"What is that, baby feet?" 

"What is that, a circle?"

"Did your tattoo smear?

...are some of the hilarious questions I've received about the aforementioned tattoos. 

"Oh, you like Sigur Rós?" - anytime someone recognizes my tattoos, my heart warms up and immediately, this person and I are on a different level than the rest of the people in the room. 

Getting a tattoo is incredibly permanent, but if it's not something that has meaning, you may tire of talking about it so much -- because people are going to ask. 

I love Sigur Rós and the first tattoo, behind my ear, represents the first time I hear them. The silhouetted man from the "Takk.." album represents the album of theirs I responded to most intensely, emotionally, artistically, etc. 

I have a painting I did, that still hangs in my living room, inspired by the "Glosoli" music video: 

I first heard Sigur Rós in 2003, when I was in high school. The guy I was dating was a musician and he played me the "Untitled 1" music video, which was centered around a group of kids going out in gas masks to play in ash. The haunting imagery in the video stuck with me, as well as the simple and powerful chord structure of the song. I was playing music at night for a church at the time, so we started finding ways to incorporate little Sigur Rós medleys in between songs. I loved it. 

I listened to Sigur Rós all the time after that. Especially when I was going through a particularly rough or happy time. The music is emotional, and so it was therapeutic in a way. When "Takk.." came out in 2007, I was blown away by the beautiful sounds and layers that album had. The music videos left me happily in tears especially, "Glosoli," because of how much it reminded me of when I was a kid and wanted to fly like Peter Pan (I still do). 

When the film, "Heima' was released, I watched it all the time. The picturesque beauty of Iceland that film portrayed, to the tune of Sigur Rós was incredible. "Heima," means "home," in Icelandic, and I felt like that movie was taking me home. The way the band brought communities in Iceland together with free concerts felt completely homely. The way music is supposed to work. I loved it. 

Fast forward to 2012 - my friend Heather and I are on our way to Iceland. Wait, what? YES! 

Almost 10 years after I first heard of the band, I am going to visit their home country. 

On our last night, we got to see Sigur Rós IN Reykjavik. It was a Sunday night, and everyone in the town walked to the venue. Businesses closed early. Entire families and their children were headed towards the show. It was incredible to be a part of. 

No security guards, no stations; you just walked into the extra large room where the stage was setup, and sat down to wait for them to play. They were 3 hours late to play, but nobody was mad or upset. We welcomed them along with the entire city of Reykjavik. In America, people get this excited and united over sports. In Iceland, it's all about the music.

I can definitely say that was the highlight of my year. Not only traveling to Iceland, but seeing Sigur Rós in their home country! 

So anyways, Happy Birthday, Sigur Rós! 

Takk fyrir & skål!!