gougetheeyes

(HA!! Actually just only saw this recently, I'm a movie slacker.) Shawn, just started checking your blog -- good stuff. High-five on the hand of glory. Any news on the Marcus Kuhn project? That trailer alone has got me all kinds of pumped.

I think you're ok to stop in if you think it's totally necessary, but I'm sure he won't forget what you discussed. I know that feeling of anticipation, but the more you bug him, the more you're bound to make him start sweating the design instead of allowing him to do his thing. If you show up for your appt. and it's completely different from what you had in mind, he should be able to adjust it accordingly.

ANDY PEREZ FTW. I think I have to space out all hand/finger tattoos -- you thought you were on Britt's shit list before, just wait'll I come home with the sides done.

Goddamn, this just makes me want my EAST COAST script side-of-the-hand tattoos already. (Which I guess is pretty west coast.. maybe I'll get big stupid print instead.)

Wow. ..I'm not even sure who I'd be without tattoos.

I think that's my ideal situation. And yeah, I also worry about it becoming so tedious, but then I think about other tattoos of mine and I've always been stoked at the progress. Has anyone had issues with their skin back there? Mine tends to be not the smoothest as times.

And then a few hours go by and you start to give out and finally finish and you're sweaty and demolished and shaky -- but then you get cleaned up and look in the mirror and think, "Oh, maybe there's time for another one.."

Well, I'll be damned! My only fear is that I'll get into it and puss out. In the first five or ten minutes I STILL sometimes get the "Oh shit, can I make it through this?" thought. Which I know is kind of ridiculous for the number of times I've been tattooed. But yeah, if I had a full back piece I think I'd be pretty pumped for the rest of my life.

The Full Back Piece Thread prompted me to start a new one about what the experience was/is like of getting your entire back done. I've actually always been extremely nervous about starting (my goal is to start before I'm 30) because I'm convinced my back is weirdly sensitive.. SO. How's it been for all of you who either have full coverage or are on your way? How's the process? How incredibly draining is it? How much have you had to plan, artistically? Mentally? Physically? Financially?

Alanna, this is really incredible! That you went from watching the TV shows, to seeking out a good tattooer, to LEARNING about the history and the trade, to actually being so invested to continue to get tattooed by great people and talking with such enthusiasm about Dietzel's desings -- amazing. I bet most people's initial reaction to that first sentence of your story was something like, "Here we go.." but you've just proved that nobody's own story is more legitimate than anyone else's. Truly, truly awesome.

Somebody please draw an ass eagle. Between an ass eagle and Shaw Porter's Squid Pants rendering, we're well on our way to the first ever LST esoteric shenanigans flash sheet.

I kind of secretly love when I see someone with upside-down script. I am obviously a jerk.

Well said. There are probably a hundred reasons for treating tattoos like a fashion accessory, but I think a lot of it comes back to the types of people getting tattooed. Because it's much more accessible/acceptable, it seems a lot of folks -- "kids" included -- are making a very conscious decision, "Yes, I will get a tattoo now." Because the culture of tattooing gets thrown around from TV to t-shirts to laptop covers to cell phones to cell phone games, most view it as just another "thing" to be into. I don't know if it makes sense, but personally, it never felt like a decision I made for myself. I always just assumed I would be tattooed from as far back as I can remember. I covered my hands and arms with marker as a kid and just always thought of myself that way. It's never been as simple as an interest or a hobby, it just feels part of me. And I'd be willing to bet my sad little savings account that the ones getting their tattoos removed before they even turn 21 would have no idea what I'm talking about. If I won the lottery, I'd be covered. If people lasering off half-sleeves won the lottery, they'd buy more shoes and more expensive clothes so they wouldn't feel like they had to get tattooed. My two cents.

My spite tattoos are the tiniest but possibly the most gratifying.

Perez -- Now you know why! Jennifer -- Thank you again, I'm glad my rambling made a little sense. Also nice to know others feel or have felt the same way -- especially when they happen to be Seth Ciferri!

Well that's not helping me take it slow at all. But thank you for the kind words!

I’m not entirely sure what this post is about. But a few months back, there was some sort of shift in my relationship with tattoos. It sounds a little sentimental but I had never given much thought to my place in a tattoo timeline, or history –– or online community. I just knew I kept waking up with more tattoos, and had some kind of frantic addiction that most of my other friends never pretended to understand. So fresh off a great experience of getting a new tattoo from a really nice and highly respected dude, I thought to myself, “Goddamn, that was perfect. We drove a couple hours in, got tattooed, then got drunk at a TGI Friday’s, crashed at the hotel, and drove home the next morning, stopping off at a diner for a late cheeseburger breakfast. I want this to happen always.” And I kept thinking about it. More than a few years ago, I started helping out with what has since become a pretty well known blog and continued to do so pretty much until I got laid off from my day job, which had allowed me to fart around and post or email pretty frequently. So I did a couple posts/interviews while unemployed until I burned out on it. Still a great blog! Luckily, I’d met a super good dude who was, at the time, editor for a magazine that’s since exploded… a “men’s lifestyle magazine” that is, arguably, more detrimental to the tattoo industry than it is supportive. But it allowed me to interview some awesome, awesome, awesome folks and gave me some income. And then a new editor came in and I burned out on that, too. Which was fine, since I was always pretty ambivalent about writing for such a publication. Next up, I got offered a pretty big article in a UK magazine, which was an incredible opportunity from a great editor and it let me see the kind of work I could be doing. But that was the last article I did. Meanwhile, I’d convinced a publisher to let me write a book. And while, outwardly, I was busting, inwardly, something felt wrong. It felt like I was on this trajectory and I couldn’t step off. I wondered why, if I loved tattoos so much, did I feel more and more hesitant the farther along in my “tattoo writing career?” Last year, I approached a recent interviewee about the book and, while he agreed to be the first one in it, the last thing he said to me was, “…there are a lot of books.” Very true. I called my editor and told him the book would most likely not be forthcoming… Recently, things had started to feel not quite right, so, unfortunately, I felt like I had to decline doing two separate pieces for a couple blogs. (Still feel bad about this and if you dudes are reading, I’ve got a feeling I may turn right back around in a few months and do ‘em anyway.) Three months ago I started a new job. One of the benefits, was that I got thrown into a lot of work right away and I didn’t have time to sit around, trolling websites or forums (ahem). In three months I haven’t written a word on tattoos, or opened a magazine, or spent more than ten minutes on anyone’s blog. It’s been fucking liberating. And then Saturday, I got tattooed. And while I may have freaked out a little bit because of my softball-sized hand post-tattoo (apologies for any panicky emails that may have sounded like this is my first tattoo!), I realized that I’d internalized a lot over the last couple months and discovered that the only relationship I want to have with tattoos –– at least for now –– is getting tattooed. A true revelation that’s so stupidly simple and I’d never even taken a pause to think about it. Sure, today I opened up LST and poked around a bit and I can feel the bug coming back, but this time I’m going to mediate. It may seem like a weird thing, especially to most of you on here, but it’s kind of incredible discovery that I get to control my relationship. Anyway. I’m taking it slow. I’ve tried to relax with all of the extraneous stuff. And keep in mind that the best part about tattoos, is the tattoos. Grez said a great thing to me during an interview that he heard from one of his customers, that you’ve got two ears and one mouth, so you should listen more than you talk. Two ears, one mouth. That’s stuck with me.

No idea, just keep waking up with new ones.

Yeah that could be a red flag..

Mr. Ron Wells put a blue-gray rose on me last wknd, looks awesome! Fan of his roses, they're really distinct and interesting looking. (Also, apologies dude if I freaked out about my puffy hand!)

I've always felt there was a huge disconnect between the tattoo and piercing communities, with a very small crossover, though folks outside of them like to wrap them up into one. Which I guess has a lot to do with the combo tattoo and piercing shops. I had my ears gauged for about ten years but recently took those out. Other than that, I never felt like I was part of any piercing community -- nor did I ever want to be -- and while I think the two are very loosely related at some kind of basic level, I think they're pretty far apart. In conclusion, the term BOD-MOD makes me cringe.

And in a weird (and awful) twist of fate, I've been trying to cut my coffee consumption to just one cup a day in the afternoons which I don't think I've done since...before I drank coffee. So 15 years? It sucks but it's proved pretty successful. Also, I've been meaning to post a photo of my coffee cup tattoo but keep forgetting! Will try to remember soon.

There was a great Bert Krak praying skeleton hands in shackles, can't seem to find it right now though. I'll have to add more when not at work!

Nice! Looks like good times. This might prompt a neck tattoo thread..