Tattoos are nothing but a commitment towards future embarrassment and ridicule. You may think that who you are now will never change. And if you are a wilfully ignorant or narrow-minded person who will always refuse to change their perspective on the world, irrespective of how much things around you change, you may be right. At least in terms of your mental retardation, anyway. But, what you are most certainly incapable of retarding, is the inevitable physical changes to your body as you begin to age.

And yes, I have heard all the argument before…”It’s okay if I get saggy and my tat ends up looking stupid, because I’ll be old and covered up anyway, so no-one will see it”. Really? Isn’t people seeing it the whole point of getting ink injected permanently beneath five layers of dermis? Because this excuse sounds an awful lot like an admission of the temporary relevance of whatever statement, symbol, character, etc. you have had tattooed to your body.

People have been getting tattoos for centuries. Yes, this is true. However, these tattoos had to mean something. You had to earn them. The massive tribal tattoos, for instance, that are to be found on the bodies and faces of indigenous cultures (such as the Maori of New Zealand) are signs of initiation, bravery and honour. They were not granted for cash. How would you feel as a member of one of these cultures seeing the spiritually significant art of your culture being inked across the Creatin-enhanced bicep of the Caucasian gym junkies. The descendants of the "white man" responsible to colonise your land and forcing your ancestors from it. Now, I'm not advocating a "black-armband" view of history here, I'm just saying that as the world hegemone white people have a lot to answer for in terms of turning the customs, art and spiritual artefacts of other cultures into consumer items.

I mean, are these people really so desperate to have some permanently tangible evidence that they had at least one profound realisation in their life time? It certainly is pessimistic. Are they conceding that the revelation of something akin to “Only God can judge me”, “Brisbane Broncos”, “Jesse 4 Eva” or the image of a butterfly/dolphin to symbolise their free-spirited nature is really the only meaningful denouement they are ever going to reach? It certainly would explain the high incidence of tattooing amongst those with pronounced self-confidence or identity issues.

Perhaps most stupid as those middle-class white people from the suburbs who get massive tribal tattoos down their arms, backs, shoulders, etc. to make them look both edgy and spiritual. The truth is they don't look either. They look ashamed to be Caucasian and as desperately seeking psuedo-ethnic demarcation/tribal identity formation as a pasty 14-year-old wearing a over-sized basketball jersey, unlaced Nike Air Force Ones and baggy jeans.

And before anyone pulls the “But I got my children’s names tattooed across my heart because I’ll always love them” card, just hold up a minute. You can’t be serious, can you? If you need a massive tattoo across your chest, back or forearm to stand as a reminder of how much you will always love your children - then you really don’t love your children! You just want other people to think that you do. People who really and truly love their children do not need to advertise it on their flesh!

The pop culture adoption of tattoos is nothing more than the latest in a long line of flashy, but ultimately meaningless, fetished consumer items which are briefly lauded with great intensity and then quickly discarded as passe'. Von Dutch trucker cap, anyone?

So, if your thinking about getting a tattoo to mark some significant milestone or achievement in your life – don’t. If your thinking of getting a tattoo because you think it will define you. Don’t. If you think getting a tattoo will define your individuality. It won't, it will only make public what you have always feared most that the people around you will one day realise – that you are deeply and overwhelmingly ordinary and mediocre. Now, do you really want a reminder of that permanently tattooed to your flesh? Do you?

i got the job today! AND i bought a brand new car! life could not be better. the fact that i got this job gives me a wonderful excuse to go shopping for some corporate chic clothing. CAN'T WAIT!

i'm watching LA Ink and i want another tattoo wicked bad. it's gonna take a lot of thought though because i already have SO many and i don't want to overdo it.

sidenote: i can't wait for fall weather. i love fall, the smell, everything about it. and i love fall clothes.

"a person doesn't have to be perfect to be exactly what you need" -scrubs.

peace, love, and LIFE. XOXO, missfab.

so he kept telling me how stupid he thought these people were and being rude and stuff like (which is pretty much usual) and i would just ignore it like usual but i asked him why? and i forget what he said but he called them stupid and i said you know, you aren't any different from the people on this show, and he says why?

i said because they feel the same way about getting tattoos as you feel about not getting tattoos.  what he said next really made me mad, he said, yeah except i'm right and they're wrong (!)  so i told him not really because if you asked those people who's right, they would say they are right.  we're all the same.   he's not better or worse then them just because he doesn't have a tattoo and they are not better or worse then him because they have tattoos.  i hate to sound like a communist, but we are all equal.  nobody is better then anybody else. 

god loves us all the same.

for the record, it does say in the bible that you shouldn't get a tattoo (leviticus 19:28- do not mark your skin with tattoos). which is an obvious motivator against it. many christians believe that it's ok to be tattooed because the bible was written in a time when tattoos mean something different then they do now. i can buy that a little, but i've always thought that if it was in the bible it was the word of god.

this just goes along with judging people by their appearence. heavily tattooed people probably do have trouble finding jobs (accept the receptionist at my senior portrait photographers office with her cleavage tattoos). those people surely know what they're getting into, though, so they can't complain. besides on the show "la ink" it says that 17 percent of adults with tattoos regret having them. i know i won't get one. i just can't commit.

-Henka

On Denise’s inner left ankle she Charlie tattooed and since her marriage has ended, she wants to get it altered, which is actually the best thing to do if you have a tat you don’t want anymore. Its less painful than having it removed by way of laser. So, she decides to go to Kat Von D who owns LA Ink. Kat also had a show on for a minute of the same name. Of course the paparazzi has followed her there.

It looks like she’s getting the tat turned into a butterfly. Kat told her it won’t hurt, but it does end up hurting because Kat is tatting on the bone of her ankle and for any of you who have tats that are on the bone, you know the bone hurts the most. Kat has revealed the tat and its not a butterfly after all, but a fairy. Both Denise and the friend that accompanies her say, “Good Bye Charlie!” I could actually say the same.

Denise is going to Hawaii with her sister and their girlfriends but is leaving her kids behind. Denise said since she didn’t lose the 10 bounds she wanted to lose all her bikini bottoms are skimpy and she’s gone up two sizes in her jeans. I’ve gone up two jean sizes as well. Wait..did I just say that? Am I comparing myself to Denise Richards? Or am I just copying her? Well I’m not copying her because I have gone up two jean sizes…ok probably more like three, but who’s counting? Right? Shall we continue? We shall.

She’s very excited about her trip. Well, who the hell wouldn’t be going to Hawaii? But she has a fear of flying because she’s had a few really bad flights. She said before 9/11 she would go into the cockpit and she would feel fine but since 9/11 she can’t go in the cockpit. She said a few years ago she had a panic attack on the plane. Now, if anyone has had a panic attack you know its no fun and I am speaking from experience. Hold up folks…this time I am being honest. I used to have panic attacks and some would last two hours, but I haven’t had one in a long time. Back to Denise, since it is Denise’s show. When the plane landed they had to take her the ER because she blew up in hives from head to toe. She told them (doctor’s I guess) that she ate something bad and had an allergic reaction because she was too embarrassed to tell them she is allergic to planes. Now how the hell can you be allergic to planes? Now, she’s making things up. Her friend Kim is going to help her get over her fear of flying.

There’s a company called iFlying which is has an indoor sky diving and wind tunnel. Denise tells her assistant and friend its perfect, yet when she’s speaking to the camera she feels it’s a crock of sh** but she’ll try it. When she arrives at iFly (wow, I am really plugging their name aren’t I? I hope they plug my name some day) she has to sign a waiver. Then this fool is telling her about his hand signals and she asks him if this will cure her fear of flying, he says Yes but not in a convincing tone. I think she’s more nervous now than when she arrived. She finally goes into the wind tunnel to begin her indoor skydiving. She not happy and to the camera she says, “What part of fear of flying did he not understand?” She’s sooooooo sarcastic. My kind of woman. She goes on to say, “He taught us a lot of hand signals, but the one thing he forgot to tell us is how to get the f*ck out of there.”

Well she ends up getting on the plane and sits next to her friend Kim and those two end up arguing (not in a serious way) about something and they laugh and talk the entire five hours it takes to get to Hawaii. Well it was five hours for me when I went.

When she arrives in Hawaii there’s a fool there with a camera taking pictures of her. The paparazzi has followed her to Hawaii. What is wrong with these people???? I know they get paid for the pictures they take, but what about ethics, if that’s the word to use. This fool knows she’s on vacation and he will not leave her alone. She’s at a coffee shop by the airport and the stupid-head (paparazzi, not Denise) asked her where she was staying. Are you serious? Did you really just ask Denise where she was staying? Denise, in turn, asks him where is he staying and of course he would not answer. She and her friends leave (Kim, Michelle (D’s sister) and Trish) to go find their hotel.

Denise and her friends are walking on the beach and there’s the guy again. Denise walks up to him and asks what magazine does he write for. He says he’s independent. She asks him again the name of the magazine and he said he can’t tell her. She says when the pictures are published she will know which magazine and walks off. He next thing is learning to surf and again, that f*ck wad is there taking pictures of her. He’s the only one, mind you, doing this. She ignores him the best she can. She is not going to let him ruin her vacation. The girls decide to go lay on the beach to sunbath and for some reason, to take their tops off. Denise was a bit apprehensive because of that paparazzi guy. They all looked around carefully and what they thought was no sign of him, they took their tops off and rolled onto their stomach but sure enough here comes the needled*ck out of the bushes and begins snapping pictures. Well, now Denise has had enough and confronts the guy. She grabs her towel and tells him she wants to see what in his camera and he refuses. Her friend Kim goes to get her because she can see Denise is about to go off on this guy, which she does. Kim is finally able to get Denise back over with the girls and they leave the beach.

I believe Denise was in Hawaii for a few days. When she gets home her first mission is to see what pictures ended up on the internet and hopes her father hasn’t seen them yet. Her father, Irv (hey, I remembered his name) welcomes the girls home and says he just baked some cookies and offers the girls some, the agree. While he’s in the kitchen taking them out of the oven, Denise and her friends get on the computer and do find the pictures taken of her on the picture. She doesn’t seem that upset about them because they weren’t the one of her on the beach without a top.

And as usual, alls well that ends well.

NEXT WEEK: Denise is flying to NY to promote her show (the one I am watching) and all they (the interviewers) want to talk about is the supposed stuff she has done. It doesn’t seem any of them want to discuss her show. A few of the previews shows Denise very upset and crying on the phone to her father about what’s going on.

By the way, we're told the show may air in October, and legally we can post the images of the tattoo/process afterwards.  Ah, rules and limitations...

EYES
"I didn't discover eyeshadows until recently," Kat divulged. "I used to use liners and that was it, but now, I couldn't imagine life without eyeshadows!" First, she picked up the Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Beethoven and Kat Von D Kat Eye Brush Set. "I start with a brown Leather shadow to the lids, rounding around the outer corners and beneath the lower lash line. I then dip the brush in black Lucifer and blend the two shades together really well-for about one minute on each eye. Then, I go over the shape with Leather again, to make sure it's totally smooth." Kat used the yellow shade in the Beethoven palette to highlight under the brows and in the inside corners of the eyes. To create her signature cat eye, Kat usesKat Von D Autograph Eyeliner in glittery Black Metal Love on the bottom and top lids, flicking out at the corners.

BROWS
For an extra dramatic, sculpted arch, Kat used the slanted brow brush in Kat Von D Kat Eye Brush Setto fill in her brows with black Lucifer shadow from the Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Beethoven. "Brows are so important to frame your eyes," says Kat. "The bolder, the better!"

LIPS
Kat loves red lipstick-so much that each of the four lipsticks in her line are a different shade of crimson. "Nothing makes you feel sexier than the perfect shade of red lipstick," says Kat. "I rely on each shade for different occasions, but the shade I find myself putting on again and again is Kat Von D Painted Love Lipstick in Underage Red." A bright, tangy shade of fire engine red, it caps off Kat's gorgeous look with the perfect dose of flare.

Kat's line is available at Sephora. Shop the brand here: Kat Von D 

Rock on!

n*

Kat von D appeared first in the reality TV show "Miami Ink". In 2007 she opened her own tattoo shop in L.A., High Voltage Tattoos. I once watched series "L.A. Ink" (the series that followed "Miami Ink") and saw her colleague Corey Miller do a fantastic Black and Grey Phoenix tattoo. He painted it directly on the arm of a client. Unfortunately I could not find a photo of that tattoo on their website. However, to me Kat is a special eye-candy. That's what I basically wanted to say with this post :D

and only mere months after la ink star kat von d shattered it. not only was that lame and weird when she got the record, but now oliver peck has done even better by tattooing 415 people with some kind of variation of the number 13 in 24 hours. what is the fucking point of this idiocy? oh...kat von d and oliver peck are in the process of getting a divorce. too bad they've marked over 800 people with their dysfunction and desire to prove each is better than the other. see it's not about tattooing, it's about them. how professional and grown up.

The new record holder goes to tattoo artist Oliver Peck who tattooed 415 tattoos in a 24hr period. This is an average of one tattoo for every 3 1/2 minutes.

Despite that KAT lost her title to Peck, I still love Drachenberg's work and especially LA INK. Katherine von Drachenberg, who appeared in Miami Ink, was offered her own show after she could not handle the heat.

"Los Angeles Ink", assim como "Miami Ink", é um Reality Show. A estrela do programa, é a tatuadora Kat Von D, que foi uma das participantes do grupo de tatuadores da 2º temporada de Miami Ink.

Na edição "Miami" ainda, Kat mostrou que não tinha se adaptado com aqueles ares totalmente diferentes do que ela vivia antes (Afinal Miami é litoral, o que por si só, já é um grande contraste com LA, em seu ambiente cidade grande e altas baladas na noite), então após essa temporada em Miami, Kat decidiu voltar e abriu seu próprio estudio de tatuagem.

Eu confesso que estou mesmo curioso em ver esse programa (que estréia no próximo dia 17, no People And Arts), porque além de ser um programa bem interessante, Kat foi sem dúvida a maior estrela tambem da segunda temporada do Miami Ink, ela com aquele estilo próprio, enchendo sempre o saco de todos pra irem "pra night", fora o fato das tatuagens dela serem F#%@ demais.

Ela era a especialista em retratos, e a cada trabalho que ela fazia eu virava mais fã daquela mulher. Por isso resolvi postar sobre o LA Ink, conselho, não deixem de assistir.

Here are some of the people that made it to the grand opening of Upper Playground & The Last Laugh. for some reason I did not get a photo of USUGROW... Damn me!

Estevan Oriol & Jose Lopez of Lowrider Tattoo.

Bobby & Misa Hundreds! Check out The Hundreds for Bobby's post on the event. You might recognize some people(shameless plug) on there!

Corey Miller of Six Feet Under & LA Ink Fame ~ Solid Dude!

B Real ~ Cypress Hill

You know JaeBueno.com & Heavy Hitters Magazine were on the scene!

'

Skinhead Rob & Slashleah

Some uninvited guests showed up... FTP 2008!

This is the end result... Big Flaco on the left with his LAPD gift & Skinhead Rob.

 Big Bad Onyxxx of Kush TV & Corey Miller

Last but not least my family at the grand opening.

If you're wondering why you don't see any photos of Mister Cartoon it's because while we were there he was getting some shut eye after being at the spot all night getting it ready for the opening. He showed up later in the evening after we had left.