If Your Body Is Your Temple...

Then mine has some AWESOME stained glass. I'm a big fan of tattooing and really like some of the ideas that people come up with. Yes, I do have to constantly put up with the startes and the guffaws from the older generation but, everyone has a personal mode of expression. Do I have to validate it to anyone, No. Do I ususally have to, yes... The only thing I have to say to anyone considering getting a tattoo is to make sure that it means something. OMG THAT TRIBAL DESIGN LOOKS AWESOME! To me, is not a good enough reason to get a tat, and some tattoos are just plain mistakes. Make sure that you believe in what you I'm not too heavily involved in organized church anymore but, I do consider myself to be a very spiritual person. My belief structure is varied and my convitions on those idealisms are stolid and unshwaivered. Here are some of my tats and the resons why I got them:




My guadian angel, my crosses, and my mistake...

My angel is based of an old White Wolf picture and shows an angel smoking a cigarette and cocking back a gun. the text going around the angel says, "No Compromise". Going back to my previous statement, you should never have to compromise who you are for anyone. If people don;t like you for who you are, tell them to get over it. I'm not saying completely lose tact but, stay true to who you are.

The medic crosses reflect a part of my idealogy about who I am, a healer. I have a deep and profound interest in spiritual and medical healing. I find it only fitting that the medical crosses be put on a very vital area of blood flow throughout the body. Also, it's also a symbolic gesture about proximity to the hands, which are what enable most healing practices.

The king of hearts has a few meanings to me. First, when I was a swing dancer in high school, I used to give out my phone number to girls written on a king of hearts with the whole, "Let me give you my card line". It was also the same card I had in my hat (instead of a feather). Second, and the main reason I got the tattoo, my ex-fiance was a casino boat dealer. She had the ace of hearts on her arm so, I figured, what the heck. Unfortunately, it's a gamble that I lost. No regrets though, everything happens for a reason.




My clavs and my back. On my clavicles I have the celtic trinity knot, or triskel, entwined with the circle of life. Again, these stem back to my basic judeo-christian beliefs in the trinity but, I also have a love of celtic artwork and expression. Plus, those druids were SMART cookies.

The work on my back is two-fold. The first tattoo I ever got was the cross in the middle of my back, on Halloween night of the year 2000. the script over the top says, "Come What May", which is a line from the movie Moulin Rogue. An epic film about love, loss, and music. My wife has the same script on her back in a bit more femanine way. "Come What May" means just that, whatever happens we'll be there for each other.I disagree with getting names tattooed for any reason, it's just a superstition but, I will adhear to it forever. The only name I may ever get will be "mom" in one of those sailor jerry style tattoos but, probably not. Anyway, when we got together and knew that we would be for quite some time, my wife and I solidified our friendship by getting the matching tats.




My legs just add to the childlike part of me. On my right leg I have the America McGee version of Alice with the Cheshire cat. Devious, dark, and a bit twisted. Hmmm, how does that sound like? On my other leg I have my favorite comic book character ever, Squee. Squee symbolizes the child in me, scared of the world, always getting put into odd situations and for some reason always getting out of them a bit traumatized but, o.k. Squee also has someone constantly watching out for him, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. No matter what happens to Squee, Johnny happens to be about and lends a bloody but, helping hand.

My arms are home to my largest pieces. On my upper left arm I have an interpretation of the Green Man. The Green Man, also known as Puck or Pan, is a character of celtic mythology who is a prankster, whimsical,and a spirit of nature. My right arm is sleeved in an interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. Alice has a direct bering on my life as I feel like I'm constantly falling down the rabbit hole. My life is crazy but along the way I've meet some very colorful characters and every morning I wake up and everything seems to be alright.








I still need to upload a few more pictures of the back where I've had some more fill doen but, I plan on going to get some color work finished pretty soon, so I'll probably just get them uploaded after that.

Peanuts

No, this is not Charles Schultz. This is George Washington Carver, the father of the peanut. If you don't know who he is, do everyone a favor and prostrate yourself right now and beg for forgiveness, while apologizing profusely...DO IT NOW!! Not only did this man figure out over 300 uses for the peanut but, he actually turned down an BOATLOAD of cash (between patents and otherwise) just to continue researching what he loved, Agricultural Chemistry. Just wanted to give him the proverbial "shout out" and recognize that he was a truly great American. That, and the fact that I LIVE off of peanut butter. KAMPAI!...peanut.

"All over the place" or "Anywhere the Wind Blows"

Wanna know what goes on in my head? It's frightnening but, I thought I'd just write down the stream of thoughts that are going on in my skull right now. It might be amusing or scary...

I really need to fix my grill. The damn hoses have been blocked for almost a month and I really want to make a London Broil this weekend. My son is having his 40 day blessing this weekend. Does anyone care that Ada Lovelace was considered the first computer programmer even though computers were not even invented until like 100 years later? I need to get out my guitar and tune it up again, I have like 10 songs that I need to write and the chord progressions are really starting to sound good. What Difference can the engine make? No one knows what the hell I'm talking about right now...Man, this cookie is really tasty, I like mint. I want to be a cowboy, that would really be cool, well, not really but I would like to know what it was like to live in the old west. I can't find my bowler derby. Shoot, I still owe Luke a new one. Did Eddy Vetter die? I can't remember... I Have SOOOOOO much work to do this weekend between writing all these school papers and getting the housework done. I need to paint my models and build my army. I was actually thinking about putting together my Tau but, I don;t have any troops. I could get some Fire Warriors but, I REALLY want to get the new Space Wolves, they're sweet. I don't want to work for Sally, I really want to work for Kathy again...I like working for Carrie, she is probaly the coolest boss I've ever had other than Martina, or Mr. Hurst, LOL he was awesome. Hello caller, please state the nature of your emergency, please tell me. At the end fo the day, when the buildings are razed what we see is black and grey, will we ever be the same will we ever be the same WILL WE EVER BE THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello caller, I think I have an emergency, will you please help me....Man, Antonio needs to call me so we can record that damn song...I told him he needs to get those beats recorded but, at least he's reading his books again instead of drinking. A man without faith will no longer be true, and a mind without purpose will walk in dark places. Black Library really needs to write, "The Spheres of Longing". They quote that book all the time but there is NO actual book, "The Spheres of Longing". I really need to make sure that my scripts work tommorrow, I have to get the rest of the Powerpoints done but those scripts need to work before that. Where is my Clash of the Tartans CD? I want to watch the old Johnny Quest movie. I hope it will only take two more sittings to get my arm finished. I feel so unbalanced with no color on half my tattoo. The caterpillar needs to be as colorful as the Mad Hatter. I wonder if I'll be able to get in that Software class next term. I also need to get SQL for dummies. I want to have that Access program written before my next Nutrition class. It would be so cool to be a baker. Storytelling needs to be a profitable profession, no degree needed BOO. I was totally born in the wrong century. Oooo, Iron Chef...

Nanner Banner: Warhol Edition

In honor of Mr. Warhol and my last post, I give you what I've titled, Four Nanners.



As Andy said, "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes..." (1979)

What's in a name? About another $50.00....

When you go to the store, what prompts you to buy a product? The Good Value© brand crispy rice cereal or the "snap", crackle", and "pop" of Rice Crispies©. Now think about it they both make the crackling sound in milk, they both are made of rice they both have relatively the same nutritional value. What makes Rice Crispies© so much better? You got it, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Just because the box is blue and there are some cool cartoons on it, the cereal is supposed to be super fortified and needs to cost 5000% more right? You're paying for the comfort of knowing that you are eating a name. I was thinking about this today at work. Let me preface this with a few things. I shop at thrift stores, LOVE to save money, and the only name brand I really care about are my Converse, HAIL TO THE CHUCKS!. C'mon I got married in my Chucks, everyone has their vices so leave me alone...

Anyway, there's this one group of "ladies", I'm being very generous, that work in the other part of our building. Luckily, I don't have to hear the incessant babble about the newest Coach bag or Prada bag or Dolce & Gabbanananana glasses they just bought for $35,000. I just can't fathom how a person can justify paying an exorbitant amount of money for something that you can get at a fraction of the cost. It may be status thing , it may be a need to fit in, or just a simple preference. I remember back in middle school you HAD to have a Billabong jacket to even be considered normal. I never had one or wanted one but, then again, I was never really a normal kid (that, and I couldn't afford one, meh...) Back to the point, if you have two items identical in make, look, and aesthetics but one has a name brand on it, which one do you purchase?

In the book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, he was quoted as saying, "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it..........." (1975).

After I read that, it put things in perspective a little bit. Think about it, who else is eating the same Campbell's tomato soup as you? It may be in a different bowl, different spoon, or right out of the can but, it doesn't really matter. Regardless of how much you paid for it, how hot or cold it is, or where it came from, it's all the same soup. Speaking of which, I need to eat some dinner. Mmmmmm....Mmmmmm....Good.