I tried to work out my feelings for Miami Ink in today's Needled News.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the show in the column's comments section. I'm on the fence.

I have a pile of work waiting for me but it's Saturday, so I'm saying fuck it and treating a special 10-yr-old to a day of pampering kiddie style.

First, my step son and I are going on a shopping spree for his birthday next week. Then the movies, then pizza and ice cream -- just the two of us.

This is what makes life good.

My birthday is tomorrow so my hubs and I are taking the day off to go to our fave naked spa in Holland -- as usual. he's also treating me to a massage and other treatments. yummmm. Cant wait.

While Needled plays to the highbrow and snob side of me, the other side is decidely lowbrow, street ... in essence, old Brooklyn.

So this Saturday, I'm having a party in Belgium in our favorite dive bar. We have our own DJ coming who will play old punk, new hardcore and he'll throw in Beyonce as a special treat!

My sis and our best man Chris are coming in from NYC for the fun. If you're in Belgium, it's an open invite:

Just got back home from the Milan Tattoo Convention. It was a party as usual and I still have no idea how I managed a relatively readable redux of the show for today's Needled News. Please read it so my efforts were not in vain and making deadline while hungover is then worth it.

Last night at the show's after party in the hotel lobby, I was forced to drink too much Sambuca and wine and ended up doing some unmentioned things with a Che Guevara finger puppet. I pray there are no pictures.

I posted a bunch of my safe pix on Flickr and have more to upload tomorrow. Meanwhile, check out one from my Macbook booth cam (my friend Milly's butt):

My interview with everyone's favorite serial killer-tattoo artist is up.

Give Timmy some love for Valentine's Day.

http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Valentine's+Day+with+Tim+Kern/

My latest post for Needled News is up on the Dos and Don'ts of tattoos based on the news this past week.

I'm finally embracing the tattoo snob thing. I do have guilt about passing judgment on shitty art that people love but it kills me when I see people taking tattooing so lightly. To me it's this ancient art, something to respect. Just like the way I respect my body overall (she says taking a sip of her wine).

In other news ...

I did my first iChat via the built in webcam in my new Macbook. It was disconcerting to say the least. And not just because I saw ymonster with bedhead.

I also love playing with the photobooth feature....





That's the hubby in the last one with me.

It is with great sadness that I wrote on the passing of the legendary Walter Moskowitz last night. He suffered with cancer for some time and is now at peace.

Walter was one of the original Bowery Boys. Mike McCabe said it best: "If it hadn't been for the Moskowitz brothers, tattooing might have died out altogether [in NYC]."

I got to meet Walter in December and he was so wonderful and I learned so much from him. It was my first and last time seeing him but it had a profound affect on me.

I hope his stories will live on.


[Walter, knealing, with his father, brother and client called The Human Autograph.]

I love a morning where, clutching my coffee mug for dear life, I am called to my hubby who tells me to take off my t-shirt. yeah, morning sex? BUT he then takes a large sheet of tracing paper and starts outlining the shape of my torso...

he's inspired ... but its for a tattoo, not some booty at the moment.

He finally has the idea for the Medusa snake "belt" I want and how to incorporate the other greek designs we found on some ancient pottery and stone reliefs. weeeeeeeeeee!!!!

now I just need to find time to laser off an old black rose on my hip that I got over ten years ago so it doesn't disturb the piece. it will be a full torso work.

oh, and i need to do a thousand situps!

I had so much fun with Needled News today. Lots of great images and less bla bla from me as I give a round-up of the best blog posts on tattoos -- from a portrait series on Japanese parents with their children (see below) to body art at Sao Paulo's Fashion Week to tattooed psychics and more. Oh, and there's a link that finally answers the question whether you can be buried in a Jewish cemetary, even with a Star of David chestpiece.

This is my fave photo eva!