SeeSea

^^ Awwww! ::swoons::

I am still black and blue around the outline on my ribs from a session 11 days ago. UGH! Scabbing so much this time - ITCHIES!!! Today at work, I didn't realize I was smacking myself in the back as I was talking to a co-worker. Until he started giving me this funny look and I realized I must have looked like an idiot. Whack Whack Whack Whack. O_O

I love how they all do that rocking back-and-forth thing over the eggs and chicks :-)

Yeah, you're right. I'm looking forward to that! And they'll be the only people who know that the Moray eel is really a Leopard Moray or that the reddish fish is a squirrel fish (yes, I have 2 squirrel fish. Long story). Anyway, oe of the elements my tattooer sketched into the plan is the mast of a WWII wreck in Truk Lagoon - the Nippo Maru - it has interesting 3-post mast and it's pretty eerie the way the wreck sits about 25 degrees off center. It's supposed to be shadowed off in the blue, but I'm not sure there will be room for it. But THAT would be a neat wreck identification test for divers :D Have you been to Truk? Do you like wreck diving?

Put me on the monmon list for sometime in the magical future. @polliwog - let's go out for your 30th and my 50th together :D

Oh god, save me from peer pressure! (or not). Hubby is NOT amused. Wait 'til he sees the Monmon prints when they come. I have time tho, gotta finish the back first, and then mom will take a trip to SF with me. I can't wait to see what you and @Fala come up with! And @beez, because you know she's going to get one too...

Well, OF COURSE! LOL! Congrats! Lucky kitty!

@Mark Bee - truly sucks.

Neat - I've got a long commute and always looking for good stuff!

It's more like every 2-3 weeks. My tattooer wants to keep up the momentum - I think because he only does custom work and is in the middle of a lot of projects and wants to make sure people actually finish them in a reasonable period of time. I started in February and have had 4 sessions. They have ranged from 4.5-8 hours, with breaks. I could see this stretching years if we got lazy about scheduling only a session or 2 at a time. It's hard to keep up with it, but I decided to bite the bullet and make this one of my higher priorities for the time being and just knock it out. The kids are out of the house to I don't have major demands on my free time, except for 3 high maintenance cats.

Utila, Honduras, even though it's not the best season for whale sharks there. But they see them pretty regularly, so if there's a sighting, they'll run us over in a fast boat. I have 4 sessions before the trip, about every other week, with the 4th one 3 weeks before the trip. I'd rather not kill the momentum I've got going. (Hey @scubaron - do you realize your 100th post is about diving? :D)

I am going on a vacation diving 3 times a day in a wetsuit and hanging on the beach for a week in June. I'm in the middle of a big back piece, and for scheduling sessions, asked my tattooer how long I should wait between a session and the vacation. He said at least 3 weeks, and to wear a UV rash guard AND sunscreen. His explanation was that any change in the existing work would cause problems matching colors going forward. So, it seems like I have to care for the tattoo even more conservatively because it's in progress. Any tattooers out there have additional advice? Is 3 weeks really enough? Anything else I should consider? This vacation is booked (thank you for the surprise, honey) and I *will* be diving, but I want to do all I can not to screw up the tattoo. Should I reschedule my upcoming sessions for a longer interval before the trip? I dive in a wetsuit *all the time* because I get cold doing multiple dives a day even in the Caribbean. Wetsuits are SPF 2 million. I'm guessing I also need the rash guard under the wetsuit for friction protection? I also see sunscreen that is specific for tattoos like this one - are these a gimmick? http://www.amazon.com/Ed-Hardy-Protect-Sunscreen-Resistant/dp/B0083HTG84/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1396707872&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=sunscreen+tattoo Oops, SORRY, should have included the ones for GIRLS! http://www.amazon.com/Hardy-Shield-Tattoo-Protection-Uva-uvb/dp/B004HZPKWM/ref=pd_sbs_bt_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=08GEN411DEP2NCF7MX37. So how does it know? :-) Is there any hope for me getting to show off the work-in-progress at all? (sniff sniff). I've got 24 hours on this piece so far, and I can't show my underwater diving back tattoo to other divers?!? ::gasps in despair, stamping feet on the kitchen floor like a 3 year old:: Below are a couple threads I found and putting here for reference/completeness, but I'm asking a little different question - the piece is "in progress," and I'll be in the water 3 hours a day wearing a wetsuit. I'll actually NOT be laying on the beach on my stomach falling asleep. I generally don't try to go out and get a tan, except on my legs a little because my skin is sooo white. Here's a thread about vacationing with tattoos: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-advice/2678-going-hawaii-right-before-tattoo-concerns.html Here's some posts dealing with new tattoos and water/sun: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/4369-1st-tat-page4.html#post72754. Thanks, all.

That whole website has some crazy stuff. Look at the Topics pull down (near top right) for one called "the wrong side of history." Very strange stuff.

Ok, decision made. My next tattoo (oh jeez, I was ONLY going to get my back done...) I want to get a Monmon! I am infatuated with them. I don't know when, but someday. And I swear I won't get any more... I just bought three of the signed prints from SOG and SO BUMMED the cat and carp is out of print. - - - Updated - - - Um, yeah, just now experiencing that myself!

I had this thought after I started my back. I'll be using SPF 2 Million, but how would you ever see a new melanoma? Rhetorical question I guess.

^^^ Fucked up. Both the tattoo, and the fact the bastard only got 35 years.

Just think of it this way - even though getting the tattoo might make you feel like screaming bloody murder like you would at an uncontrollable toddler who is knocking over glasses full of sugary beverages while waving around the remote control - the tattooing time is precious MOMMY time that you get ALL TO YOURSELF! You will love this. It will be worth the discomfort. And get a big tattoo. Then you have an excuse to hand off the baby when he/she is in terror mode while saying, "Sorry honey, I have another session and my tattooer says I can't go longer than 3 weeks between sittings. I'll be back in about 6 hours. Love you."

@polliwog ((hugs))

With a title mentioning the adverse consequences of having babies, I SO misread the name of the actual blog.

Looks like the dragon is vomiting Kanji characters. With the position of the legs and feet, it looks a little involuntary. I wonder what the characters say. Maybe, "Help! My Intestines Are Twisted" And why are the first two outlined in red (fire?). Perhaps flaming out ex-lovers and adding new ones to the bottom of the list? :D

Well, it's not a panther... ...and other wonderful goodies here at MXT Tattoos: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MXT-Tattoos/174017269333746

LOL - kinda like giving her a pattern to know where to put the staples! Hmmm, maybe we should get a very light tattoo of graph paper before a surgical procedure to help them line up the skin afterwards. :D

Welcome! I'm a biomed engineer too, but with the different countries and wide definitions of the term, we may or may not do anything related to one another :-) There are many threads on healing and you will see different advice. But as a first step, follow what your artist tells you to do. If you have concerns, such as with physical activity and sweating, talk to them and explain it, and see what they recommend. General aftercare: Tattoo After Care | General Tattoo Forum | Last Sparrow Tattoo Tegaderm, etc.: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/4795-tegaderm-saniderm-tatuderm-healing-process.html

I read an article a while back about a surgeon who had an appreciation of tattoos, and felt bad when he had to operate and cut a tattoo. He said that if he had the time, he would spend an extra half hour really working to line up the edges of the tattoo when he closed. I don't recall much about the article, but I got a real sense that he respected the work and wanted to honor the work and take the extra time to address the art as well as the medical procedure. Pretty cool. Makes me think that could be a consideration if it came down to two docs and you had to choose one!

Thank you! This is a "before" picture when he was a wild one outside. He's now an inside cat and just as handsome.