There is so much that 2011 has brought. Good, bad, happy, and sad... and I am very glad that this year is on its way out the door. It wasn't a horrible year, but it wasn't my best. I am ready to bring in a new year with new hopes and new dreams, all to hopefully be fulfilled in 365 days. I thought I would talk about the good (and the bad) that 2011 has brought me.
January:
Although I feel asleep on new years eve at an early 10:00 I did wake up 30 minutes past midnight to kiss my lover farewell to another year and hello to a new year that lies ahead. By mid-January my year wasn't looking so bright as I spent a full week off work with a common cold... or so I thought, until I went to the doctor and found out it was the cold flu virus. But I hadn't thrown up.. until 45 minutes after I got home and spend the next 3 days doing just that with a stuffed nose, sore throat, and killer body aches. January wasn't much of anything for me :(
February:
When I wasn't down in January I was trying really hard to make my own creation. I know that it had been a couple months in coming but I finally completed the purple room. I love my purple room! I spent many night hanging out in there letting my creative juices flow.
March:
March was brought on by yet another photo shoot. I love Laine Images! March also brings the sense of summer coming in to our future... it starts off by the yearly world dutch oven competition. This has been a family tradition for years. This year was a first of not only 3 generations competing but of siblings, parents and grandparents competing against each other. My mom was on one team. My brother and his wife was on another, and my sister was my brothers son (nephew) were on another. Not to mention my brothers other son and my dad were runner and helpers in the competition. It was a fun time to see them all competing against each other.
April:
Hello Hollywood!!! Has that caught on yet? I had my 15 minutes of fame and that is what my dad now says to me. We had some amazing creatures at my work for 2 whole weeks. 'My what big eyes you have!'....
May:
With April bringing in good references to my work, May brought it a whole slew of bad! This month was one of my hardest months. One Saturday brought on a devastation to many in my company. It is still hard hearing bad words about the one person... even if is a small jab. Either way 2 families are hurting very very much. I was glad to see this month go!
June:
Ah! The summer months are here! Camping season began... although the farthest we took our trailer camping was to the back yard, our baby made her way down to the Paiute trail with us. This is the first time we went down there but it was we had an amazing time that I am for sure will be in our schedule for years to come. It was cold, warm, wet, snowey, and sunny while we were down there, We got all sorts of weather but it was still fun! Thanks Paiute!
July:
We had more riding... some new, some old. Mona Pole Trail was awesome.... soapstone was bug infested but if you kept on the move you did have a problem.... we also spent the first holiday with my family in a long time. Maybe because there was only a few there I was able to handle it. The 24th was fun, especially with kids. We cant forget to mention Red Butte gardens were a hit for my birthday!
August:
August lead us back to the Paiute with some family and friends. We had so much fun with lots of riding and some pretty amazing views in the morning. August I also started Wednesday wonders... I think they are a hit!
September:
This year for labor day we stayed back since both Bryce and I worked... but I decided to head out for some sister time that I hadn't had in a while. Our original plan was to take the kids swimming but we had a little accident and my niece broke her arm so we went to plan B - The zoo! I think the kids enjoyed themselves and I finally found my raspberry honey butter (the best!) that same day... YUM. 2 weeks after the zoo we had a new addition to my family. Welcome #17...
October:
October brought on a new store to me that is currently my favorite place. If you haven't checked this place out, I think you should... oh and make sure you have lots of money to spend! They rob me blind!!!! ok, I willingly give it to them.
November:
November brought me to Nablopomo... I failed miserably.... but at least I tried!
December:
December always brings me great happiness. I love this month and everything about it. December happens to be the month of Bryce's birthday. This year he turned 30 and thanks to some amazing friends and family I was able to pull of a surprise party for him. He really enjoyed himself.
Thanks to all of the people who are part of our lives. I don't think our year would be half as great without you. Now I better get going so I can say goodbye to this year and hello to a new one! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Usher in the New Year with a Hugs and Kisses Monster!
I met Laine earlier this month in Penn Station and she shared this, one of her "eight or nine" tattoos:
Laine explained that her friend Jason Lee, who tattoos and DJs in Florida under the name "Mr. Monster," inked this on her as a spur-of-the-moment tattoo. She was with a friend who was getting inked by Mr. Monster and it just happened. His signature tattoo is a monster design, so he just drew it on her with a Sharpie, and because they are such close friends, it developed as this friendly "Hugz and Keesez" monster.
Thanks to Laine for sharing this with us here on Tattoosday and happy new year to all! Please beware the Hugs and Kisses monsters lurking on New Years' Eve!
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Shanon Inks Lovely Thoughts
Last week, my brother Seth was in town, and I met him after work at a restaurant near Madison Square Garden, where he was having a quick bite with Shanon, an old friend of his from Southern California. He had just seen Shanon in a performance of Peter Pan at the Garden. Shanon is with the touring company of the show, and acts in the role of Curly, one of the Lost Boys, and is an understudy to the title character, played by Cathy Rigby, as well as the role of Mrs. Darling. The show closes in New York today (December 30, 2011).
I was talking to Seth and Shanon when I noticed that she had a tattoo on her inner right wrist. Of course, I went into Tattoosday mode, and she agreed to share some of her ink with us here on Tattoosday.
This is the piece on her wrist:
Shanon also removed her left shoe, to display her foot tattoo:
We took pictures of both tattoos because they each relate to Shanon's journey as an actress, and her role in Peter Pan.
The tattoo on her wrist references a verse in the Bible's New Testament, Mark 9:23. Shanon said that she was specifically drawn to the passage's proclamation that "Anything is possible to he who believes."
Her foot tattoo instructs "Think lovely thoughts," which is from Peter Pan itself, most popularly in the song "I'm Flying".
The show was the first play she remembers seeing as a child, and it is her first professional job in New York. Both messages tie into the fact that Shanon pursued her passion for performing and was able to attain the goal of being on stage in New York City. The road between first seeing Peter Pan and being on stage at the theater in Madison Square Garden, "the world's most famous arena," is no easy route to take. Believing in oneself and positive thinking are just two elements in attaining one's goals.
Both tattoos were done at Action Tattoo in Yorba Linda, California.
Thanks to Shanon for sharing her inspiring tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
I was talking to Seth and Shanon when I noticed that she had a tattoo on her inner right wrist. Of course, I went into Tattoosday mode, and she agreed to share some of her ink with us here on Tattoosday.
This is the piece on her wrist:
Shanon also removed her left shoe, to display her foot tattoo:
We took pictures of both tattoos because they each relate to Shanon's journey as an actress, and her role in Peter Pan.
The tattoo on her wrist references a verse in the Bible's New Testament, Mark 9:23. Shanon said that she was specifically drawn to the passage's proclamation that "Anything is possible to he who believes."
Her foot tattoo instructs "Think lovely thoughts," which is from Peter Pan itself, most popularly in the song "I'm Flying".
The show was the first play she remembers seeing as a child, and it is her first professional job in New York. Both messages tie into the fact that Shanon pursued her passion for performing and was able to attain the goal of being on stage in New York City. The road between first seeing Peter Pan and being on stage at the theater in Madison Square Garden, "the world's most famous arena," is no easy route to take. Believing in oneself and positive thinking are just two elements in attaining one's goals.
Both tattoos were done at Action Tattoo in Yorba Linda, California.
Thanks to Shanon for sharing her inspiring tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Long Story About a Small Tattoo, or, Megan Massacre's Golden Touch
Tonight on TLC, New York Ink premieres its second season. For those of you who may have blinked, I got about six seconds of quality screen time in season 1, episode 7, at the tail end of the show. I figured I'd share my experience here, in conjunction with the premiere of the show's sophomore run.
Ever since news broke earlier this year that Ami James, formerly of TLC’s Miami Ink, was opening up shop in New York City, and developing NY Ink, people within and on the periphery of the tattoo industry were waiting to see how it would play up.
Bits and pieces of news fragments floated about during the spring, in the blogosphere, and in the print media. This piece, in New York magazine really caught my attention.
So, a few weeks before the series was set to premiere on TLC during the first week of June, I was excited to see, on one of my favorite sites, Tattoo Snob, this blurb:
Unfortunately, that night I got an email from NY Ink breaking it to me that I wasn’t selected, but I was more than welcome to come down and be an extra.
Not really interested in missing work to not get a tattoo, I chalked it up to experience and BBM’d my boss and told him I’d be in Friday, after all.
“Never mind about Friday,” I messaged, “just got an email saying they were booked solid.”
“That sucks,” he wrote back.
“I could go, but no guarantee,” I messaged back, “not worth it.”
He tried to console me, “At least you won’t have a dumb rooster on you for the rest of your life.”
That was one way of looking at it.
The next day, I had just returned from lunch when the following e-mail hit my BlackBerry:
Moments after sending my number, I got the call. I was in! The production team sent me the logistics and I was good to go.
I got completely razzed by my boss, but he gave me the day off.
With my mother's birthday approaching, I thought it would be fun to dedicate the rooster tattoo to her late "pet" Golden, memorialized here. In addition, I thought that the personal side of this story would make my rooster tattoo stand out among all the others being inked. It was a decent strategy, I thought. Just to show I wasn't making this up, I brought a picture of Golden along with me to the shoot.
I arrived early, about 30 minutes or so ahead of the call time, bemoaning the fact that I was arriving much later than I anticipated, thinking they were going to be inking a ton of roosters. I was the only one there, but the crowd quickly grew to a few dozen. Still, I thought, much less than I anticipated.
I even spotted a Tattoosday contributor Liz in line and wondered who else I would see. It was a bit of a blur, as people filled out forms, had photos taken, and mingled. I met a guy named Roy, who saw I had checked in on Facebook, and he friended me as we stood in line. He had driven up from Philadelphia for the occasion.
A light rain had started to fall, and we huddled under a construction scaffold across the street from the shop.
I was still puzzled by the small group of people present, considering the call for volunteers. When one producer asked “those getting rooster tattoos” to come up on a landing above the sidewalk where we were all standing, I was even further shocked by the small group of us that broke off of the main group. I asked the producer how many of us were getting tattoos and my heart jumped when she looked at her clipboard and said, “There’s only ten of you.” I was stunned, I thought we’d be vying for airtime with dozens of people, based on the instructions we should be expected to stay “all day, into the evening”. It would certainly be easier to stand out with only nine other people getting inked.
Cut to us being ferried across the street for some exterior shots in front of the shop. Slight drizzle still falling. It was then that I noticed, maybe forty feet away, Corey Miller standing under a tree watching us. I had just met him the night before (recounted here) and 24 hours later here he was again! There was a slight buzz as a few of us recognized him and wondered, would we be getting a rooster tattoo from Corey Miller?
Time sped up as the moment of truth arrived. After an unknown person, who we later learn is Floor Manager, Robear, does a rooster-costumed warm-up in the light rain, Ami James opens the door and yells “who wants a fifty dollar cock?”
That’s our cue to file in and I am number five, or last, in the first group. A woman named Jessica, the shop manager, gives us paperwork as the cameras roll. I watch with envy as I see Tim Hendricks pick a client, then Ami James, then Tommy Montoya, and Roy, who knows Megan Massacre from Philly, gets paired up with her. Who’s left? I don’t see Chris Torres, but there are people running around everywhere, and the shop looks amazing. Huge, spacious, covered with art.
I chat with Jessica and discover she knows Marisa and Brian, from Needles and Sins. I show her my picture of Golden, the famous Hawaiian rooster, and she hands me a post-it with the number five on it.
The next five sign in at the desk and the other folks from the line sit in the waiting area, as human background. I stand around, eschewing a seat, figuring I will be more visible and not overlooked. When the show finally airs, I am prominently lurking in many of the shots, maroon Tommy Bahama shirt sticking out like a sore thumb.
Tattoo machines whir and Jessica comes up to me telling me she’s going to set me up with Ami. This brings me great joy. The flash for the roosters is a little disappointing, five versions of small tribal cocks, in various positions, crowing, strutting, with various color schemes. Black. Black fading to red. Black fading to blue. Black fading to green. If I am going to get a small, unimpressive rooster silhouette, let it be from Ami James, I think.
I do an on-camera interview with the producers, plugging Tattoosday and sharing the story of Golden, my mother’s deceased Hawaiian rooster. I know it’s not likely that much of it will air, but I figure it’s good for something.
The second wave of clients get tattooed. I pay my $50, including a $10 tip. I am keeping an eye on Ami but he doesn’t seem to be gearing up for another client. I start to get a sinking feeling about the likelihood of his getting to tattoo me. I am standing around nervously, imagining how this could be going wrong, with a worst-case scenario playing out in my head, as they give me my money back and apologize.
Of course, that doesn’t happen. Jessica approaches me, biting her lip and saying, apologetically, “Ami’s not doing any more tattoos, but I’ve set you up with Megan. She’s really good.” I don’t doubt what she’s saying, but the disappointment clearly made itself known on my face.
There’s only a few clients left in the shop. Most of the “background” people have taken off. I observe the goings-on about the shop with keen interest. I always knew that these reality shows relied on orchestration and staging, but I am struck by how much of the show seems staged for the cameras.
In the mean time, Megan is ready for me. She is sweet as sugar and much better looking than Ami, so I start thinking that this might not be so terrible after all. But then, much to my surprise, Megan Massacre makes me a fan for life by going completely outside the box.
I show her the picture of Golden that I brought along for inspiration, and she asks which design I want. I show her the silhouette and she asks if I mind if she tries something a little different, with some color, to make him more like my mom’s rooster. I give her full artistic license and she starts tattooing. I ask for it on my inner right arm and she uncannily picks a spot and orientation that matches my Friday the 13th Anchor tattoo.
I want to be surprised so I don’t watch much. Tommy Montoya and Tim Hendricks swing by to check out Megan’s work. Everyone else is done and people are cleaning up their stations. Tim whistles and exclaims, “Megan, are you trying to show us up?” I consider this a good sign. Tommy makes some crude remarks, “Megan, you’re making his cock bleed.” I laugh and say “Hey, my kids watch this show!” Tommy later proclaims that Megan just might get the award for “Cock of the Day”.
When Megan finishes, I get a good look at her handiwork and I’m stunned. I was expecting a solid tribal rooster and I got this instead:
I am astonished at what she has done with colors to give my rooster a dusty brown and gold appearance. Compare this to the type of rooster others received:
I know for certain, Ami would never have done that for me, and I doubt that Tommy, Tim, or Billy would have done that. I didn’t even ask for it. Megan just went with it and hit it out of the park.
Three days later, on my mother’s birthday, we called her on Skype in Hawaii, and I showed her the Golden tattoo. She was thrilled that their old rooster was immortalized on my flesh.
The show aired on July 21, 2011. I was excited to see a glimpse of me the previous week in the preview at the end of episode 6. Of course, shortly thereafter, the huge controversy surrounding TLC’s one-off Tattoo School blew up on Facebook and it seemed like most of my tattoo artist FB friends had "Boycott TLC" profile pictures. So, I gathered, not that many artists watch the ink-based “reality” shows on TLC, but there were likely fewer watching than normal. Such is life.
When the show aired, the Rooster event was left for the final five minutes of the episode. I pop up in the background quite a bit, and wham! There I am “William” talking about how Ami is going to tattoo my rooster, dedicated to Golden, whose picture I show on camera. But that’s all of me. No blog mention, as I gathered, but I was a little disappointed because, they showed quite a few of the finished rooster tattoos, but they didn’t show Megan’s effort which I think, all personal bias aside, was the finest one of the day.
Thanks to Megan Massacre for giving me a remarkable tattoo when she could have just given me the standard rooster everyone else was getting. I still look at it and marvel at how well she did with such a tiny piece, and I continue to receive compliments on it.
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Ever since news broke earlier this year that Ami James, formerly of TLC’s Miami Ink, was opening up shop in New York City, and developing NY Ink, people within and on the periphery of the tattoo industry were waiting to see how it would play up.
Bits and pieces of news fragments floated about during the spring, in the blogosphere, and in the print media. This piece, in New York magazine really caught my attention.
So, a few weeks before the series was set to premiere on TLC during the first week of June, I was excited to see, on one of my favorite sites, Tattoo Snob, this blurb:
Well, as you would imagine, my interest was piqued, so I dashed off an email and crossed my fingers. I then asked for Friday off, anticipating that I could get down there, thinking they were going to do one of those Friday-the-13th-like events, tattooing hundreds of roosters on adoring fans. Surely, I thought, I was fast enough out of the gate to make the list.New York Ink’s $50 rooster deal
Wooster Street Social Club (A.K.A. the home of New York Ink) will be hosting/shooting a $50 rooster tattoo event on Friday, May 20th. The event starts at 11am, and will air at the end of Season 1 of New York Ink.
Send an RSVP email today to nyinkcasting@gmail.com with the subject: RSVP ROOSTER. Be sure to include your name, phone number and email address and you’ll be put on the VIP list.
Unfortunately, that night I got an email from NY Ink breaking it to me that I wasn’t selected, but I was more than welcome to come down and be an extra.
Not really interested in missing work to not get a tattoo, I chalked it up to experience and BBM’d my boss and told him I’d be in Friday, after all.
“Never mind about Friday,” I messaged, “just got an email saying they were booked solid.”
“That sucks,” he wrote back.
“I could go, but no guarantee,” I messaged back, “not worth it.”
He tried to console me, “At least you won’t have a dumb rooster on you for the rest of your life.”
That was one way of looking at it.
The next day, I had just returned from lunch when the following e-mail hit my BlackBerry:
Exciting news! We have added 5 more spots to the guaranteed rooster tattoo list for tomorrow. If you are still interested in the $50 tattoo event tomorrow, and 100% want to get the tattoo please reply to this email by 2pm today with the subject line "100% rooster." Please note we need you to arrive by 11 AM sharp, and do not have an end time for the shoot. You need to be able to commit fully to the day in order to be involved.The first 5 people to reply to this email will be added to the guaranteed rooster tattoo list. You will receive a confirmation email and phone call if you are chosen. Anyone we do not respond to is still more than welcome to attend the event but cannot be guaranteed a rooster tattoo.Thanks and good luck!
NY Ink Casting
I responded immediately and things looked promising when I got this message:
Hi Bill-What is your phone number?Thanks!
Moments after sending my number, I got the call. I was in! The production team sent me the logistics and I was good to go.
I got completely razzed by my boss, but he gave me the day off.
With my mother's birthday approaching, I thought it would be fun to dedicate the rooster tattoo to her late "pet" Golden, memorialized here. In addition, I thought that the personal side of this story would make my rooster tattoo stand out among all the others being inked. It was a decent strategy, I thought. Just to show I wasn't making this up, I brought a picture of Golden along with me to the shoot.
I arrived early, about 30 minutes or so ahead of the call time, bemoaning the fact that I was arriving much later than I anticipated, thinking they were going to be inking a ton of roosters. I was the only one there, but the crowd quickly grew to a few dozen. Still, I thought, much less than I anticipated.
I even spotted a Tattoosday contributor Liz in line and wondered who else I would see. It was a bit of a blur, as people filled out forms, had photos taken, and mingled. I met a guy named Roy, who saw I had checked in on Facebook, and he friended me as we stood in line. He had driven up from Philadelphia for the occasion.
A light rain had started to fall, and we huddled under a construction scaffold across the street from the shop.
I was still puzzled by the small group of people present, considering the call for volunteers. When one producer asked “those getting rooster tattoos” to come up on a landing above the sidewalk where we were all standing, I was even further shocked by the small group of us that broke off of the main group. I asked the producer how many of us were getting tattoos and my heart jumped when she looked at her clipboard and said, “There’s only ten of you.” I was stunned, I thought we’d be vying for airtime with dozens of people, based on the instructions we should be expected to stay “all day, into the evening”. It would certainly be easier to stand out with only nine other people getting inked.
Cut to us being ferried across the street for some exterior shots in front of the shop. Slight drizzle still falling. It was then that I noticed, maybe forty feet away, Corey Miller standing under a tree watching us. I had just met him the night before (recounted here) and 24 hours later here he was again! There was a slight buzz as a few of us recognized him and wondered, would we be getting a rooster tattoo from Corey Miller?
Time sped up as the moment of truth arrived. After an unknown person, who we later learn is Floor Manager, Robear, does a rooster-costumed warm-up in the light rain, Ami James opens the door and yells “who wants a fifty dollar cock?”
That’s our cue to file in and I am number five, or last, in the first group. A woman named Jessica, the shop manager, gives us paperwork as the cameras roll. I watch with envy as I see Tim Hendricks pick a client, then Ami James, then Tommy Montoya, and Roy, who knows Megan Massacre from Philly, gets paired up with her. Who’s left? I don’t see Chris Torres, but there are people running around everywhere, and the shop looks amazing. Huge, spacious, covered with art.
I chat with Jessica and discover she knows Marisa and Brian, from Needles and Sins. I show her my picture of Golden, the famous Hawaiian rooster, and she hands me a post-it with the number five on it.
 |
| Golden, photo courtesy Diane Ferreira |
The next five sign in at the desk and the other folks from the line sit in the waiting area, as human background. I stand around, eschewing a seat, figuring I will be more visible and not overlooked. When the show finally airs, I am prominently lurking in many of the shots, maroon Tommy Bahama shirt sticking out like a sore thumb.
Tattoo machines whir and Jessica comes up to me telling me she’s going to set me up with Ami. This brings me great joy. The flash for the roosters is a little disappointing, five versions of small tribal cocks, in various positions, crowing, strutting, with various color schemes. Black. Black fading to red. Black fading to blue. Black fading to green. If I am going to get a small, unimpressive rooster silhouette, let it be from Ami James, I think.
I do an on-camera interview with the producers, plugging Tattoosday and sharing the story of Golden, my mother’s deceased Hawaiian rooster. I know it’s not likely that much of it will air, but I figure it’s good for something.
The second wave of clients get tattooed. I pay my $50, including a $10 tip. I am keeping an eye on Ami but he doesn’t seem to be gearing up for another client. I start to get a sinking feeling about the likelihood of his getting to tattoo me. I am standing around nervously, imagining how this could be going wrong, with a worst-case scenario playing out in my head, as they give me my money back and apologize.
Of course, that doesn’t happen. Jessica approaches me, biting her lip and saying, apologetically, “Ami’s not doing any more tattoos, but I’ve set you up with Megan. She’s really good.” I don’t doubt what she’s saying, but the disappointment clearly made itself known on my face.
There’s only a few clients left in the shop. Most of the “background” people have taken off. I observe the goings-on about the shop with keen interest. I always knew that these reality shows relied on orchestration and staging, but I am struck by how much of the show seems staged for the cameras.
In the mean time, Megan is ready for me. She is sweet as sugar and much better looking than Ami, so I start thinking that this might not be so terrible after all. But then, much to my surprise, Megan Massacre makes me a fan for life by going completely outside the box.
I show her the picture of Golden that I brought along for inspiration, and she asks which design I want. I show her the silhouette and she asks if I mind if she tries something a little different, with some color, to make him more like my mom’s rooster. I give her full artistic license and she starts tattooing. I ask for it on my inner right arm and she uncannily picks a spot and orientation that matches my Friday the 13th Anchor tattoo.
I want to be surprised so I don’t watch much. Tommy Montoya and Tim Hendricks swing by to check out Megan’s work. Everyone else is done and people are cleaning up their stations. Tim whistles and exclaims, “Megan, are you trying to show us up?” I consider this a good sign. Tommy makes some crude remarks, “Megan, you’re making his cock bleed.” I laugh and say “Hey, my kids watch this show!” Tommy later proclaims that Megan just might get the award for “Cock of the Day”.
When Megan finishes, I get a good look at her handiwork and I’m stunned. I was expecting a solid tribal rooster and I got this instead:
I am astonished at what she has done with colors to give my rooster a dusty brown and gold appearance. Compare this to the type of rooster others received:
 |
| Photo by Roy Chapman |
Three days later, on my mother’s birthday, we called her on Skype in Hawaii, and I showed her the Golden tattoo. She was thrilled that their old rooster was immortalized on my flesh.
The show aired on July 21, 2011. I was excited to see a glimpse of me the previous week in the preview at the end of episode 6. Of course, shortly thereafter, the huge controversy surrounding TLC’s one-off Tattoo School blew up on Facebook and it seemed like most of my tattoo artist FB friends had "Boycott TLC" profile pictures. So, I gathered, not that many artists watch the ink-based “reality” shows on TLC, but there were likely fewer watching than normal. Such is life.
When the show aired, the Rooster event was left for the final five minutes of the episode. I pop up in the background quite a bit, and wham! There I am “William” talking about how Ami is going to tattoo my rooster, dedicated to Golden, whose picture I show on camera. But that’s all of me. No blog mention, as I gathered, but I was a little disappointed because, they showed quite a few of the finished rooster tattoos, but they didn’t show Megan’s effort which I think, all personal bias aside, was the finest one of the day.
Thanks to Megan Massacre for giving me a remarkable tattoo when she could have just given me the standard rooster everyone else was getting. I still look at it and marvel at how well she did with such a tiny piece, and I continue to receive compliments on it.
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
"Because You Can't Take the Brooklyn Out of the Girl..."
Back in October, my friend Ronni introduced me to her friend Elizabeth via the web. Elizabeth is from Brooklyn, but resides in Seattle, and was looking to get a New York-themed tattoo on an upcoming visit. She wanted to find a reputable artist and shop in New York City.
Although I am by no means an expert on tattooing in the Big Apple, blogging about ink here for 4 1/2 years certainly qualifies me to speak on the matter with some authority.
I recommended several shops and artists, mostly in Brooklyn, because Elizabeth had a specific idea in mind. And rather than just showing up in a tattoo parlor and going with the first available artist, Elizabeth took my suggestions and did some research, contacting several of the artists, and poring over their online portfolios.
Ultimately, Elizabeth wanted a Brooklyn Bridge tattoo. No easy feat, as she did not want a BIG tattoo, and the architectural wonder lends itself to looking best on a larger scale, in my opinion. This piece, for example, seen here back in July, took up a whole upper arm.
Elizabeth ended up at Saved Tattoo in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and she got exactly what she wanted:
Elizabeth is extremely happy with her new tattoo. She writes "Zac Scheinbaum ... did a great job, got in a lot more detail than he led me to expect. Now you can definitely not take the Brooklyn out of the girl."
Thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her little piece of Brooklyn with us here on Tattoosday!
[Update: After posting this, Elizabeth wrote to me, adding, "what gave me the idea of having the Brooklyn Bridge tattooed to begin with (and the idea of the location at my heart followed almost immediately) was seeing a woman in the dance tent at the Falcon Ridge Music Festival whose entire upper arm was tattooed with the Brooklyn Bridge. I think it must have been Mariam- unless there's more than one woman with a Brooklyn Bridge on her right upper arm like that. That adds a nice circularity to your piece, for me."]
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Although I am by no means an expert on tattooing in the Big Apple, blogging about ink here for 4 1/2 years certainly qualifies me to speak on the matter with some authority.
I recommended several shops and artists, mostly in Brooklyn, because Elizabeth had a specific idea in mind. And rather than just showing up in a tattoo parlor and going with the first available artist, Elizabeth took my suggestions and did some research, contacting several of the artists, and poring over their online portfolios.
Ultimately, Elizabeth wanted a Brooklyn Bridge tattoo. No easy feat, as she did not want a BIG tattoo, and the architectural wonder lends itself to looking best on a larger scale, in my opinion. This piece, for example, seen here back in July, took up a whole upper arm.
Elizabeth ended up at Saved Tattoo in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and she got exactly what she wanted:
Elizabeth is extremely happy with her new tattoo. She writes "Zac Scheinbaum ... did a great job, got in a lot more detail than he led me to expect. Now you can definitely not take the Brooklyn out of the girl."
Thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her little piece of Brooklyn with us here on Tattoosday!
[Update: After posting this, Elizabeth wrote to me, adding, "what gave me the idea of having the Brooklyn Bridge tattooed to begin with (and the idea of the location at my heart followed almost immediately) was seeing a woman in the dance tent at the Falcon Ridge Music Festival whose entire upper arm was tattooed with the Brooklyn Bridge. I think it must have been Mariam- unless there's more than one woman with a Brooklyn Bridge on her right upper arm like that. That adds a nice circularity to your piece, for me."]
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Nigel from the Dirty Thirty Shares Some Traditional Ink
I met Nigel on the Upper West Side last month, across the street from Verdi Square. I spotted some tattoos on his arms and asked if he wouldn't mind sharing some of them. He was happy to oblige.
The first piece is a gypsy, inked by Dan Santoro of Smith Street Tattoo in Brooklyn:
"The gypsy," Nigel said, "is pretty much from travelling and bouncing."
He also shared two pieces done by a friend of his from Richmond, Virginia, Gerald M.
"The eyeball here on my right arm is ... blood sweat and tears," he told me. "It represents a lot of different endings and beginnings, as far as work and life and whatnot."
I particularly like this tattoo, on Nigel's upper left arm:
"The train is," Nigel explained, "more or less a story of how my art finished and started." Also by Gerald M., Nigel had nothing but praise for his work:
Thanks to Nigel for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
The first piece is a gypsy, inked by Dan Santoro of Smith Street Tattoo in Brooklyn:
"The gypsy," Nigel said, "is pretty much from travelling and bouncing."
He also shared two pieces done by a friend of his from Richmond, Virginia, Gerald M.
"The eyeball here on my right arm is ... blood sweat and tears," he told me. "It represents a lot of different endings and beginnings, as far as work and life and whatnot."
I particularly like this tattoo, on Nigel's upper left arm:
"The train is," Nigel explained, "more or less a story of how my art finished and started." Also by Gerald M., Nigel had nothing but praise for his work:
"His specialty is roses. He won an award in Las Vegas for doing the best rose last year, so that's kind of his thing. His little trademark is an eyeball, as well, so you'll see an eye in most of his pieces."The banner identifies "The Dirty 30," a nationwide art collective of which Nigel is a part.
Thanks to Nigel for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Repost: All I Want for Christmas is a Tattoo with Teeth
Happy Holidays from us here at Tattoosday! Today we're re-visting a post from 2009, in the spirit of the season:
On Christmas Eve afternoon, I was passing through Penn Station, I spotted Lindsay, a woman with what appeared to be a sleeve that had a water-inspired design.
It wasn't until after I approached her and asked if she wanted to contribute to Tattoosday that I saw, as she rolled up her sleeve, what awesome work she had done on her left arm:
Lindsay said that, like all of her 14 or 15 tattoos, none of them have "deep meaning". She just goes with whatever she describes as an "intense urge" at the time she's getting the tattoo.
The sleeve above started with her taking photos with stylings to the artist, saying she wanted a bloody shark. This was the first part of the tattoo:
She then expanded it with this segment of shark
which is certainly reminiscient of the movie poster for Jaws.
This piece was created in four sittings lasting 3-4 hours each, by John Reardon at Saved Tattoo (which was the shop responsible for yesterday's post, too). [Reardon now works at the Greenpoint Tattoo Company]
Work from John Reardon has appeared here on Tattoosday previously. Reardon is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo
.
Thanks to Lindsay for taking the time to share her incredible shark sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
On Christmas Eve afternoon, I was passing through Penn Station, I spotted Lindsay, a woman with what appeared to be a sleeve that had a water-inspired design.
It wasn't until after I approached her and asked if she wanted to contribute to Tattoosday that I saw, as she rolled up her sleeve, what awesome work she had done on her left arm:
Lindsay said that, like all of her 14 or 15 tattoos, none of them have "deep meaning". She just goes with whatever she describes as an "intense urge" at the time she's getting the tattoo.
The sleeve above started with her taking photos with stylings to the artist, saying she wanted a bloody shark. This was the first part of the tattoo:
She then expanded it with this segment of shark
which is certainly reminiscient of the movie poster for Jaws.
This piece was created in four sittings lasting 3-4 hours each, by John Reardon at Saved Tattoo (which was the shop responsible for yesterday's post, too). [Reardon now works at the Greenpoint Tattoo Company]
Work from John Reardon has appeared here on Tattoosday previously. Reardon is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo
.Thanks to Lindsay for taking the time to share her incredible shark sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!
This entry is © 2009, 2011 Tattoosday.
If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Merry Christmas!
I figured since I haven't really blogged lately that I would do a blog post on my house before I tear it all down next week.. and pack it away for another 11 months. I will start with my living room. I will tell you when and where I got it and around how much it cost. :)
Now on to the kitchen!
On to the purple room:
Well I hope you enjoyed the tour of my house at Christmas time. I wish everyone a fun, safe, great Christmas!
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| This is on one of my end tables. I love how this turned out. I got this from the wood connections (all raw wood) and painted it myself. |
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| I added this believe to it. I bought it last year at tai pan the day after Christmas for 50 cents or something. It is actually a tree ordiment. I took off the wire and used the wire for the bells on the shoes. The ends of the wire were already curled. I think they turned out so cute! |
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| These I made just this year... |
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| This joy I bought last year at Tai Pan. You cant see but it has a transparent glitter on it. I wanna say I paid 8.95 for this. I saw them again this year. |
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| This year I bought this at Tai Pan. I bought it thinking that is came apart and was individual letters. I think it is really cute and was looking forward to stacking it in my purple room but to my surprise it is all connected! You can twist it to make it all funky looking. It was still cute and I wanted to keep it. I think it works perfect in front of the TV, even for the steep price of $12.99 |
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| This train Bryce has had since he was little. His grandma bought it for him when he was really little. There are lights that go with it but last year they broke, but I think it still looks cute in front of our TV |
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| This sled I got raw - from wood connections. The total cost of it was $35... with the bell, ribbon and extras. I love it! |
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| Here is the set up of our living room (kind of) with the TV, sled, train, believe and tree! |
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| This Grinch I got this year from wood connections. I cant remember the exact price but I think it was around $17 plus $2 for the wire that I used on it. |
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| The manager I also got from the wood connections. With the star and everything it came to $15.95. You can see the brown runner in the pic but I picked that up at hobby lobby this year for $10. It has some pretty snow flakes stitched into it :) |
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| Here is above one of our cabinets in our kitchen. I have had this present for a couple of years. I got it from hobby lobby for $5 It also opens up so it can hold all of your holiday cards. I just like it for decoration. |
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| The blue bulb I got last year at Target the day after Christmas. It cost me a whole 50 cents!!! The Ho Ho Ho I have had for a few years. I got that from Tai Pan for $15 |
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| My candy canes (next to the HO Ho Ho). I big candy cane is HUGE. It stands about 3 feet tall. I saw this last year at Tai pan and I could not get over that thing! I kept thinking about it for over a week before I finally caved and went to get it. I think it cost me $10 which I had a hard time spending on a candy cane. I obviously wanted it that bad. The smaller one I got from Tai pan also. Cant just have one! |
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| I have had this for a few years.. I got that from Tai pan too! |
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| I got these from wood connections. I paid $10 for the set of 3. I bought these this year |
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| The sled I got from Roberts 2 years ago. I got it for $7. RIP Roberts (sniff sniff) |
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| These stars I picked up at Tai Pan. I got them last year and the big one was $7 and the smaller ones were $5. They had them again this year in all sorts of colors and sizes. |
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| I had to show our stocking. I couldn't get our longer railing in the picture that has Bryce's dads, grandmas and grandpas stockings hanging up. Bryce's grandma made their stockings when he was little. I got mine from hobby lobby this year for $7! Can you see Bryce messing around in the picture????? |
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| Here is my entire shelf! |
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| I got this from hobby lobby this year! It was $5 |
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| Wood connections. I believe it was around $12 for the set of 3 |
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| I have had this since I was 16. My mom bought it for me. I find it really fun to bring things out from when I was younger. |
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| I got this last year as a gift for Christmas from my SIL A. |
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| I bought these for Bryce a couple of years ago from Kohl's. They say "You really jingle my bell! Merry Kiss mas!" and his tail jingles with the bell on it. |
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| Here is the top of my shelf. All of these bulbs are different sizes. The giant ones (not picture but identical to the blue) I got at target last year. The red ones I got at albertsons for $3. The silver ones I got at smith's market place this year for $3 (they came with all sorts of colors, I just pulled out the silver ones, the rest are one our tree) |
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| I got this Noel from wood connections. I paid around $10 for it... give or take, I cant remember one this one. |
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