Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002 / 3:34 p.m.

~The Results Are Trickling In, Research Is Good, and What I�m Watching~

I�m getting some interesting responses to my Tattoos survey, and reading them is making me think about my own experiences. Like anything in which I have an interest, I did research. I subscribed to tattoo magazines, I networked, I asked questions, I found reputable tattoo artists. I bought books, I read, I looked at pictures, I studied. This was 11 years ago. I�ve continued, over the years, I�ve never lost interest, and I�ve been aware of Conventions in town. Conventions hosted by the person who did two of my tattoos.

He�s well known as a tattoo artist, he�s won awards for his work. He�s outrageously talented, a big guy, an ex biker with a permanent limp, long, long hair, glasses and a big smile. A Mexican American from Arizona. I trust him completely and I trust that he and his Convention organizers choose the most qualified and talented artists to set up temporary shop at the Conventions.

What struck me from the Survey responses was the misconception that Conventions are dirty, or that people get drunk there before getting tattooed, or the artists are less than high quality. Why would people think that? The main advantage to getting tattooed at a Convention is you have access to tattoo artists you�d otherwise never see. Like the woman I saw on Saturday. She travels a lot, enjoys going from Convention to Convention, although she has a home base in Arizona.

And cleanliness??? Holy moly! The woman changed her gloves like 20 times in the space of an hour or two. She was impeccably sterile and clean. She knows her shit. It�s not hard to know what to look for in an artist.

I�m thinking the people who are taking my survey are really young, and perhaps they haven�t read, haven�t researched, don�t have a separate shelf in their libraries for books just on tattooing. If they did, they�d know how great a Convention can be!

When I went to my first Convention in June I scoped out the place. I knew what design I wanted, but I knew I�d go for something more as well. I was looking for the appropriate artist, one with whom I could build a rapport, one who had a great �book� (portfolio), one who would help me with design aspects, and one with a lot of experience. I met the woman who did my Mantra tattoo, and she blew me away! I spent two days hanging out with her, talking to her, listening to her stories. She�s in her 60s, she�s been tattooing for years and years, she�s been with the best, apprenticed, work her way up the ranks, she�s quite literally world renowned in the realm of all things TATTOOS.

And I never would�ve met her had I not attended that Convention.

That was a big one, last June/late May, and the one this past weekend was brand new, a pre-Halloween Convention, an experiment of sorts for the organizers, but I went to see the other woman who tattooed me in June. I knew she�d be there. She called me to tell me my tattoo was in Tattoo magazine in a feature article about her, and I called her back, made a sort of appointment, and so far I have no regrets. I�m going through my usual stages of acceptance of this new tattoo, it�s normal for me (loving it, hating it, loving it).

My point is that no one should discount a Convention on some biased principle. I highly recommend going. And no worries about sterility. Probably MOST tattoo artists in this �day and age� know their shit when it comes to fresh needles, gloves and fresh ink cups. They�re not stupid, they want money, they want YOUR money, they�re not going to infect people. I don�t know if anyone uses autoclaves anymore, they use fresh needles. My only qualm about the Conventions is how crowded and noisy they can be, how it feels like you�re not getting quality time with the artist, but overall, it�s a great experience (I saw some amazing tattoos, works in progress, on Saturday!).

Anyway, yeah, it�s interesting, the responses to the Survey. I read a few on my lunch break, at home, and now I�m back in the cube. It�s quiet today, the phones are mostly slow, just some paperwork, catching up on the free weekly�s �Best Of� issue from last week, going to manicure my fingernails in a bit (they�re too long, again), I have Jeff Buckley and Van Morrison to listen to if I want/need�

In other news, I�m still trying to get mucous out of my lungs, or bronchials or whatever. Major coughing and throat clearing. In fact, when it�s quiet, it�s possible to hear someone coughing, somewhere, here. Everyone seems to have a cough. Mine is not too bad, just annoying.

In TV news, �Gilmore Girls� was good last night, as usual. I love the scenes with Rory and Jess. Unnnnhhhhhh� sort of like the scenes with Felicity and Eli the art student in �Felicity�. Unnnnhhh, as well. In last night�s episode she gave him the boot, and he seemed callous in his response, but I think it was self protective, defensive. She should�ve dumped Noel for him, hands down. Grrrr�

�Sleazy World� was stupid. Mostly commercials, maybe 15 minutes of sleaze.

Tonight is �Amazing Race� and �MDs�. Good night for TV. And �Felicity� is every night. Whee!!!

Anyone watching �Dog Days� on Animal Planet on Mondays at 10:00?? Good stuff. Reality show about Manhattanites and their dogs. Very funny, cute, interesting, and an hour long. I�ve replaced �CSI:Miami� with �Dog Days� because the former will be in incessant repeats before long, and well, two �CSI�s in one week is a bit taxing. It�s a heavy show, you know??

That�s it for now. I think. I have to wait �til I get home to upload this, so we�ll see if anything changes before then. I doubt it will.

Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)

Run, Kitty, Run!

Previous - Next

New - 2012 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - Profile - Contact - Notes - Rings - Diaryland - Favourite Entries - ReadMe - Surveys - Random Entry

Recent Entries:

It Was 40 Years Ago Today - 9:44 a.m. , Friday, Oct. 12, 2012

Dead Black Cat - 9:07 a.m. , Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

As Seen From Outer Space - 1:07 a.m. , Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009

I Survived to Tell the Tale - 7:29 a.m. , Friday, Sept. 18, 2009

Reading My Life - 12:55 p.m. , Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009

Happy Kitty

My Diary Was Reviewed at Ms Lovejoy's - Get Yours Reviewed Too!

Registered I was a nominee