Tatto For You

from: Ken W. to: tiangotlost@gmail.com date: Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 10:53 PM subject: tattoo translation Hi Tian, I love your blog, and I was wondering if you could translate what I got tattooed on my arm some years back. Thanks a lot. 莾 is antiquated version of 莽 , which means dense growth of bush or rash.

from: Lucy to: tiangotlost@gmail.com date: Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 6:11 PM subject hanzismatter - medical insurance notice Hi, Attached is a notice sent by the medical insurance carrier called Aetna. I'm almost sure the Chinese section is illegible unless Aetna is using some kind of crazy font. Can you please shed some light on what's going on? Thank you. Regards, Lucy ( full size view ) The Chinese text section does appear to be jumbled either from poor printing process or incorrect font.

from: Anna H. to: tiangotlost@gmail.com date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 8:51 AM Hello, long time reader and fan of your blog. I just came across this, and I smell bullsh*t. http://www.makeyourownjeans.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21_27_129 Anyway, go nuts :) Alan and I briefly browsed through the website mentioned above and " Kemuri " section. We can't believe some place is seriously using the Gibberish Chinese Font as is! We will be on the lookout for gullible customers with embroidered butts. What a bunch of idiots.

Been reading the roleplay going on over at the Forum and was delighted to find Wolf Blood's out-of-character comment as the story being told unfolded: "(My mistake has turned into a plot element :D)" I had to laugh in happy sympathy here, Welcome to my world! I could not help but thinking. Such accidents are the stuff of writing. Oh, and yes, I have a new poll - rather pertinent as momentum slowly gathers in me to begin a new text in the new year.

Below is the prepared speech I readied as a member of the Negative for a debate recently, arguing - for the positive - that career success was entirely up to chance. In the end I delivered my part off the cuff and did not use this speech at all. Therefore, I thought I would share it with someone so as to put the work to some kind of use... I appear before you in the role of writer, the creator of the Monster-Blood Tattoo series, three books – or roughly 350,000 words – published in 18 countries and 13 languages, with hopes and plans to write further stories in a similar vein and a of long career ahead. Yet I trained as an illustrator – not a writer – at the now vanished Underdale campus of the UniSA. How on earth did I get here? By sheer fluke it seems: for after a somewhat successful 9 years in Sydney as an illustrator, when of a sudden, I quit my job, where I lived, upped sticks and with a Great Plan burning in my soul went on an adventure across the seas, New York, London, Paris. On...

from: Karl B. to: tiangotlost@gmail.com date: Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 3:34 AM subject: Restaurant sign Hi, There's a sushi restaurant in Stockholm with this sign which is obviously not japanese, but even in chinese it doesn't *appear* to say anything coherent. Care to shed any light on it, despite it not being a tattoo? - Karl 定価 = listing price 中 = within 低 = lower 冬季 = winter 大人 = adult 千円 = thousand yen 村 = village 高 = higher 内線 = inner line 年賀 = new year's greeting

from: Samantha M. to: tiangotlost@gmail.com date: Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:00 AM subject: My tattoo Could you tell me what this means? I was young and dumb and was told it meant "Power" Thank you Sami 權 should have two 口, instead of solid squares.