hogg

There's a guy in SF named Maron Hasegawa. He had full sleeves from Colin Stevens, then decided he wanted a full suit. He flew to Japan and, in one year, got fully suited by Horiyoshi III: It's not shown in those pics, but it goes down to his ankles. Donburi style, as they say in Japan. I think he got tattooed every other day for a year. Just think about that for a minute. I had the pleasure of meeting Maron at Diamond Club a few years back, and I asked him a similar question: does it feel weird to be [/i]done[/i]? He seemed to imply that it was. He said he asked Horiyoshi about tattooing his head, to which the master replied, "Nah...you're done." There's also a guy in one of Horitaka's books who has a full 9-dragon body suit that Horiyoshi did in a year and a half. It's everything but the strip down the center of his chest ("river style"), and the whole thing--neck to ankles, full sleeves--is black and gray. I think about that guy from time to time, because it's insane to me to think that someone went 30+ years without a drop of ink, then made the huge decision to get fully suited. I just can't get my head around it. As I alluded to in the Collecting Different Styles thread, I'm really happy with what I've got, but it's all over the place. The thought of having a full cohesive body suit is absolutely foreign to me.

Healed pics of my tigers have been stolen from Tim Lehi's blog and posted in my gallery. 7.5 hours total--unbelievable!

I'm with Shawn. I didn't initially set out to have "a suit." If I had, I would've approached things much differently. I have no regrets about my tattoos (but I do have a coverup!), and I love what Dan Higgs said in an old video that Shawn posted. It was something to the effect of, "Don't worry about whether or not something will go with what you already have--just put it there and it automatically goes together. You got Hot Stuff next to Jesus next to a clown." Take a look through my gallery and you'll see that I look like a yakuza from behind and a typical confused American from the front. :)

A friend of mine once said, "If a chick is hot, her tattoos don't have to be good." I used to agree him, but I don't so much these days. Hot chick + great tattoos = infinitely hotter.

Or Dan Wysuph!

Make another visit to SF and I'll show you some more of that Texan hospitality. :)

These are huge for Ben Grillo ;)

Pssssh...Shawn, just you wait until my book THE FULL MONTIE: Who You Wearin'? hits shelves.

Whoa...that must've freaked you out a bit, Shawn. So awesome that Thomas was able to predict exactly what would happen like that.

Consider Black Heart for that. I know some guys there.

THAT is how you cover up a tattoo. Wow.

I'm a grind-at-home kinda guy myself, RockelMan, but I'm also a 3-cup-a-day kinda guy, so the first one at home is just the beginning. I see that you keep your grounds in the freezer--stop doing that! I did it for years until a roaster told me that the moisture in the freezer is coffee's mortal enemy. Keep them in an airtight container (think Tupperware) on your counter. You'll really taste the difference.

This is a crappy iPhone pic--plus the freshly done tiger is still very bloody--but I finished up with Tim Lehi Saturday: Our own A.Sanchez was getting tattooed by Scott at the same time. Small world!

My wife's name is Felicia, and there's a flower called felicia, so I've got a few incorporated into a piece on my leg: I also have tons of roses, peonies and cherry blossoms, but I still want some nice Filip Leu-style mums.

Chris Brand of Good Time Charlie's Tattooland in Anaheim. He doesn't have much of a web presence--hell, I don't even know if the guy has a cell phone--but he does killer black and gray, gorgeous Japanese and nice traditional. And he's one of the nicest, most humble and genuine folks you'll ever meet, in this biz or any other. Oh, and he did Ben Grillo's back: And since Chris has a jaw-dropper of a sleeve from Miyazo, I'll add him to the list. He puts a slight pop art twist on traditional Japanese tattooing. ‘åã_Q‰®ì_‹{‘*_MIYAZO_TATTOO_ŽhÂ

You have the best rambles, Shane.