A tattoo is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment.
De nos jours, se lancer dans l’autoentrepreneuriat est devenu monnaie courante en France. Si de nombreuses législations ont assoupli les formalités administratives, le chemin reste difficile à parcourir pour obtenir la fameuse validation. Depuis plusieurs années, de nouvelles solutions ont vu le jour pour optimiser toutes les étapes cruciales de la vie d’un entrepreneur. Cependant, […]
Aussi appelé chloasma ou mélasma, le masque de grossesse se traduit par des taches brunes sur le visage de femmes enceintes. Il concerne de nombreuses femmes enceintes et survient en cours de grossesse. Ces taches ou plaques peuvent être brunes ou grisâtres et apparaissent suite à une exposition au soleil, et ce, peu importe la […]
Tout le monde le sait : les femmes rêvent d’avoir des ongles soignés et bien entretenus. Mais lorsque vient l’heure d’en prendre soin, elles sont généralement confrontées à différents problèmes : vernis écaillé ou abîmé, ongles cassés, … Par chance, il existe des solutions efficaces pour faire soi-même ses ongles à la maison. Les kits […]
A few months ago I started a large new tattoo. To my utter delight, Jeff Gogue had agreed to tattoo me back in 2018 and over the course of almost two years, I repeatedly had to postpone my trip until it seemed like it would never happen. COVID made another cancellation seem like a sure thing until at the last moment Oregon lifted restrictions enough to allow many businesses – including tattoo shops – to reopen safely. Artists got back to work and I packed my car and hit the road.
Deciding to get tattooed in the middle of a pandemic required some mental gymnastics on my part. First was wanting to follow through on something I had agreed to do, next was needing a carefully managed break from my tiny bubble of home/kids/grocery store, and finally, it was my deep desire to get tattooed by Jeff. If I’m honest it was the third one that tipped it – I really wanted this tattoo and the experiences that go along with it.
I felt a little abashed about getting my tattoo under such dire circumstances and took all safety measures seriously. By the time I was done, I had seen fewer people than I would have at the supermarket and my hands stung from all the sanitizer. It felt surreal to travel and that in it itself was strange. Before lockdown, I was clocking over 1500 miles a week commuting relentlessly to San Francisco and I really felt like I lived in my car. Now a pleasant afternoon’s drive left me starry-eyed and exhausted from all the stimulation and I hadn’t even made it to the shop yet.
Jeff Gogue is an artist worth traveling for. I would have happily hopped on a plane to work with him but lucked out that his shop, 26 Swords is only a scenic days drive from where I live in Northern California. Jeff has been tattooing for over twenty years and has owned his shop for 15. He is wildly talented, dignified, and friendly. He is world-renowned for his painterly, baroque compositions that lay on clients’ skin like a gorgeous tapestry. His impressive work ethic has meant 7 plus hours of straight tattooing with barely a couple of water breaks and the long afternoons have flown by with amiable conversation ranging over many topics. Our pleasant chats have been interspersed with me suffering quietly while Jeff hums along to good tunes and muses over how many layers of color he wants to pack into my tired, trembling flesh.
My view from the table. 1000 paper cranes in a jar, a wall of Jeff’s old tattoo machines.
Turning over control of your skin to an artist you trust and admire to get tattooed on such a large scale is a unique kind of recreation. If people ask me why I don’t really have a good answer other than it is a pleasure reserved for those who find pleasure in it. Getting tattooed by Jeff has been an honor and a welcome break from the grind of making my life small and contained for safety while trying to maintain my sanity. It is no minor thing to break out of your bubble right now but for me, it feels right.
In progress – art is blooming all over me.
Jeff and I have a bit more to go on my tattoo. Well, Jeff, really. My participation just involves me laying there and taking it so I can’t take any credit. But I am extremely pleased with the results so far. It is always such a thrill to look forward to something and then have it not only meet your expectations but exceed them. These tattoo trips have become my only travel and socializing outside of my tight little circle and I find my desire for more “away time” intersecting with my appetite for ink leading me to ask Jeff to “go a little bigger.”
Every corner of 26 Swords is a feast for the eyes.
I don’t know when I will fly again, sit in a crowded restaurant or a darkened movie theater. Like so many of us, I am focused on doing my best and supporting my loved ones. Not making anything worse. The future seems so surreal and hard to peg – is this what you thought this year would be like?
But I know when I’ll be back in the bright, airy spaces of 26 Swords with art and color lining the walls. I know when I’ll be stretched out under Jeff’s watchful eye having my skin embellished while I chatter away and sometimes close my eyes against the sting. I’ll take pleasure from the simple act of going for a long drive in my car, visiting a different town (albeit safely), and supporting a terrific artist. I know I am lucky to have this opportunity and the resources and headspace to pursue it. It is a pleasure reserved for me and those like me. For now, this is enough – more than enough really.
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I hope you are well and your family is well. I hope you have enough food and essentials stocked up and are able to weather this storm. We are in unchartered waters and I feel a bit rudderless as I try to get a handle on my schedule, my kids schedules, and the math needed to determine how much toilet paper I really need. Also how much money. I think I’m coming up short in both respects but I feel lucky that overall I have what I need and I am home with the people I need to be with. I hope the same for you and yours.
Blogging at a time like this seems pretty vacuous BUT I did have an idea – a concept I wanted to share. Remember letters? Handwritten correspondence? Pen pals? Over the course of history – archived letters, notes, and missives have added a tremendous amount of knowledge and insight into how we lived our lives at various points in time. Famous letters get a lot of love, of course, but letters from soldiers to family members, letters between lovers or best friends, break up letters, important news letters, here is what I did on this average day letters – they all matter and they all leave a record that can be saved, treasured, and even archived for future generations.
We are all living in a singular moment in history right now. You will remember these weeks and maybe months for the rest of your lives. Maybe future generations will ask you about this strange season of uneasiness and uncertainty. What will you remember? How will you remember? Letters.
Now don’t get me wrong – I have been on a steady diet of memes for days. I am in awe of the wit and insight of the people who are generating these critical laughs for us all right now. But even though digital archiving is a thing most of our online communications will be digital ephemera that becomes lost or loses its relevance over time. But a letter to your Grandparents won’t.
There are so many older people holed up and afraid right now. The news is scary, maybe memes aren’t their thing, and they (most likely) don’t use apps like Snapchat or tik tok or whatever else to connect. But they remember letters. So I’m asking you to sit down and write a letter to someone today – especially someone older. You don’t have to say anything earth-shattering. You don’t have to use perfect grammar or punctuation or even cursive. It doesn’t have to be a long letter. But I can guarantee you when they get their mail and see your handwriting they will smile. When they sit down to read your thoughts they will feel connected. Getting a letter in the mail is a simple pleasure but it is a genuine one.
I used to have pen pals. I had artist friends whose letters were covered with doodles. I had an overseas lover (who you can read about here) who sent me airmail envelopes that made my heart pound when I would see them perched in my PO box. I would walk home with the letter clutched in my hand like a promise, making sure I was in my favorite spot in my window before I let myself open the letter and see what a man across the ocean was thinking about me. I have funny postcards from my sister who died more than a decade ago. Those postcards are gold to me now.
There are so many inspiring acts of kindness and levity happening all around us right now. Write it down. Remember it. Share it with a loved one – especially someone older or a person who lives alone. Make a record of your life. Make a record of this moment. Be a Pen Pal.
Final Thoughts
If you are worried about spreading germs by mailing a letter to someone do these two things:
Wash your hands BEFORE you grab your paper and pen to write.
Seal the envelope and affix the stamp using a damp sponge – not your tongue
AND if you would like a handwritten letter I will send you one. I promise. It may be a bit nonsensical or even silly. It may or may not contain random information, meanderings, or musings but it will be for you and you alone. Send me your mailing address to thetattootourist@gmail.com and then keep an eye on your mailbox – because a snapshot of history, a moment in a life, a spark of human connection is coming your way soon.
Stay safe out there. Stay kind. Stay gold, Pony Boy.
And since you read to the end here are penguins at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago going on a tour of the empty Aquarium.
Même si plusieurs personnes préfèrent désormais les contenus en streaming au téléchargement, les sites de torrents occupent toujours une place importante sur le marché. De tels sites sont notamment appréciés car ils disposent d’un catalogue volumineux de documentaires, musiques, jeux vidéo, séries et films. L’un desdits sites a su se démarquer des autres : The […]
