April 12th, 2008.

Hee! In Columbus, IN all the sweaters have been given trees! … Damn I’m tired. All the trees have been given sweaters for a local art project. This is the Wizard of Oz tree – you can see the witch chasing the Tin Man above.

And we had occassion to meet Bill Clinton in Columbus, IN. Giant patriotic cockhat and all.

Heather is getting her tattoo. As I write this I think she’s singing Aerosmith’s “Dream On” and making really quiet “lalalalalalalala” sounds with her tongue. The artist, David of Skeleton Crew Tattoos, has just said “this is your favourite part, you just don’t know it yet” and has begun the poking. From the outside, beyond the quickly dabbed rivulets of blood, the noise is definitely the worst part. David’s art is exquisite – he’s got a beautiful, sculptural sense lending an incredible dimensionality to his work that I really admire. One piece in his portfolio, a heart made of stone, has such an amazing weight to it that you want to grab it out of the page and throw it through a plate glass window.

Heather’s finishing a bunch of new jewelry in the sunshine of Indiana. She’s being awfully productive. Sort of making me feel like I’m a slacker… or a DOCUMENTER!!

Nothing much to report. Just liked this picture from outside the Boulevard Place Cafe in Indianapolis, IN. it was a pretty scary building, really. I don’t know if they’d had a horrible storm recently or what but the siding was ripping off the front of the Cafe and over the course of load-in huge chunks of building kept falling near us… it was dramatic. If something was to hit Heather in the head and cause her to forget who she was, she asked me to just tell her she was fantastic.

There’s a whole lot of rock n roll here. David also does artwork for a very Iron Maidenesque group called Iced Earth and a lot of the work in the portfolio reflects that metal sensibility. Skulls grin up from the pages and flames bracket pinup girls – but it’s the portraiture, the form and figure that I’m admiring here. It’s what lit up our eyes when Heather and I first discovered his work on the bodies of this tiny Indiana town. Who knew that Columbus, IN was the home to one of the most amazing tattoo talents we’ve seen anywhere.

Jenn Cristie and her drummer opening for us at the Boulevard Place Cafe in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was great and the interplay between her and the drummer was exquisite. Lots of intricacy – she’s a particularly talented pianist. I’ve never seen another woman play with her passion, speed and fire.

Hee! Adam Fitch showed up at the show and played some djembe near the end of the night. He’s just freakin’ COOL.

Heather’s doing a good job. Tiny flinches in her face flit back and forth over her expression. She’s done giggling at the jokes. I keep waffling for myself. There’s no time to get mine done today but the future in which I DO get my own flicks in and out of reality as I watch this cutting, cutting, cutting. It’s only pain. The colour will be there forever and truly, I want to be inked badly. My mother will have a fit, but I feel I’ve been a pretty good kid most of my Life and I guess it’s about time I did a little bit of something that raised her eyebrows. Hell, if Living out of my car as a rock star didn’t do it, should I worry about this one additional trapping?

Dave of Skeleton Crew Tattoo is eager to lay into Heather’s supple flesh. He starts the session by saying “this is your favourite part. You just don’t know it yet.”

Heather getting her first tattoo! She’s been holding the pendant that Dave is recreating for close to ten years, waiting for that perfect moment to arrive.

I think I’m too opinionated to ever be a tattoo artist. I’ve been asked to design a couple here and there and it’s interesting (and flattering) work, though the stuff I’ve been asked for has invariably just been given to me because of my sense of composition, not for any greater desire of the persona of my work. But I think to be given piece after piece of little kittens with switchblades, dripping, grinning skulls, names and scripts and logos.. I’d be prone to comment. “Yeah, that’s a bit adolescent, isn’t it?” “Oh, this one again?” “Hey bigot, can’t we put that on your forehead?”

Oh shit. She’s got to sneeze. And the moment you SAY you’ve got to, you can’t.. poor Heather. There should be some sort of sneeze inducing device so that it can be completely controlled.

Well, the work is coming along quickly. Faster than I feared, slower than we’d like. Heather’s relaxing into the numbing sensation of repeated pain. I guess I better finish drawing my sleeve.

About two hours in, Heather is doing admirably, never once screaming in pain. The shading is beautiful and I’ve taken two hundred photographs.

One of the things that I really liked about Skeleton Crew was that it’s owned by Dave and his brother – so there’s a real closeness to the two lead artists. Dave was eager to show us his work to his bro, who enthusiastically pointed out the stuff that he really Loved about the design.

Two notes: apparently the worst thing about doing “tramp stamps” is that the girls are nervous and frequently get “bubble gut”. Getting farted on is still getting farted on no matter how hot the ass. And the other? Apparently David has actually had someone say “oh my GOD this is worse than childbirth!!!”. David is of the opinion that this means they must’ve had good drugs from their very first labour pain. It makes ME think they probably own a vibrator the size of an astromech.

Danzig comes on the radio. Now THAT’S some damned music to get tattooed to!