SeeSea

@CaitlinBurnett10 - any news on the design or have you started?

@Cork Back Attack Brew (I love Palezumi!)

Ok, no promises, but I really want to meet all of you and make this happen. You are meeting in Brooklyn for drinks and 7pm and then dinner? Or earlier? I've lost track. How is the parking and traffic getting in and out of there Sunday night? I'd either be coming up 278 through Staten Island or on 78 through Manhattan. I've heard Sunday night can be tough. Tell me good news?

Congrats! Well, you mods are all gonna have to work together to help her make her first ban-hammering a memorable one. Pick her out a good one :-)

@marley mission - thanks! I love the hammerheads. We were under schooling hammerheads a couple times in Galagapos, and in a parade of them all swimming by. They are a little spooky up close, though. O.O My artist is Sean Zee. @misterJ - haha - I know what you mean! Thanks - it's gonna be a hell of a final stretch and I'm looking forward to the end. Getting NUTS! @scubaron, @Pugilist, @graybones, @Fala - thank you! @sophistre - yeah, the eel has a special place - that teethy smile :-) It's kinda funny because he actually had to change the species of eel. I love my spotted moray eels, but they are black with mottled white spots. My tattoo artist said that it would start to look sloppy earlier because the coloring is kind of slopping looking to begin with. So, that was one of the "artistic license" things I gave him - so he picked a honeycomb moray instead. It as a more regular pattern so it should hold up better. I think the ending will be emotional in many ways.

I have to bow out. I am so bummed. I have a long session Friday night in South Jersey, going home in Central Jersey Saturday AM to crash, and have to drive to DC Monday morning to work. I was hoping it would work out, but it appears the stars are not aligning. Not fair! Post pics on Instagram for us to be all completely jealous over.

@jonnyw - Is there really a need to take the pain down to a 3 or 4? A 7 isn't acceptable to minimize the side effects for a 4ish hour session? You really can't handle an upcoming 3+ hour session without being seriously drugged? And even then, you still have to split it into 2 sessions? So 60mg Vicodin+valium+muscle relaxant for what sounds like less than a 2 hour tattoo? I haven't read this entire thread in a while, but I doubt your conclusion that the general consensus is to dope up to this degree. Unless you have some medical pain issues you are being treated for, my only reaction to this is to man up. In full disclosure, I take 3 Advils at the start, and also 1/2 a 7.5 mg Vicodin pill at the start and the other half around hour 3. It is prescribed while I work through some very painful pelvis/spine problems that make it impossible for me to sit without a lot of discomfort. This very low dose makes sitting in a massage chair vaguely possible, and I find it does nothing for the tattoo pain.

@Cork - nearly done - 3-4 sessions and he wants it done by the end of the year. FML. With much trepidation, I'm booked every other Friday through Jan 2. Through the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. I think it's quite insane, but we have a dive vacation at the end of Jan and he feels very strongly about not going more than 3ish weeks between sessions. UGH! I think I'll be burning some sick days trying to stay healthy. Red and irritated at the top, and some of the marker is showing through. We have to fade out the sides around my ribs (joy) and a few more little critters below my waist to come. Aside from final whites and highlights most of this is done, EXCEPT for the eagle rays in the very center. It's pretty obvious they are still the first coat of paint. Those eagle rays were the reason I wanted a tattoo - I may have described this elsewhere, but that was a picture I took very early one morning right off the dive boat, and their beauty and strength I wanted to capture with a tattoo on my back. (Every critter here is a picture I took scuba diving and my tattoo artist created the scene from my photographs.) So, in the tradition of bringing the dragon to life by filling in the eyes last, we are saving the eagle rays until the end to bring this around full circle and bring the ocean scene to life.

Thanks, @Mick Weder - I got up late but when we we went for lunch, I tried 4 different ciders. You've probably already commented on my editorial in the Cider Snob thread :-)

@jonnyw http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/1534-use-painkillers.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/1752-advice-sitting-still-er-page2.html

I had a tough session last night. So I worked my way through 4 ciders today. Strongbow is a light cider like Angry Orchard, a bit more heavy but somewhat interchangeable. Pretty good light stuff. Sam Adams Seasonal cider is just like a Sam Adams seasonal beer with an apple squeezed into it. Not really like a cider. Good if you like Sam Adams. I'll take a pass next time. Duclaws is like a heavy stout, also with an apple squeezed into it. I wouldn't suspect was a cider unless I really thought about it. Didn't care for it as a cider, but decent compared with Guinness stout. I'd like to find a cider that is heavy like this, but Duclaws didn't do it for me. But a good beer choice. River Horse is a local cider from Lambertville NJ that is pumpkin-based. Medium body and good taste, the best of the bunch today.

@Nepok - sucks. I hope all heals ok. Thanks for swinging back around with what the artist and doc reported.

Yup, that's what I did. They have different resolutions if you have memory problems on you computer. I downloaded "regular" and it looks pretty good at full resolution on my Macbook Pro. Definitely a lifesaver!

Oh my gosh, yes! Last night he was grinding away on my upper back and I was getting this really horrid burning sore muscle sensation in my left forearm. Like, What?!? The body is so freaky and interesting! LOL!

I hate you.

I think a good tattoo artist understands flinches and some uncontrollable movements, and can compensate. I have a muscle in my back that always does a long slow twitch when we start in that area, and he recognizes that. The body's musculature has some common traits that are somewhat stereotypical, or can be anticipated. Don't kick yourself over something your body does without your control. Your artist knows what your body might do. If they spend hours with you, they learn how your body responds. There is a difference between involuntary twitches and a fidgeting PITA whiny client. Doesn't sound like you're a PITA. Don't worry about it. Congrats on sitting strong - you are so close to the end! Exciting!!!

Thanks guys. If that had been part of my first session, I would forever have an unfinished back. I can't fully describe how it destroyed my ability to control my body. I was in a private shop. I would never have been able to allow myself to descend so unselfconsciously like that in front of other tattooers and clients in order to finish the session. Thank god we are done with the top of my back.

Just finished five hours on my back. We found an area on my trap to the left of my spine that was so painful it immediately put tears down my face and I started shaking uncontrollably. So bizarre, it was only about 2 inches by 2 inches but inside the "line" was like night and day. The right side wasn't a problem and it actually has a numb area that doesn't hurt. I think something is mixed up in my wiring in my neck right there. I was heaving and moaning and it was all uncontrollable. He asked if I was okay, but I told/begged him to keep going because if we stopped I could never get started again. That was by far the worst 20 minutes of pain I have ever felt. It took another 10 minutes to stop shaking. When he went just outside that area, everything went back to just regular sucking. Unbelievable.

We used to play Triominoes when I was younger. Like Dominoes but with 3 sides to match instead it two. These are just missing the numbers on each edge.

Thanks @Mark Bee and @Cork. I watched a bunch of TED talks - it was a great idea. I saw some really interesting stuff I never would have tripped across. 15-30 min a pop is a good attention span for me.

Not really sure what you're referring to, but just let it heal. You can't judge it while it's healing.

Hi all, Just found out my artist's new shop doesn't have wireless yet and I've left unable to stream videos! I'm frantically downloading medium res TED talks. Are there any other sites for free downloads - not necessarily of full length movies, but maybe shorts, like stuff on TED? Thanks!

Hi @Sykes101211. I'm glad you're feeling better about it, and just giving it time to let it tell you what to do. And thanks for giving the group feedback that anything we've said has been useful. That's the kinda folks we like - hang around!

@marley mission - that sounds like a neat idea! Is that something you are still interested in doing? A friend of mine is a YA author and it took a long time for him to make it into book deals. I wrote a book but the method I used to get in the door might not work for you - I wrote a detailed book proposal for a series of technical mysteries, so it was *very* easy to get the idea across what the book would include, and I submitted the first chapter. I also got an industry name to commit to writing the forward, and that helped. But it takes some real planning and effort. If you'd like, I'll ask my friend if he has any pointers or references that might help. Keep writing - it's good for the soul, and for the manufacturer of pencils. /end thread hijack

This sounds very much like poetry. Deep. Like. Seriously.