Mr. Smith

i'm really bummed i couldn't afford to pre-order the milton zeis book :(

You and me both. I did just get a copy of Horitaka's newest book, I Love Tattoos. There's some really cool stuff in it, and it's on sale for $26 on Amazon right now. Definitely recommended.

That torch is so fucking rad.

i'll never understand this. just talked a friend of mine out of going to some shit hole shop. she wanted to go there because they're cheap. they place botched her appointment time twice.

Sounds like she got lucky twice.

Here's a picture of my back after my first session with Jeff Zuck at Name Brand in Ann Arbor. I've had a few more since then, but haven't gotten pictures after any of them. I'll try to get the lady to take a new one and post that up soon.

My girlfriend and I are expecting a little one in December, so for the time being all of our "extra" money is getting stockpiled for baby stuff, and getting tattooed (including finishing my back with Zuck) is on hold for a while. Knowing that I'm doing what's best for my family mitigates the itch a lot, but every time I catch a glimpse of my back (or the rest of my mostly bare torso for that matter), I start doing the math in my head to try and figure out when I'll be able to afford to sit again.

Oh man, getting tattooed by Zuck was definitely one of the best tattoo experiences I've had. All-around super awesome guy. I'm really excited to be starting my back with him in November.

I don't have a picture of it, but I also got a really awesome rose from Tomek who was guesting at Name Brand. He's also a really rad dude and enjoyable to get tattooed by.

Tattoos with tattoos are awesome. This kewpie that my friend Jon Larson (Depot Town Tattoo/Front Street Tattoo) did a few months back is one of my favorite tattoos that I have.

I have a tendency to start collecting something, get really stoked on it for 3 months, burn myself out, and then abandon it. That said, my record collection is still going strong, although it's slowed considerably since my friends closed their record shop and moved to Detroit.

I just got a call from Jeff Zuck, letting me know that my name was up on his waiting list. I booked in to get tattooed by him three weeks from today, and by Tomek Szumiec (who'll be guesting at Name Brand) the day after. I'm so unbelievably geeked about it, and now I'm having a really tough time getting any work done this afternoon. Just have to figure out what I want to get from Tomek...

Awesome trip! Thanks so much for sharing this, Kev!

Just got back last night from a trip to Chicago. Got tattooed by Mario Desa (skull with butterfly wings). Saw Archers of Loaf play. Ate at Chicago Diner. Weekends away don't get much better than that.

I don't have any decent pictures of the tattoo yet, but there are a couple up on Mario's facebook.

I just picked up a copy of Jeff Johnson's Tattoo Machine. I haven't read it yet, but I'll let you know what I think of it once I have.

Is anybody planning on going this year?

This is probably as good a place as any to introduce myself. So, hey everybody, my name is Nick. I'm a collector from Traverse City, a small town in northern Michigan. We're fortunate to have had a great shop open up here this past summer (Front Street Tattoo), where I've been tattooed by Mike Emmett, Jon Larson, Frank William, and Timm Talcott. This year I'm hoping to travel a lot more and pick up some awesome work from around the state and country. My goal for 2011 is to travel and get tattooed by:

Jeff Zuck

AP Shrewbury

Jen Munford

Mike Adams

Nick Colella

Mario Desa

Ron Henry Wells

Robert Ryan

John Poverty

And if Deno Jr. or Sam Ricketts guest anywhere in the states this year, I'll be on the first train there. I'm also planning on getting some work from Dawn Cooke and Bill Falsetta sometime this year when they're up here in Traverse City.