InkyMama dissected--Or, I'm an AWESOME list maker.

I will say it again--I'm quite new to blogging. Hell, I'm quite new to thinking I have anything to say that's worth writing down. I am still figuring out my voice, and as such, I was not sure if I should post this or not. I wondered if I should "keep it (this blog) light," or restrict it to one topic only. But...I knew when I was starting this that I would have a hard time keeping to one topic, be it crafts, knitting, tattoos, mommyhood, or what have you. And the fact that one of the few blogs I follow is written by a woman to whom nothing is off-limits factored into my decision as well. I don't want to feel like I have to censor myself. Now, nothing I say here is "shocking" or a "great revelation," it's just that for so long I've squashed my voice that even making a (partial) list about myself is a pretty big deal.

How to say it

I've been thinking about lettering tattoos lately. They're one of the most popular types of tattoo to get, and I understand the appeal. Words are powerful, powerful things, and the words you choose to have tattooed on your body are a strong statement about who you are.

I wonder the mindset of those who get lettering. I wonder, are they getting a belief tattooed? A wish? A goal? Are they getting who they are or is it who they want to be that they're getting tattooed on themselves?

Breakfast Bonanza! Or, how much bacon can one family eat?

After a good deal of interesting family dynamics in action, we were invited to the folks' for a big family breakfast this morning. Grandmother and Uncle David had arrived Friday evening so they could attend a cousin's wedding on Saturday. My Sister-In-Law's mom was coming, and my cousin Lisa and her husband were expected to come as well. It was a Big Deal, and in spite of two weeks of weirdness, when the invitation was extended yesterday, my desire to see my Grandmother trumped anything else, so I said we'd attend. (We being Big Eddie, Jasper, and myself, as the big boys wouldn't be home from Omaha at 8:00am).

The food was plentiful. Oh, what a feast was prepared--a sausage, cheese, egg, and hashbrown breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, fresh berries and cantaloupe, pancakes (your choice of plain, chocolate chip, or blueberry), and ever so much bacon. I think they said they cooked three packages of bacon. That's three pounds, and there were only two pieces remaining by the time we left.

Day Trip from Hell

Here's something fun! What started as a quick trip up to Omaha to drop the boys off at Grandma's has turned into a huge mess. The head gasket on the van blew right as we pulled off the interstate. The van was overheating and white smoke was billowing, it was a tense trip into LaVista. We made it to the house, and discovered that the oil was soapy frothy, and that there was oil in the coolant. So we are currently waiting for my brother to come here to take Big Eddie, Jasper, and myself back home.
This is not how I pictured today going--an inane statement, I know, but I'm pretty upset right now. Mainly with myself, because coming up here was my idea, Grandma said she'd come down and pick the boys up but nooooo, I had to be headstrong and push ahead with my own plans. Now we have no vehicle, Big Eddie's missing work, and I feel rotten for orchestrating this whole mess.

What a day.

Big Eddie

So! I would like to introduce you to my partner, Eddie Greer (or, as we call him here at home, The Big Eddie). He's my best friend, an amazing artist, and an extremely talented tattooist. Since this is a tattoo-y blog, it's only fitting that I share some of his work with you:

Custom cherry tree in bloom

Wicked snake on my left arm

Sailor Jerry inspired pinup

These are just a few examples (some of my favorites), you can see the rest of the photos I've uploaded (so far) on my Flickr, just by clicking here.

Since he ever so graciously gave me permission, I will be posting more of his work once he gives me the photos :D

And hey, if you see this guy on the street, don't hesitate to talk to him--he's really quite nice :)

P.S. He also tweets! Follow @BigEdRoy for awesomeness.

Well *THAT* Was Embarrassing

Yes, I'm very new to blogging. There are many technical things that I am learning about. One area that I am not quite sure about is how to attribute things (namely images) to the owners/creators.

I had a couple of posts up that had several images of tattoos, various photos that I had collected around the web. After doing a little research (hello, wikihow!) I realized that by posting the photos without attribution was a violation of copyright, as well as a violation of basic courtesy. It seems obvious to me now, but at the time I posted them, all I was thinking was, "Hey, these are some awesome shots of vintage tattoos, flash, and pieces people have!"

So, I'm feeling pretty stupid right now. Imagine me, quite red in the face, hurriedly deleting posts. Hilarious! Nobody told me to, I just wanted to remove them so that I wasn't breaking any laws, on the books or generally held. So now I'm on a mission to learn how to A) post photos with correct attribution, B) learn how to copyright the photos of mine that I upload on to here, and C) not make more goofy beginner mistakes (or at least ones that could get me sued).

Do you blog? Do you have any tips you can share/sites you recommend/general help for this noob? Advice is welcome, I thank you in advance. Now I'm off to delve further into the mechanics of blogging, and hopefully I'll have new *legal* posts of vintage tattoos and ideas to share with you soon!

Work In Progress--Knitting Edition

So I'm totally knitting, again. It goes in waves, like everything does, so I'm seizing on this desire to knit and running with it.

On the needles right now: SUPER AWESOME KNUCKS (fingerless gloves that one embroiders with an 8-letter saying, a la knuckle tattoos).

Here's the pattern: Knitty: Summer 2006

Here is where I was two days ago:

I'm knitting the fingers two at a time (thumb, thumb; middle, middle, etc), so that way once I have all of them done, all I'll have to do is the joining round, knit up the hand, and decide how long I want the cuffs to be (in all likelihood they'll be as long as I have the patience for).

These are the coolest thing I've knitted to date. I'm beyond a novice knitter, but I wouldn't quite label myself as "experienced," so this is a pretty cool challenge for me. These ones that I'm working now are my practice pair, to see if I can decipher the pattern instructions, and produce some really bitchin' gloves.

Of course I'm thrilled at the thought of being able to embroider whatever I can dream up on them...but I bet you can guess what it'll be :)