While thinking of a name for this entry, I looked back at the titles of my previous posts and discovered that I had used “I’m back, baby!” in Feb 2019.  The first line of that post reads: “Seven weeks between appointments is just too much.”  What a sweet, naive little bumpkin I was…

In case you’re some sort of eldritch horror that has just arisen from an eons long sleep, you are probably aware of the global pandemic that ground most of the earth to a halt (some places longer than others, wear a mask plz).  Here in the NY metro area, tattooing stopped from mid-March to the end of July.  That’s a whopping 19 weeks between appointments.  Needless to say, I’m happy to be back at it.

This post actually covers two appointments.  Session 74 was on July 21st, Session 75 was last night.  I didn’t write this post after the first appointment because of a variety of stupid technical reasons, but also partly because our first appointment was just kinda “getting back into the swing of things.”  Horizakura spent a quick hour shading a couple of clouds around the phoenix, then we went and got food and beers.

As you can see, not earth shattering stuff, but all progress is progress.  “All progress is progress” is almost as dumb as saying, “It is what it is.”

Last nights appointment was a little more exciting.  We are full steam ahead on getting the rest of this suit outlined, and as such we began the somewhat awkward process of outlining the background elements on my upper/inner thigh.  This blog has always been about keeping a record of this process for myself, but I’ve also realized that if anybody was interested in embarking on this sort of journey themselves, this could be a useful resource.  With that in mind, you’re going to have to get comfortable with your tattoo artist seeing your naked body.  It’s going to happen.  The fundoshi I wear during these appointments is a disobedient and unruly garment.  No matter how we tied it, moved it, tugged it, held it, my guys were flopping all over the place.  This area also required a lot of body positions that, candidly, did not make me feel like a real cool tattoo boy.  Made me feel more like an ungainly, thirsty, wannabe Instagram model.  It’s all part of the process and it doesn’t take long at all to be at peace with the awkwardness of it all.  Other than that, no part of this area was particularly unbearable and it was certainly exciting to be back into outlining this suit.

I have nothing else to say to you.  Look at these photos: