spookysproul

I started saying "tats" a while back in a funny way, but now it's just in my vocabulary. I guess this is my life now.

The latest is "Under boob". It's called the sternum, idiot.

For the sake of discussion, that area is distinctly below the sternum and should probably be referred to as the diaphragm. You could also go with xiphoid process if you really want to stick with sternum terminology, but it's still even below that.

Me too.

My late friend used to always say "be more like Christ and less like Christians."

You got a nice one. Mine was very negative about a few things. For instance, she asked me about my pets and I said I had a ball python and a rainbow boa. She made a face and said " pythons are the ones that kill people, right?"

I was not impressed.

Oh fun! That's like getting a doctor that prescribes you blood-letting.

I second Iwar's point about the consultation. I have multiple tattoos that I didn't know what I wanted, just who I wanted to do it - so I went to them, showed them the space available and asked for some ideas and went with the least objectionable answer.

People who aren't "into" tattoos will harangue you for getting something that doesn't have the "Miami Ink" story to it, but don't let their foolishness dissuade you - if you appreciate art and like the artist doing it then that is more than enough meaning.

Wow, I hadn't seen this yet! Thanks for posting!

Always nice to see ppl standing up, even if it is directed towards me, bravo.

Carry on.

After reading this entire thread and double-checking the posts, I can say that you are not getting this. Before you go off in the direction of reading comprehension or something of that nature, I am above average intelligence and possess a significantly higher level of reading comprehension than I see you do, judging solely from your choppy grammar and punctuation.

You can in no way whatsoever, under any circumstances, speak assuredly about what she "should have" done. Yes, you are correct in that if no one tells him what he does is wrong he will almost certainly never realize it on his own and self-correct. However, when you are getting tattooed by someone you are in a very vulnerable position. This person is doing something that is, for all intents and purposes, permanent and possibly holds great significance for you. That puts them in a position of extreme power over you, especially because you went to them and theoretically chose them over any number of other people to make this for you.

Now, add to that the fact that this person has made an unwelcome and lewd comment with the underlying tone -whether intentional or no- that they can make whatever comment they want to you and there's not much you can do about it, and that puts you at an extreme psychological disadvantage for speaking up for yourself.

On top of that, when she comes to look for people who have had similar experiences and vent about how she was mistreated, she has narrow-minded fools coming out of the anonymity of the internet to tell her that, wait a minute, this is mainly her fault for not going extremely far out of her comfort zone and correcting the behavior of someone who has the significant psychological upper-hand in the situation. You cannot equate her situation to one of where your artist showed you something and you didn't speak up about not liking a portion of it. She was in the predicament of actually being tattooed and the person who was tattooing her sexually harassed her. Whether you like it or not, sex is a very private thing to most people and not discussed openly or casually with someone who is ostensibly a stranger. That can be a very violating and even traumatic experience, ESPECIALLY when this person is doing something to you that has a deep significance and will be with you permanently.

And before you start talking about what you would've done and how you would've handled it and how you would've told the guy to "back off, bub", please take a step back and look at yourself. I can think of multiple times on this board - including one interaction with myself - where you've made a bold, poorly-thought-out statement and back-pedaled immediately when someone called you out on it.

It's not always so easy to stand your ground when you're put on the spot. Please consider the circumstances before getting mouthy on the internet.

I see where everyone's coming from with this, especially in regards to the healing aspect of it. However, with the amount of people that I personally know to have purchased dogs from puppy mills and breeders coming out exclaiming how this is some cruel and heartless act and he should be put to death and yada yada yada, I can't really take very many people seriously when they get up in arms about this.

Why is this any more cruel than a dog in a shelter having to be put down instead of rescued because someone wanted to have a name brand dog or because Mr. Macho didn't want to have his dog neutered?

@titforatat my tastes changed. Oddly enough, things that seemed so incredibly cool to me when I was 17 didn't really in the following years. If only someone had told me...

I have some decent quality paintings and prints for sale if you'd care to peruse:

Home / Spooky Sproul

Spooky Sproul

My first tattoo (inside my lip) I got when I was 17. It's not the most embarrassing thing in the world, but is a band tattoo of a band I can't say I particularly care for anymore. Luckily, my first visible tattoo - my forearm - that came about 6 months later, after I turned 18. I still like. I accidentally ended up going to a very good artist, and I'm still proud to have it in my collection.

However, I don't know that I would have gone with the same subject matter if I knew who I am now. While a zombie pin-up is pretty slick, it's not exactly my style these days. I ended up pouring every penny I had into getting tattooed and have had about 3/4 of my body covered since I was around 24. Now that it's in there, I definitely wish I'd waited more. There are so many incredible artists that I want to get tattooed by, but don't have the room for; there are many tattoos I have that I wish I'd thought out more before going to get it.

I think the only exception I would make for my future children would be to allow them to get a small piece of iconic flash in an area that could be covered by a t-shirt or shorts, but other than that I wouldn't allow them to get a pre-18 tattoo, especially since I have first-hand experience on how you can regret post-18 tattoos.

I was going to say a tattoo shop in the mall and then i remembered Vegas and realized that there is not much farther to go for rock bottom.

We have TWO malls that have tattoo shops in them in the 'burbs up here. I have a coworker who has his whole sleeve, hand, and neck done there. They are legitimately the worst tattoos I have ever seen in person.

Hello! Is it Gerry like "Gary" or Gerry like "Jerry?"

Ooh! Me too!

My Name's Jon. I was born in Berkeley, California and lived between there and Concord until I was 8, when my mother and I moved to Fort Bragg, California. Not even Fort Bragg, we moved to the woods outside.

Either way, FB is where I learned about tattooing. A friend of mine got a job as the shop guy at Triangle Tattoo, which also houses a fantastic museum covering the history of tattooing. I was lucky enough to be exposed to this first - as well as Captain Don Leslie, who frequently visited - instead of the shop a few blocks away that was constantly cycling through methamphetamine enthusiast owners/tattooers.

I moved back to San Francisco the very day that I turned 18 (I took my CHSPE and got an early diploma) and bounced between SF and Oakland for the next 7 years, when my then fiancee and I moved up to Seattle.

As for my current involvement with tattooing, I am learning and should be working soon. I'd divulge more details, but I'd really rather not jinx anything. You understand.

For now I work printing flight manuals for Boeing and support my wife Ash (the aforementioned "then fiancee") and our two "mentally unique" cats.

Please support our fun habits by visiting me at Spooky Sproul and maybe buying some art if you like some of it. :)

Hmmm.... I think I've barely listened to any albums from this year, so I suppose they're all in my top 10.

(in no particular order)

VNV Nation - "Transnational"

Kvelertak - "Meir"

Golden Gardens - "Narcissus"

Modern Life Is War - "Fever Hunting"

Actually, I'll say that MLIW is my #1 pick without a doubt.

I also listened to the new Mindless Self Indulgence, but I can safely say that it did not make it into my Top 10 releases.

I didn't realize that Cultes Des Ghoules album Henbane came out this year; I thought I was last year. MY B.

Please add that to the above list.

she does'nt look 16 IMO,

and that tattoo is so bad,it does'nt seem real.

was it done freehand or was it stenciled on and she approved it ? LOL

(these are just my random thoughts)

I've been talking about this a lot recently. How are SO many people who clearly have NO concept of the mechanics of drawing, composition, or even basic familiarity with art in general picking up "tat guns" and thinking "Yeah, I should give this a shot"??

Muscle relaxers sound like a fantastic idea, and I can't believe it's never occurred to me before.

However - be sure and do a test run around a friend beforehand. I've been given a muscle relaxer before - for recreation purposes - that I thought had no effect on me - I remember the whole experience - but from the perspective of the rest of the world I was on another level of wacky insanity. Slapping my face and saying I couldn't feel it and all.

I got a tattoo there last May while on vacation. Recommended by a local tattooer who had guested there. I found that trying to google search for an artist in Scotland was fairly difficult due to the dual meaning of "tattoo"!

Fascinating! I had no idea about this until reading your post.

Great! Welcome! Let's see your stuff. Who are you starting your sleeve with??

I'm on the other side of the spectrum. I'm dark as hell, about 3-4 shades darker than your wife. Gotta love that West African blood. I've never even considered anything but black/gray for that very reason.

Just my 2¢ - I think a dark dark complexion with lots of heavy black tattooing looks REALLY neat. As much as I enjoy being almost vampire-pale, I'm still jealous that I'll never have that look. Like a black-on-black t-shirt, but infinitely cooler.

@suburbanxcore I highly recommend it. I thought Midnight in America was "eh" at best, and while I don't think this one is better than Witness as a whole album, I think some of the songs are better than anything off of Witness.

Hello there! Be careful - there are hundreds of sub-par shops up here. Then again, coming from the SF Bay Area I'm a little spoiled.

I would recommend the aforementioned Derek Noble at Luck Devil (which is about to be renamed Dark Age or Dark Ages), he did my neck which you can see in my gallery.

Also everyone at Fist Full Of Metal up on 85th & Phinney are wonderful people and accomplished tattooers.

If you like the no frills classic look of traditional work, the folks at Liberty (just moved to Queen Anne) are all top notch.

There's Slave to the Needle that a few of my friends swear by, but I personally have no opinion of one way or the other.

If you're interested in black work there's a cat over at True Love in Capitol Hill named Thomas Sinnamond who does fantastic black work from what I've seen.

Hmmm.... I think I've barely listened to any albums from this year, so I suppose they're all in my top 10.

(in no particular order)

VNV Nation - "Transnational"

Kvelertak - "Meir"

Golden Gardens - "Narcissus"

Modern Life Is War - "Fever Hunting"

Actually, I'll say that MLIW is my #1 pick without a doubt.

I also listened to the new Mindless Self Indulgence, but I can safely say that it did not make it into my Top 10 releases.

@Gregor that sounds delightful to me, actually! My wife and I - both native Californians - moved to Seattle because we've always heard what dreary and wet weather was the norm. Come to find it's sunny and pleasant about 40% of the time. It looks like the UK, preferably Scotland, is the place to be.

Haha when I lived in Glasgow a person I worked with moved to Seattle and everybody was jealous of her.

That wretch! She was supposed to let me know that she was on her way so I could take her place!