zoo animals

been busy as usual. was in a funky bit week or two ago, feeling back on top. huge personal life changes got me liberated, confident, happy. summers being weird but i dont mind at all really. being at tattoo zoo is great, and im grateful to have found such a solid group/shop. i am self aware enough, just barely, to understand i can scare people at first, when i get going. with the stories, jokes etc. so im doing my best to show my personality, yet not too much, too soon. hahahaha hoping they wont think im a crazy person. everyone there is rad, great at tattoos, easy to get along with. tons of walk ins, killing it. lots of fun stuff too. ive been remiss on my photographing lately. that will stop.
momentous shit in my personal life, to the good

got some fun tattoos coming up this week. stay tuned

dynamic fashion

goddamn weather still not making rank, bummed on the rain today. other than that, happpy to be joining the crew at the Tattoo Zoo as of Thursday. been painting alot of funny russian(ish) watercolors lately.
come on summer
and come by and visit your boy at the Zoo!

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?#!/group.php?gid=17902763983&ref=ts

http://www.tattoozoo.net/

oops on the twisted pic, cant erase !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD-PGMz1lUU&feature=related

bookstores, museums on smash

the shop has been great, challenging. learning lots, trying to learn lots more...lots. been hunting for alot of books. vintage tattoo flash, obscure reference, folk art and shit. came into another russian tattoo encyclopedia, volume 3 this time. totally bananas. trying to add more and more imagery into my brain-bag, to dispense when needed (constantly). the jame-dog's been dropping science as per usual, and i try to scoop it up. im thinking of tattooing in completely different terms, and what i dont know could fill a dozen encyclopedias, russian and otherwise. anyway its my weekend, and ive been squeezing quality time out of every minute of it with my girl, sometimes to her chagrin. went to the museum today! so rad, i love it in there. of course right of the hop i tried to jump in with the seals in the natural history exhibit, fucking alarms started going off, and a security guard called me a "fuckin idiot!? whattya doin in there!!". the plus side is the alarm startled savvy to thoroughly that she jerk-snapped a photo of me jumping off the seal kings rock. the first nations collections/video/pics are always my favorite, but i get bummed that some of the masks and shit arent where they should be, which i suspect is with the people that hold them dearest. the chinatown exhibit is a hit, shit hasnt even changed, other than more people smoking opium. after all that excitement, my and my girl tripped around uptown, hitting bookstores again, savvy true to form displaying much patience. while in munro's books, i told a clerk of my failed attempt at stealing books 10 years ago, and how it resulted in old man Munro sitting me down in his old ass mahogany ass smoky ass office, and how he made me buff the two big ole brass signs on the marble storefront as penance. they laughed, said 'hes in right now, old man munro, in ....HIS OFFICE', i was all shook so i bounced. muhfuckas tough.
im full stokes on my new books though! studying up!
yeah yeah! tomorrow off too, more studies, good food, and bro-downs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMPxSi9iUM



ps-took a ride with D-Boy in his notorious as fuck Mustang 5.0, my sphincter hasnt yet recovered from fear clenches. on some steve mcqueen shit.

sprung

O.G. morning post today. almost morning.. had a busy, fun week. got my homie justin back for the cabinet, drew and tattood lots, even went late night swimming at oak bay pool and shit. trying to really put in the work i need to at the shop without losing my private and social life. i think thats the hardest shit, when i see people i look up to like Bill and Jamer putting in 12 hours or more. tattooing is very very important to me, and i strive to be a dedicated tattooer, the only way to do is it to take it seriously. there's sacrifices im willing to take to put in work right now, and im grateful most of the people around me understand, but i need to make more. more and more! as long as my girl is ok, and our relationship stays strong, im good. i wont sacrifice that. thank christ she understands, and is willing to make compromises. i better learn to make them shits. there is aslo many tattooers i look ip to that seems to lead full ass private lives outside of tattooing. im sure ill find a balance that suits me eventually. until then work hard.
for my homies that pop in and say hello, love yall!

jean pool

ive been busy! ok, mad busy. and loving it. im immersing myself in a encyclopedic pool of tat knowledge, treading water among some of the most tremendous swimmers and hardest workers on this coast. i feel so so lucky to be where i am, no dole. the crew here works hard. jamers evening naps enable him to literally be in the shop until 3 or even 4AM some nights. this is real. chris comes in and slays, absolutely anoints a dudes rib piece, big beautiful colors, no choppiness, gorgeous. no worries. d-boy rocking a top knot, killing it, studious, skilled and helpful. all of them super helpful. enjoying bro times among some evening drawing "class"es. to say class in unfair to the teacher, as the jame dog smashes through japanese dragon anatomy while i, my brain picking up as much as it can manages to, miss probably 80% of it. for now that is to say...being in this environment is highly conducive to a healthy lifestyle for me, inasmuch as helping me really devote the time necessary to draw,study and learn more within tattooing.
pretty stoked, i even managed to miss the harshed out diarrhetic shitstorm thats been circulating. the past week has mostly been me waking, walking around the corner, tattooing, coming home late. fucking rice and bbq pork son.
as usual, im dramatizing.
but! still purely catching quality time with my girl. most important.
ive been mad remiss on the blog tip too, im guilty. i was politicking an awesome one the other day but lost the whole thing due to paranoia. serves me right, it was about graff missions, and a bag of crack i found. funny shit.
im mass tired. ive got a coupla pics here, more en route. im off to bed


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aNG6Uz9u8

SETTLIN

been watching 2-3 hard-wired junkies loiter(clocking) the corner a block and a half down off my window. as i sit here typing i can watch em even. not as i type right now i should say, as its mad windy, kinda shitty, whatever. but it is "Welfare Wednesday" after all and i was expecting a little more. im going to be honest and rude and confess my objectification of these birds. animalization as it were. tracking their movements, giving them quippy broadway musical names like "jimmy walker" and "2-shakes". i pray for a dance fight battle, but with more of a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern type thing.
in reality though, i watched the young looking red faced one get shaken down by a couple of beat cops.
its great being here, our place is mad nice, rigged up well, custom wood stuff and all that, courtesy of a Mr.Justin Bones esq. a talented, prideful creator of woody goodies.
this isnt a braggy fluff piece though, as we are both feeling a little at a loss, missing courtenay. im actually surprised at it. nothing serious i should add, for myself of course. savannah can speak for herself, but from my angle is doing pretty fucking well considering.
standouts of the past week include; an epically fun,sexy dance-off of the first order with my darling, and some of our besties at a very cheesy, probable gay bar. saturday night.
running into super rad buddies! who are for the most part, killing it!
hanging out at my new place of employ, and getting all stoked up on total bro downs.
eating. staining the pine of the shelf.
lovely, sunset drive with Savvy. who for the most part is full-on killing it!
cycling my ass off around town everyday having so much fun.

other than that, lots of other neat shit that makes me happy and lucky to be hanging again. to say the very least.
keeping a mass low profile. just now had phone and internet installed.
miss yall
miss tattooing as well, time to get back to



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCfRcgoPxTw

(g)lock busting

in the midst of a waist deep shitstorm that is our moving/packing/sally-ann strewn house, weve been having a roller-coasting hootenanny. we are feeling a little cagey, savvy and i. that is to say with the horizon of our moving deadline looming larger and larger in our view, and it being so fucking nice out, its taking all we have not to box each others ears in. other than that! shits been so so good. visits from super new homies, lots of sun, bicycles, and lock pickings.
ive recently had the pleasure of a diabolical,one on one, lock picking tutorial. turns out, tactile as i am, im excelling in the field. was kindly given me own set of picks, and even today came into a bogota style rake. as you can see, im even comfortably using crucial pickin' slang...
i jumped in the puntledge river yesterday. fully dipping on smash. too early turns out.
i traded a skookum pair of jeans for a vintage(ish) bike for my darlin, looks damn good on her too.
im going to miss courtenay so much. so so so much for real. its rad here, and im trying my goddamnest to pack in colloquial memories, suspecting when i arrive in vic, its gonna obviously be a whole other jam. i really dont want to take living in a place like this for granted, and as ive mentioned before ive got my full summer-head-crazy-guy on full bore.
love is in the air! my friends, many of em, with the springiest fevers. warms me to see it. and when it comes to my own spring fever focus, it warms me even warmer. especially one part of me.
sun, savannah, smashing success
alas, my good friend, and former front end girl mellissa packed up all my shit for me at black rose! hahahah i was grateful among other things. so, no tattoos for a few days. i miss it! awesome
here are locks ive picked, with a variety of difficulty