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I sat with Mathew Clarke on Saturday for him to finish the last Lotus of my sleeve (he also added some leaves to the inside of my bicep). The piece is supposed to be done now but my tattoo critics (wife and daughters) think I need another koi on the inside/underside of my arm (from the bottom of the lotus to my arm pit) swimming under the leaves. What do you all think...I'm inclined to go with them- hell what do I know :cool:

#1!! :cool:

Here are some photos of our Old English Sheepdogs Zeke and Ziva. My wife and I rescued them a few years ago. We had 2 others (also rescued) that died so these came to us at a good time...God works in mysterious and wonderful ways. (The photos on the right are Bo and Sara respectively RIP. Bo died at our feet of a massive heart attack and we had to put Sara down after her intestines flipped and she bloated up. Poor girl was 14, deaf and incontinent - so we probably waited too long. They can't speak after all and because they love us unconditionally we really need to pay closer attention. It really wasn't fair to put her through all that pain.)

I'm reading two books right now on my Kindle - "The Devil's Water" by David L. Robbins novel about Air Force PJs and "A Soldier of the Great War" by Mark Helprin. A novel about a old WWI soldier that walks across Italy with young man that he meets along the way. During the walk, Alessandro talks, sometimes only remembers, his triumphs, failures, terrors, regrets, and his loves during WWI. Helprin really spins a great yarn that gets the reader involved. His graphic account of life in the Italian trenches of WWI are very moving.

As long as you wear long sleeved shirts in the office and button the gauntlet buttons , no one will notice (unless you show them then all bets are off). In the field you could probably get away with rolling up your sleeves with no issue. You will most likely only meet with Sr. Management or clients in a suit anyway. Incidentally, it's not the size of the company that will give you problems, it's the corporate culture. If you work for a stuck up, ultra "moral" company then you will have issue- big or small. It has been my experience that the culture and mandates of small companies are discriminatory in many ways but can't really be challenged because of their size. Large companies have to be careful because even though they have deep pockets, the one that ends up going after them has the deepest pockets of all - the government. Screw it, get the pin-up and find a company that will hire you for your skills not your lack of ink.

I think of a wild boar - nasty things always looking for food and certainly not yielding.

Awesome - You'll be fine - you have a memory of pain already and will be able to bear it. I'm going back on 10/4 to have more work on my sleeve. My guy is a real stickler about time in between sessions. He works the heck out of the skin so I guess it's ok in the long run. I like you have a hard time waiting. Keep us posted, man, I can't wait to see more detailed work.

Raised skin is pretty typical...you should use a lotion like Eucerin lightweight daily replenishing for few weeks. From your description, your skin is probably ready to go. You should however defer to your artist. He/she may decide to wait to let you skin fully heal before it gets assaulted again. Nice piece by the way - make sure you post up after getting some color.

I'm a recruiter and have been working on a sleeve that seems to be growing in length by each sitting. I am usually able to wear a short sleeve shirt dress shirt to work on days that I don't meet with either candidates or clients. On those days, I usually either wear a long sleeve dress shirt or suit (depends on the audience). I think attitudes are changing because I see more and more hints of ink on people. Most do a good job of covering up when they come in for a meeting. I still see a lot of professionally dressed women with small neck (nape of the neck not front), ankles, wrist, etc. ink. I place engineers and they are usually more relaxed than other professionals. With that said, I don't think that a lot of visible ink is going to fly in an interview. For that matter, in my marketplace, piercings, for some reason, have more of a negative stigma than tattoos for a professional position. Just my $.02

I agree with you on torque. There's nothing quite like rolling on the throttle and hanging on. Yeah it was Dyno tuned after the build. I have the sheets somewhere. I'm thinking of having it done again next season after riding it for 2 more seasons now.

I'm with you on the funding piece...I'm working on a sleeve that is going on 16 hrs and climbing. Nevertheless, you should try to be patient. You don't want to mess with your piece. You haven't said what your working on but I'm sure it's pretty cool and expensive.

Let it go and be patient...your skin will thank you. The dry skin as you call it is protecting the new healing skin underneath. Look at new designs for your next piece while you wait.

First thing I did when I got divorced 12 years ago was grow a beard and get more tattoos. Am happily married now and my wife, no ink (lives vicariously through my ink), encourages me to cover-up my old tattoos with new bolder, larger ones. Guess they got us wrong too.

Here's my '07 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic - I upgraded the motor last year from a 96" to 103" with new cams, jugs, pistons, pushrods, and exhaust. I'm getting around 95HP and 110# torque. I wanted the extra low end torque for passing up hills while riding two up.

This thread is especially germane to me. I am finishing up a sleeve and starting to think about another for the other arm. I want to have the work done by another artist (nothing against my current artist, I just want a variety of work) and want to be able to see a good cross section of work. I think that some people may be selling themselves short due to bad lighting, poor angles, small resolution, etc in their photographs. The variety of work doesn't concern me as much as the quality of it. I know that everyone is going to put up their best stuff (who gives an employer a bad work reference) but I personally want to see custom, flash, one piece, large pieces, etc. I would also like to see some sketches to see how they draw. Ultimately, I will choose based on a consult or email conversations but I have to be enticed to have that conversation.

In no particular order this weekend - taking my boat out for a day of sun and fun on Lake Winnipesaukee, going to a Steely Dan concert, going for a ride on my Harley, hiking with the sheep dogs, making zucchini, carrot, parsnip burgers, drinking iced Stoli, watching my tattoo heal, coming up with ideas for a sleeve on my left arm.

i would definitely agree with this... inside of the bicep close to the armpit feels intense. The elbow wasn't too bad with me although it did make me sit up and focus on the pain more...

FWIW - I'm reading some books on traditional Japanese tattooing - Wabori, Traditional Japanese Tattoo: Classic Japanese tattoos from the masters. Okazaki, Manami and Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo Kitamura, Takahiro and Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey Into the Japanese Tattoo (Schiffer Book) (No. 3) Mandelbaum, Jill I bought all these books on Amazon and for a beginner they offer many avenues for more research and enjoyment. The photography in all 3 is very good as well as some of the commentary but the artists.

Ok, so my sleeve is almost done... I sat with Mat Clarke of Midnight Moon Tattoo last Friday for about 4 hours...whatcha think??