Gia Dobson

I have matching tattoos down the backs of my arms for my sons. They are a dagger through a rose with a banner... and one says "Indiana" and the other says "Hunter" done by Juan Puente at 222... sometime in the late '90s. Here is the recent one for my baby girl who is a year and a half now... She totally looked like a kewpie when she was born... Artist is Josh Ford (Honorable Irons) at Lifetime Tattoo in Denver, CO

This pic gives me douchebumps:

Oh damn! THANK YOU! guess I should edit the piece. I meant no disrespect.

I turned 18 in 1988 and got 6 tattoos that year. I was like a junkie who got hooked on the first taste and as we used to say back then about a lot of things... one is too many and a thousand never enough. Somehow by fate I ended up at Pinky Yun's Dragon Tattoo in San Jose for all but one of them. I wish I knew how I first ended up there, but memory fails me on so many levels. I had no idea what direction my tattoos were going back then, knew nothing of different styles or that you could even ask for a design that was not off the wall of flash. So I'd scrape up some money and drive to San Jose and then stare at those walls until something jumped out at me. On one of these missions I decided I wanted a dragon on my lower leg. I just loved the flow of them and the organic nature of the design. Also, I did have a tiny grain of sense with regard to the human body as a canvass. I knew it was curved (not flat like a piece of paper), and therefor a tattoo design should, if possible, compliment the part of the body it was on. So I tell Pinky I want a dragon on my outer calf. By this time he's tattooed me a couple times before and for some reason had taken a little bit of a shine to me. Honestly, I think he liked me because I wasn't a pain in the ass like 90% of the customers I saw in there. I was quiet and respectful, never drunk or pushy, I sat politely and waited my turn. I listened when he talked, doing my very best to understand his horrible English, laughed at his corny jokes, and pretty much just let him do his thing. So he asks me "How big?" and makes a gesture like about 4-5 inches from the ankle up. I tell him "BIGGER!" and he laughs. "Ok, ok, bigga, you want bigga." We agreed that it will be the entire calf and I sit in the chair. He then does something that I had never seen before, nor have I seen since. He takes a toothpick, dips it in black ink, and draws a single curvy line on my leg. Next he draws four little curved lines which I could tell would be the legs. And then he picks up a machine... What happened next was totally mind boggling. He busted out that dragon completely freehand in about 45 minutes. I was in awe the entire time. If you know Pinky or have ever even seen a picture of him, then you know his eyes are terrible. By the time I was getting tattooed by him he was already an old man, and his glasses were literally as think as Coke bottles. I'm telling you he could have done this tattoo entirely blindfolded. I knew he had simply done so many dragons in his lifetime that it was as natural as walking or breathing or any other activity one does without thought. While it would take me many years to fully understand and appreciate the impact of that awesome tattoo, I did know that I had experienced something extraordinary. It was at that moment that I knew I was sitting with a legend. He sent me home without color that day, told me to let it heal and come back. When I did, he had his nephew David color it in. I didn't ask why. I just did what Pinky told me. Now all these years later I am so thankful I spent that time with him. Other fond moments with him: I'd gone to LA some time that year and ended up getting a tattoo on the Sunset Strip. I came back to Pinky and showed him the tattoo, told him it was done by a young woman named Joanna. Little did I know that was his daughter. When he saw the tattoo and I told him that my name (Giovanna) meant "Joanna" in English he gave me a huge hug and started tearing up. He just kept chuckling to himself, saying "Joanna" over and over, and patting my cheeks. I think he really missed his daughter and that moment was some small connection to her. After that he always called me Joanna. On another evening I was at Dragon with a friend who was getting a Japanese warrior on his calf. The design had some night time sky in it. When it came time to color it they agreed to do a "blue moon" at which point Pinky started singing the 50's song "Blue Moon". Of course with his accent it was more like "Brue Moon". That was the only line of the song he knew, so for the rest of the tattoo, about every 10 minutes or so, he would bust out another "Brue Moon" and then hum a little bit, and then we'd all laugh. When I see that friend today we still sing it to each other, with an accent of course. Lastly I want to mention Pinky's wife for a second. I loved her. She was like 4 foot nothing and definitely the boss. All the money went to her. She spoke no English that I ever remember, but somehow you could always get the gist of what she was saying. Once when I was in there some drunken douche-bags came in and started talking shit to Pinky and David and being really loud and obnoxious. Mrs. Yun chased them out of there like a fucking pit bull. I knew never to fuck with Mrs. Yun. All these years later, and yes, I know I have "dated" myself in this post, I feel so lucky to have ended up at that shop, for the above reasons and many more. Do I love those first tattoos I got way back when? While they are not necessarily my favorites of all the tattoos on my body, I do love them for the memories, the nostalgia, and for the representation of pure unadulterated lust that I have felt for tattoos from a very young age. That lust has never died and I will likely keep getting them until my days are done, or at least until I run out of room. Here's an original photo from when I first got it. Do not ask me how I've managed to hang on to this pic all these years... And here's what it looks like 22 years later. (Sorry for the cell phone pic.)

One story that came to mind today was one of Scott's birthday parties... his 30th maybe? Anyway, he rented a rollerskating rink and, as many people know, his birthday is 11/1 so he often celebrates on Halloween. So it was a costumed rollerskating party and holy shit it was awesome. First of all, the 222 boys rented a van to get there since many of us didn't have cars and I think also wanted to drink, so the van pulls up out front and Lolly and I are standing there watching everyone pile out like a clown car from the circus. This chick gets out of the van and we are like "whoa! what is her costume? prostitute?" but also were noting that she had great legs and then OMFG it was Hector Fong (shop guy at the time) in drag! We seriously thought he was a girl. So the costumes were AMAZING and if only I knew where the damn photos were I'd be a super star. Scott dressed like Mr. T and seriously looked exactly like him. He shaved his head like Mr. T, wore flesh colored sleeves, painted his face and wore the full overalls/ gold chains get up. Phenomenal! Juan was dressed in a giant man-sized Picachu costume and could not roller skate to save his life, so he was this giant yellow Pokemon constantly falling down and then mostly just holding onto the side of the rink or staying on the carpet. Other favs were Freddie Corbin and Lisa dressed as Jim and Tammy-Faye Baker and Jason McAfee dressed as Olive Oil from Popeye. Now if I only knew where those pics were.... dang it!

http://insideroute128.blogspot.com/2010/10/chopstick-murphys-bostons-first-irish.html

That sounds to me like a big fat law suit waiting to happen! Which brings up an interesting question... are we (tattooed folks) protected legally against discrimination? I wonder...

They HAVE! The one dip shit shop girl on LA Ink was also on Brett Micheals - Rock of Love and the 2nd dip shit shop girl was also "cast" by the producers. It's all contrived/ semi-scripted bullshit. Also, I don't know how anyone gets through a tattoo on those shows because they make you stop and start over and over again as they set up different shots. (Gotta move cameras, lights, etc.) So really those people are getting tattooed for hours on and off. Sounds like a nightmare to me! That being said, I DVR the shit and tune in every single week like a crack addict. ha ha The one thing I can't dispute is the tattoos they do show for the most part are really nice and occasionally I'll see a friend or aquaintance on the show and that's fun.

She got it covered! And is happily married to someone else with beautiful children! ;-) The brown ink was brilliant foresight!

I guess I feel like there's 2 schools here... the one that is a true drop out from society facial tattoo... and then the one that has been mainstreamed by musicians and X-games athletes. I've seen young little blond-haired girls in their early 20's will full tribal face tattoos panhandling on the Haight. I don't get it, but if it's a fuck you to society well then I certainly understand the mentality. Part of me is jealous cuz I'd like to think I'm hardcore and don't give a fuck, but really I'd rather be able to function in polite society when necessary. I want to be able to have a conversation with my kid's teacher without having to first win them over and assure them we are not a family of serial killers. I haven't done my face, hands, neck or even chest yet, but will likely do all (EXCEPT my face) before I'm done. I also think it's a little silly to get your throat/ neck/ hands done when you're arms and torso are not covered. From what I understand those body parts used to be the "last frontier" that you only tattooed when you were out of room elsewhere. Thanks to people like Tommy Lee and Travis Barker I guess that's no longer the deal. At the end of the day, I do believe "to each, his own". I'm thankful I live in a world where I can do whatever I want with my own body. So what if that betty wants to work behind the MAC makeup counter for the rest of her life. Not my problem!

GCQ? LOVE that! Stealing it!

I thought I was snookie?

OK, so the article is about the tattoo biz being recession proof, but as a side note: It REALLY fucking bugs me when tattooers talk about how much money they make to the media. What a douche bag. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39641413/ns/business-us_business/

A few years ago a friend got a tattoo on her shoulder blade that was supposed to say "remember".... well it says "rember". She claims she looked at the stencil and they showed it to everyone in the shop and all said it was spelled correctly, looked fine, etc. They did the tattoo, she still didn't notice, and went home. Next day her artist called her super early in the morning. Something had been bugging him all night and he couldn't figure it out so he drove to the shop and looked at the stencil and that's when he realized the misspelling. HE called HER! I know they sort of fixed it somehow. But dang!

Finally starting a back piece by Scott Sylvia... It's just the outline but I'm already totally in love with it! Did I mention he lined this in just over 2 hours?

I was 16, at a party, got tattooed sitting at the kitchen table by some random that carried around all his shit in an old doctors bag. God only knows that last time any of it was cleaned and where the needles came from or how many times they had been used. I don't recall anything about gloves or any kind of sanitation. Let's just say this was in the top 5 most stupid things Ive ever done in my life and I am thankful every day that I do not have Hep C or HIV. Oh the tattoo... a small black widow spider on my chest... which has long since been covered up with a hibiscus flower. Feels like I dodged a bullet.

Wishing you much success with this project! <3

I wash my new tattoo several hours later with mild soap then let it air dry and depending on size will sometimes put a small amount of antibiotic ointment on it for the first day. After that I use Lubriderm (unscented) to keep it from getting too dry but try and keep all lotions and potions to a minimum and let my body do it's thing.

I've always thought tattoos shouldn't matter and a person's work should be the only focus at any job, but alas, we all know that is not how it is most of the time. I think being heavily tattooed is even more of an issue for women in the work place, so I always cover up completely when interviewing. For me that means long sleeves and pants and I may even go a bit "over dressed" when making the first impression. My background is in the software industry (SF Bay Area) and I was always the token "alternative" chick at work. In the late 90's I went back to school to study web design and thought when I started working in that field my tattoos would not be a big deal because web design was artistic and creative and well... I had a whole fantasy going in my head. The reality was I was still working in corporate America with programmers and managers and still ended up the token tattooed chick. After being hired I generally just tried to follow the dress code of the place I worked, whether it was business casual or jeans and t-shirts, and I've always found that once people get to know me and my work, they stop focusing on the tattoos and get over it. Now I'm a stay at home mom and under scrutiny at the playground instead of the water cooler. The experience is the same... a little judgment and apprehension at first, until people realize I am not what they judged me to be. I will say that I have yet to tattoo the tops of my hands, fingers or neck with the idea of returning to work someday. I live in a small town now and in this economy I don't want to give anyone a reason not to hire me. Don't get me wrong, I love tattoos on the neck and hands (when done well), and when I win the lottery that will be the first thing I do!