Attending the Boston Tattoo Convention this weekend was fun. Katie and I got to hang out with Phuc and Sue, and we had the opportunity to meet a lot of their friends. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share. It was just a lot of tattooed people walking around. Not that exciting. The one really disappointing aspect of the whole convention was the contests. Not that I am complaining and being a poor sport because my piece did not win, but because the whole contest was a farce. Money maker for "The Sponsors" (Darkwave Tattoos), not to name names or anything, and allowing them to pat themselves on the back. Let me lay out the evidence of the setup. First of all, one of the judges was their shop manager. Granted, it's tough getting quality people to judge tattoo contests, but come on, there should be bias judges or at least individuals that are not affiliated with people that are entered into the contest. Or at best, artist's names should not be announced. But then you look at the winners, most went to, who else, "The Sponsors." Not that any tattoo that won was poorly done or anything like that (by the way all the entries were very nice), but I can easily say that many of the tattoos that actually lost were far superior in detail and technicality. For example, in the back piece category that I entered in, there were six contestants. All beautifully done. The lady who ended up winning did not even show her full tattoo, she hid behind her sweatshirt and bared her shoulder blades for the judges to look at. She could of had an amazing piece, but I definitely could not tell, because I couldn't see it. There was a guy that entered who had an amazing traditional Japanese koi fish piece which was amazing. I was completely in disbelief that he did not win. Oh well. Maybe next year they should add in this disclaimer: "If you did not get your tattoo from either Darkwave or Lightwave Tattoo shops, don't bother entering your piece into the contest, because you'll just lose the contest and the ten bucks you gave us! SUCKERS!" Any ways, on to the fun stuff.

So I broke down like a little kid in a candy shop and got a tattoo by Joel Long. Ironically, he's actually from my old neck of the woods from Boulder, Colorado at Bolder Ink. He's an amazing tattooer, so I ended up getting a crane from him. I'll post a picture when it heals, probably on flickr. We also had the opportunity to meet Khristian from Mooncusser Tattoo. Who by the way is a great artist and a hilarious guy. He will also cover up any of your tattoos with a tribal piece if you like. All in all, this was a fun weekend. I didn't get much work done, but it was worth it.

As many of you know, the Boston Tattoo Convention is this upcoming weekend and I'm excited to go. The back piece contest will be held on Saturday, so I'll be there and I'm planning on entering. For those that are planning on going, I would highly recommend buying your tickets in advance because it will be much cheaper. If you are interested in getting a tattoo while you are at the convention, you can go on the the Boston Tattoo Convention website and check out the artists' portfolios and get email addresses to set up appointments. Pretty convenient. Needled, which is a nice blog about tattoos, did a pretty good entry about the convention. I hope to see many of you there.

2 days (48 hours) of tattooing (give or take a couple of hours)
12 tattoo sessions
2,673.6 miles driven from Boston, MA to Portland, ME and back
$86.40 of highway tolls paid
$24 spent on feeding the parking meter
1 parking violation warning
$201 spent on the world's best jumbo lobster rolls at Bob's Clam Hut
35 blogger posts (36 including this one)
48 ounces of Curel used to moisturize
131 pictures taken
1 visit from Ron and Lacy
1 apprentice hired
3rd episode of Star Wars came out
1 lady who wanted business cards because she "worked the streets"
$ cost of tattoo (don't bother asking)
1 bad ass dragon tattoo exactly as I wanted

Let me begin by apologizing for not having this up on Saturday night. I've been moving this weekend and the cable guy just literally walked out the door. Part of it could also be my passive aggressiveness of this being the final session and I'm realizing that this blog is coming to an abrupt end. Twelve sessions later and we finally dot the eyes. Phuc colored the orb a purple color. Though, in the picture, it looks like Phuc just punched me a couple of times and gave me a really bad bruise. He also finished the flames on my right ribs and decided to thicken some of the lines on the head.

I'm not sure what else to say. It has been an amazing process. I'll take better pictures of the tattoo once it's healed and post them up on my flickr account. The Boston Tattoo Convention is coming up on September 23rd to the 25th. Phuc will be tattooing all three days. I'm not sure if he is booked up yet so if you're in Boston during that time and want some work done, contact him and set an appointment. I will also be there. I have not decided what day I will be going yet, but Phuc is encouraging me to enter into the back piece competition, which is on Sunday. If you have the chance come by and say hi. If i'm around, I'll be more than happy to show you my back. I'll post up pictures in the next week or so once the tattoo is all healed.