American Idol

Oh! I almost forgot to comment on American Idol contestant Carly Smithson! My daughter and I are die hard American Idol fans and have to give outrageous kudos to Carly Smithson! She has a super powerful voice, she's adorable and yes (!) she's tattooed! I may be wrong but I believe at the beginning of the season I heard that she and her husband actually own a tattoo shop in CA. I'll have to do a little research!

So It Goes

I received a really 'off' e-mail this morning from an old friend, so to speak . . . It was one of those 'I miss you' kind of e-mails, but the kind where the person writing it is attempting to be intimidating! Ugh!! What is up with people?

In our industry I have to admit and we all know this to be true . . . We sometimes, in my case, more times than not, I've found myself aligned with the less than upstanding citizens . . . I'm not trying to be uppity, but I am educated and sometimes, well . . . It's simply too much! In fact, it's exhausting. I remember back when my husband and I owned our own shop, I used to give the guys the 'word of the day'. If they could spell it and tell me the meaning, I would up their percentage for the day OR they could leave two hours early. In all that time NO ONE ever got it right! Point made!

The other thing that gets to me is the weird jealousy that goes on when someone new is hired. An old employee, or a new apprentice. People, whom I won't mention by name, seem to make themselves know (again), when in truth I haven't heard from them for more than six months. Now, tell me that's not obvious! Again, UGH!

Remember, if it looks like it crawled out from under a rock, it probably did!

Tuesday . . .

Nothing new on the home front other than we have a new shop apprentice and the HELL CITY Festival in Columbus is well on it's way! the boss is on vacation in good ol' sunny FLA! How I miss the warm sunny weather. I think a trip to Key West is in order! A day or two is all I need :)

My husband and will be in attendance at ROCK ON THE RANGE, which happens to fall during the HELL CITY Tattoo Festival. I'm hoping to get some great shots of the concert and of the festival. This will be the first time I've attended the HELL CITY Fest! Can't wait!

Almost forgot! I received my first tattoo with a pneumatic! I was amazed. It felt as though my hubby was drawing on me with a skin scribe! I've experienced no scabbing or pain and little to no pealing! What a truly amazing machine!!

Tattooed Fish

What will we come up with next? The human condition seems to be digressing at an alarming rate!

First off, if you have read the article . . . There's no way in hell a small fish, could even survive a tattoo. The tattoos are obviously some sort of waterproof ink, a dye of some sort. Tattoo machines work on magnetism powered by an electrical current, drrrr . . . Someone help these poor people . . .


Here is the article . . . http://www.weirdasianews.com/2006/11/22/chinese-fish-get-tatoos/

MOTOR CITY INK

Check out what's new in Metro Detroit http://www.myspace.com/motorcityink

My husband (Sarge) and I recently moved from Exodus Tattoo in Mount Clemens MI (closed) to Motor City Ink in Warren MI. We are located at 27175 Van Dyke Avenue, just North of I-696.

The shop is as kick ass as they come and we're currently trying out the all new Neumatic Tattoo Machines. The machines work with air pressure rather than magnetic coils. the theory is that the coverage is more even, which in short means better blending. I, however, am a hard sell when it comes to what works and what is trendy. They're expensive and the complete set up runs well over a grand. My husband, on the other hand loves them. Here is a link to Neumatic, check them out for yourself! -S

Ink in MI

It's been a rather long week with the Children of the Corn back in school and my eldest home schooling. I have therefore not been blogging as much as I would like but am indeed happy to see the site coming along so nicely!!

As I may have mentioned (somewhere), perhaps in my profile, my husband and I own a shop here in the dregs of good ol' MI. Why do we stay?? Divorce, minor children, just to mention a few. Certainly NOT because we enjoy near blizzard conditions for a majority of the year nor are we overly attached to Detroit's chemically infused water, or the smell of rotten eggs, which I will chalk up to either air pollution or the stagnant canal behind our home.

The truth is . . . Things here in MI suck ass as far as jobs. I suppose we have human self indulgence to thank for what we do have as well as LA Ink, which I did watch for the first time last night. I WAS IMPRESSED! I enjoyed LA Ink loads more than Miami Ink. The guys were assholes and it KICKS ASS to see talented women making their mark in such a male dominated industry. I recommend to any of you, male or female, to tune in. It's much different than Miami Ink, a bit more classy, plus Hannah Atchinson's the shit!

Tattoo Ad for 10 G's

A mother had her forehead tattooed with the web address of a gambling site after auctioning off advertising space on her head to pay for her son's school fees.
Karolyne Smith has to live with a permanent billboard on her forehead after she accepted Goldenpalace.com's offer of $10,000 for the 'advertising space'. She needed the money to send her son Brady to a private school.Karolyne said: ""I really want to do this. To everyone else, it seems like a stupid thing to do. To me, $10,000 is like a million dollars.""I only live once and I'm doing it for my son. It's a small sacrifice to build a better future for my son."Karolyne did not take the decision lightly. She discussed it for more than three weeks with her boyfriend Jeremy Williams.Smith's eBay auction attracted more than 27,000 hits and 1,000 watchers. Bidding reached $999.99 before Goldenpalace.com, an Internet gambling company met Smith's $10,000 asking price. Goldenpalace.com also gave her another $5,000 for her trouble.Another person, inspired by Karolyne is currently auctioning his forehead as ad space on e-bay.

Watch a video of karolyne with her Goldenpalace.com logo

What the Hell?

It could just be that I fail to see the 'art' in the this project. I can't exactly put into words how I feel about this project. I think this project has caught the UGLY BABY SYNDROME for sure. I still can't believe my eyes . . . Yet, I can't look away.

It gets worse, there are even links so you can create your own Tattoo Dream Doll! Yikes! OMFG!! Get this, the doll's name is Ms. Femme . . .

I'm going to hurl, then I'm going to the grocery store . . .

PI Day, Tattoo Day . . . What Next?

I was adding 'e-card' links earlier this afternoon when I stumbled upon e-cards at 123Greetings for 'Tattoo Day'. I've been an artist for seven years and this is the first time I've heard anything about this. I'm going to guess it's another day like Sweetest Day or something of that nature . . .

What a kick ass holiday that would be though . . . For some of us, it would probably be better than Christmas.

I also came across a link to 'PI Day' and the PI Day tattoo, which in 2007 was on March 7. Though I'm not going to include the link, I thought the piece was interesting . . .

The "GOO"

Click on the icon to see the Tattoo Goo Website. Click HERE to order the product wholesale . . .

CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

HI ALL! JUST A QUICK NOTE. THE SITE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. KEEP POSTED, THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT SITE.

PLEASE SUBMIT ANY LINKS, JOKES, ANYTHING OF INTEREST THAT INVOLVES THE TATTOO INDUSTRY. HAPPY TATS! -SUZANNE

Stummped?

Q: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TATTOO ARTIST AND A TATTOOIST?
A: INTEGRITY

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let's see, is there a template?