gougetheeyes

Beer and bread I will never give up. I stay away from sodas and "sports drinks" though, that shit is all garbage.. at least beer is natural hahaha

Thanks for the info.. I'm not trying to get huge, just stay in shape and get a little muscle back on me so I can fill out t-shirts like I used to when I was a younger man. And I have no interest in taking heapfuls of drugs hahaha.. So a little protein thing post-workout sounds pretty manageable. Any recommendations on that, just whey protein??

Mel, for coming right out of school it's pretty impressive you're doing so much writing straight out of the gate. KEEP IT UP! Now to the serious bit.. To be honest, I've only really flirted with the life of a freelancer, making what now seems to be a half-hearted attempt at it after I got laid off in 2009. But bills came up pretty quick, so I had to scramble to find work that would pay and pay me with some sort of frequency.. Whether it was odd building jobs, or tattoo shop, or whatever. It usually meant the only time for writing I had was nights and weekends, which worked out ok, but the whole concept of getting paid for your work seemed like a foreign concept to all these people, most of whom were on a salary. I've had to harass some magazines for the better part of a year on invoices though it seems pretty evenly split between those that cut checks on time vs. late. (I tried the whole "Net 30" thing but apparently that doesn't fly in the magazine publishing world.) For me, I figured out that I don't make up that small percentage that's got that hustler mentality (as in the drive, not the magazine) and can turn freelancing into something new and unique, and turn that into more of a career. In my experience it was impossible to pay the rent by doing freelance tattoo writing alone. So you may need to prepare yourself for working that day job a little longer than you might have hoped. But it sounds like now for you is the perfect time to make a run at it! Sorry, didn't mean to put out this burst of negativity, but I found it really tough. Sounds like you've already got some good relationships going, so keep em up and keep working! I'll PM you here in a second..

Petri, pumped to read this!

Also, PETRI where are you in this thread???

Cu_Bu, question about whey protein. Overheard a trainer the other talking about it for someone post-workout -- is that something worth looking into? I'm not trying to get huge, just a little more in shape, maintain myself. Should I even bother with anything like that? Or should I just cut back on all the shitty food and booze like a regular person trying to get in shape..

Mel, who is tattooing you?

Also, perfect for long drives/rides.

All audio recordings, Loch. Got mine a few weeks back, it's pretty great! I could listen to like ten more discs. There's also some other folks on talking about various topics. Some background music is kinda funny but really awesome stories, totally worth the price. Oh and also a little booklet with some stories from CW Eldridge and Marisa from N+S.

Bumping this one back up. Used to tell people they helped me understand myself, which was my quick, bullshit response since everybody always wanted to know why why why -- kind of recently realized it's true, even when just getting something you like the look of. And I think it makes sense the more inclined I seem to be towards black work. Though I need to get all the big planned spaces out of my system first...

That's right, Oklahoma only lifted the ban a couple years ago right?

Well since the damn thing was in plastic, I couldn't open it to realize it was some special edition with only photos. Along the same lines of what Inked does with its "Inked Girls"... obviously important to tattooing. But that's a whole other thread/rant. So that's $10 down the drain. On the upside, I'm doing the article. Keep you all posted when the thing comes out.

Ruaidhri, just came across this on the King's Ave blog, great example of what some laser treatments can do to facilitate a cover-up (if that's a route you're considering): Kings Ave Tattoo N.Y.C-Grez | kingsavetattoo

HAAAAA Mario is actually 150 years old.

I don't have the energy to visit this site right now.

Was it Mario Barth?! ZOMGDJDJKSH

Well, I know you have at least one bird tattoo..

Nice work! Seems that the more versatile you are, the more successful you'll be in the long run. Good stuff.

Do you have other tattoos? I'd just get more tattoos.

i said jokes aside perez

Magic mushrooms AND DNA?! That's definitely a very specific tattoo, and I'm sure you've gone over all the options, but have you thought about just keeping it? It's not stellar but, jokes aside, it is pretty incredible in its own way.

Seconded. And check out BookMistress, too.

Stories? Like.. text???