I Ink Therefore I am
Hello, my constant caring friends, time for a quick one while he's away as Roger and company might say.
Just thought I'd let everyone know a little more about me by taking you on a tattoo tour. It's not a perfect way to get to know someone, but it is a start.
Tattoo #1:
I got my first tattoo when I was 19 years old at the old Alternative Art location in Columbia, MO. For those of you who are in Columbia and not in the know, Apop Records used to be Alternative Art. I think the building still says "tattoos" on it.
The tattoo is on my left calf and is the face of Gene Simmons in full KISS makeup. I picked a picture of a devil from a book and asked the artist, whose name I forget sadly, if the horns could be changed to hair as the devil's face looked just like the Gene Simmons makeup. The guy got excited and let me know he could definitely do that.
Why was I picking a picture from a book? Well, I had been talking of getting a tattoo for some time and the succubus I was dating at the time finally told me to stop talking and sack up. Such challenges cannot be ignored. I really hate that bitch now, but the first step in my tattoo career was taken because of her.
Tattoo #2:
I was either 20 or 21 and had some time to kill and a little extra cash. Such a combination has resulted in a couple of more tattoos already and will probably cause more in the future.
Now Mom and Dad still thought at this point I was a pretty good kid and were mortified by the Gene Simmons inking, so this selection was a shout out to them. I wanted some kanji, cause everyone with tattoos gets kanji at some point...I think it's tattoo law.
This inking also took place at the old Alternative Art location.
So to partially soften the blow of another defacing of my temple I got the kanji for "god" and "peace." This is roughly a breakdown of my name. Jeffrey mean "god's peace." Little bit of false advertisement there. It is located on my right calf. Balancing of tattoos both thematically and by relative locale you might say.
Tattoo #3:
This was the first out of town tattoo. I was in Memphis, Tennessee for the Beale Street Music Festival with a bunch of friends and we all decide to get either pierced or tatted to mark the occasion. Actually I got pierced and tatted to make up for the one bastard who backed out.
Now, we had been to Graceland earlier in the day and the only souvenir I wanted was a window decal of the Elvis insignia featuring a lightning bolt surrounded by the letters T.C.B. It stood for Takin' Care of Business in a Flash and Elvis put it on everything.
Well, naturally the idea became to get this same insignia which meant so much to Elvis inked for all times on my skin. Only I had already spent my body-marking money on an eyebrow piercing. Well, a guy who used to be a good friend of mine said we'd go to Tunica, Mississippi. If he could win some extra cash gambling, we'd both get the tattoo. He did and we did. His is on his right shoulder blade, mine is located just beneath my kanji tattoo on my right calf. I have vowed all my tattoos will be where I can see them without a mirror.
I forget the name of the place we got this done at, but I have a photo of the building somewhere. Check back later if it's important to you.
Tattoo #4:
The formerly good friend with whom I share an Elvis tattoo for all times got a gift certificate from a friend for credit toward a tattoo. He wanted someone to go with him, and I had the day off and some extra cash...uh oh.
Nothing fancy here. I got a generic barcode on the inside of my right forearm, just beneath the elbow. I tell people it speaks to the computerization of society and the loss of individual identity. It has a real "1984" feeling for me. It actually gets noticed most of all my tattoos. When I still shopped at Wal-Mart people would always scan it and laugh like they were the first one to ever try that.
"Yeah, good one. Got cancer in my arm now, but that was really fuckin' funny so it's totally worth it."
I like it. Even though you see it around now. Apparently some videogame guy has one on the back of his neck, so it's become cool for wannabe hardasses. Whatev...
This one was done at the new and current Alternative Art location in Columbia.
Tattoo #5:
I decided to commemorate as many roadtrips as I could with a tattoo of some kind. See the previous post regarding my trip to Springfield, MO.
All I can say is...thankfully I don't go to a lot of places.
This one took place in New Orleans. Again I was there with friends and this time we all got inked up. Greg, Amy and Leslie (Whom I was dating at the time. Unimportant detail, just want you all to know the ladies dig me.) settled in with the only two artists at the first place we found near the hotel, just off Canal Street, so Joel and I decided to make the long trek to the place I had found doing research on New Orleans tattoo shops.
Yup, research, that's how serious I was about the roadtrip tattoo thing.
Art Accent is just off the northern edge of the Quarter on Rampart St. This was many blocks from where we were, but Joel and I were determined and unwilling to wait all day.
A nice man named Hook inked Joel and I and we were able to walk back to the first tattoo shop and the others till weren't done. Leslie, whom I was dating at the time, was in the process of getting a large and complicated bit of artwork done. Looked good, but took forever. Not gonna tell you what it was though, because this is about me.
Anyway, my ink is a very colorful snake wrapped around my left wrist. I knew I wanted a wristband, and the snake idea came when I saw some of the other band-work Hook had done.
This one bled the most and probably caused the most pain. It has the colors black, green, red, yellow, orange and white so by the time he had done the outline work and the first couple of colors, the area was pretty sensitive. Still, I soldiered on.
Incidentally, I said this was about me, and it is, but Joel got a huge grim reaper tattoo on his shoulder blade that looks fuckin' sweet! I've been tatted with friends a few times, but this was the lone time I came away jealous of the other person's ink.
Incidentally, "tatted" is not actually a word, but you know what I mean. Plus, I'm an English major, we're allowed to work with the language.
Tattoo #6:
Another case of too much time on my hands. I had been looking at a map for some reason and took notice of the nautical compass. Liked it...decided to get it done.
This one is on my left forearm, pretty much centered between the wrist and elbow. It's also the biggest, the outer circle being about four inches across. I have a few tattoos, but none of them is huge by any means.
So this was done at a place called Hollywood Rebels in Columbia, MO. Yeah....never going back there again. The original idea did not include the previously referenced outer circle. It was to be the star of the compass and then in small letters the N, E, W, S.
Only when the guy was done I took a second to look at the completed tattoo and realized I had for years operated under the impression when north is up east would be the the right and west to the left. Imagine my surprise when my tattoo showed them the other way around.
Following me? He fucked up east and west. In his world California is the east coast and New York lies to the west.
I pointed out the man's error and he disputed me! Never east shredded wheat he said as he followed the points with his fingertip.
Yeah, I told him watch me and imagine the letters my way and I also indicated his mnemonic.
Luckily the owner was there as I wanted this fucking thing fixed and I didn't want this moron touching me with a fuckin' Q-Tip, let alone a needle with ink inside it. The only way to fix it was to cover the little e and little w with a big W and a big E, respectively. To balance the whole thing out, the now thrice mentioned outer ring was established.
Idiots....
Tattoo #7:
Wow....seven....still not done.
Anyway, back to New Orleans. This trip occurred just this last summer, the freshness of the trip making the surreal events of Hurricane Katrina even more painful for me. New Orleans is a town I love, and I plan to make it my city of residence, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Anyway, for about a year I had this burn scar on my right forearm. Ever play the game chicken? Well this guy I know named Ralph has a version where you hold your forearm against the forearm of another and toss a lit cigarette in between. The first to pull away is the loses.
Now Ralph has a few years on me and claimed to have never lost in all the times he'd played. The numerous battle scars should have warned me, but the booze and the bragging got to me and we threw down.
The result...we gave up when the cigarette burned out. Yeah.....much respect from Ralph and a nasty welt on the arm.
Well, once it healed the idea became to get it covered with a tattoo. The trip to New Orleans would provide the perfect opportunity.
Went down there with my friend Joy, who is cool and sadly living in Buffalo and Sara, who was a bit of a downer. Joy heartily encouraged the tattoo when I began to have doubts and made the walk to the parlor with me. As an aside, I found a statue of Ignatius Reilly on the way to the place. There's a picture of me with him somewhere. Everyone who has no idea who Ignatius Reilly is needs to find out tommorrow.
Went back to Art Accent. This time I got inked by the owner herself, Jacci. To date this is the only time I've been defaced by a woman. Scratch that, let's specify tattooed by a woman. (What can I say...most chicks dig me though.)
This one might be the most, depending on your point of view, insane. It is the famed portrait of Che Guevara. Now anyone who knows me well knows of my fascination/obsession with the man and the myth, so the tattoo should come as now surprise.
Also, don't get all moral majority on me. I admire Che for many, not ALL, of his ideas and actions and for quite a bit, but not EVERYTHING, his name and image stand for today.
That tattoo looks really great.
Tattoo #8:
This catches us up to date. In my previous post I noted Brook and I got matching tattoos while I was visiting in Springfield. The studio was Miller Cotton's and the artist was Geoffrey, which is a gross misspelling of my name.
I won't catch you up on all the details, that's what the last post was for. I did say I'd share the word with you at some point. Well your wait was brief, the word is....
ghost....very nice script on the inside of my right forearm, not far from Che. Double meanings everywhere.
Well, that my friends was the tour of my tattoos. E-mail me if you'd like pics of any tattoo in particular.
L8R
Just thought I'd let everyone know a little more about me by taking you on a tattoo tour. It's not a perfect way to get to know someone, but it is a start.
Tattoo #1:
I got my first tattoo when I was 19 years old at the old Alternative Art location in Columbia, MO. For those of you who are in Columbia and not in the know, Apop Records used to be Alternative Art. I think the building still says "tattoos" on it.
The tattoo is on my left calf and is the face of Gene Simmons in full KISS makeup. I picked a picture of a devil from a book and asked the artist, whose name I forget sadly, if the horns could be changed to hair as the devil's face looked just like the Gene Simmons makeup. The guy got excited and let me know he could definitely do that.
Why was I picking a picture from a book? Well, I had been talking of getting a tattoo for some time and the succubus I was dating at the time finally told me to stop talking and sack up. Such challenges cannot be ignored. I really hate that bitch now, but the first step in my tattoo career was taken because of her.
Tattoo #2:
I was either 20 or 21 and had some time to kill and a little extra cash. Such a combination has resulted in a couple of more tattoos already and will probably cause more in the future.
Now Mom and Dad still thought at this point I was a pretty good kid and were mortified by the Gene Simmons inking, so this selection was a shout out to them. I wanted some kanji, cause everyone with tattoos gets kanji at some point...I think it's tattoo law.
This inking also took place at the old Alternative Art location.
So to partially soften the blow of another defacing of my temple I got the kanji for "god" and "peace." This is roughly a breakdown of my name. Jeffrey mean "god's peace." Little bit of false advertisement there. It is located on my right calf. Balancing of tattoos both thematically and by relative locale you might say.
Tattoo #3:
This was the first out of town tattoo. I was in Memphis, Tennessee for the Beale Street Music Festival with a bunch of friends and we all decide to get either pierced or tatted to mark the occasion. Actually I got pierced and tatted to make up for the one bastard who backed out.
Now, we had been to Graceland earlier in the day and the only souvenir I wanted was a window decal of the Elvis insignia featuring a lightning bolt surrounded by the letters T.C.B. It stood for Takin' Care of Business in a Flash and Elvis put it on everything.
Well, naturally the idea became to get this same insignia which meant so much to Elvis inked for all times on my skin. Only I had already spent my body-marking money on an eyebrow piercing. Well, a guy who used to be a good friend of mine said we'd go to Tunica, Mississippi. If he could win some extra cash gambling, we'd both get the tattoo. He did and we did. His is on his right shoulder blade, mine is located just beneath my kanji tattoo on my right calf. I have vowed all my tattoos will be where I can see them without a mirror.
I forget the name of the place we got this done at, but I have a photo of the building somewhere. Check back later if it's important to you.
Tattoo #4:
The formerly good friend with whom I share an Elvis tattoo for all times got a gift certificate from a friend for credit toward a tattoo. He wanted someone to go with him, and I had the day off and some extra cash...uh oh.
Nothing fancy here. I got a generic barcode on the inside of my right forearm, just beneath the elbow. I tell people it speaks to the computerization of society and the loss of individual identity. It has a real "1984" feeling for me. It actually gets noticed most of all my tattoos. When I still shopped at Wal-Mart people would always scan it and laugh like they were the first one to ever try that.
"Yeah, good one. Got cancer in my arm now, but that was really fuckin' funny so it's totally worth it."
I like it. Even though you see it around now. Apparently some videogame guy has one on the back of his neck, so it's become cool for wannabe hardasses. Whatev...
This one was done at the new and current Alternative Art location in Columbia.
Tattoo #5:
I decided to commemorate as many roadtrips as I could with a tattoo of some kind. See the previous post regarding my trip to Springfield, MO.
All I can say is...thankfully I don't go to a lot of places.
This one took place in New Orleans. Again I was there with friends and this time we all got inked up. Greg, Amy and Leslie (Whom I was dating at the time. Unimportant detail, just want you all to know the ladies dig me.) settled in with the only two artists at the first place we found near the hotel, just off Canal Street, so Joel and I decided to make the long trek to the place I had found doing research on New Orleans tattoo shops.
Yup, research, that's how serious I was about the roadtrip tattoo thing.
Art Accent is just off the northern edge of the Quarter on Rampart St. This was many blocks from where we were, but Joel and I were determined and unwilling to wait all day.
A nice man named Hook inked Joel and I and we were able to walk back to the first tattoo shop and the others till weren't done. Leslie, whom I was dating at the time, was in the process of getting a large and complicated bit of artwork done. Looked good, but took forever. Not gonna tell you what it was though, because this is about me.
Anyway, my ink is a very colorful snake wrapped around my left wrist. I knew I wanted a wristband, and the snake idea came when I saw some of the other band-work Hook had done.
This one bled the most and probably caused the most pain. It has the colors black, green, red, yellow, orange and white so by the time he had done the outline work and the first couple of colors, the area was pretty sensitive. Still, I soldiered on.
Incidentally, I said this was about me, and it is, but Joel got a huge grim reaper tattoo on his shoulder blade that looks fuckin' sweet! I've been tatted with friends a few times, but this was the lone time I came away jealous of the other person's ink.
Incidentally, "tatted" is not actually a word, but you know what I mean. Plus, I'm an English major, we're allowed to work with the language.
Tattoo #6:
Another case of too much time on my hands. I had been looking at a map for some reason and took notice of the nautical compass. Liked it...decided to get it done.
This one is on my left forearm, pretty much centered between the wrist and elbow. It's also the biggest, the outer circle being about four inches across. I have a few tattoos, but none of them is huge by any means.
So this was done at a place called Hollywood Rebels in Columbia, MO. Yeah....never going back there again. The original idea did not include the previously referenced outer circle. It was to be the star of the compass and then in small letters the N, E, W, S.
Only when the guy was done I took a second to look at the completed tattoo and realized I had for years operated under the impression when north is up east would be the the right and west to the left. Imagine my surprise when my tattoo showed them the other way around.
Following me? He fucked up east and west. In his world California is the east coast and New York lies to the west.
I pointed out the man's error and he disputed me! Never east shredded wheat he said as he followed the points with his fingertip.
Yeah, I told him watch me and imagine the letters my way and I also indicated his mnemonic.
Luckily the owner was there as I wanted this fucking thing fixed and I didn't want this moron touching me with a fuckin' Q-Tip, let alone a needle with ink inside it. The only way to fix it was to cover the little e and little w with a big W and a big E, respectively. To balance the whole thing out, the now thrice mentioned outer ring was established.
Idiots....
Tattoo #7:
Wow....seven....still not done.
Anyway, back to New Orleans. This trip occurred just this last summer, the freshness of the trip making the surreal events of Hurricane Katrina even more painful for me. New Orleans is a town I love, and I plan to make it my city of residence, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Anyway, for about a year I had this burn scar on my right forearm. Ever play the game chicken? Well this guy I know named Ralph has a version where you hold your forearm against the forearm of another and toss a lit cigarette in between. The first to pull away is the loses.
Now Ralph has a few years on me and claimed to have never lost in all the times he'd played. The numerous battle scars should have warned me, but the booze and the bragging got to me and we threw down.
The result...we gave up when the cigarette burned out. Yeah.....much respect from Ralph and a nasty welt on the arm.
Well, once it healed the idea became to get it covered with a tattoo. The trip to New Orleans would provide the perfect opportunity.
Went down there with my friend Joy, who is cool and sadly living in Buffalo and Sara, who was a bit of a downer. Joy heartily encouraged the tattoo when I began to have doubts and made the walk to the parlor with me. As an aside, I found a statue of Ignatius Reilly on the way to the place. There's a picture of me with him somewhere. Everyone who has no idea who Ignatius Reilly is needs to find out tommorrow.
Went back to Art Accent. This time I got inked by the owner herself, Jacci. To date this is the only time I've been defaced by a woman. Scratch that, let's specify tattooed by a woman. (What can I say...most chicks dig me though.)
This one might be the most, depending on your point of view, insane. It is the famed portrait of Che Guevara. Now anyone who knows me well knows of my fascination/obsession with the man and the myth, so the tattoo should come as now surprise.
Also, don't get all moral majority on me. I admire Che for many, not ALL, of his ideas and actions and for quite a bit, but not EVERYTHING, his name and image stand for today.
That tattoo looks really great.
Tattoo #8:
This catches us up to date. In my previous post I noted Brook and I got matching tattoos while I was visiting in Springfield. The studio was Miller Cotton's and the artist was Geoffrey, which is a gross misspelling of my name.
I won't catch you up on all the details, that's what the last post was for. I did say I'd share the word with you at some point. Well your wait was brief, the word is....
ghost....very nice script on the inside of my right forearm, not far from Che. Double meanings everywhere.
Well, that my friends was the tour of my tattoos. E-mail me if you'd like pics of any tattoo in particular.
L8R
posted by The Crazy Leftist at 8:16 PM
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