else

Hahaha, just any old Dan will do. Trocchio, Albrigo, or Santaro are all my favorites.

Annabelle moved to the Elephant Sanctuary in California, Bob Barker came and got her. We have two polar bears now in a beautiful enclosure.
Hey Ma, you got me!!!!

Session number two with Kore Flatmo yesterday. Here is the progress so far.

- - - Updated - - -
The progress on my wife's tattoo from Brenda Flatmo.

I grew up in Alaska. I have fabulous memories of skiing and snowmobiling and tromping through the snow... and the BEAUTY! So amazingly beautiful up there!! But whenever anyone asks if I'd go back I tell them that I would never live there again. It's just too dark. It's hard to keep your chin up when the sun is only out for a few hours a day...
But! The spring will come again! ;)

Aaaaaaaah I have had this dream so many times!
Also, when you preface every tattoo you're going to get with "squid", e.g. "I just booked an appointment to get squid-elbows!"

Also forget everything you've learned from those shows. Seriously. Everything. Focus on finding a tattoo artist whose work makes you think, "damn! I need that on me!"

Forget about looking at designs on the internet, they're almost all garbage and would have to be redrawn anyway. You'll get a far better tattoo by finding and talking to a good tattoo artist and working out the design with him or her. One of the nice things about a phoenix is that there are so many different ways to interpret it so I'd suggest first and foremost finding an artist who does tattoos you love and then figure things out from there. I also wouldn't worry about whether or not a design is "manly" because it's how you wear it. A butterfly tattoo can be hard as shit if you want it to be.

Since @Gregor 's post of Joey Ortega's alternative entry has expired, I'm taking the liberty of re-posting it:

Tattoos are pretty much the coolest thing in the world! I'm also pretty much constantly amazed by the quality of work people here have. I have this joke about Instagram how if you see amazing work it's either on a tattooer or on an LST member (which, I know, are sometimes one and the same). Instagram in particular is insane. I know that so much is lost by seeing tattoos on a tiny phone screen, but the amount of mind-bogglingly awesome tattoos that are being done every single day in insane. Like how crazy is it that Horiyoshi 3 has an instagram?!? I hope this board is able to show people that having really good, like jaw-droppingly good, tattoos is something anyone can have as long as they're willing to put the time and money--and when you compare it to collecting other kinds of art, it's really not much money at all--into it.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there.
Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world.
I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know.
And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there.
And now my mind is blown every. single. day.
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there.
AMAZING!!
It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

gf got this by michael bennett at 2 spirit.
one of the nicest shops ever.

Well just finished my Raijin. Seriously love the little extra touches
Regino Gonzalez

...when you see somebody dressed up as Luke Wilson's character in The Royal Tenenbaums for Halloween and you think that it's weird that they're wearing a Stewart Robson costume.

When you stop having "late to work/school" stress dreams and begin to have "late for a tattoo appointment" dreams. I overslept, and then couldn't find my pants or the power bars I like to bring, and for some reason I was in San Francisco when I was supposed to be in New York...

I like this one Zac Scheinbaum did:

If you got a battle royale there instead you would never have a boring day again because there would be a fucking eagle fighting a snake fighting a dragon on your arm. Williamsburg.

After a brief postponement, today is d-day. Or... sternum-day.
Pre-tattoo nerves are at an all-time high.
Only half expecting to make it out alive.

Although I don't have any relevant tattoo-shop experience I have experienced a similar situation in the world of physical therapy/rehab.
I'm a speech therapist, there's A LOT of money in rehab now and it's been this way for about a decade or so. Once upon a time pretty much all the rehab companies were owned/run by actual therapists. But when business-people saw how much money could be made running a rehab company a lot of new companies were started up with nobody with any real rehab experience at the helm.
Those companies SUCK to work for. They don't understand what we really do in our day to day practice and there's a constant push to work in ways that push the boundaries of our ethics. The pursuit of the almighty $$ becomes more important than providing the best quality of care for our patients.
Right now, with the changes happening in Medicare/Medicaid, it looks like in the future there may be less money to be made in rehab. And although it's likely to affect my own pocketbook to some degree, I will be glad if it forces changes in the way rehab businesses are run.

Have you guys seen this? It's hilarious:
Look at this Instagram (Nickelback Parody) - CollegeHumor Video