I am getting a little bit tired of blogging about weekend events. I'm not really good at writing about them anymore. It's so cookie cutter Friday this, Saturday that. Maybe I should quit and just post photos... or become a better writer, ehhh. At least this weekend I have something that I really want to document.

So, this Memorial Day wasn't quite as insane as the last 2 years, but it was definitely fun.

It started Friday when Doug kicked us out of work at 11:30am, which was sooo nice. I basically hung out for a bit and got the house ready for company. Then we met up with lots of peeps at the Iowa Cubs game for a sort of "going away party" celebration for Stacy. As always, it was lots o fun - despite getting beat 13-3.

Saturday I woke up and began prepping myself for my first tattoo appointment. I was super nervous for some reason, haha. Maybe because my first tattoo was about to be the hugest thing ever. I really should have considered starting out with a little guy.

I suppose we should back track a couple weeks to my consultation. My idea for the tattoo was basically a large grayscale crown on my back. So, I went in and met with my artist, showed him some various photos and ideas I had. First I had a picture of Brad Pitt's backpiece from Snatch, which is a giant portrait of The Last Supper. I really liked the size and shape of it - it sort of resembled an imperial crown exactly how I imagined it. I also showed him a photo of this dope crown from a 7th Letter T-shirt which DJ Diverse had shown me. I then told him a few things I wanted incorporated and he basically responded, "alright, let's set up an appointment."

"uh... wait, aren't we supposed to draw something? Do I come in in a week and see what you drew to confirm I like it? Are you going to be offended if I hate it?", etc, etc. This was about to be a permanent mark on my body, I want some assurance here.
He then said, "No, I'll probably wake up the morning of your appointment and draw it - you'll like it I promise... and if you don't, we can change it"

So for the next couple weeks I was freaking out about what he'd come up with. I really liked his style on a couple other really large tattoos, like this insane elephant backpiece he did. It's just huge, simple, and had incredible fading. So I had a good amount of trust - but still, I was in the dark, eep!

Back to this Saturday. I headed down to 5 Point Studios to get started. When I walked in, Budha was like, "Whoops, I thought you were a little wider than you really are." then said, "I drew it HUGE, dude." I saw it, and he was right, I loved it. And when we held it up, it was in fact huge. It almost went into my armpits, but we all looked at it, and decided we loved it that big. It would definitely make a statement

He then did lots of prep, cut up his drawing, put it onto 3 stencil strips, and applied it to my back. While he was doing this he asked me, "Do you have any other Tattoos?" I replied, "No." Then everyone in the shop was basically hysterical. "This is your first tattoo!?" "omg, that is huge!" "You're brave dude!" etc...

By the time we finally started, he asked if I was ready, I said yes, he put the 9 needle tip to my back, and it hurt. Bad. It actually hurt much worse than I thought it would. So after the first line was done, which was basically a part of the lowest line on the crown he asked how it felt. I responded, "Is it too late to make it smaller?" He laughed, continued tattooing the line, then stopped and asked, "You're joking right?" I was... Sort of.

So 2 hours later, the outline and bottom shading were done. The shading is a little nicer than the outline because he's inking in the same spot so much that it basically goes numb and you don't feel it as much. The outline however - is completely new territory for every needle poke.

Some parts definitely hurt worse than others. I think the worst areas were the ones near my armpits. Everyone said that the spine would be the worst, but it wasn't at all. Some parts were also totally ok, like I was able to relax and text people, etc.

It's also really nice how reassuring/comforting tattoo peeps are. Like, everyone in the place kept coming over and looking at the progress and were like, "omg! that is sick!" (mom, sick means awesome) or "dude, I am seriously so jealous of that tattoo"

I didn't scream, pass out, or cry... but I sure flexed hard. I'm getting bruises on my chest from clenching the chair so hard. It really does hurt. You can call me a pussy if you want - but I'll bet my first tattoo is bigger than your first tattoo, punks.

Afterwards though, like, the second the needle stops touching your body, it's fine, seriously. Then it just starts to feel like a decent sunburn. Healing isn't bad except for sleeping. That's pretty annoying right now. I really don't like sleeping on my stomach and sides.

So that's that. My tattoo's finally started! And there's still llllots of shading to do.

Oh yeah, Saturday night after the tattoo, the girls had a girls only party here, so I hung out with Nick/Cedric at Zach's place, then we all met back up over here to hang out for a bit.

Sunday, we went out downtown. Today, yard/house work and blogging.

I had lots of fun hanging out with Kari's friends again.
Tattoo Pics Memorial Day Pics