Colored Guy

I went in for an acupuncture session yesterday, my 1st one. I did the interview thing while dressed with no ink showing. I was told to take off my shirt, shoes and socks then the technician came back in. He said, I guess you have no problems with needles. I suppose he was staring for a bit before he said anything and commented that he never comments on tattoos but he liked the oriental style of mine.

I hit on my Advair 2X a day and carry a rescue inhaler when I go into the gym. If I slack on the Advair, I pay for it especially in the heat. I have minimal problems if I keep doing what I should be doing. Are you on anything for your asthma? CG

Anyone that is non-Italian and is named "Tony" is an obvious dyed in the wool poor imitation of a aborted fetus floating in a toilet in a 4th floor walkup tenement. CG

The last time I was an unwilling guest of Suffolk County, there were gang tattoo pictures on the precinct walls where I was being booked. Obviously I'm inked.... I asked how come you don't want to take any pix of me, I was in a gang (when I was 14...)? They just looked at me and kept doing the fingerprint thing... CG

I have a book.. "1000 Tattoos" that has a picture of an argyle sock tattoo in it. Check out pix from the Bristol Tattoo Club for some real old school work of similar stuff. CG - - - Updated - - - Sleeve is just one of those general terms people pick up on and use the shit out of. Everyone has their own interpretation of it. I get asked that all the time, "are you going for a sleeve?". My forearms are closer to being fully covered than my upper arms.. not exactly thrilled at having the inside of the upper arm inked though. CG

I would consider wearing long sleeve shirts and roll up the sleeves. I used to do that before my forearms were done up.. past the point of no return now. CG

I travel with mine visible on pleasure trips, never been stopped by security ever. Last trip, they did take my shaving cream... maybe next trip I cover ALL of my tats with shaving cream.. let them deal with that. CG

Actually the east coast, Long Island, NY. CG

I have a problem with reds. I've had them raise up in the sun, blister long after the tattoo has healed. On one tattoo, over the years the other colors held up and the red was practically washed out. Now, I go with orange instead of red and have no problems. CG

Some douche nozzles just don't recognize true art when they have a chance to immortalize it in ink.. their loss. CG

I like the shop I use for mainly that I like the artists who are down to earth people that listen to what I'm going after and they do their best to fulfill my wishes. Are they the best artists around? Probably not, but they are well-respected and do a nice job all the time. I've sat in the chair in other shops with flakes for artists and that back and forth thing wasn't there. I basically sat there like a piece of meat. I go where I feel comfortable. CG

Oh without a fukcing doubt! CG

I use Excel mostly at work to keep track of my stuff.. or have to be able to access some sorry sack of shit's spread sheet. I had one I used to keep as a running log on some train wreck of a project.... that was over 2000 lines long. Great search feature though. I keep a running tally of every tattoo I've gotten since 1977 in my head. I can tell you how much I spent and tipped and approximately when I had them done. CG

I have one son who has turned to the dark side as well.... I made sure he went into a good shop, knew how to get what he wanted and was a good client. How you conduct yourself before, during and after the chair time gets you on the good side of the shop. I see what they have to put up from the jackoffs that I witness, showing up late or not calling at all to cancel an appointment. CG

In grade school, there was this one teacher who was a very strong disciplinarian. He wore suits every day, his classes the kids were totally silent and so was any cafeteria he was on duty to oversee. My brother became friendly with another teacher he knew from the school and he later worked with her husband. One day he was visiting her and the subject of this strict teacher came up. Don't wanna know how she knows, but it seems that this guy was very heavily tattooed (in the service) and was a very heavy drinker when he wasn't in school. So, you really never know what's going on under that 3-piece suit! CG

I've been with the same basic company since 1981 and have changes location many times, been through the aquisition, merger & takeover thing. I've been in the office environment for a while now and very few people are beyond showing a couple of small tats. Some of the ladies show small butterflies, flowers, scripts. None of the guys have any ink showing... maybe I'm the only one inked up? I choose to wear long sleeve shirts since I deal with high levels of management and have a professional position myself. I deal with outside vendors quite a bit and visit them often enough. So I'm really in the tattoo closet. I make sure that nothing shows above the collar, at the neck or out my sleeves. Someone did see one on my leg when my pants leg pulled up, no big deal. One of my last tats is close to peeking out one sleeve and I have to be careful about how far my shirt is opened up. I think it could hurt my advancement, but at age 57.. how far am I going? As soon as I'm out of the work force, I'm planning on a neck and hand tat or more. CG

I've been with the same basic company since 1981 and have changes location many times, been through the aquisition, merger & takeover thing. I've been in the office environment for a while now and very few people are beyond showing a couple of small tats. Some of the ladies show small butterflies, flowers, scripts. None of the guys have any ink showing... maybe I'm the only one inked up? I choose to wear long sleeve shirts since I deal with high levels of management and have a professional position myself. I deal with outside vendors quite a bit and visit them often enough. So I'm really in the tattoo closet. I make sure that nothing shows above the collar, at the neck or out my sleeves. Someone did see one on my leg when my pants leg pulled up, no big deal. One of my last tats is close to peeking out one sleeve and I have to be careful about how far my shirt is opened up. I think it could hurt my advancement, but at age 57.. how far am I going? As soon as I'm out of the work force, I'm planning on a neck and hand tat or more. CG

I also have my tattoo books out, various images I like off the web printed out, my french curve set.. pencils about. All a good sign I have the dreaded "ink fever". CG

My wife bought me some Neutrogena 45 the other day. Goes on pretty dry and hazy but soaks in in a few minutes. It does stay on when I'm in the pool or in the ocean. Of all the stuff i've tried, I like this the best. I get no sun burn on the areas I apply it to and no puffing up that I get at times with lesser sunscreens. CG

The artists wraps it so you leave their shop in the best sterile condition possible. It protects them as much as it protects you. I usually have a few big wound pads taped over the work with saran wrap over it. When I get home, I may unwrap it for a minute to show it off, then it gets covered and I go to bed (towel on my side of the bed too...). In the morning, it gets unwrapped and washed in the shower per the shop's care directions, which I follow from there. CG

I'm out on the Island and there are plenty of real good shops to choose from. I think you would have to really earnestly search out a bad shop. CG

Everyone who treated me knew I lifted and none of them tried to stop me.. they may have wisely slowed me down for a while 'til I got back on track. I worked on getting my shoulder ROM back and then the strength. I'm not near where I was back almost 2 years ago... have made great progress until my 2011 back injury from a car accident, I'm gritting out a comeback from that one right now. CG

With my shoulder PT, I laughed when I was handed a pair of 3-lb dumbells to work with. I was benching 225 lbs for reps before I was injured... very humbling. I was lucky to get in with a good orthopedic surgeon (worked with the NY Rangers) and he recommended a good PT practice. CG

I had a bad imbalance that was causing an impingement in my right shoulder. I spent 4 months in PT.. turns out that I was doing more work to my chest and too little on my back. So I started doing more rows, various pull exercises. I now do more pull exercises than push, shoulder is less that perfect. I did loads of rotator cuff exercises, resistance bands, broom sticks, wall crawls, you name it. Scapular retraction exercises were a big help. I wound up adding a lot of muscle to the rehabbed shoulder, so I started on the left one. This made a big difference in my overall recovery and strength from there on. CG

I feel that I get VIP treatment at the shop I go to. I've been there since 2005, my son gets inked there and I recommend a lot of people to the shop. I get a good rate, I have a good rapport with all the artists there. First and foremost, I am a good client. I show up early and offer to go out and get drinks and whatever they may want for snacks. Most of them will take a soda or iced tea. I show up clean, sit in the chair and take the artist's advice more often than not. I never ask the price before we start, I always have enough in my pocket and throw a nice tip on whatever they say when we're done. I may pop a vicodin or two before I get there, but never drink before or bring a beer into the shop. If I do pop in to say hi, if they have someone in the chair, I'll only say hi or just fill in my next appointment date in their book. I'm honored that they let me behind the wall to do that. I do grab a few cards to hand out to people on my way out. I can tell when they have a d-bag in the chair.. the vibe in the shop is just off. Aparently, they do get a lot of people who are no shows or come in hours late. My wife asked me to take my son to the shop I use for his 1st tattoo. I clearly laid out for him what he should do and not to and all the etiquette I felt was necessary. Now they treat him quite well. CG