MsRad

Alana, thanks! i feel pretty stoked about it so far but it's going to be a lot of work! Pat, i sort of took Shawn's advice and waited it out a bit, to see if something would come to me, and it did. i didn't realize how it was going to manifest itself (i didn't expect to be given the choice to be laid off or to reapply for my position, and then have another job just line up so perfectly), but it's worked out. i knew i wanted vet tech experience, to help with wildlife rehabilitation down the road, and it just happened to work out that i will be getting some of that training right away, which i think is a good thing. i think it paid off (at least so far) to keep my head up, and my eyes and ears open, but to not rush anything, and to wait it out until i found a position that felt right in my gut. and thanks! i heard from friends and from strangers about changing careers in their mid-20s, and it was really inspirational to me. the times where i felt anxious about making this choice, i remembered this one particular story that was told to me by a co-worker who i've become friends with. she has a friend she met while living in Guatemala (and who is also American), who is blind and who had dropped out of college because he felt it was too challenging due to his disability. he decided to go to Guatemala on a whim, though on top of being blind he also didn't know spanish, and while there, he began volunteering for human rights organizations. after returning to the states, he landed a job with Amnesty International, and decided that he wanted to become a HR Lawyer, particularly working on international cases, but realized that his education had limited from moving towards that goal. So he went back to school and graduated this last spring with his pre-law degree, and he is 38. He applied for several law schools this year, but did not get accepted into any, so he plans on applying next year again, and is continuing to do work through AI. if he can do it, so can i, and so can you Pat. Tammy, yes, yes they are! i have fostered one, and he was adorable! we called him bug, and he was the runt of a litter, so he was super tiny and loved to hang around on your shoulder (he was only 4 weeks old when my family and i took care of him) and curl up on your chest or neck if you were sitting on the couch watching tv or something. one of the best experiences of my life by far!

Jaycel, do you tattoo?

in less than a month my life is basically starting over. i will be starting a brand-new job, where i will be looking after 12 litters of neo-natal (under 8 weeks old) kittens. 10 days after my first day of work, i will also begin my first semester of school in 3 years, hopefully on my way to earn a second bachelor's degree, this time in conservation biology. i stopped on the path i was on, took a moment to look around, realized that i didn't like where i was headed, and decided to go off of it and in an entirely new direction. i'll be getting paid less (it's an entry level job), and between the job and school, i won't have a lot of time to go to shows or travel, and probably not a lot of money to get tattooed, but in the end, i think it will be worth it. not sure if i'm going to head out to new zealand or not. i really need to think about it more (and luckily i have time to), and what my end goal is (particularly, do i want to study avian or mamalian species). we'll see what the next 6 months hold. i still want to write about California tattoo history, but i do not wish to do so in the realm of "academia". i want to write it as part of this community, for this community, and i want those who are interested in knowing about it to have access to it, without broadcasting it to those who would potentially exploit it. from the beginning, Lochland suggested a blog series on here, and i think he might be write, that this might be the best place for it to start. those who might be interested should be on the lookout for a general introduction in the next couple of weeks. this week, i'm caught up in trying to get Scott's new portfolio book out for the next convention he's attending.

that would be much appreciated! i think i may have a few inksmith & rogers cards, but i'd have to look at home. if you have one for Thread Wizard, i'd love to have it! oh and i just remembered that i've been trying to collect all the stencil drawings (the ones on tracing paper) for my tattoos too, but have forgotten a few times haha.

i collect all my ticket stubs from shows, movies, etc., business cards, and art show postcards, published photo/art books, and other people's snapshots or family albums. pet photos are some of the best, but my favorite find so far has been a family album that belonged to a couple who met while serving time in San Quentin (complete with their photo id cards). i've also began separating my tattoo business cards from the rest. one day i'll have a vintage Scott Sylvia or Mario Desa card and someone else will nerd out about it haha.

coincidentally, i picked 5 lbs of olallieberries on saturday. currently freezing a bunch of them to make pie and syrup with later. don't have the time to do it right now unfortunately.

auto correct wasn't the only problem ;)

while i'm with Ursula on this matter, to be fair, i think it can be safely assumed that there are a lot more people eating cookies/biscuits in the UK than there are working around explosive materials. just sayin'.

heh heh heh

i hope this means more drunk book tattoo ideas :)

Kelly Kneiser is actually Joey Kneiser's ex-wife (i think they have two kids together). and don't listen to D about Blood for Blood. they're not mandatory.

Hogg is an awesome and fun dude to hold a conversation with! we really need to have another nor-cal meet up soon. i should get on that....

unfortunately, google+ is where the incident i described above took place.

i liked her quite a bit, and i'm not ashamed to admit that. she brought back a sound that had been forgotten by pop music in my opinion. i'm just sick of snarky, ignorant comments in general. i made a decision to stop being friends with someone this week over a "joke" in which he stated that it should be mandated that all people with mental illness should be euthanised. when i confronted him on it (albeit, not doing so the best way) i was just met with excuses and the blame was turned around on me for doing so, because i "didn't get" the joke. as a person who suffers from mental illness, fuck that and fuck you. there are some things that just shouldn't be joked about, and people's suffering, again in my humble opinion, isn't one of them. where is the compassion and kindness? do people forget that there is real suffering associated with these things? sorry for the rant. i really needed to vent.

i read an article where it was compared to the Oklahoma City Bombing. i was only 10 when that happened, but i remember it vividly and have been to the memorial.

is he english? or an american just wishin' he was an english skinhead?

Heard from Black Metal Robin! he's fine and left a message on my profile if anyone would like to read what he wrote!

sure. the link that Lochlan provided for his radio show appearance did not work for me, and provided the same result as i described above. it's under the "Random Crap" section.

embedded links aren't working for me. a new LST page opens up and tells me that the "page was not found". just fyi!

that's ok. i posted a visitor message on his profile, so he should know now that we're concerned and thinking of him. hopefully he's ok, and wasn't in any of the locations where this shit is going down. i don't get why anyone would target Norway? i suppose it will be answered over the next 24 hours or so.

David, the NYTimes seems to be doing a good job covering it so far. still no Black Metal Robin :(

i don't think falling apart makes you a "pussy". people react differently to different situations, and it takes some people longer to see the good out of a situation. sorry, i just had to interject.