Today… Oh today.

It was pouring this morning, thunder & lightning, the whole nine yards. We cuddled in bed (all of us) and watched Titan A.E. and then Michael got up and made breakfast.

Around 11 we made it out the door and to Best Buy. Michael got his phone this morning (he bought the 8gig that dropped down to 100$ – more on that later) and is in heaven. He’ll be fiddling with it all night I’m sure :-) He opted to get the “old” one instead of the new one as I told him if he did, he could spend the rest of what he saved on a tattoo book he wants to update. The author has a deal that he’ll send a check back if you return the old version to him, kind of a rebate for having purchased the original version. Yep, I bribed my man.

Then we dropped him off at work and went to therapy. Then on the way out the kids were horsing around and Dorian slammed Malachai’s arm (around the elbow) in the sliding door of the van. Poor kid. I spent five minutes trying to pop an instant cold pack which wouldn’t pack, so I spent ten minutes driving home with a wailing child. Called ahead and had an ice pack waiting on us. He seems OK now – gave him some ibuprofen for the swelling and he flipped through the new bento book that came. He’s on the computer now. Guess he’s all right :-) Dorian felt awful.

I have to go make dinner. I have garlic-ginger lo mein on the menu (it was a hit last week) but I didn’t defrost the chicken and I have two pot roasts that need to be made in the fridge. I think I waited too long though (which I did yesterday too) as they should have gone in the crock this morning. I forgot I wouldn’t be home at 1 to put it in. Tomorrow maybe… that leaves something for tonight though.

Tattooed a little yesterday. I like shading with the rotary better than the coil machine. Eshiva has the skully I did on her arm – silly girl. I love that the stencils make her so happy.

I’ve been thinking a lot about

people who think they can tattoo waaaay better than they actually can… I keep running into this both in person and online. New(ish) artists who either claim more experience than they actually have (in some cases including their apprenticeship as experience!) or who aren’t too bad but take on more than they have any right to take on at this time.

I know my limits. I am still working on melons people. My shading is… shady ;) My linework & solid fill are tight – on melons. Even my greywash wasn’t too bad. My whipshading *sucks*.

My opinion is, if I can’t do it all, I wont touch a person and if I am not willing to work on me (I don’t want that shit on me!) then I will not work on another person either. Eventually someone will have my first piece, and my second, and third, ad infinitum. Waiting is not done yet.I have the healthy attitude of “wow, this sucks!” because it can only get better. I am not overextending my reach. Not yet anyway ;)

It just drives me batty to see what could be amazing work, if it was done by someone who was a little more skilled.

Michael keeps telling me that old joke, How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

Too true. I am very frustrated with my work right now. My shading needs work. I needed him to help me with a piece I did for someone else this morning (graphic design, not tattooing) because I kept making the same mistake over and over because I couldn’t see beyond it anymore. I am kind of beating my head against a wall creatively right now anyway.

Anyway, back to the point of this – I thought the Green Monster had gotten a hold of me, but after stepping back, I don’t think it’s true. I think I am just seeing more and more scratchers out there and it’s a shame. I mean, by all means, get that shit. Then come pay my husband five times as much to fix it – you are supporting my family when you do that. I just hate to see such bad work that has the potential to be good work from the get-go.

Today I…

  • cleaned out the game closet
  • practiced whip shading (um, I need more practice ;) )
  • went food shpping (Sams & Publix, spent almost double what I planned but got lots of goodness)
  • had sammies for dinner (turkey, roast beest, ham, swiss, provolone, muenster, yum!)
  • picked up an ipod/iphone dock for the dining room – we’ve been listening to lots of music there and my tiny travel speakers were dying
  • got a new bin for the compostables in the kitchen. it will live in the second sink, as we never use it (the garbage disposal isn’t hooked up to that sink, and no one ever remembers so it’s just off limits)
  • swept the dining room
  • cleaned the table off
  • did some work

And now Michael is playing D&D with Dor, Mal & Michael and I am watching Harry Potter (#1) with Eshiva. We went to see Night at the Museum last night, and it rocked. It’s definitely on the “to get” list. I think we’ll do some sand art tomorrow before Michael goes to work. I can’t believe it’s almost Tuesday already. Time flies.

I have some actual drawing to do for work – I want to get down to Pearls and replace my pencil though… I wonder if MIchael’s has one. It’s much closer. I wont spend as much too – Pearl’s is like an artists porn store lol Thank god we don’t have a brick & mortar Blicks near by!

Went to the dentist today

It went fine. I had two fillings done, but I think they were both in the same tooth (the back most molar on the left). I got extra novocain because the first two shots missed or didn’t work right or something. The left side of my face is numb. I could tattoo it and not notice. Whoohoo! No, I’m not. I just think it’s funny. Even my ear was numb (and part of it still is).

All in all, it went well. I have another appointment in June to have the mid-range deep cleaning and the other two cavities filled. Joy!

I’m actually kind of relieved – I was expecting this to suck and the dentist was really cool. I’ve never had terrible experiences at the dentist, but really, who loves going?

Bought some patterns

I picked up a “retro apron pattern” from Leila and Ben on etsy. The pattern I got is no longer there, but this one is cute too! The “apron” pattern can be lengthened or shortened and will make a great short or dress for Eshiva (well, dress with the proper pants on under it – I guess more of a pinafore?

I also bought this twirl skirt pattern from crazy couture boutique. It’s a pretty easy drop skirt that will make Eshiva giddy with it’s twirliness. It’s a word.

Since we put out the sewing machine, I have some ideas. I need to dig through my fabric. Sadly, most of it was purchased to make slings and isn’t really suitable to clothes. I’ll have to see what I really have in those bins though. Might be time to freecycle most of it and hit the sale bins at the fabric store.

I am making a Whole Addiction fan page on FaceBook, and I made a Twitter page the other day. Please check out http://wholeaddictiontattoo.com and check them out (the links are there), especially if you are local, or pass them on if you know locals (local being the world, because we’re so global!)

Hm, I bet this is more, but I mainly wanted to put the two patterns I bought out there and mention the Whole Addiction site.