emotions...

mixed and otherwise,
emotions have been the name of the game.
lately, over at the tatzappin' blastoff studio,
when it comes to pickin' out some pictures to zipzap up,
folks have been runnin' to one extreme or the other.
completely meaningless images are abundant, and that's cool,
but so are the intensely personal portrayals of milestones and memories.
the semi-important as-long-as-it-looks-cool stuff is in short supply.
i'm sayin',
either the barbed wire hot fire is gettin' spit,
and it's one-two-three, gimme some money,and get lost,
OR
the deep-wounded heart strings are plucked up;
which makes for some seriously moist-eyed skin sessions.
today saw a batch of both kinds of clients,
and for once, as surprising as it turned out to be,
i actually gave a sh!t about the sad stories...
probably because it actually was congruent to connectivity and communication,
warrior poetry, and keeping it real.
i did a portrait today,
which isn't that big or unusual a deal,
except,
i tattooed my friend frank's face on his father's arm,
as frank recently passed away after being pretty sick for a bit.
i even rocked out a little turtle and banner combo for his fiancee.
i'd been tattooing frank for years up here,
and gotten to know the guy for the stand-up kick-ass awesome fella he was.
accordingly,
he amped up the studio to his peoples back home,
who rolled up from somewhere in massachussetts for just the afternoon,
just to have the tattoos done by their boy's artist.
the whole family came up to support each other an' that,
and i couldn't have found for a nicer group of folks to span time alongside on a muggy monday,
or even any other day, for that matter.
holy mutha-uckin' smokes, right?
i was compelled to behave like a regular human being, even;
and that was a new experience for me, at least.
word up, my ninjas, that was some really real business.
add in some good old italian moms and pops,
a few traded kitchen tips, and secret recipes for pasta fagioli,
and a ton of hugs and kisses afterwards,
and a seriously intense experience resulted.
lasting human connections.
not usually my strong suit.
today, though,
today was the day.
i am grateful for the time i have been given,
and for those i span time alongside;
never quiet, never soft...