Too Many Ideas!

I officially made my appointment with Tim this morning. I talked to his apprentice Zach, who was super nice. He was really helpful. I'm booked as Tim's first appointment on Friday, whenever that is. Neither of us knew when the official start of the convention was, so we decided to just say "first tattoo of the day". It took everything I had not to squeal in the poor kid's ear.

I got replies from two more tattooists, Eva Huber and Thad Ritchey. I emailed Eva back with a few ideas (detailed below) and gave Thad my cell, but haven't heard from him.

Now I have a dilemma. I've decided that I want all the tattoos I get that weekend to have an old school feel to them. Sailor Jerry and Ed Hardy of course being the kings of all things old school, but still awesome. I've already got the geisha booked, so I was browsing for more ideas. I came across this shirt and fell in love. The dragon is also a Japanese motif I can relate to. I was obsessed with dragons as a kid and had a stuffed dragon that I literally loved to pieces. He's currently sitting in the top of my closet so I can resist the urge to snuggle with him. My first thought for placement was going up my spine above my current tattoo and stopping right at the nape of my neck. Then I thought about putting it on my lower stomach between Mae's foot and Ol' Blue Balls. However, I don't think that's going to fit. It's a much smaller space and these guys are fairly detailed. My back may just end up being an incoherent mish mash of everything. And then Russ would cry. I guess a third option would be running up the back of my right thigh, as well.

I also still want a lock tattoo. I'm perfectly happy with the tattoo I got from Kevin, but in the end, I'm still lacking a lock tat. I though it could somehow be worked in with the rose and key I currently have, maybe on the back of my calf or something.

I'm also running into the issue of pieces being coherent and well laid out. The roses on my left foot will look fine with a geisha bust. But how well would a Japanese dragon and two Western style revolvers go together? Should tattoos on the backs of my calves or thighs be a pair? Maybe not, but they should have the same feel to them. I think a cupcake and a peach, both with banners describing my personality and heritage, could work. Or a cupcake and a bell. The right tattooist can give the cupcake the right feel to it.

If I opt for the dragon on my back, the revolvers are going to have to move. Now revolvers and pin up girls, that could work. I'm sure someone with Danielle's talent could keep the feel of the revolvers and wording in the same style as a pair of pin ups. It's a cliche place to have them, but I think in the long run I may be happier. I'm not concerned about it going with the shamrock or Ol' Blue Balls simply because they aren't visible even in a bikini. Let's face it, I wear a bikini once a year whether I need to or not. So it's more what makes the most sense artistically. In all honesty, I would like to stay away from my back. Perhaps just my original idea of "Tough Bitch" and a pair of lip prints on my ass like I started with. Then there's no meshing issues and it's still a tattoo I can be totally happy with.

Enough with the stream of consciousness for now and time to work out. After all, I'm still 7 lbs away from earning the right to have that "Tough Bitch" tat.