Tag: friends

Introducing My Next Tattoo

I got my first tattoo on my first wedding anniversary with Maura. I’ve been trying to decide what to do for my second the moment I walked out the door of Exile Tattoo. I’ve toyed with various ideas – cephalopods, skulls/bones, mechanical parts, etc. and couldn’t really decide on anything. I also knew I wanted to have one of the many talented artists I know create it, but everything was up in the air until the Two Headed Beast approached me about coding their website.

The Two Headed Beast is Chris and Mirna Stubbs, two very talented artists, a designer (Chris), and an illustrator (Mirna). I told them I would code their site in trade for a tattoo design. Chris had designed some tattoos for himself and I have to admit that I was a little jealous. I explained my initial to Chris and after some design and critique back and forth, this is my next tattoo:

 

cephaskelamechYesterday we met with Chet at Mercy Seat and I have a tentative date set to start inking! He seems excited to work on Chris’ designs, yesterday he said “It’s not worth doing if it’s not a challenge”. It should take between six to eight hours in at least two sessions to complete.

In an email today, Chris sent me some fundraising ideas to fund our tattoos. They cracked me up and I had to add a few of my own! He’s getting one soon as well, after having designed mine, he went to work on an idea he’s been mulling around for a while for himself – Chris’ Tattoo. They’re both pretty big and very detailed, they’re not going to be cheap.

His list:

  • temporary lawn service: “grass for tats” (I call weed wacking)
  • donate blood. it will be symbolic of the needle in the arm thing.
  • 1st Fridays we claim a corner and give crash courses in web design/ photoshop on our laptops.
  • shoe shine stand
  • donate sperm… okay no
  • a non-violent bank robbery achieved through the annoyance of begging
  • counterfeit with bills that have subliminally printed the phrase “thanks for the tat honey”

I added a few more:

  • we sell advertising space on our bodies and get logos,etc tattooed in various places. Price depends on size and location…
  • scooter delivery service, delivering small items, not scooters
  • sell body parts, obviously not ones we’re having tattooed. Do we really need two of everything?
  • sell our hair for wigs and paint brushes, it’s big money and if there’s one thing I have in abundance, it’s hair!

I’m excited to have such an original piece on my arm (the left one) – Chris did such a great job synthesizing some of my favorite things.

Old Friends

It’s amazing how talking to old friends, especially ones you haven’t seen in a while, can put everything in your life into a new perspective.

I don’t know if it was the weather or maybe I was sending out some kind of homing signal. Last Wednesday within one hour of each other two people who I haven’t talked to in over a year called me. Both good friends from the past – one I worked with a few years ago when I lived in central Missouri – Nicole, and the other I went to college with -Ryan. We met Nicole for dinner last thursday – it was great to see her and catch up. She and her family kept me sane through a somewhat dark time in my life. Ryan has been in school since he was five. He’s now an anesthesiologist in search of work – he interviewed at a local hospital and should know within two weeks!

I’m typically very bad at keeping in touch with people. Friendships are a two way thing, I realize – it’s not just me, but I should probably be more proactive. Even friends that live near – a good friend who lives north of the river just had his second child and I haven’t even met the first yet! As in introvert, I don’t tend to seek out a lot of people and yet the friendships I make tend to last. I lose touch with people and when we find each other again, it’s like nothing happened.

In visiting with Nicole, she commented that it was great to see me so happy. I know that I’m much happier now than I’ve ever been in my life (all due to my awesome wife), but hearing her say it made it even truer somehow. It gave me a basis for comparison I guess – this is how far I’ve come. It’s also good to hear that she and her family are doing well, as well as the other people in Columbia that I do a terrible job of keeping in touch with.

I guess my point in writing all of this is that I need to quit being quite so solitary. I need people; I need to stay in touch with those that are not near and I need to actually hang out with those that are.