Sittings 17-18 (AKA: WE'RE DONE!)

[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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Praise be to our Lord in Heaven, Sammy Davis Jr. - this fucker is done.  Or, at the very least, it's done... for now.

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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.

###

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.