Hurts so good...

This...... became this...

... became this...

... finally became this;

and I couldn't be happier with it!

Yes, that's right- I have a new tattoo. My fourth actually and I love it!

The artwork is courtesy of my fellow coworker, Dave Law.

Dave is one of our inside sales guys and is also a very talented young artist. He is doing some of the graphic artwork for the Haro BMX bikes and really is a great kid. He's got talent... a lot of it too. The tattoo artists were very impressed with his design.

Speaking of the tattoo artist; meet Soda Pop (I doubt it is his birth name, but when you can sling ink as well as he does, you're allowed a cool pseudonym)-

(Soda Pop is the guy in the background...)

Soda Pop is one of the several really cool tattoo artists at Above All Tattoo (3825 5th Avenue, San Diego CA 92103, (619) 299-8282) in my neighborhood in San Diego. They are just a few blocks away from where I live and have been in business just one week at this location (they have one more in San Diego, in the Pacific Beach area). If you are in the area and thinking of a tattoo, please put these guys on your list.

The shop is located in what used to be an old movie house that is now converted to retail space.

All of the staff there is awesome! Seriously, I was floored by how nice the whole crew there is. They have a pool table in the back of the building and I think I might just have to go hang out there and have a few beers and shoot pool with them some time. They are in my neighborhood after all. I talked to all of them and all of them were cool and nice and really care about what they are doing and the people they are working on/ with. During my tattoo (2.5 - 3 hours), each of the different artists came in to check on things and to see if I was ok or needed anything. They were kick ass! Seriously... go check them out if you are in San Diego. I love my new tattoo!

Now for the mushy part, where I explain the symbology in the tattoo;

My wife and I are both Pisces. The zodiac sign for Pisces is two fish- sometimes displayed in a Yin-Yang sort of arrangement. My wife is my very bestest friend (Squirrel is #2), as I've mentioned before. She and I are way more similar than dissimilar. Like a true Yin-Yang, we do a pretty good job of "completing" each other (not in that really horrible, cheesy Jerry Maguire way). I gave Dave the concept and he came up with the drawing. The red/ orange Koi fish is me and the sleek, slim green Koi is my wife. Both of us love the water, so the water bubbles in the middle are our connection to the water.

The tattoo represents the two of us, as Pisces, making up a single Yin-Yang together. We do balance each other really well in real life and now we do the same in the tattoo. She is my partner, in so many more ways than I can possibly express (though I do keep trying). This tattoo is a simple reminder (not that I need one) that we are together, swimming through life together, for always.

Ok, enough mush... now for more pictures!

Soda Pop preparing his sterile equipment.

The sterile equipment. Everything nice and clean. I watched Soda Pop pull fresh needles out of sealed packages, so I know they were clean and sanitary.

My "pain face" (just for you Gilby)... anybody tells you "tattoos don't hurt", punch'em in the nuts/ ovaries for me! After 4 of these things now, I can tell you.. it hurts. I'm sure Sascha would agree...

Before anyone comments... yes, I know I have a large ass. I'm a track sprinter for crying outloud... we're supposed to have big asses.

How many of you got to have your calves wrapped in celophane this evening? That's what I thought...
My reward for sitting through 2+ hours of tattoo and walking home with my leg wrapped in celophane? Newcastle Brown Ale...

... and a beautiful new tattoo!

Again, many thanks to Dave Law for bringing my idea to life and to Soda Pop and Above All Tattoo for bringing Dave's artwork to true life. I'm extremely happy...

Tim