A Thistle by Another Name... Is Just as Prickly

Well... My friends, my mood has improved.

My friend B and I discussed things and have decided to continue with our friendship. 

I am pleased with myself that I didn't run for the hills, like I'd normally do. 

Maybe Trippybeth is growing up.

(But, hey, who really wants that?)

B and I had the most fantastic day on Friday. Honestly, it was one of the best days in my recent memories. I feel lucky.

You can follow our shenanigans on my photo blog.

Saturday I finally got my thistle tattoo!!! 

My friend KR rode to Dayton with me and witnessed her first tattoo!! 

Kevin, as always did a fantastic job for me and I'm very pleased! 

The half sleeve is coming along nicely. 

The stencil.

Kevin working hard...

The finished product!!

The after-ink sangria ;-)

Bongos, Hands and Concerts...OH MY!

December the 10^th… damn. 17 days until vacation!!

I had a fairly busy weekend.

Dinner with friends at Don Pablo’s on Friday night and still didn’t have any alcohol, even though a margarita didn’t sound like a bad idea.

Saturday I shopped, after sleeping in.

It was half price day at the Goodwill, and I certainly can’t pass that up!!

The weather was warm here in the Ohtucky yet cool enough for a hat and boots, but no coat was required.

The new hat and new boots.

After the Goodwill, I headed to Old Navy.

I may not have said this before, but I hate parking lots.  There are a couple of reasons. 

One, I can seldom ever find my car.  I know that’s not the parking lot’s fault, per say, but the design makes it difficult.  Thankfully some lots have the areas numbered.  I promptly take photos of these numbers (thanks for the suggestion KR!).  I think they should all have cuter monikers, “Shopaholic 1”, “Cheapskate 4”, “RudeAss 7”, “CloseShopper 9”, “Haggard Shopkeeper 3”, “Raincheck 11”…I could go on and on.

Two, the way some dumbasses insist on parking.  Below is a case in point.

This jerk was parked within 10 spaces of the store.  So… he (I’m assuming) is an asshole AND lazy (I was assuming that the driver is a dude, not that he’s an asshole and lazy, that’s evident).  If you have a vehicle that you’re terrified of getting dinged, wouldn’t it be prudent to park farther out in the parking lot?  There were plenty of unoccupied spots in the far reaches of the lot.  But people who park like this always have an undeserved sense of entitlement…  I truly wanted to key the shit out of this truck, based on principle alone.

As I stood in the parking lot taking a photo of this idiot’s truck, a couple walked by, smiled and nodded at me.  They knew what I was going to do; social media can be a beautiful thing.  I put the pic on my Facebook page with the caption “This is how assholes park”.  This disappointing thing about this particular ass is that he’s a Free Mason, as is evidenced by the square and compass sticker on the back window.  Mason’s are supposed to be GOOD members of society; this jerk-face needs to be booted if you asked me… which no one did.

Three, the holes.  There are always divots in parking lots that are protected by some force field that makes them impossible to see until you’ve fallen in one. 

So, as I was walking out of the Old Navy, I tripped in one.  Thankfully I didn’t do a face plant, but it has to be an amusing site if you were walking near me.  As soon as it happened, I looked up to make sure that the non-parking asshole wasn’t there and watching me, he wasn’t.  Even though he was unaware of what I said about him, I didn’t want him to get ANY amusement from my plight.

Interestingly, when I looked back, I still didn’t see that fucking hole, the force field quickly recovered.

Once, a few years ago, I was leaving my office. Our parking lot, at the time, had several holes, divots, low spots, ravines and a couple of hollers.  So, I was booking it out of the office one warm summer afternoon, late for an event.  I was dressed pretty cute with Capri pants and a darling pair of wedge heels.

For me this was a dangerous combination… fast walking + cute wedge heels + parking lot ravines = parking lot face plant.

I was no more than 15 steps out of the door when…

BLAM

Face first on the black top.  Not even enough time to throw out a hand to try and catch myself.

So what does one do when such a thing happens in a public place?

Jump straight up and try and act like nothing happened.

I hobbled to my car as nonchalantly as possible.  When I got in I examine the damage.  My left knee looked like it had spent some time in a meat grinder, blood was dripping down on my cute, mother fucking wedge heels, the skin was scraped off both elbows and there was a hole in the Capri pants.  My knee hurt so bad that I just sat there and cried.  There was a lady who was walking near me when I fell, I didn’t see her, because I had tunnel vision, with my only goal being to get safely in my car.

She walked up to my window, knocked on it and asked if I was ok.  I recognized from a nearby office.

“I’m fine” I lied through a forced smile.

So that evening I limped around at the entire event. GO ME.

My third stop of the shopping trip was Pier One, where I found a hand to add to the hand collection!!

Angus looks like he doesn't trust the hand.

Then I hit Guitar Center, where I FINALLY got a set of bongos! Now I have a tambourine, maracas, a cow bell and now BONGOS, oh yea!!

By the way, I did buy a gift in there; I wasn’t shopping STRICTLY for myself.

Saturday night was the Seven Mary Three concert at the Madison Theater (http://www.madisontheateronline.com/index.php).  I USUALLY love the Madison, I’ve seen some really good shows there, and generally love the vibe.

This was far from the truth on Saturday night.

I have several complaints, which could totally have been rectified by the theater.

#1 Huge crowd. 

Now big crowds, in general, I don’t have a problem with. I’ve been to other shows there in the past that had crowds that were ridiculously small, which I blamed on poor marketing.

However, the Madison has a sweet balcony, which was not opened Saturday night.  I don’t know if they have to sell a certain number of seats before they open the balcony or not, but it was so packed that it would have made the show a lot more enjoyable had they opened it.

#2 Lack of crowd control.

I swear, the way this crowd was acting, one would have thought that they were giving away free PBR.

However, they were not.

I’m not a concert virgin, I’ve seen some rowdy crowds before, and I’m ok with that. Everyone buys a ticket and is entitled to their good time.

But for fuck’s sake, throwing drinks over the crowd and at one point someone threw a drink on stage.  Which prompted a band member to throw a drink out into the audience.

Fuck that noise.

Usually there are security guys everywhere, this night I only spotted 2.

#3 Sound sucked.

Their sound was AWFUL.  Whoever was running sound had no fucking idea what they were doing.  If you were on the floor you couldn’t hear anything but bass.

People all around me were grumbling about it.

At one point some guy behind me was screaming “Your sound guy sucks” not just once but over and over, getting progressively louder.  He was basically screaming right in my ear.  He wasn't lying.

I finally turned around to say “DUDE, SHUT UP” only to find I was yelling at a man that was about 6’3” and a good 300#.  I said my peace and turned back around, cringing a little bit.

He did listen to the 5’3” girl with red hair, and he shut up. I must be intimidating… yea that’s right.  And he OBVIOUSLY wasn’t yelling in my ear, since there was at least a 12” height difference, but it sure sounded like it.

At that point, we moved from the floor, but the crowd was just as miserable up there.  Finally, I said “FUCK IT”  I decided I’d catch them at a motorcycle rally someplace, where crowd are more civilized and maybe the venue will have their shit together.

I usually recommend the Madison, highly.  It’s always been a great place to see a show.  Kenny Wayne Shepherd blew the doors off that place a couple of years ago, The Heartless Bastards were phenomenal, and that was an enormous, super cool crowd. Interestingly, the balcony wasn’t open that night either, and I would have thought the crowd would have warranted it.

Anyway, I’ll have to see another GOOD show there before I’ll recommend it any more.  I won’t say that I’ll never go again; I mean if Taddy Porter comes back, my ass will definitely be there!

That was only the second time I've left a show before the headliner.  The last time wasn't my choice, I was escorted out by 2 very nice State Policemen.  A story for another time.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, more Christmas shopping, napping, cleaning, the usual weekend stuff…

I did observe again this weekend that tattoos seem to make me more approachable.  This weekend I had several people (men) ask where I got my “art”, specifically asking about the dragonfly and complimenting me on it.  But they were all respectful enough that they did not touch me.

One guy seemed to be flirting, the other was an employee in a store I was shopping in, he also showed me his tattoos and whipped out his cell to show me his wife’s newest tattoo.  We talked shops a little bit, I, however, didn’t pull up my sleeves to show my other tattoos.

I don’t deserve the compliments, really.  All that I did was choose the artist and the images.  My artists deserve all the props!! 

Kevin Byers, Truth and Triumph Tattoo (http://www.tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html)

Dustin Zion, Asylum Tattoo (www.facebook.com/dustin.zion)

Robyn Roth, Mother’s Tattoo (http://motherstattoo.com/gallery/index.html)

GO forth my friends and have a great Monday!  So far mine isn’t too horrible, I just hope to survive it!!

Satattooday!!

Satattooday!!!

Yay!! Saturday I traveled to Dayton to see my dude Kevin and have him add to the half sleeve I’m piecing together.

The drive was actually NICE! So much better than going after work.  Of course, any idiot would know that…

I arrive at Truth and Triumph (http://tattooedtv.com/) and Kevin (http://tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html) is waiting.  He works on the drawing… brings it to me, I’m diggin it, and he has the apprentice put the stencil on.

I’m happy!  Then we start the inking.

And if you haven't been to Truth & Triumph Tattoo, I can't recommend it highly enough.  Super clean, super friendly folks, you'll feel right at home!!!

Thankfully, the arm is not a painful place to get tattooed.  After the back, sheesh, I needed a break!!

My eyelashes look great in this photo!

This tattoo didn’t take long at all!

While we were waiting for the seeping to discontinue, we talked a little about my next portion of the half sleeve and how we (Kevin) would incorporate it.  I want a thistle next.

I love how the thistle is so beautiful, yet dangerous... And it's the symbol for Scotland, being a Scotch-Irish girl, that's a bonus!

We have an idea now about how we want to place it, and fill in other places to blend everything together.

He also wants to do a touch-up session to go over everything.  I wish he wasn’t so damn far away!!!

But he’s definitely worth the drive!!!!

Successful Ink Therapy

Good morning friends!

TrippyBeth is soooooo tired this morning!  I finally got home at about 1115p last night.  But the trip to Dayton was totally worth it!!

The drive was only moderately brutal.  Getting through Cincinnati was treacherous, as always.  But, once I got outside the city it was smooth sailing.  I got nervous as I neared  Dayton, but the traffic there was perfectly fine! Smooth sailing!  I arrived at Truth and Triumph Tattoo (http://tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html).

Cincinnati traffic BLOWS!

Me suffering through the 90 minute drive.

I have to say that this tattoo was particularly painful.  I even let, and was happy to do so, Kevin apply some lidocaine to the sight.  The lidocaine took a little of the edge off when he was using light pressure.  The process took approximately 3 hours, with probably 30 minutes of break time.

Ggggggrrrrrrrr

Kevin stated that he was stepping outside of his box doing this type of tattoo.  I trust him, and was glad to give him artistic freedom.  As usual, he exceeded my expectations.

I am so in love with the colors Kevin chose!  The turquoise really makes it POP!

 This chica is SORE this morning!! 

And I need someone to rub some lotion on it for me, but not in a creepy Buffalo Bill "rubs the lotion on" kinda way!!

 This tattoo has no particular meaning.  I just wanted something beautiful on my back, AND I GOT IT!!

Pasta, watercolors and free tickets!

Thursday…. You’ve come quicker than I expected.

I am, actually, not feeing as tired as I was earlier in the week.  This is a good thing, because, if everything goes as planned, I have a busy weekend ahead.

Last night I had dinner at Arnold’s (http://www.arnoldsbarandgrill.com/)… the oldest tavern in Cincinnati, established in 1861. 

I arrived at the restaurant after going the wrong way down a one-way street.  I discovered this quickly as the traffic was coming at me head on!  I pulled into an empty parking spot, up over a tiny little curb and into a city parking lot! THAT WAS A TIGHT SPOT!  I guess I shouldn’t just automatically assume that the GPS doesn’t know what it is talking about. 

Have I mentioned that I hate driving?  If I drive TO or FOR you, consider yourself very lucky, you must mean a lot to me.  I hate driving for a number of reasons…

1) it’s relatively boring.  Although it is a good time to listen to music.

2)  I’m not good at it. Going the wrong way down a one-way is a perfect example. 

3) It’s hard to pay attention for that long.  I am easily distracted, now with technology texts, emails it’s extra hard!  I try not to text and drive.  I use talk-to-text a lot, but with my accent on certain words, it ends up being very frustrating.  But if it saves me from death in a fiery crash, it will be worth it!

Arnold’s has a great atmosphere, there was a duo playing the washboard, spoons, piano and a melodica.  Very interesting.  We sat out on the patio which was surrounded by brick buildings on all sides.  The only thing that was a little distressing to me were the sparrows that would light upon the chairs, tables, floor next to me.  The entire evening I had to keep one eye on the sparrows, lest they might attack me, poke my eyes out, or at the very least get tangled up in my hair.

The food was yummy, I chose a vegetarian dish:

Pasta Androski   V………………….    14.95

Roasted red peppers, wild mushrooms, artichokes, red onion, sun dried tomatoes and fresh spinach sautéed in your choice of White wine sauce, Pesto sauce, or Pesto cream sauce.

Served over angel hair pasta.

I chose the white wine sauce.  Anything with pasta, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and garlic makes TrippyBeth very happy.

Tonight I’ve won tickets to see the movie Premium Rush http://www.premiumrush.com/.

It’s a little bit of a trek up to the theater, and as I stated earlier, I hate driving, but it should be fun.  I will drive for fun.

CC will be joining me again; hopefully we can find an interesting place to eat.  I have given him the assignment of finding a place, afterall, I went to all the trouble to win the tickets!

I love winning stuff!!

Earlier in the day yesterday, I texted with my dude Kevin (http://tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html) about getting a watercolor tattoo.  I absolutely trust him so much.  He has done a couple of them.  I sent him a few photos of what I am wanting.  Told him I like magnolia blossoms and cherry blossoms, but basically I’m leaving it up to his artistic discretion.

I’m going to have it placed in the center of my upper back, below my tiny circle of 2 butterflies and a dragonfly.  It’s really the best available real estate to showcase the tattoo.

Here are some watercolor tattoo examples:

On Tuesday I will journey to Dayton! I despise that drive, but I love and trust Kevin, so I’ll suck it up.  I should look into purchasing a gas mask, just in case the ass aroma is present...

I still want the thistle and the dragonfly.  Badly.  But the watercolor has me so intrigued, I really NEED one now.  And I don’t think that the thistle would translate well in watercolor, with it being so detailed.

Maybe I'll get an interview out of Kevin during my session... He said those tattoos take longer, so I should have plenty of time to pick his brain.

My romantical life...

I will state once again that I am cautiously optimistic.  Mulling a lot of things over in my head.  I think that I am getting into a better place, maybe I'm more ready than I have been to accept someone in my life for a REAL relationship.  I've been doing a lot of soul searching.  Analyzing the things that I think I've done, that weren't making me receptive to finding love.  I know I'm fucked up.  But, really, who isn't to some degree?  I have issues, but I'm open and honest about them.  Someone will find them endearing.  I just need to be accepted "warts and all" and I want to accept someone the same way. 

It's getting closer, I just know it.

Tattoo Envy

Have you ever seen a tattoo that you just HAD TO HAVE?  While I don't believe in copying a tattoo that BELONGS to someone else, a certain style can certainly be recreated without plagerizing the original piece.  Well, I have just had this experience.  I can't get this tattoo off of my mind!!

This week I have been pouring over portfolios of local artists.  To admire the work, check out local talent and look for artists to refer a friend to for some black and gray work. 

I’d venture to guess that the most famous local tattoo artist in the Northern KY/Cincinnati area is Dana http://www.danatattoo.com/home.php.  One of Dana’s shop locations is not far from my apartment, so I thought it would be prudent to check into the work done there a little more thoroughly.

All of the artists’ portfolios were impressive, but the one that stood out the most to me belonged to Steve (http://www.danatattoo.com/gallery.php?spgmGal=steve)

One tattoo in particular……… well it caused me to salivate, literally.

This tattoo is so fucking beautiful that I want one, NOW…..

I have read differing opinions on tattoos without outlines, a lot of opinion is that they don’t last as long and maybe don’t maintain their integrity.  So I posed the question to Steve in an email.

His response was this :” Thanks for the note. In outlined, color tattoos can be an option, but only if you know what the realities are. Depending on the size and density of the color field they can hold up,for some time, but all will eventually fade and need some maintenance. Color linework is too fragile and usually won't hold up longer than a few years. My wife has some un-outlined Japanese maple leaves that are at least twenty years old and other than the yellows are still fairly viable. We'll be re-coloring them in the not too distant future.”

That settles it for me, I will have one.  I mean, tattoo maintenance is a reality. From immediate post-tattoo cleansing and moisturizing (which you will get different instructions at every shop you go to), to sun protection, tattoos must be maintained just like any other piece of art. Even the frescos in the Sistine Chapel require attention.  Art is a living entity, whether a painting, sculpture or skin art, it’s ever evolving with time and environmental factors.

(Michelangelo had some mad skills, can you imagine the tattoos he could knock out?  I will not comment on the genitalia in this painting…… refraining……. No comment here….lips are sealed……… OH DAMMIT, seriously Mike, that is some teeny tiny junk, I hope that for your sake you weren’t basing that painting on yourself.  If you did, I’m really sorry dude)

So…… I plan to stop by Dana’s in Covington this weekend, set up an appointment with Steve and pay my deposit.  I want some watercolor flowers in the center of my back, I might take a few ideas, but I want to leave most of it up to Steve’s artistic discretion, I already know that I am in love with his work.  I have a birthday coming up soon, so it will be a nice gift to myself.

But first, I have an appointment tomorrow with Dustin Zion at Asylum Tattoo in Latonia to get my blue poppy on my left arm, with a little honey bee.  Hopefully over the next year I will be able to complete both half sleeves.

I want a blue poppy like this, with the honey bee nearby, placed directly below the daylily pictured below.  I want them all to be incorporated into one piece, which will eventually be the half sleeve.

The daylily pictured above, was done by the awe inspiring Kevin Byers http://tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html, of Truth and Triumph Tattoo in Dayton, OH http://tattooedtv.com/
I am in love with his adaptation of the photo I presented to him...... Kevin will absolutely do me again...... wait...... that sounded wrong didn't it??

(the photo)

(Kevin hard at work)

Well my friends, have a fantastic weekend!! Stay cool in this brutal heat!!
I am off to see a minor league baseball game tonight, which I'm sure it won't be hot there at all. 
At least the beer there is cheap, and we all know that it's great beer drinking weather!!!

Stupendous Skulls

In Mexico, the belief is that the gates of heaven open at midnight on October 31.  At this time, spirits of deceased children may visit their families for 24 hours on November 1, All Saints Day (I don’t know about you, but I get visions of Salem's Lot when I think about this)

Then, on November 2, All Souls Day, the adult spirits come down and party it up without the annoyance of all the kid spirits being a total buzz kill (I'm not really a fan of other people's kids at all, even the ghost kids. I have no doubt they'd be obnoxious as hell too).

During these days when spirits are freely walking amongst us, people celebrate their ancestors.

One way they celebrate is with the sugar skull, which is aptly named because they were actually made from clay molded sugar and decorated with icing. The name of one’s loved one would be written on the skull’s forehead.

The skulls would be placed on the gravestones to encourage the return of the loved one’s soul………Plying people (living or dead) with candy has been around for centuries……. I can’t say that I’m a fan of that……. hell ice cream trucks freak me the fuck out, when I hear that music, I get a shiver down my spine.  You will notice that I have a lot of weird phobias as this blog continues.  I like to think it’s just part of my charm, not that I have some unusual mental disorder.

(As humans, we have gone from creating beautiful skulls made of sugar for manipulation purposes, to this.  I don’t really have a lot of hope for the human race, if you want to know the truth.)

On November 2, the party moves to the cemetery.  While there, folks decorate  the gravestones, bands play, they reminisce and games are played.   I love this tradition, I am a cemetery freak, I love visiting them, taking photos and just hanging out.  They are so peaceful and beautiful to me.  The majority of people I tell this to or show my photos to, are a little creeped out by it.  There is a phobia of cemeteries, Coimetrophobia.  Of course I cannot make fun of anyone with a phobia, as my life is rife with them.  I think that a cemetery can be as beautiful as any park.

Anyway……. Throughout history, in many different cultures, skulls have been revered as symbols of energy and power. They were commonly kept as trophies.  “That skull on the mantle? Yea that’s great uncle Ralph, give him a little rub why don'tcha?”

I admired the beauty of the sugar skulls, and appreciate their use to celebrate ancestors that have gone to the great beyond.  And skulls themselves are representative of death itself.  So, I, having died 2 times in 2009, respect death. (A story I may tell at another time) Yet, I no longer fear it. 

For my 8^th tattoo, I wanted a sugar skull.  And the artist I wanted to create it for me was Kevin Byers at Truth & Triumph Tattoo in Dayton, OH (http://www.tattooedtv.com/) his portfolio is here (http://www.tattooedtv.com/kevinbyers.html)  Kevin does some spectacular traditional tattoos, and he’s pretty fly for a white guy.

I made my appointment, told him what I wanted, and made the 90 minute trek to Dayton.  I hate driving with a passion (and driving to Dayton is particularly horrible, sometimes Dayton smells like ass), but my friends, Kevin is totally worth it (and he has no control of the crapulent odor.  Surprisingly, it didn't reek the last time I was there, but the traffic was worse).

Earlier in the day of the tattoo session, Kevin texted me the stencil he had drawn.

I loved it!!! The only thing I told him was that I wanted on my right shoulder blade and in girly colors.

 The amazing Kevin Byers slaving over my skin.

The finished product...... so beautiful!!! 

I love how a skull can be so girly and feminine, yet totally manly in black and gray.

Like this one done by Logan Aguilar at Venus Modern Body Art in NYC http://www.venusmodernbodyarts.com/ his portfolio can be found here http://www.loganaguilar.com/portfolio/

gorgeous work....

So if you are in the market for a skull..... and you google the images, it can be overwhelming.  If you find some specifics about some that you like, take them to your artist, give them a little artistic freedom, and you can totally have a super awesome skull on your epidermis, like I do!