else

Here's mine (slurped off of Steve Byrne's instagram)
The knee was way less painful than I expected it to be... there were a couple spots that really made me wince but otherwise it was pretty easy.

I LOVE your Baku so much pugilist!! It's AWESOME!!!

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

Yes!!
I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.
And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).
Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...
Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.
Rawr!!!
Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

This might be my new favorite drinking game.
In Oklahoma there are elaborate drinking games centered around weather reports - tornado season results in frequent intoxication ;)

Not to mention, some of us work out and stop partying and find ourselves in better shape in our forties than we were in our twenties...imagine that?!

Thanks every one (@HettyKet @Graeme @Pugilist @taaarro) for the likes and support. I was worried I was being too much of a bitch, but that shit hit a nerve.

Do get a grip dear.

I LOVE your Baku so much pugilist!! It's AWESOME!!!

This might be my new favorite drinking game.
In Oklahoma there are elaborate drinking games centered around weather reports - tornado season results in frequent intoxication ;)

This might be my new favorite drinking game.
In Oklahoma there are elaborate drinking games centered around weather reports - tornado season results in frequent intoxication ;)

Here are some ideas:
There is a "tattoo shops" link above. Click on it and see if any shops near you are reviewed.
Instagram-when you start following one or two artists you like, a world opens up and you start discovering more and more artists to follow and you start to see so many good tattoos every day you have to realize you can't get tattooed by them all but you have so many choices.
Watch the video interviews on here plus Gypsy Gentleman and Vice's Tattoo Age... Some of the artists you see in these places might not be in your area but many of them travel and do guest spots. You'd be surprised who you could end up getting tattooed by if you look around more.
The TAM blog has a directory and monthly (or maybe weekly?) featured artist with pictures.
Do you live in Chicago? Chicago has a ton of good shops/artists... What comes to mind is CTC and Great Lakes Tattoo...don't think you could go wrong there... Great Lakes Tattoo
I would not rely on google searches or yelp reviews. But that's just my 2 cents. Good luck!

If you do your research and pick an excellent artist, the artist will know how to incorporate what you want and will be able to make the whole thing better than you could have imagined. If you pick an artist based on their hourly fee, they may not be able to do that and you might be disappointed.

Yes, any artist worth his salt will appreciate tips from their non-tattooing clients! :-)

Don't think so literally about representation. You can put pretty much whatever meaning you want on pretty much anything so go for a strong image.
Also, wait lists don't necessarily mean much. Mario Desa, who was mentioned in this thread, is a great tattooer and he talks walk-ins. It depends on how people want to set their schedules.

This might be my new favorite drinking game.
In Oklahoma there are elaborate drinking games centered around weather reports - tornado season results in frequent intoxication ;)

Some dickhead from this season now lives in Portland, a burger joint is trying to drum up business by showing the show on a big screen and having him attend weekly. The funny thing is they thought the tattoo shop a couple doors down would be stoked to come in and watch the show, they got an invitation to bring the whole crew. The subsequent amount of f bombs that followed, oh dear. I think the best line out of the tirade, was "why don't you stick to making Milkshakes or better yet actually stop by our shop sometime and you can see how a real shop runs, we make money, not drama.