More ink work and some vacation

The 3-4 hours of tattoo work I was expecting turned into 7 hours. Finished the sujibori (outline), but the last 5 minutes was bruta. If anyone ever tells you tattoos don't hurt, punch them square in the junk cause they are liars. No more work scheduled til September-ish. In slightly less then two week we leave for Europe. Flying into Copenhagen then catching the boat to cruise the Baltic (with a side trip to Moscow). Should be a fun trip, although traipsing through a bunch of foreign places without even a pocket knife makes me a bit nervous. Especially with my Grandmother-in-law in tow. She tends to make more enemies then friends, on a daily basis. Oh well, if you hear about an ugly international incident in the Baltic region know it was probably me. Be prepared to "send lawyers, guns, & money." Not necessarily in that order.

No pics this time, a combo of me not taking any, and NSFW complaints about the last set. Come on, it didn't show any crack.

Reading through this one, it looks like my ADD is firing a bit, cause I'm all over the place.

More photography coming

Lately I haven't been able to find my muse. The camera just hasn't been calling to me. Might be the 700 pictures I took while in Rockport (which reminds me, I need to burn those to DVD for the Bride & Groom).

However, I have been fascinated by a dumb little plastic camera. The Holga. So, while ordering a new flash from B&H (Canon 430 EX II), I added a Holga and 120 film to my order. Shooting film is more intimidating for me. You don't know if you did it right until possibly weeks later, and by then it is way too late. On the other hand, shooting digital can lead to being lazy. Light isn't right? Shoot it, it might come out or we can just do it again. Lazy.

Hopefully this little plastic camera is just the muse I need to get me back on track. My current project is portraits of interesting people in their work environment. Admittedly, the only picture I have taken so far is of my tattoo artist, but since I go see him on Saturday I might re-shoot with the Holga. Depends on how I feel after another 3-4 hour tattoo session.

Fair warning, more crappy photography is coming. Might even shoot some pictures of the owls I'm having tattooed on my chest.

Viva! Viva! Las Veeegggggaaaaas

Back from Vegas. The good news, is that my wife, Rabbitteach, has finally decided these aren't boondoggles. She even said something to the effect of "I didn't realize how much you work on these trips." Apparently she got bored while I was working in the booth. Anyway, Vegas was good. No serious flight delays (coming home I had about 45 minutes in DFW but it wasn't horrible).

Vegas has gone through some serious growth since I lived there. They added the Wynn resort (and a 2nd tower), THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay, and they started on a huge building project called City Center. Back in the day people used to go to Vegas for a cheap buffet and gambling, but the nightlife and gastro scene is incredible. However, it isn't cheap anymore. Even the crappy buffets are $27 at night.

While there we decided to go for a good dinner (completely breaking my diet). I had Fois Gras Sliders, Duck Fat fries (Amuse Bouche) , a big dry aged steak, scalloped potatoes with goat cheese and onions, and Creme brulee. It was lovely.

I also managed to win a little cash playing Black Jack while there. In the end, I walked away with a little over $500 in winnings. Rabbitteach lost $40 or so in the slotmachines. We had a good time. Back on the diet wagon this week. If I can get down to my target goal of 205 I get a new tattoo. I'm thinking Foo Dogs this time.