Winter time musings

Winter is just about here and the shop has finally slowed down...Now there is time to finish incomplete drawings that have been shoved to the back that are all crumpled up, or I may even break my painting fast which has lasted way too long...Or better yet, I myself can get that tattoo I have wanted for so long. I have wanted this viking ship tattooed on my thigh with a boar in the sail. I swear I am going to do it soon. I will show you pics. I am doing it next month, I just decided. And ya, I'm scared cause I am old now and am sensitive. I think once your body is 75% tattooed, it really starts to kill. Pain adds up over time.

So, I was reminiscing on what I could write about, and I was taken back to the time I was tattooing in San Francisco. (I have a lot of memories during those days, hella bad ones and good ones too)But I worked at this shop on Gough street, which was in the ghetto. The projects were across the street, but then you go up 2-3 blocks and your in this this nice restaurant/bar strip with nice folks walking around. Well, I worked there for a year with this guy Pickens who is by far hands down my favorite artist I have ever worked with, I might add.
And one day I was working in the shop and I look at our door and in our stoop there was a crack head huddled, crouched down smoking crack. It was a big plume of stagnant smoke that filled the small entrance way and I ran up on the door from inside and kicked it and told him to get the fuck outta there! I was so pissed! I could smell it even. There was this nasty smell of crack that was lingering. I believe that is when I really got into smudgeing- burning sage and using other herbal sprays to clear out negative energy stuffs. That was the first time that I started thinking, this shop is not going to last very long apparently. That was also the shop with the prostitute that came in there, that I previously tattooed at another shop, and she did not recognize me cause she was a heroin junky.
Well months after that crack smoking event to my shop entrance, The shop was robbed at gun point. All they got was my buddy's digital camera. Ha! But that's when we decided to call it quits on that shop. It was kinda a bummer cause I did like that shop. It was just 2 of us, and we ran it. It was really mellow, and we listened to Metal. I remember that we put a pool table down in the basement. There also was a beautiful coffin in the basement. And I actually had a photo shoot in that coffin. There was a big screen tv down there with a stereo, so I could put on some loud death metal and enjoy the coffin. Yes, I have a morbid side. I will have to dig up the photo's to see if I can post one of the coffin. I will add that to my list of things to do while I am enjoying the slowness. I also had 3 cancellations for the week, so I shall have some spare time indeed!