Mel Noir

Completely in agreement- really happy that you're getting so excited over this stuff, Scott! I've actually spoken to Scott about his tattoos, and the ideas he has, and he's going to end up with some killer tattoos! :)

You'll get there, Wedge! Another thing you can do is just completely immerse yourself in tattooing, with the internet, books, flash, etc. whenever you have some time. I think it's best to look at the tattooers first, and then go from there, like I said, but you can do it the other way around if you want. Sometimes, I've just looked at things I really love, and thought, "wait, why the hell don't I have that tattooed on me yet?". I've ended up with really beautiful tattoos of both Pierrot the Clown and a Russian doll that way!

Daniel, I think that's my favourite drunk story of the month. I'd take my hat off to you, but my hair looks like crap today and you wouldn't see it anyway. Jade I didn't know it's £1 in Tesco! Dayum! I hope that offer's still on, there's nothing like a bottle of brown when I'm working. :)

Hahahaha you guys all rock, I can't say that enough. :) Thank you, I'm feeling a lot better about what's going on today. Rude Boy has the bluest eyes I've ever seen! And that last picture of Robin Williams made me laugh so much, haha. I hope I can return the favour to you guys whenever you're feeling down. :)

I've wasted time on dumber things, to be honest, haha. It reminds me of those iPhone apps that people use to try to figure out what their tattoos will look like. That's really great man, I'm sure I saw some of Niki's work online just today actually! Can't for the life of me remember where now, though. I think it looks great! :)

Kev, Petri, why am I wasting time reading a book when I didn't even have to wait for the movie to come out? Haha. This looks really great- just looked it up, and I see you can see the whole thing on the website, too. I love it when people do that! Hey, even if it doesn't translate to Hvia Lyset Tar Oss, I still clicked on the link and managed to see that cool album sleeve, so worth it either way. I always liked that about metal, especially black metal- they seem to use a lot of artwork on their sleeves instead of pictures of the band trying to look cool.

I'm on board with Black Metal Robin / Punk Rock Robin, for sure.

Haha, the videos and links have actually helped a little :) You guys rock, I knew you'd all be able to cheer me up. I think Songify and Cute Overload are my favourite things now.

I went to look at the handy aftercare sheet I have taped to the back door of my wardrobe to see if I could help. All it said was "until it's fully healed"- you can tell I live in England, hardly anyone here swims, haha. How's your tattoo looking at the minute, Kev? One of the tattooers here might be able to help you out if they have a rough idea of where it's up to with healing.

Hahahaha that's brilliant! I know this is a bit off-topic, but who did your eagle/horses tattoo, mate? I think it's class! :)

Hahahahahahaha what a tool. Seriously, I pity anyone who ends up in his studio. Even if they walk straight out, I pity them just for ending up there in the first place. You speak to some nutters in tattooing sometimes.

Newcastle Brown Ale TILL I DIE. /predictable. Actually, every time I meet someone famous in Newcastle, I bring them a bottle of brown. My Chemical Romance and Alkaline Trio are now big fans, haha.

Downloaded the Trio album last night by the way- yeah, it rocks. I didn't like it at first, because I think the quality on Calling All Skeletons is a bit crap, but Nose Over Tail brought it all back up! Bit disappointed that they have Blue in the Face and Radio on there, since we've all heard those acoustically more than anything else, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Thanks everyone, by the way. :)

Haha, you guys rock- I think I'll watch Jumanji later, haven't seen it in years. I haven't been on a rollercoaster in ages either, but there are none of those nearby! Maybe I'll just climb to the top of the millenium bridge and try to slide down it (imagine that!). Ursula, I had the I Love Cats video on so many times yesterday that I don't think I can put up with it being in my head when I'm lying awake at 4AM, haha. I mixed it up with this one, too:

Hey guys, I feel like crap at the minute. Really crap. But normally I'm a really happy person, so I have no idea how to get out of this miserable phase. How do you guys like to cheer yourselves up when you feel crap? Any ideas would be appreciated, to be honest.

Haha, thanks man. :) I know no one will be exactly excited about it until they know it's not a shitty tattooer, but I thought I might as well add this in here, haha :P

Yeah I really like the history articles in Tattoo Life as well, Petri! To be honest, I'll approach writing anything with enthusiasm, but the three things I really love are history stuff, symbols and meanings that tattooers seem to use (not in a "this is what my tattoo means", Miami Ink way, haha. Symbols just interest me) and great tattoos that look cool for life, haha.

Thanks guys, another day I'll be working 'till 2AM because I'm watching videos! Haha. This looks brilliant.

I think it all depends on who's doing it, to be honest. My lower arm, on the inside, was a real breeze though. When it comes up to the inside of your elbow it hurts a little, but other than that I thought it was nothing. With that being said though, I hadn't seen my tattoo artist for a little while, so my mind may have been taken off the whole thing by our constant chatting, haha. My inner bicep really hurt with one tattoo, and didn't hurt at all with another, so maybe I'm just really sensitive to however someone's working more than anything. Two different tattooers have hit those spots, you see.

To be honest, I think it depends on what you want it for. iPads, like Shawn says, are pretty good for everything. However, I have an Android tablet, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper, haha. If you don't think you'll use it much, I'd suggest one of those. Although, apparently Apple products aren't as expensive in America compared to here, I hear! If you read a lot of comic books, something running Android may be the way to go- they have a dedicated comic book app, where you can take any digital file and read comics from them. My mate swears by it, though I haven't really used it much. I prefer proper books, haha.

Oh, by the way, has anyone read Angels and Demons? The film was alright, so I was wondering if it's any good. I like books about all that illuminati stuff. Not sure if I actually believe everything that's said about it, but like all good conspiracy theories it's still entertaining stuff.

I wrote a big excited post here about books, since I'm such a geek, then my computer broke. Instead, I'll just direct you to this book I'm reading right now called Lords of Chaos: Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground: Amazon.co.uk: Didrik Soderlind, Michael Moynihan: Books I don't even listen to metal music, and I think it's great. Weird though. It should be called "Interviews with Nutters".

^^^^ Wow, I really talk crap a lot.

To be honest, that show looks like it'll be amazing, so I don't see why they wouldn't bring it to the US as well. I'm ridiculously excited for it, especially since shows like that are always quite small. The last Asian Man show in Newcastle had about 20 people there, and it was one of the best I've been to. Really relaxed. I've heard a few people shit talk their newer stuff too, but I don't get why, to be honest. Alkaline Trio are one of those bands that were fucked either way, though- they could have stuck with writing songs about breaking up with your girlfriend and smoking weed, and people would have given them shit for not growing up. Instead they came out with a record like Agony and Irony, which was totally different, and they STILL got shit, haha. This Addiction is actually one of my favourites, I'm glad they went back to the straightforward sound they're known for. Anyway, someone just compared Damnesia to the Acoustic in London album, so I'm on it like a fat kid on pie right now. The London album is amazing.