I went to my 20 year grade school reunion last night and I got some bad news. I don't know how many of you know the story of my forearm tattoo so I'm gonna re-post it then finish my story:
As you can see, the tattoo on my forearm isn' t finished. Here's the story:
While growing up there was a kid in my neighborhood who was about 5 yrs. younger than me. I liked this kid. He was into punk, a good skater, and an increadable artist. About 10 yrs. ago I ran into some old friends and they showed me their new tats and they were great. To my surprise, Michael was the artist. A couple years later I go with my brother and cousin to see Michael to get my cousin a tat. I was horrified to see about 6 addicts cramped into a little row home with a bunch of cats. Michael was a junkie. Before leaving, I told him how much I liked the kid who used to live around the block and what a great person and artist he was. I offered to help him if he wanted a change.
About two years ago I hear that Michael was clean for about a year and tattooing again. I wanted my forearm done and I am very picky about who tats me, besides I really wanted Michael to be my only artist. I liked his work that much. We started hanging out and I got close to his girlfriend and his beautiful daughter. I thought that I found a friend that was the missing element in my life. We made plans to goto concerts and movies and get together with the women and kids. He started my tat.
I paid him in advance for the whole thing because I knew that money was tight for him and he needed supplies. That's when it went downhill. I picked him up to take him to my house to do some more work on my arm and on the way he was dipping out. He said that he was up all night tattooing and I gave him the benifit of the dought. A couple of days later he dissapeared. I tracked him down through some old "friends" that live on the shady side of the tracks and while on the phone with him I dialed up his girl on my cell so she can hear me say where he was. She showed up there and beat the crap outta him and took him home.
A few days later he calls and tells me he needs to talk to me. When I got to his place, he confessed that he was shooting again and he was embarressed and didn't want to face us. He wanted to goto detox but he needed 50 bucks. I called his girl and handed her the money and she took him to detox. After that his father got him into a rehab that has a 80% success rate.
I visited him there and when he got leave I drove to his parents to hang out. He was talking about opening a tattoo palor and then finding a place for him and his girl to live. Everything looked good and it seemed that I had my friend back. Soon, when he started to tat again I asked him about my forearm and he said that we would set something up when my broken wrist healed. We made plans to see Clutch at the Electric Factory and I tried to call him to see if he got the tickets yet. A bunch of calls later I still didn't hear from him or his girl, that was over a year ago. Nope, still hasn't called me back. Obviously, I gave up a long time ago.
I'm more upset that I lost a friend that had so much in common with me and that I broke my own rule to never deal with junkies, then that my tat isn't done. Money is tight so I can't spare the cash to get it finished yet, plus I havn't met an artist that I clicked with until I met Jason at Lone Wolf Tattoo out in Nashville. I hope to see him over the winter and get it finished.
Well, I found out that Michael overdosed three week ago. I really liked him and I want to remember him for the good things. He was a great artist, funny, and he got me jazzed about music again. I'm gonna miss him but I really am upset that his beautiful daughter lost her dad.
Michael
His daughter Olivia
As you can see, the tattoo on my forearm isn' t finished. Here's the story:
While growing up there was a kid in my neighborhood who was about 5 yrs. younger than me. I liked this kid. He was into punk, a good skater, and an increadable artist. About 10 yrs. ago I ran into some old friends and they showed me their new tats and they were great. To my surprise, Michael was the artist. A couple years later I go with my brother and cousin to see Michael to get my cousin a tat. I was horrified to see about 6 addicts cramped into a little row home with a bunch of cats. Michael was a junkie. Before leaving, I told him how much I liked the kid who used to live around the block and what a great person and artist he was. I offered to help him if he wanted a change.
About two years ago I hear that Michael was clean for about a year and tattooing again. I wanted my forearm done and I am very picky about who tats me, besides I really wanted Michael to be my only artist. I liked his work that much. We started hanging out and I got close to his girlfriend and his beautiful daughter. I thought that I found a friend that was the missing element in my life. We made plans to goto concerts and movies and get together with the women and kids. He started my tat.
I paid him in advance for the whole thing because I knew that money was tight for him and he needed supplies. That's when it went downhill. I picked him up to take him to my house to do some more work on my arm and on the way he was dipping out. He said that he was up all night tattooing and I gave him the benifit of the dought. A couple of days later he dissapeared. I tracked him down through some old "friends" that live on the shady side of the tracks and while on the phone with him I dialed up his girl on my cell so she can hear me say where he was. She showed up there and beat the crap outta him and took him home.
A few days later he calls and tells me he needs to talk to me. When I got to his place, he confessed that he was shooting again and he was embarressed and didn't want to face us. He wanted to goto detox but he needed 50 bucks. I called his girl and handed her the money and she took him to detox. After that his father got him into a rehab that has a 80% success rate.
I visited him there and when he got leave I drove to his parents to hang out. He was talking about opening a tattoo palor and then finding a place for him and his girl to live. Everything looked good and it seemed that I had my friend back. Soon, when he started to tat again I asked him about my forearm and he said that we would set something up when my broken wrist healed. We made plans to see Clutch at the Electric Factory and I tried to call him to see if he got the tickets yet. A bunch of calls later I still didn't hear from him or his girl, that was over a year ago. Nope, still hasn't called me back. Obviously, I gave up a long time ago.
I'm more upset that I lost a friend that had so much in common with me and that I broke my own rule to never deal with junkies, then that my tat isn't done. Money is tight so I can't spare the cash to get it finished yet, plus I havn't met an artist that I clicked with until I met Jason at Lone Wolf Tattoo out in Nashville. I hope to see him over the winter and get it finished.
Well, I found out that Michael overdosed three week ago. I really liked him and I want to remember him for the good things. He was a great artist, funny, and he got me jazzed about music again. I'm gonna miss him but I really am upset that his beautiful daughter lost her dad.
Michael
His daughter Olivia
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
How have you been? When are we gonna hang? Well, you know whats coming up....we definitely gotta do a flyers-devils game at a bar or somewhere, but I know your schedule is tight.
me and 2 other iamers got mess mesy messy.