smiling.politely

in early 1983, my dad walked into Charlie's shop, watched him tattoo for two days straight, then started dropping money on tattoos over 10 days. in that time, Charlie did his hands, added the dozen roses around the girl on his right arm and clouds around the eagle on his left arm, and tattooed almost his whole chest, except for the wizard/castle, dragon, and lettering on his stomach. in 1984, he went back and had the dragon outlined, the peace pipe on his forearm, and the text inside his forearm. around that time, he had met my mother, and converted her from house tattoos. her first was a Van Halen logo with a guitar string/casette motor machine. the unicorn on her forearm is hers. of the tattoos i've mentioned, none have been retouched since Charlie did them almost 30 years ago, except shading in the dragon and the clouds around the eagle. Nick Cartwright did a tattoo on my mom's other forearm which is currently being covered in a Koi/chrysanthemum sleeve by my boss, Josh Cruse. the butterfly girl in the midst of the dozen roses was done by a guy named O'Sullivan, who apparently had a fully functional, immaculate shop set up in a garden shed. the castle/wizard and shading for the dragon were done later by a guy named Richard "Critter" Trukken, who also did all of my dad's legs, back, both sets of ribs, and finished out what's on his arms. he also redid the clouds Charlie did on his left arm (hence the lack of closer photos of it). at some point, if he feels like it, i'll get some photos of his other tattoos, and possibly some stories. having been fairly entrenched in the tattoo world of the late '80s and early '90s in Kansas, there's a fair few of them. side note... excuse the scratches on his hands... new, fairly violent kitten in the house.

just got a bunch of new photos of my dad's tattoos from Goodtime Charlie, back when he was in Kansas in the early '80s. i'll upload them a little bit later.

i always figured racism begins when hate is inserted into the mix. and yes, there is a double standard, but alot of that is due to the people who grew famous using the phrases. black power/pride is generally associated with a generation of people saying "we'd like to vote and use water fountains freely." white power/pride is generally associated with hateful kooks. just like the swastika (and the original salute concieved for the American Pledge of Allegiance), some people ruin it for the well intentioned.

i can respect your version of being proud of one's heritage... it's when words seperatism and racism get in the mix that i can't stand it. and there is a White Entertainment Television. it's called TLC, and i claim this due to the proliferation of cake based reality shows and Sarah Palin's Alaska.

no attack meant here, so please don't read this in that way. i understand everyone's point of view is different, as are everyone's experiences, but i've never understood being proud of one's heritage in that fashion. research and knowledge of it is one thing, but why be proud of anything you have no control over. i'm not proud to be ginger, have ten fingers, or to have astigmatism, so why should i be proud of whatever color my skin is? i'm proud of the things i've worked hard for in my life, the things that i had control over. things that weren't determined by a genetic happenstance. is there a double standard about it in the world? yes. but if that's going to change, aggressive acceptance of one side of said double standard probably won't be the way. mind you, at this rate, we may never reach a "we're all humans, who cares about race, creed, color, or religion... let's party!" stage, but i guess we can hope. and actually, slight retraction... after the years in metal shops and wood shops making sculptures with bandsaws and grinders whirring away and liquid metal being poured around me frequently (and occasionally popping out of wet molds and showering me and my compatriots), i guess i am somewhat proud to still have all ten fingers.

saw that last one on this website awhile ago, when it was still active... hipster gold (tattoo and otherwise) if you peruse it for a bit. Look at this fucking hipster

got this one today from the apprentice in the shop where i work, Jon Probasco. it's from one of the Theo Mindell sheets in the Spider Murphy's book... it also makes me want to throw some diving elbows from the top rope. photo just after it was finished. also, the last few letters wrap around just a bit, hence the skewed perspective.

i always feel a little bad shopping at Wal Mart, on an ethical level... THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.

i've always enjoyed the "body as a temple" arguement. after all, places of worship have always been so humble, understated, and sparsely decorated over the centuries.

Found this old poster for a yeast company at a folk park around Bunratty Castle (Ireland)... I can't find anything about the company, but it'd be rad if this was Grimshaw's reference. It's equally possible that he used the same reference as whoever designed that logo, though. (sorry about the glare, couldn't get a good photo without using the flash, and it was behind glass)

some girl came into the shop where i work yesterday, asking about getting a small feather tattooed by her eye (to match one in her only other tattoo we could see, on the back of her neck)... before being turned away, she was also asking if anyone in the shop did UV tattoos, and talking all about how they take 10 years off of your life, because the ink is so toxic.

the fiancee and i celebrated yesterday by heading to Classic Ink here in Dublin, and getting some of his flash designs, with 101 substituted in place of USA or a USN (i got an old USA shield, she got a USN anchor). no rum was anywhere to be found, and we paid in full. well, there may have been rum in a one stumbly fellow's pocket who came in and tried selling us all jewelry he stole from various stores in the area, but that's neither here nor there.

appointment with Ulrich Hueber was moved to the 11th, so that the fiancee and i could head up to Dublin today instead. five hours with three short breaks, and the medium lines and shading done with Scott Sylvia machines!

that panther is super intense... By Ulrich Hueber, of Bullman's Tattoo Studio in Limerick, Ireland.

i have an appointment on January 13th with Ulrich Hueber while i'm visiting my fiancee in Limerick, Ireland... super stoked!

that reminds me of this...

i recall my father having to answer an older lady's question when i was in school, asking if his fingernails would eventually darken due to the tattoos. perhaps she thought that the keratin in fingernails came from dead skin cells from various locales on your body... at least, that's the best explanation we thought of.

if all goes according to plan, the only one that's close to sure is a big piece on my upper right arm from Ulrich Hueber when i visit my fiancee in Ireland a few weeks from now. It'd be cool to get a Friday the 13th one while i'm there, too, since both of my current 13 tattoos were gotten months away from Friday the 13ths. i'd also like to see about working on my chest and stomach some more, but money will probably be going to trying to save for moving the aforementioned fiancee to the States.

i snapped my collarbone in half trying to jump down a hill... it was about a six foot drop, and i didn't roll through correctly because i was running too fast... and there's a permanent lump in my left shin from not seeing the hitch for a trailer i was unloading in Alabama a few years ago. the swelling/bruising was pretty gnarly, and no hair grows there anymore either. however, from everyone's reactions, it was hilarious to see, so... i guess that's a good thing.

1.) Personal high of 2011? Getting engaged, putting up two degree shows at the same time to get two BFAs, finishing college, getting to travel and cast iron and see lots of friends all over the southern States for my last semester, and starting to work at a tattoo shop recently. 2.) Personal low of 2011? Hard times finding a job for a bit this summer, and having to deal with my fiancee living in Ireland. Skype eases that second one, though. 3.) Best LST Thread? Latest Tattoo Lowdown, the funny picture one, and Slang Terms That Make You Cringe. 4.) Worst LST Thread? Not sure... haven't read them all. 5.) Favorite tattoo (on you): As for finished ones, the tattoo machine and banners on my left arm. Unfinished, the outline of my chest and stomach. 6.) Favorite tattoo (on someone else): Waaaaaaaaaaay too many to name. 7.) Favorite artist? Waaaaaaaaaaay too many to name. 8.) Best/Worst movie: Hobo With a Shotgun was super rad... Not sure of a worst. Probably something I couldn't afford to go see in theaters. 9.) Best/Worst album: best... William Elliot Whitmore's Field Songs and Touche Amore's Parting the Seas Between Brightness and Me. i don't know of a worst... but i've grown to hate the entirety of dubstep as a genre this year. 10.) Biggest guilty pleasure: not sure... i don't know if i have any guilty pleasures. i tend to be pretty upfront with what i enjoy. 11.) Best show/concert you did and did not attend: I was low on going to shows, but i really enjoyed seeing Gallows with their new vocalist a few months back. As for ones i didn't attend, my friend's band played with Terror and Trapped Under Ice in May, but i skipped it so i wasn't dead when my fiancee flew in the next day. 12.) Sum up the year in one word: Optimistic.

just because i clearly lack good judgement doesn't mean i won't make a good employee...

just realized i forgot to mention... tattoo and photo by Josh Cruse of J.P. Cruse Professional Tattooing, Wichita, KS. and it wasn't as bad on the nipples as i expected... it hurt, but in an odd sort of way. around them was way worse for me.

First sitting today. The secret to getting through it was cherry and strawberry Starburst. I think they made it hurt less...

best shot of Frank's praying hands i know of...

I recall reading an interview in Skateboarder magazine a few years back where Bobby Puleo discussed his interest (or, possibly, obsession) with collecting things, and that he may try to display them. Good to see he put that mild bit of insanity to use.