Hogrider

I like to heal from the inside out.

Not in the tub! :D

My tattooer turned me on to a healing method that's working really great - soak in a hot tub for 30 minutes once a day for several days after getting a tattoo - the first time as soon as you get back from the tattoo. I usually heal quickly anyway, surprising given my advanced age, but I've had much less swelling, less pain and healed quicker since I started doing this. I had a 5 hour session on my inner arm and elbow last Thursday and was starting to peel Sunday morning.

I just had my elbow done yesterday for my sleeve and it was just as awful as the last one. For myself, when a particularly bad session is over, I feel a sense of accomplishment about getting through it. No offense meant to the pussies that use pills and numbing cream! haha. Only kidding, I only judge myself.

It's not really even an article; it's a list. I'm not sure what the point is.

Thanks! I need to get some final pics. It's all done and healed. I keep forgetting when I'm at the shop.

Apparently no one has ever told Emily that if you are going to talk trash, you had better be able to back it up. I get so sick of those losers saying "if you give me one more chance, I'll show you what I can do." You did show us what you can do and it's crap!

I love the tramp stamp. I think it looks sexy, not slutty. I have my back done and when my shirt rides up, my wife calls it my ass crack tramp stamp.

Did she do this on herself???? :)

I waited until I was 50+ too. It reminds me of an old story I heard. A man was walking through the desert one night when he heard a voice that told him to fill his pockets with the stones at his feet. The voice then said, “Tomorrow you will be both happy and sad.” So the confused man took a handful of pebbles and stuffed them in his pocket. The next morninghe examined the pebbles and discovered that the stones were really precious gems. He was happy and sad—happy he had obeyed and picked up some gems, but sad that he had not picked up more.

The time for worrying is BEFORE you get your tattoo. It's a little to late afterwards. I wouldn't worry about this one. It looks good to me even with my glasses on!

Flowers and waves, you can't go wrong.

Even the best ones were awful. Do these knuckle headed 'skins' not watch the show? Portraits and pinups ALWAYS get butchered.

As the old joke goes, if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

I just saw the season opener for Ink Master. What a bunch of knuckle heads. The fake drama is just awful. I'm going to start watching it on Comcast "on demand" so I can fast forward through the preening idiots. It will also allow me to watch a 60 minute show in 30 minutes without missing anything. I've decided that I don't have any sympathy for the 'skins.' After all these seasons, they should know that they have about an 80% chance of getting a shitty tattoo, especially in the early weeks.

Working on my second sleeve. Both were started on bare arms so I could have a cohesive theme. Both are Japanese style and my back piece flows into both of them.

Anybody watch Epic Ink? I didn't make it through the whole show. The show itself is god-awful, and the tattoos are not epic, IMHO. The 'situations' are so contrived and awkward that it's actually uncomfortable to watch. The tattooers are trying so hard it's just painful. It would be really great if someone would create a show about tattoos that was actually about tattoos.

The Walking Dead on your face???

You have to love Mark Twain.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Do what I do, when I look at my tattoos I just think about how awesome they look to me, I don't go over them with a microscope looking for imperfections. I think if you look hard enough you can find something wrong with any tattoo. If I were to spot something I didn't like I would take off my glasses and it would be perfect again!

I don't know if this counts as upcoming, but I started my second (and last haha) sleeve last month. It has Raijin (japanese god of thunder) riding a dragon on my forearm, Fujin (japanese god of wind) on my bicep, A demon head chest panel and some clouds with skulls in them. My artist is tying it into my back piece which is an Oni head and was just finished last month. The plan was to try to finish the back piece first, but there was a scheduling issues. I'll post pics after my next appt.

I try not to think about it!

Struck me as funny getting tattoos removed at a place called Immortal Images. Kind of like a divorce attorney with the last name Truelove (and there are some).

You're going to have that back piece you're whole life. You don't want to be looking at it wishing you had waited.