ANGEL

you want somebody else's tattoo, only different?

i don't get it, but i get it, and i got you, boo.

f'real.

i do a lot of similar tattoos over and over- 

on the ones: another skull, a rose, a cross, an eagle, an anchor-

they DO look alike after a while...

but when i am asked to do a tattoo just like a picture of a tattoo?

i just don't.

i mean, i'll draw up a rough sketch while looking at the picture on your phone,

but i'm not going to trace somebody else's work, and say it's mine.

it's weird enough playing at being a renaissance dude,

just kinda painting a painting of a painting.....

hmmmm...

i wonder if i should post photos with that kind of attribution underneath-

i know that cartoon tattsters always tell you whose flash they used,

so maybe that's proper etiquette?

like, 'albie rock, after pinterest, from the school of google image search'??

i dunno, dudes.

-

ANYway, i was given some reference images,

and i've done some variations on the theme previously,

but there were several changes and additions that weren't on any of the existing

imagery, so i felt better about using the format as a template for some new tatt-zapperism.

uh-huh.

i had one big tattoo to do, 

before totally using one of nate's stencils to recreate 

a pinterest mountain tattoo three times in a row, 

on some J1 student-visa seasonal-workin' souvenir seekers.

yeah.

friendship tattoos for three kids from three different countries 

that aren't cold or mountainous at all..

right.

...but before that, there was the bigger one.

paul got a memorial tattoo, and i gave him a heck of a beatin':

kaPOW!

it wraps a little.

hahahaha.

that swollen tricep has the bottom going off-kilter,

but honestly, the tops are just as irritated, with less room to warp.

there's a lot of layers of grey ink packed in and piled up,

and when it was finished?

i think we made somethin' pretty flippin' good.

he's happy,

i'm happy, 

and i think we created a tribute that does justice to spirit and memory.

yeah.

*

so,

today is a big day of tattooing,

and later, there's gonna be a lotta driving...

but tomorrow?

family togetherness is on the menu, man.

yeah.

i've got that whole big bunch of blood relatives that live nowhere nearby,

and it's high time to see their familiar faces for a few.

that's a tall order, and a hard style, but it's got to happen.

i miss my older daughters something terrible,

and i'm excited and eager to span time with harvest and maple.

as they get bigger, our time gets shorter, 

because their lives are more and more all their own....

so we're due for an overlap of time and space,

and honestly, i'm so anxious to already be there.

plus, i'll be stayin' with my ma, and visiting with my sister,

so it's a completely elite situation.

good people, good times, and good food, for sure.

it's all really happening in just a few hours;

never quiet, never soft.....