Tattoos

So much has happened since I last posted that I don't really know where to begin. In the months following my last entry I lost my paternal Grandmother to a stroke, my maternal Grandfather to Alzheimer's disease, and my Dad to cancer. My Mom also had a ruptured blood vessel in her brain (similar to an aneurysm with about a 50/50 survival rate) but she pulled through with no lasting damage. Oh and ALSO there were two of the largest ice storms in Atlanta's history while this was going down so I was trapped in the hotel where were staying and the hospital for about a week. So yeah, a whole lotta shit that I don't even want to get into right now. I have managed to make some artwork since then but I'll probably be posting most of it at a later time. Right now, since it is the most relevant to today, my lastest and second tattoo, an image I adapted from the Japanese poster for my favorite movie since childhood, An American Werewolf in London. The poster:


The image I adjusted:
My tattoo, done by Dirk Hays at East Atlanta tattoo:

"A naked American man stole my balloons."

Actually with the way life has been for me lately I feel exactly like that poor little boy that gets his balloons stolen. At least the image makes me happy. I mean, how could you not look at that ridiculous poster and be happy, or at least laugh? David Kessler gets a majorly rough deal in that movie and still manages to have a sense of humor about it. I think that sometimes, that is really all we can do.

Oh, and while I am on the subject of making shit times not so bad, I might as well mention my first tattoo, which was done as a cover up for one of my appendix scars. I say one of my scars because I had two after the operation in 2006, one little one where the camera went in and one giant one down the middle where the had to cut me from the navel down. Apparently the thing had already exploded a while ago and I managed not to notice, so my insides were kind of in pieces by the time I got to the E.R. Funny thing was, it didn't hurt.

The "before" photo:


And after, with my tattoo by Phil Colvin at Memorial Tattoo:



The scar had a puckered texture that always reminded me of sort of a half kiss print, so I just had to finish it off. It's nice to look at something that used to remind me of laparoscopic surgery and now reminds me of glam rock. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the lips are my boyfriend's. I have small lips which make for a lame print so I had to use his, which are quite nice. Also I kinda like that I have a dude's lips for a tattoo. It's much more fitting in my case.