A Week in Review: New Ink!

With all the drama that went on with my neighbors and preparing to do some major socializing with the family that weekend, Mikey and I decided that we would get our long awaited tattoos. Screw finances, we deserved this. Before we left for the weekend to go back to our hometown, we gathered the images we would need to show the artists. My tattoo was going to be a memorial tattoo to Justin. Mikey had always wanted the last panel of Calvin and Hobbes' final strip. Calvin and Hobbes are on a sled going down a hill with a speech bubble saying "Let's go exploring!"

Mikey's parents went ape when we told them we were getting tattoos after my aunt's birthday party. They basically said if we wanted a good job, we cannot have tattoos, especially mine because it is on my forearm. Though it not be written down, let it be known that my father in law has a tattoo on his bicep that he got shortly before retiring. His mother just went nuts though about tattoos in general. When I got the rose on my shoulder blade (which I will eventually have transferred to my other forearm), she showed me all kinds of articles on how nasty tattoos are. I just smiled and laughed a little. They should know by now that I am going to do what I am going to do. I love my job at home and at 28 I am pretty sure I will never work for another person who cares that I have a tattoo again. Justin meant almost as much to me as Mikey does. He said if someone were to get a tattoo, it should be somewhere people can see it and he put his hand on his forearm, so that is where I got my tattoo. That and I have been craving more ink since I got my first one eight years ago.

We waited three hours to get done since we were walk-ins. They had an appointment available but it was during my aunt's party. They had to close super late since people just kept coming in right before they closed. Red Octopus is always busy since they are a Prince Frederick staple. They do a lot more of what you would stereotypically consider a tattoo if you did not know much about them (skulls, devil hearts, knives with angel wings, rockabilly) but they do great work and the artists are super nice when it is your first time. Duffy is now on Ink Master! Super sweet! I love getting tatted there because it fits well with where I grew up. we're a bunch of rebel hillbillies. There was a tattoo shop further north on route 4 called Eternal Buzz but they ended up being mostly a drug house. My friend Kara got a tattoo there and they botched it. Now there is another place on the hill called Battle Scars and Beauty Marx. You need an appointment to get a tattoo there, so now we have both kinds of awesome tattoo parlors! I will probably end up getting my Pyramid Head tattoo there if I do not get it up here in Baltimore.

Original concept

Final result. I let the artist take liberties on a few things since I am not visual artistically inclined. It was Mikey's idea to put the rose laying on top of the brim and it was her (Julie) idea to put some light blue around the hat to make the colors pop against my skin. She was using my Wario hat as a guide so I had to tell her that the W on Justin's hat was purple and not blue. All the while I was trying to talk to her about Justin. I thought I would tear up talking about him but I barely could. This tattoo stung more than I anticipated. It was not that bad but being tired and my forearm being evil (it swelled a good amount), it was a bit intense at times. It made me laugh because that's just how I deal with pain. Laughing is one of the best ways I have found to handle pain.

Mikey went back before me since his was just copying an image whereas the artist had to draw mine. Poor thing, we teased him about it being his first time; the other customers and some of the artists. The guy tattooing next to them said that Clark (Mikey's artist) was gentle with first-timers whereas he was called "The Butcher". I think the artist he got was awesome though because he loved Calvin and Hobbes though and was happy to do a tattoo of the comic. Mikey's tattoo also took more time than mine and I had to wait for him. It turned out amazing though. I do not know who loves it more, Mikey or me. Kinda sad that I did not hear any screaming.