elbow accross my right forearm. what is, is basically a reminder of what i'm here to do, and it says "onehundredfold".

the story behind it...i had been in a low place for awhile spiritually for what felt like quite some time, and i had begun to find my way back into it. like, started making my faith my own thing instead of being one of a crowd of christian school kids who let the school direct them. not to say christian schools aren't great, they're awesome for having the ability to talk about theology and actually begin to understand a lot of what stands behind what this faith is, rather than not knowing anything about it at all.

but anyways, i had finally found that it had to be something that i needed to claim as my own. something that had to be there at the root of who i am no matter what is around me. if i was stripped of everything and everyone i have, i would still have faith. and i had started to really understand that need, and started giving up everything i had struggled so much to hold onto, and just let God be the most important thign in my life. i could talk a lot more about all that, and if you'd like to use this thread somewhat as a discussion, we can certainly do that, too.

and then to get me sidetracked back on point, the girl who i wound up dating for a couple months...umm i don't know how to grammatically make this sentence work...she and i went to this church that was leading a bible study at school. the bible study had been amazing, and we figured we'd see what the church was about. and when we went, the pastor taught from matthew 13, the parable of the sower:

[size=10] That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat
beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so
 that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd
 stood on the beach. And he told them many things in
 parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he
 sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came
 and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground,
 where they did not have much soil, and immediately they
 sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the
 sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,
 they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and
 the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on
 good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some
 sixty, some thirty. He who has ears,let him hear."[/size]  

(red-lettering it is fun :))

but that whole thing is a metaphor for the different ways people have faith (and lose it, or why they lose) and it hit me during that. i had done the whole rocky soil thing a couple times, and it was an awful place to be. but as my faith was becoming my own, i began to see how, when you have a solid faith, that's when you've got the "good soil" kind of faith. and the people who spring up in good soil, they've got an opportunity to give everything they've got back, thus the production of grain. and i realized, I've been blessed a hell of a lot, just wiith God's grace alone, and there is absolutely no reason why i should hold anything at all back. my mission, then: is to give back onhundredfold what i've been given. just through teaching, directing people who ask for it, giving guidance, or being a friend, mentor. i mean, that's basically all facets of being a teacher, and that's what i'm called to do. so "onehundredfold" has kind of become my mission statement in life. summed up in one word.

thing is, i want the writing of it to be really beautiful, but no matter how much i attempt to write it out, i can't seem to nail it. now i know we have a bunch of graphic artists here (or at least some people with some pretty kickassin handwriting, judging by a couple of the things that came for the get well box), and i was wondering if anyone would like to help me get this thing drawn out so i can go ahead and get it done.

so i guess my question is, would anybody like to help out and see if they can help me get this drawn out? i could definitely return the favor through somehting like a sweet live compilation disc or some rare tracks. i'd be glad to trade some mmj material for this. at this point in the post, i think i'm just rambling. so it stands at that, would anybody like to help me out with the tattoo?

[ManNamedTruth]

I'd be down.I have a degree in commercial art. I've been drawing all my life basically. I don't really have the proper computer equipment or the access as of right now to just e-mail it. I don't have a website as of yet either. I'm saving up some money to get a mac. I want to go all out with it though so it might take some money. I'd be willing to mail a few examples. Let me know. I'd be down for some live MMJ or whatever ya got.

[ali]

hey tom, were you thinking of just the one word (or three words written as one)?

i could have a little play around with it if you'd like?

[tomEisenbraun]

i was thinking of it all written together as just one word. anything you could do would be awesome, as i'm not entirely sure what i'm looking for, and this'll help me hone in on it.

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

hey tom, would you consider a symbol that is readable with the exact same meaning?

[tomEisenbraun]

how so? like in a different language like hebrew? or a symbol that repesents that? what ya thinkin?

[Dorothy_Mantooth]

i was thinking along the lines of a graphic symbol that could represent all of your thoughts.

so i apologize for the fact that these aren't scanned because i just moved and haven't unpacked ye olde scanner. also sorry for the post-it notes but they're my favorite medium.

first i wrote '100' down on a square, and then folded it, making it more of a literal translation of your idea.



so that led to the idea of having a symbol of a folded square with 100 written on it. the way that it folds much like a road map seems appropriate since this is how you are guiding your life. maybe a way of making it a bit playful, i suppose.



just some doodlin'. but if you do go for the words, i'd say to keep it simple.



something like that but maybe make the 'hundred' bold or in another color.

just some little thoughts for ye. alright, i must put the internet to bed.

[tomEisenbraun]

totally forgot to reply.

the folding thing was cool, but i want to actually have the word there. i really liked your handwriting for it, actually. that's the hardest part about this whole darn thing, is getting the word to look right. me and my friend almost nailed it the other day, but it's just not quite there.

if my paycheck comes in soon, i think i'm just gonna bust ass on the letters and get it this weekend.

[ChiefOKONO]

this is a very cool project, i can't wait to see how it turns out!!!

[tomEisenbraun]

got it :)

there will be pictures. it's in dark red, and just my own handwriting. really simple, but really cool, too.

[tomEisenbraun]

here it is :)



i'm very happy with it :)

[marktwain]

congratulations, Tom!

Looks good, my man.  The 'font' is nice, and I really like that it's red.

[tomEisenbraun]

thanks man. it's a little brighter red than i thought it would be actually. i was thinkin more like dark burgundy in my head. but i think it will look quite nice as it fades and gets old. and i think its a lot more unique than black. just a better color all the way round. only thing is, as it's healing, it looks more like i carved it in than anything. my stepdad said it looked like stitches right at first (but he was really intrigued and likes it a lot, so he wasn't dissing it, just observing, which is also cool). i'm excited to have this thing on my body for the rest of my life. i think i'm going to have to get more.

who was the guy from canada who had the mmj skeleton tattoos on the inside of his biceps? meg, i think you know him?

[marktwain]

I thought maybe it was red because a lot of Bibles use red when quoting Jesus.  Which is a bonus.  Because it just looks cool, too.

[tomEisenbraun]

haha, i realized the thing about the red-letter bibles afterwards. and it would be cool to say i thought of it beforehand, but alas, i did not. either way, it makes good sense, and i'm toying with the idea of getting an entire parable of jesus tattooed somewhere in red-letter.

i knwo why people say tattoos are addicting. cuz, dangit, they are.