Jorge's Infinity and Turtle

Currently, Dr. Jorge Perez-Gallego works as an astronomer and exhibition developer at the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in the magic city of Miami, where he leads the development of the upcoming Frost Planetarium and Feathers to the Stars exhibition.  You can learn more about Jorge and his work by clicking over to his SCIENCE MUSES blog.

Here's what Jorge had to say about his tattoos:

As the Museum People's Tattoos blog reminds us, many museum folks have a love for tattoos—their cultural significance, their artistic quality, their documentation of the natural world, and some, just for their own personal meaning. The abstract stories behind mine, written by a younger version of myself, at the time I got them, are below.

Infinity (2009)

one day you realize

forevers are not forever

and only then you fall

for all those forevers you had

and only then you fall

for all those forevers you await

maybe one

maybe more

maybe none

one day you realize

you are perishable

and although neverending

infinity hides a notch

deep in your heart

only then your eyes smile back

again

as they did at dawn

and your soul dances

to the music of colors

water your gifts

with care

before they become givens

and shrivel

your eyes closed

embraced from behind

white kisses

and hope

all that

in your wrist

for real

forever

Countdown (2005)

You open the eyes while Morfeo is still reigning. You get away from his fantasy kingdom. You sweat, you always do. You look around and see nothing but darkness. Shadows. You wake up and see someone next to you, someone who looks at you faithfully while resting. Your loneliness. Forever. You have breakfast. Fractals made out of cocoa and milk. You wash your face energetically. Cold. You ride your bike. You curse the luck of a colleague that will not do it again. You ride your bike. You arrive to your office. Lonely, dark, empty. A paradise, ephemeral, intermittent, vanishing. You work without stopping for six long hours. Proposal. Telephone. Proposal. Paper. Web page. Email. Proposal. Email. You yearn for the salty silence, the sea breeze, having goose pimples, a supernova in your retina, your feet disappearing under the sand, the swinging of the waves. Only then you realize how far away you are from yourself. You look your conscience in the eyes. You smile. You have lunch. You fall and look at the sky. They hurt. Your fingertips, your palms, forearms, shoulders, chest. You close your eyes and imagine yourself climbing outdoors. You like to get home before it is dark. You call your parents, your sister, your grandma. You do it every now and then. You do not always like to talk for talk's sake. Communication. You talk with your virtual family seven thousand kilometers away. So far, so close. You have dinner out. The design burns in your pocket. Among the nostalgic pages of the red notebook that someone gave you. With your stomach full. After one thousand and thirty seven days you finally show the drawing to a stranger. Thirty two minutes later you are not the same anymore. You are a little bit more... Yourself. A cake with the shape of a turtle. You go to bed and only then you are aware that your ID put yourself for the first time closer to turn thirty than to have turned twenty. ¿Twenty what? ¿Thirty what? You smile. You are happy. The world thinks it knows who you are, where you come from, where you go. It has no idea. You still feel like a kid... and you love it. Alive. A turtle is climbing on the back of your right leg...

Want to share your own story and tattoo?
Email Beth: bredmondjones (at) sdnhm (dot) org or Paul: info (at) orselli (dot) net.