Post awesome things you have been doing recently

[ShawnPorter]

Wow @ShawnPorter - great picture! Beautiful dress, too. You'd never know it was 2 degrees outside with those happy faces.

Thanks!

That dress cost $23 on eBay.

My swell 'Devil and Daniel Webster' sportscoat was $80.

We do it up right.

[Dennis]

Ordered some electronic drums so I can actually have more time to practice in my apartment, which I'm very excited about!

These guys will be going back into their cases for now!

[Boiled Dove]

I found this place, loved it and then life started kicking my ass. But I have now found my way back.

On the uncool side I was diagnosed with diabetes and way fucked up cholesterol. been working on that so at least my sugar is coming under control.

On the awesome side I started looking for a new job and we all decided we could line without winter so I started looking in the southern areas, FL and such. The really awesome thing is that I now have an upcoming interview for a job on St. Kitts that I am well qualified for. No chance of touching a snow shovel down there. I'm about to jump out of my skin at the thought. I'm actually getting nervous about the interview (I haven't been on that side of the table for almost 8 years).

If it all works out I will have to figure out what my leaving town tattoo will be.

[Colored Guy]

I've been doing a little bit better now that the putrid holidays are done with. I have a couple of tattoo appointments coming up, working on my 1959 Ford, hanging out with our cat Chloe more and taking better care of myself. My BP is down to acceptable levels, just saw my lung doctor and got all my asthma stuff squared away. Drinking waaaayyy less as well and back in the gym 3X a week.

[marley mission]

'sick day' tattoo session today - does it get more awesome ;)

[Boiled Dove]

Holy crap. The initial interview went great. It would be a bit of a pay cut but how often do you get a chance to move to St. Kitts?

Fuck.

Another Skype type interview next week.

Woo Hoo

[ShawnPorter]

Swallows&Daggers | News | 5 Tattooers to Watch in 2015.

I was asked by Swallows and Daggers to pick five tattooers to watch in 2015. I went with three old guys and two young guys.

[Colored Guy]

Holy crap. The initial interview went great. It would be a bit of a pay cut but how often do you get a chance to move to St. Kitts?

Fuck.

Another Skype type interview next week.

Woo Hoo

Shit.... I'd work for free if they fed me...

[Tornado6]

My first Wildlife ID class of the year was today. I got to play with my skulks and skins. Good day!

[ChaosDani]

My first Wildlife ID class of the year was today. I got to play with my skulks and skins. Good day!

Cool! You teach Wildlife ID, or you were taking a class? I collect skulls too! Is that a whitetail?

[Tornado6]

Cool! You teach Wildlife ID, or you were taking a class? I collect skulls too! Is that a whitetail?

I teach a class for 11 - 18 year old olds. That one is an elk, but whitetails were today too. This is the bulkiest class to teach. The back of the wagon was packed full of various antlers.

[ChaosDani]

Nice! I'd love to have an elk. You should post up some pics of your collection. Sounds like you've got a lot of cool stuff!

[Graeme]

When I'm not getting tattooed, I work as a brewer, currently for a chain of brewpubs. Right now, the company is having a brewing competition between the brewers in all the restaurants worldwide where we had to create, brew, and market our own beers to be sold in our individual restaurants. When I got into brewing professionally nearly eight years ago I wanted to gain a little bit of experience and eventually get into writing beer recipes, but it turns out that outside of small brewpubs with very little brewer turnover, the reality of commercial brewing is that you're brewing the same recipes over and over and over (which is a challenge in its own right because you want to same results every single time even though you're working with raw materials that can vary pretty greatly). So it's been a really cool opportunity and challenge to be able to think up a beer, write a recipe for it, brew it, and then serve it to people. Though that last part is a little bit stressful, especially when your peers are drinking it. I'm really happy with what I brewed though. I brewed a Belgian-inspired brown ale--it isn't brewed to any particular style, but I used a Belgian yeast and Belgian malts so I'm calling in Belgian--with a low bitterness that is balanced out with sour cherries. It turned out really well: it has a nice fruity character without being sweet; it's complex without sacrificing drinkability.

Anyway, as this is a competition, I'm also asking for your help and support here. The first round of the competition is decided by public vote and then the finalists then go to France to have their beers evaluated by a panel of judges. The winner then gets to go to the Great American Beer Festival which is being held in Denver, CO (if I win, hello Lifetime Tattoo!). While I would love for all of you to come to Montreal and taste my beer, you don't actually have to try it to vote for me, so if you are so inclined you can vote up to once per day until the end of the contest via this link:

http://maitrebrasseur.les3brasseurs.com

My beer is called The Belgian Cherry. I am the worst at coming up with names. There is a hilarious picture of me in there though, if you need an incentive.

[Pugilist]

I can vouch for how delicious the beer is!!

[Mick Weder]

Done

[ChaosDani]

Voted. And I love the picture! Good luck!

[marley mission]

voted! now I want a Belgian Cherry! ;)

fun pic too

good luck in the contest

[Graeme]

@Mick Weder @ChaosDani @marley mission Thanks for the support. The picture is pretty silly, the life-sized cardboard cutout of me is even sillier. Maybe @Pugilist will post a picture of it.

[Pugilist]

Ask and ye shall receive.

[Kimmie]

I am in my last semester of college! I've already fulfilled all of the requirements for my specific degree (B.S. in Psychology/Clinical Mental Health) so now I'm living the easy life with elective courses online.

In 1998, my family started a concessions company. It was mostly my Mom's brainchild, but when she passed away in 2013 my siblings and I took over (with the assistance of my Dad). Our website hasn't been updated much since it was first created (Atlanta's Best Popcorn, Kettle Corn, Color Popcorn, Caramel Corn and Cotton Candy Store.), but we have our own production warehouse and are one of the top employers of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Georgia.

I also run an art collective with my boyfriend (Third Eye Collective | Atlanta Custom Art and Glass). It's still a new company, but we have a 7,000 square foot warehouse with a photography studio, recording studio, glass blowing studio, art studio, and our own line of apparel and hat pins. We're also in the process of becoming certified as a tattoo studio so we can host guest artists.

ETA: I didn't mean for this post to come across as shameless self promo! But most of the things I do are related to one of the above and I can't help but be proud.

[Dennis]

Got my V-Drums, now I can practice regularly again! Wooowhooo! Also, I have an interview for medical school in a few weeks!

[Tornado6]

Nice! I'd love to have an elk. You should post up some pics of your collection. Sounds like you've got a lot of cool stuff!

"Artsy iPad shots" ;)

Black bear

Gray wolf

Mountain lion

Opossum, muskrat, skunk, mouse, vole

[ChaosDani]

@Tornado6 I love that first photo. That's a good looking bear. I have a bear skull that I picked up at an estate sale a while back and it is sooo greasy. I have been trying to degrease it for a year and it's still kinda yellow. Yours is so nice and white! Very envious of the wolf and mountain lion, too. And the last photo is cool. I like side-by-side comparisons of different species. Do you find and/or hunt and process them yourself?

[Tornado6]

I process small ones, like mice squirrels and rabbits here at home. They're small enough to boil and then use peroxide, and they don't smell when they're fresh. I'd not take on anything long dead or bigger than the stovetop at home. That bear is still a little waxy feeling. I have another that is dry. I think it must have been in the sun.

I find naturally cleaned skulls sometimes on the farm or hikes. If they're clean enough to carry, I'll bring them home, but I don't really need anymore whitetails or raccoons, so I usually leave them these days. I do hunt, but I've not been hunting for any new or interesting species in a long time. I'd like to have an elk skull with the ivory intact, so maybe we'll get lucky the next time we head to Colorado. I'd send something that big off to someone with beatles.

[ChaosDani]

I find mostly whitetails and raccoons here too. I can always use raccoon parts for jewelry. Whitetails I can take or leave. Most of my finds are from walking the dogs along the road or the railroad tracks. I'll only bring em home if they're mostly clean. Being in the suburbs with neighbors fairly close, I'm not set up to do a whole lot of processing myself. I do have a few maceration buckets going in the summer, but nothing that'd work for something as big as an elk. Never tried boiling cause I never find anything that fresh - I don't hunt, and my husband doesn't do small game - and I'm afraid to bring that stuff into my kitchen. So I end up buying skulls from flea markets and such, and while they are clean of fleshy stuff, they usually need some kind of additional processing to degrease/whiten. I've picked up a few on a skull group on facebook as well. Actually I just bought a really nice ram skull from there for a steal. I'm probably going to have to figure out a way to finish cleaning and whitening it. That could be a big challenge, but I'm excited.

I hope you get your elk in Colorado!