Okay, so I know my posts are suppose to be about me, but I feel as though my friend Melissa's story is far more interesting than anything I could write today. So for all of you who thought about tatoos or even if you didn't hear is her tale. Oh and for words some of you might not know yakuza is the Japanese mafia, 1 man in Japanese yen equals about $100 and yoroshikuonegaishimasu means please think well of me. Okay, here you go:
So, I'm in some shady-ass yakuza bar, and the dude looks like some sort of greaser/ska-punk. His name is Psyten, and he has his own business. Mr. Psyten is a tattoo artist...for the yakuza...wicked! He's got swing-punk music playing in the background, or is it ska? And old bowling pins decorating his office. The walls are covered with full-back tattoo designs...dragons, Mary wrapped in shrouds and bleeding, Japanese demons, dancing around, cool-ass shit. Homeboy's got his hair crisco-slicked back, smoking a cigarette...he's said all of two words to me, and one of them was unn. Bad-ass motherfucker. The place was hard to find. Tiny sign outside, barely noticable, back alley, third floor, old wooden stairs, no sign on the door, he guided me by cell-phone...sketchy...I like it...The phone rings...brrrrrriiiinnnngg!
-Yeah, I got it, you want 'kill you' right under the dragon's tail on your back, with blood dripping, yeah, I'm almost done with the design.
-cool, I think to myself. then me getting 'idiot' around my forearm can't be that bad.
getting a tattoo is a very intimate thing. I don't think people realize it right off the bat. you spend a lot of time with the tattoo artist, and he must try and read your mind. Understand exactly what you want. He's drilling into your body. It's permanent. There's no room for error. adrenaline for both parties.
-I can't do the characters this small. They will bleed together. You see this. This is the thinnest the needle will go. And if you want the letters to go from thin to thick, in order for me to get the detail in...
So we decided on two bands instead of one, and to scratch the spiral idea.
-The thing with dark blue is that the composition of the ink is such that the pigment particles are much larger than that of the black. This results in less detail and more bleeding of color. If you want the sharpest detail, I would go with black. Black is not really black, if you take a look at my arm here, black is really a dark blue. The pigment particles are much smaller, and you'll get the best detail...
-ok, let's go with the black...
I want this band on top, then this band
These characters will be verticle, and these ones horizontal...
I want this word to be in the center.
When I turn my arm like this, I want to be able to see this character...
Let's get rid of the period.
Yes, keep the spaces between the words...
No, I want to keep the font exactly like this...
-You'Re going to have to sign some forms. Read this first, and then sign here.
-I can't read that. But if you read it to me, I can understand ( I'm so trusting).
so he summarizes the legal stuff for me, and I sign the thing. Now for the medical form.
-Basically, there are risks involved. First of all, don't use public baths, swiming pools, etc. for at least a week. Also, don't get sunburned, or drastically tan before coming. don't go to a tanning salon. If you get sunburned, or significantly darker, don't bother showing up...
-wait, how dark is dark?
-Are you going to be in Sapporo on Friday evening? I could ink you then.
-Yes, but will I be able to drink?
-Drink?
-Yeah, it's golden week, and we're going to drink.
-a lot?
-well, a few nomihodais...
-hmm. are you going to be in town tomorrow?
-yeah.
-I can do it tomorrow
-is that enough time for you to make the design?
-yeah, this one won't take long at all.
-ok, what time?
-seven pm?
-alright
-bring 1man yen, and your id.
-ok
-ok
Next day, seven pm. There I am in a white room on a cot. Skah, punk music is playing in the background. third floor shady-ass building...
-yoroshikuonegaishimasu
and he's off
buzzzzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzz...think happy thoughts....almost two hours of incredible discomfort...not really pain, just discomfort. My whole body is buzzzing along. buzzzzzzzzz and it's the clash...buzzzzzzzz he doesn't say a word the whole time. I don't dare disturb. don't want him to screw up.....that's the biggest intimate part about it...the trust involved. You have to trust. It's out of your hands once the gun is turned on...buzzzzzzzzz the flourescent lights are bugging my eyes. Think happy thoughts. Think about beer. Think about great sex. Think about pizza. Think about funny jokes...think about sumo...think about the five-day weekend coming up...think about anything else but the buzzzzing...am I breathing?
the phone rings a couple times. He goes out for a cigarette break, leaving me there, stuck to the cot...I can see a perfect red imprint of my tattoo on the paper towel. buzzzzzzzzzz...buzzzzzzzzzzzz...I'm running out of happy thoughts....
-ok, we're finished.
-he washes me off.
-I look at it. It's perfect. It's better than I thought it would turn out. He's beaming. Happy with himself. Happy that I'm happy.
-If you run, you can make your last train.
-nah, I'd rather have a beer.
-don't drink too much!
-I only want a couple
-tomorrow you can drink as much as you want.
-It's a national holiday, so I have to.
-Thank you very much.
-thanky you very much.
-take care.
-take care.
-thank you very much
-thank you
-goodbye.
-take care.
and off I went. I didn't want to leave. I felt like we bonded. He must have that special connection with everyone he's worked on. Makes me want to take up tattooing...
and I have the meaning of life upon my sleeve.
-nonsense, and a reminder not to let your beer go flat because if you drink it, you can get a refill.
the end
Alright, well that is Melissa and her tatoo story. She is definitely by far the craziest woman I have ever met.
Keeping it real.
So, I'm in some shady-ass yakuza bar, and the dude looks like some sort of greaser/ska-punk. His name is Psyten, and he has his own business. Mr. Psyten is a tattoo artist...for the yakuza...wicked! He's got swing-punk music playing in the background, or is it ska? And old bowling pins decorating his office. The walls are covered with full-back tattoo designs...dragons, Mary wrapped in shrouds and bleeding, Japanese demons, dancing around, cool-ass shit. Homeboy's got his hair crisco-slicked back, smoking a cigarette...he's said all of two words to me, and one of them was unn. Bad-ass motherfucker. The place was hard to find. Tiny sign outside, barely noticable, back alley, third floor, old wooden stairs, no sign on the door, he guided me by cell-phone...sketchy...I like it...The phone rings...brrrrrriiiinnnngg!
-Yeah, I got it, you want 'kill you' right under the dragon's tail on your back, with blood dripping, yeah, I'm almost done with the design.
-cool, I think to myself. then me getting 'idiot' around my forearm can't be that bad.
getting a tattoo is a very intimate thing. I don't think people realize it right off the bat. you spend a lot of time with the tattoo artist, and he must try and read your mind. Understand exactly what you want. He's drilling into your body. It's permanent. There's no room for error. adrenaline for both parties.
-I can't do the characters this small. They will bleed together. You see this. This is the thinnest the needle will go. And if you want the letters to go from thin to thick, in order for me to get the detail in...
So we decided on two bands instead of one, and to scratch the spiral idea.
-The thing with dark blue is that the composition of the ink is such that the pigment particles are much larger than that of the black. This results in less detail and more bleeding of color. If you want the sharpest detail, I would go with black. Black is not really black, if you take a look at my arm here, black is really a dark blue. The pigment particles are much smaller, and you'll get the best detail...
-ok, let's go with the black...
I want this band on top, then this band
These characters will be verticle, and these ones horizontal...
I want this word to be in the center.
When I turn my arm like this, I want to be able to see this character...
Let's get rid of the period.
Yes, keep the spaces between the words...
No, I want to keep the font exactly like this...
-You'Re going to have to sign some forms. Read this first, and then sign here.
-I can't read that. But if you read it to me, I can understand ( I'm so trusting).
so he summarizes the legal stuff for me, and I sign the thing. Now for the medical form.
-Basically, there are risks involved. First of all, don't use public baths, swiming pools, etc. for at least a week. Also, don't get sunburned, or drastically tan before coming. don't go to a tanning salon. If you get sunburned, or significantly darker, don't bother showing up...
-wait, how dark is dark?
-Are you going to be in Sapporo on Friday evening? I could ink you then.
-Yes, but will I be able to drink?
-Drink?
-Yeah, it's golden week, and we're going to drink.
-a lot?
-well, a few nomihodais...
-hmm. are you going to be in town tomorrow?
-yeah.
-I can do it tomorrow
-is that enough time for you to make the design?
-yeah, this one won't take long at all.
-ok, what time?
-seven pm?
-alright
-bring 1man yen, and your id.
-ok
-ok
Next day, seven pm. There I am in a white room on a cot. Skah, punk music is playing in the background. third floor shady-ass building...
-yoroshikuonegaishimasu
and he's off
buzzzzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzzz buzzzzzz...think happy thoughts....almost two hours of incredible discomfort...not really pain, just discomfort. My whole body is buzzzing along. buzzzzzzzzz and it's the clash...buzzzzzzzz he doesn't say a word the whole time. I don't dare disturb. don't want him to screw up.....that's the biggest intimate part about it...the trust involved. You have to trust. It's out of your hands once the gun is turned on...buzzzzzzzzz the flourescent lights are bugging my eyes. Think happy thoughts. Think about beer. Think about great sex. Think about pizza. Think about funny jokes...think about sumo...think about the five-day weekend coming up...think about anything else but the buzzzzing...am I breathing?
the phone rings a couple times. He goes out for a cigarette break, leaving me there, stuck to the cot...I can see a perfect red imprint of my tattoo on the paper towel. buzzzzzzzzzz...buzzzzzzzzzzzz...I'm running out of happy thoughts....
-ok, we're finished.
-he washes me off.
-I look at it. It's perfect. It's better than I thought it would turn out. He's beaming. Happy with himself. Happy that I'm happy.
-If you run, you can make your last train.
-nah, I'd rather have a beer.
-don't drink too much!
-I only want a couple
-tomorrow you can drink as much as you want.
-It's a national holiday, so I have to.
-Thank you very much.
-thanky you very much.
-take care.
-take care.
-thank you very much
-thank you
-goodbye.
-take care.
and off I went. I didn't want to leave. I felt like we bonded. He must have that special connection with everyone he's worked on. Makes me want to take up tattooing...
and I have the meaning of life upon my sleeve.
-nonsense, and a reminder not to let your beer go flat because if you drink it, you can get a refill.
the end
Alright, well that is Melissa and her tatoo story. She is definitely by far the craziest woman I have ever met.
Keeping it real.
<< Home