(Happy?) New Year

Tomorrow is new years eve, and I'll probably be asleep before midnight.  I really don't care.  How did this even become an event/holiday?  Is there anyone that actually believes that Jan.1 will be any fuckin' different from Dec. 31?  Sure, you gotta spend a couple of weeks trying to remember to write 2011 on your checks, but what the hell is really gonna change?  Does anyone actually stick to their new years resolutions?  I'm gonna lose weight- I'm gonna be a better person- I'm gonna stop smoking- I'm gonna quit drinking- BULLSHIT!  Do you really believe that anything is gonna change because you wore a silly hat, got drunk, and yelled 'whoo-hoo' at 12:00:01?  In fact, you're gonna start your 'new' year with a hangover- sounds like a pretty shitty start to me.  I've got some things I'd like to accomplish in 2011, but I'm not making any new years resolutions.  2010 sucked, 2009 was no fuckin' prize, and I'm not holding out much hope for 2011.  I can tell you some things that I'm pretty sure will happen in 2011, and these are not some kind of fancy Nostradamus-like predictions- they're pretty easy to see coming.  People will get dumber (happens every year).  The Government will fuck us some more (also happens every year).  We'll all get older- I'm lookin' at 44 in February.  I'll get angrier and more bitter (that happens every year too).  So Happy Fuckin' New Year, I'm off to spend 40 minutes or so on the eliptical- No, it wasn't a resolution, just something I started doing a year and a half or so ago to try to fend off the Grim Reaper.

Frank's Bomb-Nurse

Tattooed my friend Frank today.  Five hours on the ribs- I know that had to suck, but Frank stuck it out.  Personally I would have preferred to have done the tattoo in 2 sittings- it's hard for someone to sit through that much tattooing in a sensitive area like that, but Frank sat like a trooper.  It had to get done in just the one sitting today because Frank leaves for a double-super, top-secret, undisclosed location (via Texas) on the 2nd.  This was Frank's 'Pre-Deployment' tattoo.  I wish I could take credit for the sweet ass design, but it was drawn for Frank by Vince from Holland.  No, I don't know his last name, but I do know where ya can see more of his cool designs- Right here: VeniVidiVince

Anyway, here's a pic of Frank's new tattoo.  He's gonna get someone to snap a couple of healed pics and I'll post those when I get 'em.

And here's a healed pic of the Bat I did in the pit of Frank's elbow a couple of months ago.  Apparently Frank only has me tattoo really painful areas of his body.

Many thanks to Frank and all of the rest of the men and women in our armed forces for all they do.  Stay safe in the Iraqistanarabia there, Franky.

Now, just in case any of the 4 or 5 people who actually read this have been wondering what kind of fool writes a goofy ass blog like this one, it's this kind:

Good Riddance 2010

2010 has been a pretty shitty year in my opinion.  The economy still sucks- I know things have gotten better in some parts of the country, but not here in Georgia.  As of November, Georgia's unemployment rate is still over 10%- this certainly doesn't help my business.  Tattoos are a luxury item- I'm not selling food or gas or something else that people can't live without.  This time last year, I almost had to close my shop.  The only thing that saved me was the fact that my landlords lowered my rent in an attempt to help keep me open.  They knew that if I left, they would just end up with one more empty, un-rentable space in the strip.  I have also been a good tenant for almost 9 years, who doesn't cause any problems and always pays the rent on time.  Somehow in this shitty economy, the shitbag hipsters still think that it's a good idea to keep opening more and more tattoo shops, doing cheap shitty tattoos for cheap ass customers.  A shitty economy creates 'price shoppers'.  People looking for the cheapest price on tattoos- they're uneducated consumers who don't care about quality- they just want to get heavily tattooed for as little money as possible.  I do good tattoos, and good tattoos don't come cheap- my time and expertise is worth a certain amount of money, and I will not do bargain tattoos and lower myself to the level of the shit shops.  I actually have people ask me for prices on tattoos and say things like, "Now, I don't make a lot of money".  You know what motherfucker, because of cheap ass, low class people like you, I don't make a lot of money anymore either!
Last week, my car broke down, costing me just under 1 thousand dollars to fix- I suppose I can't complain too much as I have gotten just over 100,000 relatively problem free miles out of her, but that $1000 was still a big hit to the wallet.  I also spent the whole week all sick and fucked up with some horrible stomach bug.  Merry Fuckin' Christmas.
There's also the fact that we have an anti-capitalist president that wants to tax us all to death to support people that don't work for a living.  One more thing that is most certainly not helping my business.
There are other things that made 2010 a pretty shitty year, but I am not going to discuss my personal life in a freakin' blog.
So, 2010, you can go fuck yourself!  Hopefully 2011 will be a better year- I'm not sure how, but I guess I can hope.  Hell, our president won an election on 'hope'.

Fuck You People, Carla's New Outfit & Starbucks

Did this tattoo Saturday.  As usual, I got shitty pics, but I'll post it again when I get healed pics.  I love tattoos like this.

Carla is getting a new outfit this winter.  In case you didn't know, Carla is my 09 VStar 950.  She's getting new fenders, bags and a fairing.  Got started on this project on Sunday.  My buddy Jason helped immeasurably.  We got the fairing mounted- it's a Tsukayu fairing that was supposed to mount easily using Memphis Shades quick release windshield brackets.  Well, it wasn't fuckin' easy!  I guess it would have been easy if I had liked where it sat on the bike using the included mounts, but I didn't.  So, we had to modify the mounts, which negated the 'quick release' function.  In fact, it is now anything but quick release- in order to remove the fairing, the headlight bucket now has to be removed, which is a project all by itself due to the amount of wiring that's mounted inside the bucket.  We also got the front fender modified and mounted.  The fenders are from a VStar 1100- I wanted longer fenders.  The rear fender is not mounted yet, it's just sitting on the bike in the position I want it.  Yesterday I drilled the bags for the lights.  I want a cleaned up rear end, so I am going with a run-turn-brake set up mounted in the bags.  The bags are also from Tsukayu, but I don't foresee the any issues with the mounting for them (we'll see what happens).  The stock seat is not going to fit with the new rear fender, so I'm planning on making a fiberglass seat pan and doing the padding myself- I'll have someone that knows what they're doing cover it for me.  I'll probably have it done by Tim from Outlaw Custom Seats.  My friend Joey will be doing the paint for me, and then I'll be doing some pinstriping and maybe some gold leafing.  Here's a few pics of how she's sitting right now.

Now, Starbucks.  I HATE STARBUCKS!  Not in the it's hip to hate Starbucks because everyone loves Starbucks way, or in the Hippy-Ass it's cool to hate giant corporations way.  I just hate their shitty coffee.  They're blend sucks.  Sure, if you go there and get some kinda double fuckachino, pumpkin latte bullshit with sprinkles and whipped cream it might be OK, but that's not coffee.  That's not even a beverage at that point- it's fuckin' dessert.  I want coffee- Black.  Fucking.  Coffee.  And I think that their blend of coffee sucks if ya just want coffee.  I like good coffee, I like espresso- a double espresso with a shot of sambuca is nice after dinner.  At home, I like to grind my own beans for a nice fresh cup 'o' joe.  I've even been known to order coffee beans online from Jamaica- MMMMMM, Blue Mountain Coffee.  But, you can keep your shitty Starbucks.  The coffee at Quick Trip is way better than that bitter ass Starbucks shit.  Dunkin Donuts- now that's a cup of coffee!  So, I'll stick with coffee from QT or Dunkin Donuts and you people can have your overpriced, over-sweet, coffee-dessert thing.

Tattoos from the weekend

Worked on Jeremy's Jaws leg yesterday.  Did a shot of the shark eating the boat- lotsa fun.

Finished up Joleen's tattoo for her parents on Friday.  She'll be back for me to get some nice healed pics. For now, all I have is a half-healed/half-fresh picture- always hate those.  Got a nice glare on it too, so all around, it's a shitty picture.

Now, since I haven't done it in a couple of months, here's the shameless self promotion- just in time for your Christmas shopping:

Here's some of the sweet-ass stuff I have for sale in my Zazzle shop-

Remember, if ya wanna see all the cool stuff I have in my Zazzle shop, you'll have to create a Zazzle account and set your 'Maturity Level' to 'R'.

http://www.zazzle.com/flyingfrog

And here's some of the super cool shirts I have available at my Speradshirt shop.  These would be perfect rolled up and stuffed in a stocking.

http://flyingfrog.spreadshirt.com/