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Today's shenanigans in NYC or better referred to as tattoo fan Heaven! First a stop by Invisible NYC to check in on my friend getting work from Chris Garver: Then some work on myself by Mike Rubendall at Kings Avenue Tattoo Manhattan (more photos in the back piece thread): Finally, Chris O'Donnell working on a grim reaper thigh piece at Kings Avenue as well (Grez and Rubendall in the background:

Agreed @Graeme I just had a large English breakfast with milk and sugar, a ham and egg sandwich and some fresh strawberries. Now off to visit a friend getting tattooed by Chris Garver at Invisible NYC before I head to my own session today at Kings Ave with Rubendall.

Going to pop into Invisible NYC to check on a friend who's getting tattooed by Chris Garver this morning. Then I have my own session at Kings Avenue Manhattan this afternoon with Mike Rubendall. I wish all my days were like this!

Curious @Graeme, is it just plain uncomfortable for you or not part of your regular regime? Usually on tattoo day, I set out to eat a pretty hefty meal because I know I'll be sitting for about at least 5 hours with maybe a quick bathroom break in between. I find the larger meal gets me through the session and some small snacks on top of that as well.

Oh WOW! That's going to be EPIC!!! Definitely post pics afterwards. Good luck tomorrow!

What's the piece going to be? Make sure to document the process with lots of photos so that you can share! :p I'm heading back to see Rubendall tomorrow for more work on my back. We're going to shade in the rest of my thigh...maybe even start some color!

I'll be in Toronto in June for a wedding. Plan to drive down to Buffalo to see the old stomping grounds and maybe hit up Wegmans!

Mmmm, haven't had good poutine since my last trip to Montreal. Had a version here in NYC that was passable at best. Let us know how it goes :p

Branded by tattoos: A lesser-known form of domestic violence - CBS News

Same here. If the tattoo looks good to me personally, I'm going to like it, same as on Instagram. It's all in good fun and to each his/her own. Great stuff so far and looking forward to seeing more.

Welcome! I'm a UB alumnist and used to make weekly trips to Niagara Falls and Toronto back in my college days.

Just for the heck of it, I'll throw in my right arm 3/4 sleeve done a couple of years ago by Henning Jorgensen when he was guest tattooing at Kings Avenue Tattoo (both the Manhattan and Long Island shops). This picture was actually compiled by Henning and shared with me. Enjoy!

Brooklyn-Based Realtor Promises Bonuses To Employees Who Get Company Tattoo: Gothamist

Holy Crap!!! That must have hurt like hell! OUCH!!!

Looks like I'm going to the convention on Sunday. Turns out a buddy of my brother is getting tattooed at the convention, so another friend and I will head out there to check on him and survey the convention. I noticed on Instagram that Saturday May 18th, Kings Avenue Tattoo and Scorpion Front Publishing is holding a book release event for the Eleven Fourteen Flash Collection Book at the Kings Ave Manhattan location at 188 Bowery. Starts at 6PM and will probably have many convention people attending.

Rick Pitino of Louisville Cardinals gets tattoo as he promised his players - ESPN

I'm of the same school of thought. My next session at Kings Avenue with Mike Rubendall will be Tuesday May 7th. Then I break for the rest of the Spring and through the Summer. I'll start everything up again with appointments in October and onward. I was tattooed once in late May and it was unseasonably warm already in NYC. Healing and sweating was just not personally fun for me. Plus I have several travel vacations this summer and I prefer to be all healed to enjoy a good swim and also some sun.

Now that's a nice calf piece! But I have to ask, what's the pain like? I decided to keep my ink above the knees but seeing pieces like this really making me think about getting something in the future.

@beez I've noticed that with most tattoo artists working in the Japanese motif, when tattooing animals and creatures, most won't highlight or fill in the eyes until the piece is nearly completely. We've heard the old saying that, "the eyes are the windows to the soul" and the Chinese take this literally. They believe when you "dot" the eyes or fill in the eyes, the creature should be complete and would come to life as it were. If it wasn't complete and "brought to life" it would bring bad lucky and imbalanced as you've indicated. If you ever been in a Chinese community and witnessed the Lion dances during the Chinese New Year or other special occasions, the event is started by the "dotting of the eyes" of the Lion with incense, thereby waking up the Lion to start the dance that wards off evil.

Hey Folks, We all obviously have our personal reasons for getting tattoos. I thought it would be fun and interesting to hear thoughts and experiences regarding getting or not getting a tattoo because of some superstitions, personal beliefs, cultural customs or taboos. Apologies for my very long-winded dialogue below. My own perspective is a bit of a double-edged sword. I’m American born Chinese, raised in the Lower East Side/Chinatown of NYC. My parents and grandparents are/were Buddhists. My maternal grandmother (Grams), who had a major role in my early upbringing, was a devout practicing Buddhist. I’ve never been religious but was always respectful of the customs and beliefs. It was Grams who naturally started me on the path of some of these beliefs and informed me of some of the more peculiar superstitions that ended up influencing my tattoo choices later on in life. As most of us know in Asian cultures, tattoos are still a taboo subject and subculture. However I’ve never been one to go with the grain so much but I ended up getting my first tattoo in my early 30’s. My first tattoo was a koi with water and cherries, done in a Japanese motif. I’ve always loved goldfish and koi as a kid and I remembered begging my grandmother to get them for me. Grams would flat out refuse. You see, while goldfish and koi are considered good luck, if they die, the Chinese believed your luck dies with it. Being very conscious of that, I figured a tattoo is permanent and the koi would “live” forever. It just so happened that when I got this first tattoo, it was at the end of the same year Grams had passed away. Part of it was in honor and remembrance of her. My next tattoo was of a dragon, my Chinese zodiac sign. I received a stern lecture from my mom on this. Even though she accepted this path I was on with getting tattooed, she had indicated it was bad luck to get my own zodiac figure tattooed on myself. It would be in conflict with one’s self. Too late I explained to her and we’d just have to see what the eventual outcome with be in my destiny, hahaha. Now when I had decided to get my back tattooed, a lot of odd things popped up that I had to consider. First, the literal connotations of getting my back inked, the Chinese would say you are getting stabbed in the back, bad karma. Of course didn’t take too much stock in that and plowed forward. Next, while I am in complete awe of most back pieces and overall tattoos for that matter, I had made a decision not to get any religious or associated figures tattooed on me. No Kannon, Buddha, demons, Monkey King, etc. You get the idea. It is considered bad luck and disrespectful to get a deity tattoo, let alone on your back where you would be “resting on them”. It broke my heart as I adore the powerful and serene image of Kannon riding a dragon and although life is short and one should always try to get what they want, I just couldn’t see myself breaking away from this belief. To the point I was scared I would “anger the gods” and have bad luck for the rest of my days. Hence you’ll notice in my gallery, my tattoos comprise of creatures and florals and will continue with this theme until I’m “done.” One thing that’s never been spoken of in a negative light is that it is okay to get a mantra or chant or just Buddhist scripture tattooed on yourself. These would act like talismans or amulets to ward off evil or bad luck. I’ve recently been researching Sanskrit and Bonji characters that I will eventually incorporate into my collection.

I have a friend who's going just to chat and schedule something with Jess Yen for a future date. I might tag along. Someone I know from the Needle and Sins blog plans to enter his back piece in the contest at the convention. Not sure what day I'll go.

I'm betting the journalist has a friend who has some tattoos and knows a few people with tattoos and "viola", a couple of pictures. I can't fathom why they just don't do some research considering it's supposedly a "respectable" publication.

NY Times just did an article about tattoos in the workplace. I posted in the media section here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-tv-shows-documentaries-media/3997-ny-times-article-tattoos-workplace.html#post64207

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/fashion/tattoos-peek-out-at-offices-but-only-at-some.html?_r=0