tufk1d

during the hiatus of hangin' at the tattoo shop, i've been working on corieann's halloween themed full sleeve. i gotta admit that you can definitely tell the difference of before and after. i realize that i only hung out there for a few days, but i can tell an improvement. i feel WAY more confident - more secure in my abilities, really. humble confidence?!? is there truly such a thing? it would be rad to be a great artist and still humble as shit - but i don't find that very often. i mean, you scratchin' and survivin' on your art out there and it grizzles ya. unfortunately, i'm not speaking from experience, purely hypothetical justification for not bein' humble.

i saw r.r.anderson on the street today. i had just got off the light link rail at freighthouse square and there he was with his wife, waiting to get on the trolley.

"are you r.r. anderson?"
suspiciously, " ye-es."
"o, man - you're a fuckin' great artist. i love your shit, man. keep up the good work! thank you sooo much!"
i look at his wife, who is kinda blushing. i shake his hand.
"um...thanks." i crossed the street into freighthouse square.

i was walking up the mckinley hill when a friend stopped and offered me a ride. she could prolly tell it was hot, since my balls were hanging 19" from their usual resting place. so i relayed the recent event of meeting r.r. anderson and she said - "he prolly thinks that you're a crazy man!"
"why??"
"because you just ran across the street after saying all that. hahahahah- - you are crazy! maybe he would've liked to talked to you."
"really? hmm."

hmmm...perhaps, but i just didn't think that he would have the time to just talk to the likes of me. but come to think of it, they looked like they were on a leisurely stroll. but it's just my first inclination to believe that someone who i'm a fan of must be WAY busier than i am and is out there seeking opportunities to meet their own heroes.

i am a fan of this guy, tho - 'cuz not only is he a great illustrator, but he has great political wit AND has his ears on the political scene of tacoma - great ink renderings of tom stanger and bill baarsma. anyone else even remotely reading this just asked themselves, "Who the fuck are they?" exactly - that's my point, he knows and so do i. it's not all just art and music over here at tufk1d tattoo, ok! we got politics and stuff, man! i just don't think anyone wants to read my opining whining. seriously, you gotta check out his website - it's just great web design. the flash on it is awesome - it doesn't obtrusively bog down your processor and still looks dazzlingly hi-tech. plus, he's got this great minimalist, existentialist, DIY vibe goin' and that's just RAD as shit, man.

i will say this - he's one of the few people that i've come across in t-town that gives me hope of a burgeoning renaissance. or maybe i'm just believing the hype of the weekly volcano and the tacoma weekly. tacoma has that effect on you - mostly, it lets you down a lot. remember the rocket? yea, see! especially when you get into the politics of this town - it's damn disheartening when you hear about the horrible deals that the city has made in the past, which are long-standing contractual agreements that really restrict the ability for this town to do anything remotely fuckin' cool until 2021. but there are some great shops that are at least, selling us the idea that we got some culture, such as the what? shoppe, flaming dragon tattoo, hell's kitchen, wait - they closed the kultur lab, didn't they? fuck, see!

man, i miss danny purcell. deej - if you come across this, write me.

so i realize this entry is too late for father's day - but if i haven't said this before - this idea came to me while skating at ben's mini-ramp. my brother steve and i were talking tattoo ideas and the kids were screaming and i said, "i'm gonna tattoo a wire hanger with a leather belt that says, 'dad of the year' on it....GET OFF THE GODDAMNED SHED!"

title: dad of the year
medium: prismacolor pencils on some heavy brown paper (it came with the draftsmen table that corieann got for me for dad's day

corieann, you're the greatest, dude! i love you soooo much.

song of the day: last trumpet by lyrics born with lateef. just get it and jam the fuck out on it - seriously, get it somehow. later that day is a serious contender for best album of the decade. i'm so glad i have that on vinyl - o, man. if you are gonna buy it, you should actually buy it from quannum records or your local independent record store.