Mark Bee

FTW! Awesome piece.

The first tattoo I recall seeing was in Brockville, Ontario, sometime around 1977 or 1978. I was about 8 years old, and I had gone into a convenience store and the old guy who ran the place had rows of pictures from his WWII days in the Royal Canadian Navy. He had a series of schooners down his arms. I remember looking at those pics and then at the man himself, recognizing the blued and now blurry tattoos down his arms. I thought he was the coolest old-timer I'd ever seen. I was not from the area, but whenever I was back in Brockville, I wanted to go back to that store. He was gone by the early 80's. but his tattoos made a huge impact on me. I can recall my mother wondering why I was so insistant that we go back to that particular store. Around that same time I found a magazine or book in my parents home that also captivated me. The memory is hazy, but there was a grainy picture of a guy, probably a WWII sailor, with his shirt off and he had tattoos on his chest - probably swallows. Birds of some kind. I wish I had the magazine still, but it has been lost for decades. At any rate, I always loved that look, and many years later, I opted to get very similar tattoos on my chest.

This! I spend a fair bit of time leafing through books and portfolios in the shop I frequent. I try to make sure I'm not in the way, or distracting people from their work, but as long as I am respectful, they don't seem to mind. Usually I can park myself in the corner and read and jot down ideas without being disruptive. Poke around, look through the gallery here, join instagram and spend a few hours (days? weeks?) looking through the staggering number of pics online. Often artists post a lot of their work on their facebook pages - another good place to look around and see what sort of tattoos people are getting/ giving. Have fun!

Agreed. Thanks again.

Hey Kahlan -Welcome!

I can't believe I've neglected Instagram for so long. Great idea for the hashtag.

I found the elbow wasn't a whole lot of fun, but it was certainly doable and I'll be doing the other one in a couple of weeks.

Excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thanks!

Just got my first elbow tattoo from Tim Pausinger at The Pearl in Toronto. He put a large screaming gorilla there. Feels appropriate right about now...

I do like a good podcast. Here are my favourites: WTF w/ Marc Maron - interviews with stand-up comics and some other celebrities The Memory Palace - short pieces on a wide range of topics 99% Invisible - about architecture and design Bullseye with Jesse Thorn - interviews with cultural producers Radiolab - where "science meets culture" Jordan, Jesse, Go! - Interviews with comedians, and various cultural producers Risk! - see previous commenters Also, I am just starting to listen to The Joe Rogan experience

it could just be the normal ebb and flow that many forums experience. People move out and new folks come along. I'm new here and reluctant to say much about this trend, other to identify that it happens to almost all forums at one point or another. Hopefully the high standards in this forum, which is what attracted me in the first place, can weather these changes. Sometimes people just need a break and maybe they will come back. I suspect people are more likely to come back or at least stick around if the forums are active.

Thanks, Steve. I tried that, very carefully, but with no luck. Oh well. I'll survive. I appreciate the help, though.

Thanks, Lori. I'll give it another try. - - - Updated - - - Nope. No luck.

When I signed up to the forum and logged in, my name was generated by fb, and I became Mark Bee by default. At least, that's how I understand the process. I'm sorry about this - I'm not much good at this sort of thing. :(

I did try that but it didn't recognize my login.

Hi everyone, I'm hoping maybe a moderator can help me out. When I joined the forum I signed in via Facebook. Today I decided to try out the Taptalk app for reading the forum online but I discovered I cannot log into the forums via the app because it doesn't allow me to log in via Facebook. Is there anyway I can change my login from Facebook to logging in via the app without losing my posts or setting up a new account? Thanks!

I was intrigued by the book Hail to the Tatt. Unfortunately it seems the book is a myth. I noticed there is no citation or record in the library of congress nor is it likely that McKinley had a tattoo of the monopoly guy given that he died years prior to the development of the game. Still, I'm disappointed. It would have been a fascinating read.

Welcome, Heck54. This thread might help: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-advice/8-choosing-your-first-tattoo.html

Tim is awesome and so is that tattoo. When did you get this done?

That's what I should do. But for some reason I horde books. The hardest adjustment I had to make moving to an e-reader was losing the pleasure I get from simply admiring my collection on the shelves. I think my fiancé is happy about my switch to kindle. I've stacked books to the ceiling that loom over her desk in our office. We have a little lending library in my building'slaundry room. I should start moving some of my novels down there. One thing about ipads is that I have rediscovered magazines. They look great on tablets.

Each time I get a new tattoo I walk out of the shop feeling a little ragged, thinking, I love this, but I'll wait a few months before going back. By dawn the next day I'm thinking about heading right back down for more. My partner just shakes her head at me. "Addict" she says with a smile. How can something so painful be so compelling? I had a consultation at The Pearl a few weeks ago and we mapped out my right forearm. When we booked the date I was disappointed that I was going to have to wait until late March. While I would have liked to start immediately, its good news for Tim that he is so busy. I realize my perspective is a little selfish, so I want to acknowledge that I am actually very happy to be in such capable and talented hands and the wait is really not a big deal. I am interested in how much attention my brain pays to the upcoming sessions. I think about it throughout the day, mulling over new ideas, looking for inspiration, posting in forums, and reading on and offline. I do manage to get my own work done, I don't neglect my partner (she is hugely supportive - I'm an incredible fortunate guy), so I'm not suggesting that I am so obsessed that things get missed in other aspects of my life. The feeling I get thinking about an upcoming tattoo is similar to the feelings I had as a child in the week before Christmas. Sometimes its an almost giddy excitement about what lies ahead. I like the entire experience. From walking into the shop and being hit by the smell of disinfectant, to signing the waver, to hearing the buzz of the machine, the entire experience is electric. And at the end I'll have a new tattoo to love.

I generally use a Kindle these days. I have an iPad, but I rarely use it for book read. I find it too heavy to read comfortably in bed, as well as too bright, even when pushed to its lowest settings. In daylight, I find there is often too much glare on the screen to be truly immersive. - - - Updated - - - So many great suggestions and great books in this thread. I've jotted down a few titles for ordering. I love books across a wide spectrum of genres. Right now I'm on a bit of a mystery kick. I read a lot of rather dense history for work and when I'm not reading that, I love to disappear into a good novel. I'll list of few of my favorite authors. Mystery/suspense/ thriller: Linwood Barcley, Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Harlen Coben, Barry Eisler, James Lee Burke, Warren Ellis, Denis Lehane, Horror / Fantasy: Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Patrick Rothfus, Robert Jordan Sci-fi: John Scalzi, Lit: John Steinbeck, Rawi Hage, History: Tony Judt, Bernard Bailyn, Jill Lepore, One major change in reading is the advent of e-readers. I realized after my last move that between me and my fiance, we have too many books. I have a stack of more than 70 in my "to-read" pile. I have books stacked to the ceiling. In order to save space I bought a Kindle. It took months before I became totally comfortable with it. its been more than a year since I bought a paper book. I still feel like a bit of a book traitor though. I never thought I'd move totally digital in this regard. There are problems. For one, if you buy through Amazon or Chapters (and I assume most vendors) you don't actually own the book - you lease it. They can recall the book from your device without asking your permission. This happened not long ago when Amazon recalled the book (irony alert!) 1984 from thousand of devices due to a licensing problem with the publisher. It can be difficult to share e-books too. On the upside, I find the experience of reading on an e-reader to be a more immersive experience. Page turns are fast and nowadays virtually seamless. The e-reader is light and easier to transport. (I carry a heavy bag every day and and relief is appreciated. I wonder what other people here think of e-readers - do you generally like or dislike them?

Welcome! Respect. That is an impressive set of tattoos. They are spectacular.

For the last few years I've been going for the dry heal. I leave the bandage on over night. In the morning I wash it very carefully with soap and rinse off in water as hot as I can take it. I carefully pat it dry and then I leave it alone. I guess we all heal a little differently, but I've had success with this method. I tend to heal quickly and without crazy scabbing.

My next one is likely going to be tiger head, then eagle. I'm hoping Tim knocks it outta the park. I hope I'll be in the running for this contest. :)