[as usual, the NSFW picture is at the end, so scroll carefully]
Date: October 12, 2012
Time: 2 hours
Breaks: 1 (10 minutes)
Location: Kings Ave Massapequa
Date: October 18, 2012
Time: 2 hours
Breaks: 1 (10 minutes)
Location: Kings Ave Massapequa
Total Tattooing Time: 55.5 hours
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Foolishly, I stubbed out half a cigarette at the train station and shoved it back into the pack once the cab pulled up. After I closed the door behind me, the cabby growled through a haze of smoke, "Tattoo shop, right?"
Yeah, guess you don't mind if I relight my cigarette?
"Go right ahead," he coughed. "How's the tattoo business going for ya? All them damned TV shows, you must see some weird shit. I bet you see more ass than a... uh... uh..."
Given the short length of the cab ride I figured it wasn't worth correcting him that I was a "collector" and not an artist. The adage, however, was worth assistance.
More ass than a toilet seat, yeah, sure. Thanks. Keep the change.
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I had bumped into Kings Ave artist Justin Weatherholtz at the Quicksand show a month beforehand (click here to catch me handling a weak stage-diver at 9:53 - bald head, black tank-top) so I was quite happy to hear Rube announce, "I wanna hear Slip" as we were getting set up. After all, it was weird enough that a man had been shaving my ass for 10 months while listening to Sade - a little 90s post-hardcore was more than welcome.
Don't adjust your machine, I laughed after a few songs. It's in Drop-D tuning, just like this record.
"What?" he asked, stopping the coil to hear me over the din of the shop.
Start the machine again and listen to the record, I replied. Sure, there were overtones, but his machine was humming along in the key of D. Ya hear that? And I then sang him the note.
"You're the one with the trained ear," he chuckled.
###
It's been a long journey.
Ruined sheets, blood, scabbing, itching, flaking, exhaustion, immune system collapse, 10 months out of the gym, massive quantities of Aquaphor and alcohol - not to mention a monstrous dent in my MasterCard bill.
But there have been positive angles as well: a beautiful piece, a lot of laughs and the personal conviction that I have changed my body for the better (and also the knowledge that I've retained my ability to "pass" simply by wearing a dress-shirt cuffed at the elbows and opened a few buttons). Oh, and I should repeat: I have a seriously amazing (and huge) piece of artwork on my body for the rest of my life.
So, I guess that marks the end of this blog...
But as Justin, Rube and Jason Tyler-Grace all asked me at the final sitting: "When are you doing your ribs, man?"
Answer: Once I get a job and pay off my mortgage.
