gougetheeyes

Almost don't want to jinx em by talking about them. Is that weird..?

Oh man, good luck!!!

Trying to get that ta moko?

Tickets, purchased. I think Descendents are actually playing here tonight, too.

Uh, so I'm gonna need to buy tickets to the Philly show immediately. I fucking love Suicide Machines holy shit. http://riotfest.org/static/images/RF2011_East_Web_Poster.jpg

"I'm gonna open my own tattoo shop soon,only serving bikers, strippers,waitresses,blue collar workers,drug dealers and people that live on the fringes of society." << Jolly J, I will patronize this establishment.

The panther(/cheetah?) is great!

Still toy with the idea of sticking a SP heart somewhere there's space! Musta drawn that thing a thousand times from ages 11-..well, now.

I have a Poe tattoo from Todd Noble! But the raven has a yellow beak hahahaa.. I'll have to do a part 2 to this, include that one.

"I also like the strange idea non- tattooed people have that tattoos keep your skin warm." <<< Nobody can possibly think that...right?

Figured I'd see what the very first thread was! 2001, bluebirds on my chest, picked out from the tattooer's flash on the wall. Woulda wound up with much gayer looking birds had the shop girl not recommended the guy's own sheet.. which was pretty new school hahaha

"is a bitch" is incredible! (I just wanted to move something up so I wasn't looking at "Elderly rape" on the main forum page each time I scrolled down..)

[ATTACH]6215[/ATTACH] Because I can't quite get started on work this morning and because it's always something I've thought about and because it's something I doubt anyone will ever truly be able to answer without some massive study, I've been thinking this morning about the why to tattoos. There's a tattoos and why thread, but I've always thought there must be something about the people getting tattooed or becoming tattooers. They're seemingly two different things but, barring some exceptions, tattooers are also getting tattooed themselves. It seems to me -- and, again, there are always exceptions -- that everyone who becomes heavily tattooed has had, for lack of a better description, a disruption in their life somewhere along the line. Doesn't always have to be something traumatic, or something the person is always conscious of, but nine times out of ten, there's something. Maybe a parent died, maybe there was a struggle with addiction, maybe you got tossed in foster care, maybe you just moved around a lot, or your folks split up, or who knows. Of course, there are plenty of people who are tattooed who had a happy childhood with two parents who are still married with a relationship that is as healthy as ever. But when I think about a lot of people I know, it's always the divorce card, or the death card, or maybe just the hard-living card. Any ideas? For us, mostly, we're not connected with an indigenous culture in which tattoos are significant. We don't have rites of passage and we don't have extreme measures of manliness or adulthood. So I think, in a way, we're subconsciously creating our own by saying, "Shit, I'm a kid and I have to take care of my mom," or something along those lines. Or thinking, "Wow, this year has sucked and I've kept it together somehow -- time for a tattoo." And we load up on all this armor to both protect ourselves and ward off all the external shit. Just thought I'd throw that one out there. I tend to think about things way too much.

HA, good to know! I'm all about commiserating over being a wuss.

Yeah I would take about 99% of what's said/done on the shows with a gigantic grain of salt. There are producers, millions of dollars of advertising behind it.. if there's no drama, there's no show. Why do you think Tattoo Wars only lasted a few episodes? Well-known tattooers doing great tattoos -- sorry, not interesting to the general public.

Thanks dude!

AHEM. People are gonna be pissed there's six comments and no pictures. Seven comments...

Go big or go fuck yourself! ........both of my thighs are still completely tattoo free.

I've wanted to get a whole bunch of butterflies for a while now! Glad some other dude can a.) identify and b.) feel comfortable rocking a butterfly.

Iwar, that's incredible. Living the dream. Pumped for you!!

That is a great tattoo! I think you'll seriously regret messing with it further down the line. Give it a year, it's not like you can't cover it up if you want to. And get more tattoos. When you're ready for more, I'd talk to Eli and see about adding to it, what can go around it, etc. And I bet by that point you won't be able to believe you ever thought about getting rid of it. Shit, that things probably just finished healing!

Sure. The tattooer doesn't have to be a "big name" just anybody you feel you'd like to get tattooed by. I have a friend in Australia who tattoos, not a big name but a great dude, and I would love to travel there to hang out and also get tattooed by him again. Makes a great excuse for traveling! Sidenote: I am a shitty, shitty traveler and wouldn't go half the places I do if it weren't my lady making me.

Bumping this back up because it's super inspiring! People are crossing nations to get tattooed. Did a quick little drive to Philly a few months back (about 2 hrs) to get tattooed by Scott this year, which just planted the seed and was a great all around experience. Distance is nothing but I know travel expenses are the bigger issue. Dead set on getting bigger tattoos (see: not being such a pussy) so hopefully this time next year I'll either have more stories or more progress! I am traveling (ahem..) down the street to get tattooed in a couple weeks and then have to give it a rest until after I get hitched in the fall. Weddings are fucking expensive. Anyone else?

Hey man, are you living in NJ or NY? And yeah, I'll second bigjoe's suggestion of Electric, though I have yet to get down there and get tattooed by anyone!

My only advice is just to keep working your ass off and be critical of the people you get involved with. Seems like you have a good head on your shoulders, but there are a bunch of people in it for the wrong reasons. Some are obvious, some not so obvious. You seem to be doing great though and your blog is killing it! Keep it up!