I am ready to start my sleeve and have thought long and hard about it. Just wondering where to start. O the dilemma of my first Real tattoo. I refer to my others as impersonations of tattoos, not because I don't like them, but because I think they are silly.
I got my first tattoo when I was 19 on an adventure with one of my favorite people in the world and another good friend. Jen, Kip and I took off for Sturgis, SD on a sunny August afternoon, with the top off the jeep (I wish we were on bikes
to see the greatest rock band of all time KISS. Of course the drive also began with a stop in the nearby town for a bottle of Jack to keep us going. We drove for twelve hours that day and in the tenth hour, the hail came. Gee, were we were a sight driving down the road. We pulled a tarp out of our camping gear and threw it over the top of the jeep and wrapped it around the bars. Jen held onto her side while steering, Kip held onto his, while I wrangled the two back sides. Let me just say right now that I was all for stopping on the side of the road and waiting out the storm but we were pretty close, had been driving all day and wanted to get to the camp ground. Needless to say after about an hour of tarp wrangling the rain started to slow down and we were able to cruise the rest of the way in.
When we got there our friends from the other side of Montana were already waiting for us to start the next round of the drinking. We sat up all night and bullshitted, drank beer and talked about all of the fun things we were going to do the next day and how awesome seeing KISS would be. I think I watched Detroit Rock City every night the week before getting in the spirit. We crawled off to bed into our tents ready for the next day.
The morning began with some mild South Dakota sunlight and the beautiful rumble of Harley engines around us. We all woke each other up, and got good and ready before heading into the heart of Sturgis. We wandered into and out of booths admiring the bikes, leather and leathery people. But looking for more we decided to check out the biggest biker bar in the world: the Full Throttle Saloon. This is where my eyes were opened to what I want to do every summer for the rest of my life. The freedom of the people, the drunkenness, the debauchery,the beautiful ladies with sexy outfits on, the concert venue, the free tattoo stall...
You know what happens next, I stood in line for 5 hours waiting for the booth to open up, occasionally running out to the car to take a shot or two while filling my flask. I was 19 and not about to ask to be served and get kicked out for trying. The premise of the tattoo booth was that we could get the bars logo tattooed on us for free and tip the artist which was perfect as I may otherwise not have been able to afford the tat. My friend and I looked at the premade designs and decided which we liked and where to put them. Being as it was going to say Full Throttle on my body forever I figured I may as well make sure to attach it with an innuendo. So above my vagina it reads Full Throttle Saloon (the saloon in smaller letters, but I am sure people mostly ignore this word anyway) with little wings on the side. Jen got a flaming skull with the same words on her inner thigh and hers doesn't pop out of her pants at inappropriate moments. The little booth was mostly made of windows and the compromising placements of our tats made us quite a spectacle. Surprisingly, it being my first tattoo and in such a sensitive spot, it didn't hurt much.
We got out of there in enough time to get over to the Buffalo Chip to see Kiss and it was wonderful and everything I could have imagined. We managed to weasel our way into the VIP seating and had an excellent view on top of some bleachers. We were in there with some old school fans who thought it was silly that we could sing all of their songs and that we were so into it but they got it I'm sure. Kiss pulled off some of their most famous tricks Paul Stanley zip lined across the field onto a tech tower, Gene spewed blood every where, there were some boobies and the governor named August 4th Kiss Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota.
Tough it wasn't a well thought out tattoo and I was a bit embarrassed of it for a while I have learned to embrace it. It reminds me of an amazing adventure I had with some of my best friends in the world. It makes me giggle when people ask me about it and I get to tell them the story. My favorite thing it allows me to respect the place for the ridiculous things in life and not to take myself seriously (though I don't have that problem at all).
I will post a pic when my camera isn't dead. And I will post the video of my second tattoo sometime soon; I just have to ind it.
I got my first tattoo when I was 19 on an adventure with one of my favorite people in the world and another good friend. Jen, Kip and I took off for Sturgis, SD on a sunny August afternoon, with the top off the jeep (I wish we were on bikes
to see the greatest rock band of all time KISS. Of course the drive also began with a stop in the nearby town for a bottle of Jack to keep us going. We drove for twelve hours that day and in the tenth hour, the hail came. Gee, were we were a sight driving down the road. We pulled a tarp out of our camping gear and threw it over the top of the jeep and wrapped it around the bars. Jen held onto her side while steering, Kip held onto his, while I wrangled the two back sides. Let me just say right now that I was all for stopping on the side of the road and waiting out the storm but we were pretty close, had been driving all day and wanted to get to the camp ground. Needless to say after about an hour of tarp wrangling the rain started to slow down and we were able to cruise the rest of the way in.
When we got there our friends from the other side of Montana were already waiting for us to start the next round of the drinking. We sat up all night and bullshitted, drank beer and talked about all of the fun things we were going to do the next day and how awesome seeing KISS would be. I think I watched Detroit Rock City every night the week before getting in the spirit. We crawled off to bed into our tents ready for the next day.
The morning began with some mild South Dakota sunlight and the beautiful rumble of Harley engines around us. We all woke each other up, and got good and ready before heading into the heart of Sturgis. We wandered into and out of booths admiring the bikes, leather and leathery people. But looking for more we decided to check out the biggest biker bar in the world: the Full Throttle Saloon. This is where my eyes were opened to what I want to do every summer for the rest of my life. The freedom of the people, the drunkenness, the debauchery,the beautiful ladies with sexy outfits on, the concert venue, the free tattoo stall...
You know what happens next, I stood in line for 5 hours waiting for the booth to open up, occasionally running out to the car to take a shot or two while filling my flask. I was 19 and not about to ask to be served and get kicked out for trying. The premise of the tattoo booth was that we could get the bars logo tattooed on us for free and tip the artist which was perfect as I may otherwise not have been able to afford the tat. My friend and I looked at the premade designs and decided which we liked and where to put them. Being as it was going to say Full Throttle on my body forever I figured I may as well make sure to attach it with an innuendo. So above my vagina it reads Full Throttle Saloon (the saloon in smaller letters, but I am sure people mostly ignore this word anyway) with little wings on the side. Jen got a flaming skull with the same words on her inner thigh and hers doesn't pop out of her pants at inappropriate moments. The little booth was mostly made of windows and the compromising placements of our tats made us quite a spectacle. Surprisingly, it being my first tattoo and in such a sensitive spot, it didn't hurt much.
We got out of there in enough time to get over to the Buffalo Chip to see Kiss and it was wonderful and everything I could have imagined. We managed to weasel our way into the VIP seating and had an excellent view on top of some bleachers. We were in there with some old school fans who thought it was silly that we could sing all of their songs and that we were so into it but they got it I'm sure. Kiss pulled off some of their most famous tricks Paul Stanley zip lined across the field onto a tech tower, Gene spewed blood every where, there were some boobies and the governor named August 4th Kiss Rock and Roll Day in South Dakota.
Tough it wasn't a well thought out tattoo and I was a bit embarrassed of it for a while I have learned to embrace it. It reminds me of an amazing adventure I had with some of my best friends in the world. It makes me giggle when people ask me about it and I get to tell them the story. My favorite thing it allows me to respect the place for the ridiculous things in life and not to take myself seriously (though I don't have that problem at all).
I will post a pic when my camera isn't dead. And I will post the video of my second tattoo sometime soon; I just have to ind it.
legacy56:
sounds like you lead a very interesting life. can't wait to hear more.