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I was tattooing at a busy shop outside of Ft Benning Ga. Don was stationed there working as a Ranger instructor. He got tattooed at the shop and soon became my client.within a few months he began working there also learning how to tattoo and working the 10-3am shift. We were friends , he had a girlfriend and I was married to another tattooer at the shop and had a little boy. Don became a close family friend, a trusted coworker and I know that we really bonded during the hours spent tattooing him. I guess we were friends and coworkers for about 2 years or so when I became single again. I can't say that we had a wild romance but just that we were such good friends and we really liked and respected one another. Our first date , so to speak, was in June - and we were married at the end of November. For the next 10 years we tattooed wherever Don was stationed ( he worked in the army and tattooed till he retired from the military, almost 10 years ago) We also went on to have 5 more children. this November we'll be married 20 years.

I hump all my female clients and on occasion some of my male clients. Anyone wanna make an appointment? I take a $50 deposit.

baked potatoes are so awesome...i love to rub them with olive oil and kosher salt so the skin is tasty.i used to have to go to outback steakhouse with coworkers and i would not eat the steaks becuase the quality wasn't great but instead would order a baked potato for lunch. it was like $2.50 and so good.

One down, one to go: By Tim Lehi of Black Heart Tattoo, SF. Scott stopped by to watch me cringe, and Juan refused to buy me a cupcake.

This is no big deal but... Friday May 13th 2011 Sheer Terror Massacre Time The Old Firm Casuals @ Thee Parkside SHEER TERROR, THE OLD FIRM CASUALS, MASSACRE TIME @ Thee Parkside - May 13th 2011 9:00 pm Again this is no big deal. Im not even getting my tickets before the show.

Seriously, just take the year to save up, come to New York, Bailey, done.

That Ripley tattoo is nice and smooth. Side note did anyone notice the brown stain on the boxers of the guy with the Jesus tattoo gougetheeyes just posted? Must've been a rough session

Goddamn, Filip Leu.. those maple leaves! On a similar note to Perez's post, I really love Sid's tattoos. Would really like to get something from him at some point -- bigger the better!

I saw this thing recently by a fellow named Judd Ripley. Check out how soft and buttery those blends are! Pretty impressive.

wait a year til you're 18 and can travel on your own and save up money and go to someone that you'll get a killer tattoo from rather than just an average one. trust me it's worth the wait. the chest is a big spot that anything less than an awesome tattoo won't do justice for the rest of you're life...

This man deserves his own thread, but I'm definitely not qualified enough to start it. Perhaps Bryan Burk, Juan Puente, or someone else who has spent time in Japan with him would like to... Anyways, here's a brief sample of the legendary Horiyoshi III's work. For those who want to learn/see more, Juan Puente has a photo book out that you should buy.

I've watched Davey walk across the crowd with the crowd all putting their hands up to create a platform for him to walk across. Hardcore AFI fans are wayyyy into it.

when i moved to california, i stayed with my brother in SF for a month before moving to san jose. tiger army was playing at the fillmore and i wanted to see them. i found some dude at the venue that sold me a ticket face value. they were the opening act for a band i didnt know. after they played i stuck around. that band was AFI. they came out and the place went nuts! then they started their first song. my initial reaction...."DAMN THAT LITTLE GIRL CAN FUCKING SIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!" Then i realized there were no boobs under that mesh shirt. whoops thats a guy. anyway, i was incredibly impressed with their playing and davey's singing. they had that entire crowd in the palms of their hands. it was awesome. been a fan ever since. i do think its funny that alot of people hate on them for changing up their style though. theyve been playing music a long ass time. i wouldnt wanna be tattooing the same dagger over and over. i understand the change up. and appreicate both "versions" of the band. so cheers to davey! wish i could catch the show.

I give a $50 deposit -- HIYOOOOOOOOO. I actually got together with my wife-to-be because of our mutual tattooer friend, Dave Wallin.

That's rad Bill, R.I.P. Sonny. I got mine from my buddy Adam Paterson who broke me into the business. I had just read Tattootime "Tattoo Magic" and thought it was so awesome, I had to add it to my magic. Got it across the top of my right hand, just below my wrist. Noticed recently that Stell has it in almost the exact same spot. I feel the same way, being nice is such an under-appreciated virtue in this business, I can't believe that in this day and age, in a service job, there's still so much bad-attitude pseudo tough-guy posturing going on. It's honestly why I don't have many tattooer friends. Some people just dont understand that you don't have to be a dick to be cool I guess. I mean look at Paul Rogers, of all the things he is remembered for the foremost two are, he was a exceedingly kind, and an incredibly hard worker. That's the kind of legacy I want to leave. A jerk who can tattoo is still a jerk.

I have it. I got it on my wrist from Sonny Tufts in Philly in '89. I thought it was a cool classic design that just might remind me to be a nicer person. I still feel the same way about it.

Those Lieber sailor girl acetates are damn good. On another note about the source of references and influences, last time Lehi tattooed me I asked him if he liked Wido de Marval's tattooing (he works with Leu in Switzerland). Lehi said he'd never heard of him. I asked him whose Japanese-derivative tattooing he paid attention to. He said "No one's, really, I just look at the old Japanese stuff. That's what all these tattooers are trying to do, anyway." Reminds me of the Mike Malone letter to Keith Underwood that was published in TAM a few months ago. Malone adminished Underwood to "Look Look Look" at how Jerry executed his flash. He emphasized Jerry's formulaic approach to drawing archetypal images. Same thing as Lehi looking at Yoshitoshi, Kuniyoshi, or Horiyoshi II. I'd guess that Chris Conn's work, as distinct from someone like Jerry's as it might seem, relies on a very similar formula.

Boyer's photos make a strong argument. Guy named Jim LaPorte sold his extensive Lieber collection a couple years ago, and the pin-up sheet two photos above was $1600. A chunk of dough, yes, but a very fair price, considering the obvious influence Lieber had on Jerry, who's sheets go for three times as much. If anyone's interested in LaPorte's high-quality book of his collection, I can pass on his email. It goes for $250, I think, but it's sizeable, and fucking dope. Brooks turned my bud Kyle on to it, and we swooped on what we could and couldn't afford. Brooks got a couple great sheets. The Scott Harrison fish girl tattoo above is on SBoyer, and is flash from the Lieber sheet I went into more dumb debt for. My bud Kyle saw a picture of that Harrison/Lieber piece and said "That tattoo is perfect." Fucking strong. Back to girls: There's tons of good girl head stuff that leans more towards the realistic, too. Sboyer just turned me on to Jose Lopez. Very impressive. My blind ass was also just made aware of how good Lenherr's girl busts are, as well. Jason Brooks does excellent girl/rose heads. I fully agree that Uzi's a very good tattooer, too. Conn is obviously outstanding. I slid ass first into a pile of sugar when I got that Rock of Ages (pictured under the ROA thread) from him on my thigh in 2003. I was just getting my feet wet as a collector, and luckily picked up on how good he was when I flipped through his book at Temple the previous year. One thing that's impressive about his art is that it appeals to people who're new to looking at tattoo art (like me in 2002), but continues to reveal deeper layers when viewed by a more experienced eye. That's when tattooing truly becomes "art", in my opinion. The apex of this dynamic is reached when staring at a Van Gogh, Kawanabe Kyosai, Soga Shohaku, or Kano Hogai painting or print. Fuck, every time I look at the Van Gogh print on my wall at home I get tractor-beamed into some aspect of his holistic vision that I never noticed before. Hokusai, too. Hell, I can ogle Mike Malone's shit all day, as well. He was real into Soga Shohaku and Kano Hogai. Go figure. Speaking of traditional tattooing that is true art, look at Richard Stell's tattooing. I was beyond dumb-lucky enough to get a couple tattoos from Mike Malone when he was around, and wish I had done the same with Ed Hardy and Higgs when they were tattooing. To people who dig my Malone tattoos (and covet the experience of getting tattooed by a dude like that), I say get tattooed by Stell. Eddy Deutsche is tattooing in L.A, too. He's another one who's tattooing is true art.

PEACOCKS, portraits, long stemmed thorny roses with a banner in the middle and a name, "east l.a. christmas trees" (a college of four girls, two vertical, two horizantal), names, head shots, skulls, grim reapers, spiderwebs, pachuco crosses, gypsies, wizards, L.A. logos in all black, aztec stuff, charra girls, old english, traditional roses, dice, weedleaves, car club logos, misfits skulls, lowrides, cholas, gun barrells (beware of owner), la pieta, jesus portraits, religious stuff, psycho city blocks (big 3D block letters), laughnowcrylater, area codes, face tattoos, gangster shit, anything done single needle, spiders, pharoes horses, winged stuff, rosaries on wrists or feet, girls with long, feathered out hair, castles, prison towers, barbed wire, old school gang stuff, jailhouse tattoos, old homemade, handpoked stuff. There is a motif of a dude kissing his hyna. No name for it but people who have been around know whats up; everyone has seen it at some time or another: yeah. all day. ALL DAY: Not into diamonds or fuckin umbrellas, cup cakes, cherries, ICP clowns, Mike Devries superrealism or birdcages or weird rosespanthercoffins with spiderwebs and pretend cholo writing in the background. No cartoony Joe Cap, No dia de low muertos newjack neochicano Mike Giant BULLSHIT. No Nikko Hurtado, Roman Abeigo, Bandon Bond Neuma machine portrait crap. My favorite tattoos is neighborhood stuff from the late 60's to the mid 80's. I will never ever get tired of looking at it. It's what I thought was dope as a kid, and what I think is dope to this very day.

Thanks Alanna. Two nights ago made potato skins with New Mexico hatched green chilis, onions, bacon and olives.

I heard if you smoke crack and drink faygo you turn into a member of ICP. Thats how they started actually. The combination is called "A Dark Lotus". Andrew WK gets these assholes good.