Dr Benway

I can see it but imagine that is because I'm logged into flickr (?).

The way my cat was sniffing my fresh tattoo this morning, I absolutely agree with you that they would love to chomp on us.

I spent a few hours at Frith St on Friday as Valerie did some more work on my sleeve. It was a really good session and it was fascinating seeing the tattoo building up and some of the gaps being filled. I don't really want to put images up whilst Valerie is choosing to hold off from uploading custom work to the net - I will let her decide if she wants to post watermarked images when the sleeve is completed. However, I don't think she will mind me posting a small detail of a skull. She did this 'free-hand', no stencil or tracing or even an image - just some sharpie lines from memory and then she just tattooed it on. Unfuckingbelievable. By the way the attached image is about the same size of the actual tattoo itself - the detail is incredible. I call him Pablo. He's my new amigo.

Fuck yeah I was.

Quote of the year so far.

I love that front-piece. It brings to mind this recent back-piece (in progress) by Stefano at Frith St:

Sometimes pictures are better than words. This should settle the debate about owls. An 'in progress' from Chad Koeplinger: Instagram

I think that just blanket judging owl tattoos as 'hipster' or trendy is giving way too much power to the sort of people who get stupid or ironic tattoos. Owls are a pretty timeless subject for a tattoo in my opinion, and transcend the comings and goings of fashion, unlike a ham sandwich, or an ape in a tuxedo riding a penny farthing.

I got my first just last month so I sympathise. When there is a big build-up it starts to seem like it will never happen. There are a LOT of posts on this board about after-care, however I would urge you to take the advice of your tattooist. Ask them as many questions as you need so that you know what to do. There is an entire board for Tattoo aftercare on this forum, but for now this thread may be of use: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/32-best-post-tattoo-care.html In terms of preparation, I think the consensus of opinion is to not drink alcohol, to get a good night sleep, and to eat a decent meal before. Bring some water and a fizzy glucose drink just in case. Again, quite a lot said about this on various threads on this forum. All the best with the tattoo.

Last night I dreamed that I sunburnt my forearm and all the skin fell away in a big hard lump, including my tattoo. I bandaged the hard dead skin to my arm in the hope it would re-attach whilst knowing it was fucked. I don't know what it means other than perhaps I want to have sex with my Dad or something. Or I am worried about getting sunburn on my tattoo. One of the two.

My Grandfather told me that his tattoos were a secret code to other fishermen and sailors, like a weird sea-faring Masonic thing. I was with him in a pub in Dublin as a kid and someone bought him a drink. He claimed it was because of his mermaid tattoo, but the guy probably just owed him. Might have file this one under 'bullshit my grandfather told me'.

This can't be real? The guy's comments just seem so obviously like trolling to inflame and get attention.

I've seen Maxime mentioned only a couple of times on this forum, but I thought it might be a good time to give him some love on this thread, as he is due to do a stint at IntoYou this month and February. http://mxme.tumblr.com I have a LOT of time for his tattoos, which are in the same area as Tomas, Hooper, Duncan etc, but he also has his own way of doing things. He also publishes Sang Bleu and by all his accounts is just an all-round sound guy. I love that eagle skull tattoo.

Where did you hear about that? It's interesting, and it explains why people get addicted to it, and also why the freaky dream thing might not be a myth. I have sleepwalked regularly since I was a kid, but it escalated when I crashed off the vegan wagon.

Too many stories. I was vegan for about fifteen years and when my non-vegan wife and I got together I would raid the fridge for cheese in my sleep, and in the meantime get up to all sorts of nonsense. I would lay books out in patterns on the floor, speak in an Irish accent (which I haven't done since I was 5) and also draw weird pictures. There's tons more......maybe one day I will start a thread. More sleeping tips - washing your feet is relaxing, but the best way to go to sleep is to read something good, but not too good. Cormac McCarthy is too fucking good for me to read before sleep.