Calyxa's Tribal Mountains/Pandromeda Tattoo

Tattoo conceived of and worn by Calyxa

Tattooed by John Diggle at Dig A Tattoo, Dunedin, New Zealand

Photo by Kent Oberheu

Nothing says "loyalty and commitment" like a tattoo :)

"The tattoo dieties sent me to New Zealand. I knew there was a possibility that I'd go, someday, seeing as most of Pandromeda's programmers are down there. Thinking about it, I remembered a story I'd heard about sailors in the olden days. When they crossed the equator for the first time, they'd mark the event by piercing their left ears and wearing gold rings in them. But I already have rings in my left ear, so I thought instead of getting a tattoo to commemorate my crossing of the equator and it was when I spoke that idea out loud (probably first to you, Rae), that the trip suddenly got a whole lot more real.

This is my third tattoo, but it is the first one that I hadn't meditated on for years before getting it. I knew I wanted to include the two crescent moons of the Pandromeda company logo and I knew it should have mountains. The tribal band portion is made up of five "jump logos" (an icon in the product which means "jump through parametric hyperspace now" (which is a fancy way of saying "apply changes"))."

"I'd been in Dunedin for 3 days, my tattoo appointment was the very next day. That night, most of the company went to Craig's place to watch movies. When we got out of the car in his driveway, the skies were clearing and Craig pointed out the Southern Cross. A little later, during _Akira_, it suddenly occurred to me that I needed to have the Southern Cross as part of my tattoo. "I need a starmap of the Southern Cross before 5pm tomorrow," I turned and said to Craig. He replied, "I'm sure the Internet will provide." Of course it would."

"Digs and I spent about 30 to 40 minutes coming up with the final design and then it took him about 2 more hours after that to get it inked. I hope to go back to Dunedin sometime within a few months of originally getting the tat to have Digs touch it up, as I've lost some bits near the moons.

Mat, another one of my Kiwi cow-orkers, says, "Be sure to tell the rednecks back home about how you can only see the second moon when you're in the Southern hemisphere!""

Far right: self-portrait of John "Digs" Diggle on his Christchurch shop, from The Art of the New Zealand Tattoo

To see Calyxa's other tattoos you should visit her site, Calyxa's Curios