dari

I agree! It was worth it. If all the stuff doesn't sell in the gallery, we will eventually put it on here.

I'm not a tattooer, just a tattooer's wife, but I know my husband makes lots of sacrifices regarding creating art and traveling and building cars and riding motorcycles and doing all kinds of things that he used to do. He is lucky, however, in that he'd been tattooing for at least 15 years before we had kids. But yeah, tattooing as a job can be hard on family life. For the past few months, Scott was painting his ass off for an art show, which meant that he was up 'til really late every night, which meant that I couldn't leave the house at 6:00 am to go practice yoga, which is part of what keeps me sane(ish.) And then on a bunch of nights when he'd normally be home, he was at his warehouse working on a lamp that he was super excited about, so the impending art show really hijacked my life. I solo parent a lot due to the hours that tattooing requires, but this was much more than usual, so I skipped a lot of the normal stuff I'd be doing. There's always sacrifice in parenting, unless you're a really shitty parent. Kids do make painting and tattooing harder. Our kids steal all Scott's pencils and good pens, he can never find an eraser, they play with his watercolors and mess up all his brushes and keep asking him to draw stuff for them or make paper airplanes or just insist on sitting on his lap while he's trying to draw for work. Right now Scott's in the middle of a 2 week Sweden trip. Guess what? I'm exhausted. Tattooing makes parenting harder, especially for the one occasionally or frequently parenting alone. But you know what? Every time I talk to Scott, all he talks about is how much he misses the kids. He says, "I mean, of course I miss you, too, but it's different with them." And I totally get it. To quote Freddy Corbin, "Kids make everything harder. And they make everything wonderful."

Funny. One of my best friends from Philly is out here visiting. She lived here in San Francisco and Oakland for about 10 years, but moved back for more affordability regarding buying a home. Her wife called to say that the hospital she works at in Philly was being evacuated. When I first moved out here, lots of people asked me if I was afraid of the earthquakes. Almost everything out here's retrofitted to be earthquake safe or built that way in the first place. I'm not saying that I want the whole east coast to crumble to the ground or anything, but would be ironic.

Such a bummer to sign on and see 3 pages on this thread that only started yesterday. For the record, I can close a thread so we don't have to go on and on in circles, I might've closed it as soon as the other thread on tattooers with little to no tattoos was referenced. I appreciate that everyone was civil and thoughtful in their responses, and everything has been resolved, but I'm going to close this thread. Please feel free to "report a post/thread" if it ever feels needed, that's the little ! in a triangle on the bottom of every post, left of center. And the next time someone new to LST asks a question about "breaking into the business," we can refer them to THIS thread. BTW, welcome to LST areilla.

Wow, NATFMS sounds like a pretty cool organization. American tattoo history is all about the enlisted man, its great that it's partially designed to show them respect and keep them from getting ripped off. As far as this- It sounds as though this could be an awful lot of work for you, but it would be a great resource for other tattooers that aren't near bases, and I'm sure a lot of people would find the whole NATFMS pretty interesting. I can speak for the rest of us at LST that we'd love to have that thread if you were willing to put it together. Personally, I only know one person in the marines. He more or less has a full bodysuit, but he's a sniper medic and has done multiple tours in Afghanistan and elsewhere, maybe they need him enough to let him do whatever he wants. (?) By the way, we also have two kids. 180 miles round trip is crazy! Although, my husband will be waking up in Sweden to do some more tattooing in a few hours, so I get the traveling for a job that you love thing. Is where you and your family lives much nicer than closer to your shop?

Hi Schmitty, Welcome to LST. Can you tell us a little more about NATFMS and the tattoo regulations for the different military branches? I read the article that Jaycel had posted, but it was a little confusing. I don't know anything about this, and I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who's more than a little curious. Thanks, Dari

Hey, besides the friends I did see, did anyone else make it to the Blackheart show last night? There were quite a few amazing pieces there, and a great turn out.

I just looked, it doesn't seem to be one of the things I can change either, although I can change your signature or avatar. Steve?

Good one

Wow, irezumi, thanks for those.

Hello and welcome! Have you photographed your own tattoos?

Hello and thanks for joining in on our little party.

I've only done it that way one time, I was lucky to get the appointment. I decided on something a few hours before the appointment, and it's one of my favorites. No deep meaning, just a great tattoo.

Nobody touches my belly button.

I hate running. So, team LST?

I'm mainly interested in the "festivals,events, and pilgrimages."

My friend Jill Bonny was the first western woman to receive a Hori title, Horiyuki. She works at state of Grace in San Jose. She talks about receiving the title here- Inked Magazine :: Inked People :: The Xx Factor

Oh no, it's him, I read too much....

What's in the foreground of the fisherman shark? Is that a piece of pizza with roses?

These are great ideas, I also forget to check the blogs myself. Steve is the boss of all things visual and technical, and he's hiding out in a cabin in the woods somewhere right now, I'm sure he'll welcome the idea when he comes back all refreshed and renewed.

Wow, I've read through half of them, had a few fits of laughing. Will save the rest for tomorrow.

Wow, I've read through half of them, had a few fits of laughing. Will save the rest for tomorrow.

Nah, I'll leave 'em both for lazy viewers like myself, sometimes I just don't bother to click outside links, but I'll always stop for a photo.

Hey, are we talking about this - http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/739-who-do-you-think-deserves-some-recognition-page5.html#post15299 Cause it's up, and it's awesome. Looks like you're bringing some good stuff to the table, thanks!