Last entry: 14 July '07... Yeah, you could say I haven't been around for awhile.

I'm still alive, still here and loving life more than I have in a very long time. Unfortunately, after an absence of that length there is no way in hell I could ever catch up on the number of sets I've missed, so I apologize for the comments I haven't made on sets of those I know.

Still 'on the beach' so to speak. It's been a great run, but having not worked since Oct. '06 means it's really time to get another job. No worries, things are headed in the right direction.

I'll try to get around to a catch up post on Sunday or Monday, but for now I'll leave you with two things. First, there is change in the wind... big change (at least for me) and it's putting a huge on my face. That's all I'll say about that for now since I don't want to jinx it!!! Second, if anyone in the area is looking for something to do tomorrow night (ok, tonight now), check out Opiate for the Masses at Volume 11 in Raleigh. I'll be there and it should be a good show!

Hope everyone is well and I'll make time to say hello on Sunday or Monday. Till then, keep on rockin' and live life!!! --->E

I'm Back!!!

Finally got internet hooked up, now that I'm back in NC. Missed you all, and I'll be back to commenting regularly soon. In the meantime, there's a ton of unpacking to do. The new house is great, but has more than a few issues to deal with. Rebuilding the shop out back, annhilating the cursed bamboo that has taken over part of the yard, and figuring out where I am going to put all my junk has kept me busy lately!

All I can say is that PA sucked ass! That's not to say that I didn't meet some really great people while I was there, because I certainly did, but it's amazing to be back home! I moved to PA in '94 and it took 6 years for it to kill my spirit. Funny that it only took one week for me to come to life again once I returned! Let's just say that things have been more than interesting lately, and leave it at that!

Hope all is going great for everyone and that it continues that way. Look forward to hearing from friends, old and new, and to the adventures that life brings in the days to come!

Evolution of a Backpiece

Got it finished back in April and finally got the time to post a play-by-play of how it went. Been a bit chaotic around here lately. Anyway, big thanx go out to Girlie for suggesting the artist and to tmronin and his wife Morgan for putting me up while I was in NYC. Huge kudos to the artist, Stephanie Tamez at New York Adorned in Manhattan for turning my words and primitive stick figures into what you are about to see. The idea was all mine, but it's Stephanie who gets all the credit for making it come to life and giving it detail. I can't say enough about how great she was to put up with someone crazy enough to get a full backpiece as their first tattoo, especially since I was pretty particular about how I wanted it to come out. We got together 3 times between April and September of '06 to work out the drawings before ever putting needle to skin. Her patience and professionalism really made this a fantastic experience. Not to mention the fact that she's incredible at what she does and I couldn't be more pleased with the results!!! I'll probably cross post this in the tatto group, but enough gabbing... on with the play-by-play. Before and after shots of each session.

Session 1: 10/6/06, 2.5hrs
Like I said, first ink for me, so I was more than a little apprehensive since so many people had told me spine sucks. Stephanie didn't realize this was my first tattoo until she asked if I had any other work while putting the stencil on my back. She got a kick out of the fact that I was starting off with something so large. Later, she admitted that she started in a spot she knew wasn't going to be any fun for me because we both needed to know what we were getting into. Stephanie said when I sat like a stone, she knew I was going to be just fine. Guess what... spine ain't so bad.



Session 2: 12/20/06, 2.5hrs
Before we started this thing, Stephanie told me that on a piece this large with this many sittings that there would be good and bad days. Having nothing to reference that with, I really didn't understand but took her word for it. After this session, I understood. Session 2 sucked ass! Outline on the coil near my left armpit blew giant donkey balls, and nothing else was comfortable either. While Stephanie said I wasn't, I felt like I was squirming all over the place. It wasn't terrible or anything, but this was the only session that I was glad when it was over.



Session 3: 1/26/07, 3.5hrs
Added a little more outline to the sword and began shading. The red and the shading of the wall were no problem, but the blood dripping on the wall wasn't much fun. Let me tell you, there's no love in the love handle area!



Session 4: 1/27/07, 2.5hrs
So while I was in the chair for Session 3, Stephanie had a rare cancellation for the next day. Given the wait time she's got, I decided to take it. She warned me that back to back days could be rough, especially when the next day would be shading in areas she was outlining at the time, but she was game if I was since she already had in mind what to do next. All in all, not that bad. Sure, shading on areas outlined the day before was a bit tender, but not bad at all.



Session 5: 3/2/07, 3.5hrs
Going into this session, I was more than a little concerned since we would be shading the areas outlined in session 2 that had sucked so bad. If there was any doubt in my mind about what Stephanie said about good and bad days, it was definetly removed after this session. She could have used an ice pick attached to a jack-hammer instead of a tattoo gun and it still wouldn't have bothered me. For whatever inexplicable reason, everything felt fine that day and I was disappointed when the session had to end due to another appointment waiting.



Session 6: 4/13/07, 3.5hrs
Another great session... probably because I knew we would be completing it that day. Shaded the skull, finished the coil, added the modified chaostar to the sword hilt and touched up whatever needed to be. My back is turned in the shots, but there is a huge grin on my face. I'm soooo happy and amazed with what Stephanie was able to accomplish!



So, after 9 trips from Philly to NYC, 6 sessions under the needle, and a year in the making, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. Stephanie is a great artist and a helluva lotta fun to work with. I really can't recommend her highly enough. Love ya, Steph! In the end, here's how it looked a day or two or three after completion...




That about does it for the tattoo news. The only other info I've got is that I'm outta here. Not SG, but my days in PA are short numbered. I've had a blast while I've been here and met a ton of great people, but it's time I go. I'm moving back to NC on Sunday. If you've already got my number, call it after Sunday for the recording that lists my new number. If you don't have it and want it, just message me. Might take a few days to get internet again, but I'll be back. And this moving business doesn't mean I won't be working with tmronin anymore... hell, we went to high school together... just probably not so often. Looking forward to hopefully working with ScottSmallin once I get down there and settled though! Anyway, I'll be back in a few days but got a shitload to do in the meantime. I know I've been slack on commenting lately, but bike events, TeamRockstar activities and the upcoming move have kept me pretty busy lately. Hope everything is going great for everyone and hope I get back to somthing close to normal real soon!!!

Man, what can I say? After a week of being sick as hell, anything would have been good, but this past weekend was a real surprise full of the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention and TeamRockstar adventures!

The escapades began on a somber note when our Thursday shoot didn't happen for the saddest of reasons. She knows who she is and that's all I'll say about that, except to add that our hearts and thoughts go out to her for her loss with wishes of nothing but the best in her future.

Friday dawned with me finally beginning to feel like somewhat of a human again. While I set up and moved around what equipment needed to be moved, and played chauffeur to the human element of our adventures, tmronin did what he does to bring you the best SG has to offer. Friday ended 5 sets later with tmronin having a tired trigger finger! We finally managed to drag our butts back home around 2am for a beer or three before crashing around 4. So who did we do our best to bring to you? That would be Leela, JoLeigh, Apple, Ember, and Lovely! You're going to love them all!!!

Saturday was spent at the tattoo convention. What a blast!!! I met and re-met so many SG folks that I'm forced to go against my usual style and not give names out of fear of forgetting someone! OK, one name... go give Fractal some love for coordinating the SG portion of this event, for doing such a great job with it, and for being an all-around great person to meet! Suffice it to say that there were some really great people there. And yes, there were a few complete idiots there as well, but they, thankfully, had nothing to do with SG! If you were too far away to attend, I hope the tattoo convention nearest you is at least half the fun of this one. That would be more than enough to guarantee you a good time. And if you were close enough to attend and didn't, you blew it! Shoots that had been planned for Saturday didn't happen for reasons beyond our control, but Sunday made up for that!

Sunday's shoots were best described by the model involved... and I quote, "WOW and BRRRRR"! Mayhem ROCKS!!! And I don't mean just for being able to endure the 45 degree temperature in the space where we were shooting! If you're interested in experiencing what that's like, go hang out naked in your refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours and you'll start to get the idea. I can't remember witnessing a better attitude toward adverse conditions from a model. Sort of like 'OK, this is miserable, but it works...LET"S DO IT!!!' The next time you see a model making it look easy, think of Mayhem and remember that it's not. They're just that good at what they do!

OK, more than enough of my rambling. Hope everyone is loving life and that tomorrow brings you nothing but pleasant surprises!

Last weekend was a fun one! Headed up to NYC on Friday for round three on the backpiece and lucked into round 4. While I was in the chair, someone called in a cancellation for Saturday so I took it! Friday was 3.5 hours of shading and additional outline. Saturday was 2 hours of shading the newly added outline and some other areas. I was a little concerned about back to back sessions working in the same area, but it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that good either, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Anyway, I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. I'll post progress pics in my next entry. Gotta resize.

So, while I was getting inked, tmronin was busily shooting a non-SG set with the ever-charming Jessikaaaa. They finished about the same time I did and retrieved me from the tattoo shop. Jessikaaaa and I headed off for some great conversation and delicious Thai food (This girl is such a charmer... go give her some !) while tmronin scampered away for a SG shoot with Vuokko. After dinner, Jessikaaaa headed home to get ready for the SGNY event that night, where we were all planning to meet again later. Since the space tmronin was shooting in was so tiny, and it was 7 degrees F that night, I wandered off to find a nice cozy bar to stay warm in. I magically picked just the right one because Laurie, the bartender, kept the drinks flowing and kept me fully entertained while I waited. If you're in the area, stop by and see her at Bar 82 (near the corner of 9th&2nd) and tell her I said 'Hi!'. Well, that part of the night got longer when tmronin and Vuokko +1 joined me at the bar. Turns out that a plane we were waiting on was severely delayed, so we hung out some more before heading off to the airport. We never did make it to the SGNY event because of that, which kind of sucked since there were a lot of people there I was looking forward to getting to meet. It was all good in the end, though.

So, 'who was on the plane?', you might ask. Why none other than the amazing Amina, who was coming in for a non-SG photoshoot! I had never had the privilege of meeting her before, and let me tell you, a privilege it was. This girl rocks! You already know her looks, but she's got personality to match. She's off the hook and one helluva lot of fun to be around. It was a blast hanging with her and tmronin and his wife Morgan for the rest of the weekend! Anyway, Friday had been a long day for all involved, so after a quick bite we headed back to tmronin's to crash.

Saturday started late (thankfully) with brunch, then me heading off for round 4 on the backpiece. After that, I headed back to Brooklyn to Duff's, where I was supposed to meet the rest of the aforementioned crew at 10:30. Oops, Amina's shoot was delayed due to problems with a shoot before her's, so the rest of the crew didn't make it until around 1am. No worries, though! What is it with NYC and gorgeous bartenders? LA did me right (or wrong, depending on how you look at it ) and I was pretty toasted by the time they showed up. The night just got better from there and after a drunken diner run ended somewhere around 5am. Sunday was another (thankfully) late start. We missed brunch where we had intended to eat so had to find somewhere else. Picked a place, and who turns out to be our waitress? Laurie, from Bar 82! 25 million people in NYC and we bump into her again by chance. What are the odds of that?!?

Anyway, all those late nights and running around in the cold have left me with a nasty flu , which I'm sincerely hoping to shake by Thursday since that's when the next TeamRockstar adventure begins. Tmronin will be out in my neck of the woods, camera in hand, for a few sets on Thursday then we're off for a studio day in Philly on Friday. Saturday we'll be at the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention and more shooting on Sunday!

Ok, I feel like crap so I'm off to attempt to get well. Hope everything is going great for everyone. I'll try my best to catch up on comments later tonight, after the next dose of NyQuil kicks in.

Another 1300 miles and I'm still an idiot. Christmas was what it was (I just couldn't get into the spirit this year), New Year was a total waste, and pretty much everything since then has been one long string of disappointment. <sigh> Oh, I did get to meet Brooklyn over Christmas, though. What a sweetheart! Go say 'Hi' if you haven't already!

The other exception to the holiday suck-fest was round two of the ink adventure happening on my back. It's pretty amazing to see the ability of the artist to translate my words into an image... especially amazing when considering my artistic ability is limited to stick figures, at best. Round one was outline work from the base of my neck to below my belt, mostly around the spine, but expanding at the base to the kidney area. Spine wasn't nearly as bad as I had heard... in fact, it was almost nothing and I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. Kidneys weren't much fun, though. Round two was outline across the width of my back across lats, down backside of ribs and near underarms... that sucked! Maybe I just had a bad day, but round two got my attention on more than one occasion. Even so, I'm really pleased with what's been done so far and am looking forward to round three this Friday. Don't know if it will be near completion of the outline or begin shading or both, but it will be another 4 hour adventure. Also looking forward to hanging with tmronin and Jessikaaaa while I'm up there.

Saturday the 27th is a huge ? mark. Anyone got any ideas? The next weekend however should be big fun since that will be the Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention. Many photoshoots scheduled to be brought to you courtesy of tmronin and the rest of the TeamRockstar crew! I look forward to meeting those I haven't and seeing again those I have. We'll be busily bringing you our best from Thursday thru Sunday, so stay tuned!!!

Anyway, hope all is going great for everyone and that it continues to do so. I'll catch up tomorrow on replies and comments. A lot of ground to cover since I've been away so long... Later --->E

PS If one more girl who isn't interested tells me I could have any girl I want, I think I'm going to scream!

3300 of the loneliest and most isolated miles later, I've realized a few things. First, I'm an idiot. Second, it's tough to say goodbye to a big part of your life; even tougher to say goodbye to more than one big part in a short span of time. And third, I'm an idiot.

Being home for Thanksgiving was a nice change from recent years and getting to see the niece and nephew was great, but the before and after parts of the trip really sucked. Feeling hope dissolve into despair isn't something I relish and not getting to see people I really wanted to only made it worse. Now imagine one of those things happening twice before and four times after Thanksgiving and you'll start to get a handle on my trip. Add injury to that and you'll be getting closer. A lot of blood later from a cut over the eye and having the skin ripped off of two knuckles and that tree was destined for the burn pile. Funny how you don't feel pain when you're hurting.

I did manage to find that warm beach I was looking for, but it wasn't as fulfilling as I had hoped with a broken heart and a soul as empty as the beach.

On a good note, I also discovered that there are still a few good, compassionate soles out there. I had the privilege to meet one on three seperate occasions on my journey. It's pleasantly surprising how they turn up when you least expect them, but need them most. Though they won't see this, a big tip o' the hat to Jodene, Shy and Rosie, for being there and taking the time to give a damn.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day. I'll catch up on comments then but for now, know that I'm back, for whatever it's worth, and back with a vengeance. More TeamRockstar adventures on Thursday and I'll keep you informed! (URL insert isn't working... damned new layout: http://www.teamrockstarimages.com ) Hope everyone has been safe and happy while I've been away and that life deals you nothing but wonderful surprises!

Now that I have more free time on my hands than I've ever had in my life with nothing pressing, that's exactly what I'm getting accomplished... nothing.

Time to finally be completely lazy was much deserved for a while, but now restlessness and cabin fever have set in. That's why this past weekend's out-of-town TeamRockstar photoshoot adventure was so much fun. Well, that and all the great people I had the pleasure to meet! This trip wasn't anywhere near as hectic as some, which made for some much appreciated social time. We managed to hit D.C. and Baltimore where tmronin had scheduled shoots (some for SG, some not) with Ernie, NyckyJane, Zui and friend, FieryGirl84, Drave, Mnislahi and a referral who's not on the site yet. None of these were people I had met before and all were a blast to be around... including the collection of significant others and friends that were in on the adventures!

Anyway, it's tougher than I thought to simply goof off all day and when all your friends have that annoying job thing to attend to, the week can get pretty long and boring. On top of that, I've discovered that though she has a great deal to say, my isn't exactly the greatest conversationalist and would much rather just have her fuzzy little head scratched. That's why I think I'll head down south in the next day or two. Can't listen to the cat and stare at these walls much more without going crazy, so maybe I'll go watch waves crash on a warm beach for awhile... or maybe I'll just go exploring again and find someplace new to me. Haven't decided yet, but I gotta do something. If you've got any ideas on cool places to waste time, don't hesitate to let me know!

Hope everything is going great for everyone !!!

Been gone for awhile, but I'm back. Real update later... For now, if you haven't checked out Kyra's latest set or Maxi's latest set: DO IT NOW! and leave them both some well deserved For that matter, leave some for Tmronin, too, since he shot both of those sets.

And for those who have messaged about it, yes, that's me playing man prop in Maxi's latest set and I will dutifully attend tomorrow to having my name legally changed to 'Lucky Bastard'

Ok, it's later enough so here goes: My last day at work due to the layoff was supposed to be Oct. 6, but was actually Oct. 5 since I had long ago made arrangements to spend Oct. 6 finally getting under the needle. Damn, I've only been talking about getting tattooed since I was 16 and I know I'm a little slow, but it's about fucking time! Anyway, three hours later I was happily wearing about half of the outline for my first piece and discussing details for the rest of which hasn't even been drawn yet. Does anybody know of anyone else nuts enough to get a full backpiece as their first ink!?! It's taken far too long and it isn't even close to over yet, but it's an image that's been in my head for years and I finally found an artist (thanks to Girlie ) who is both technically up to the task and willing to work with me on the specifics. I decided not to post pics yet because even though it runs from the base of my neck to below my belt, it's just a shell at this point and doesn't do justice to my design or to the extraordinary amount of effort the artist has put into it so far. Next ink date: Dec. 20 for, hopefully, another third of the outline and shading of what's already there.

Then it was immediately off, saran wrap and all , with Tmronin to NJ for an attempt at two photoshoots that, unfortunately, didn't happen. Let's just say that after setting up, etc. there were cops involved and leave it at that, ok. Soooo, after a few beers I spent the night on Tmronin's couch, woke up, washed the black ooze off my back and drove home. Surprisingly, that wasn't as uncomfortable as I had anticipated. In fact, it wasn't uncomfortable at all.

Then came a few days and several hundred miles on the bike. Don't ask me where all I went... I wasn't even sure half the time and didn't really care! That was followed by a little itching, a few days of utter laziness and returning to find out that the faster I go, the behind-er I get! So here I am, trying to catch up. The good news is: Now that I don't have a job (and don't intend to until after the first of the year), I've got more than enough time on my hands to do just that!

Hope all is going wonderfully for everyone and that the start of the nippy season isn't bringing you down. Hmmm... Did someone say ski?... Loveland is already open, and so is A-Basin. It wouldn't take much to get there...

A wise individual once said that the only thing any of us can ever count on in this life is change.

Sometimes it comes slowly and can be shaped by our own hands. Other times it is swift and totally beyond our control: this is one of those times. Allow me to backtrack a bit...

July '06: Complete chaos at work to carry out two huge experiments before going on vacation. Neither of these was due to be completed until October, but I knew if the first attempt wasn't successful that I'd only have one more shot after vacation since one took 4 weeks and the other 5. Both came out great with fantastic results, so I was able to head out to Sturgis knowing all was well.

Early August '06: Went out to the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally and had the time of my life. The daily account of our exploits is still coming. Read on for the delay...

15 August '06: Returned to work to get this news- Reorganization within the department. Change in reporting structure possible.- Great, just what I need... a little more chaos.

1 September '06: Pleasant surprise at work. Received an unexpected performance award (certificate+cash) for successfully completing the aforementioned monster experiments 2 months ahead of schedule.

6 September '06: Notified that I, and the other 20 people in my group are to be laid off, effective 6 October '06.

Translation for those who don't speak corporate-ese: You've been doing great job for 13 years, now get the fuck out.

Sometimes I truly hate corporate America, other times I just don't care. Long story short, that's where I've been and why I haven't been around much. Trying to figure out where to go and what to do takes an extraordinary amount of time. It's also the reason I missed the recent Teamrockstar festivities in Boston. I apologize as I really wanted to see you all, but it couldn't be helped. I'll pass the info along when I decide what to do and where to do it. Until then, I expect posts will be much more frequent as I'll soon have plenty of time on my hands. Hope all is well with everyone and that life is dealing you nothing but pleasant surprises. As for me, there is a silver lining to everything since I foresee an extended vacation due to the severance package coming my way.