Dad, Granny, and I took off for California thru Death Vally. I expected more skeletons with empty canteens and vultures circling over head.... alas... not even one.
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We took my Grandmother (Granny) to see a family she been working for... well for decades now. They're a real cool family. Granny has been looking after the two youngest kids for almost all their lives. I have a picture of Julia sitting on my lap as a toddler at the Denver zoo. Now she's in college. I feel very, very old
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The family my grandmother stays with live a block or two away from an ass load of movie/music studios. I rolled by the WB looking for a giant picture for Smallville. No luck. I did see that tower that the Animaniacs live in. Sweet. Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it before, every Thursday the crew gets together to watch and make fun of Smallville. Mostly to make fun of. Think Mystery Science Theater 3000 with two guys from Minnesota, the biggest black guy in the valley, and a scruffy biker looking guy. At least that's how marble slab employees see us when we roll in five minutes before they close..... Aggghhhh. Sorry about that.... I ran with a tangent

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Ahhhh.... Palm Springs. This is moms' new house. Very tight. Hot tub built in the back patio. Pool across the street. Gated community. Palm trees and soft green grass.
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Mom and I.... roll'n down the street... smoke'n Indo.... sip'n on gin and juice.......... Well... maybe not all that I guess
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Mom, Dad and myself went to an art festival. It was cool to kind of see what artist are doing from around the world. Palm Springs has a very active art community.
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This is one of the most moving pieces I've personally ever seen. It seemed to just speak to me. The crowd looking at some attention grabbing event. Blending. Fitting in. And the lone figure calmly going about his life. A glass of wine in front of him. Sticking out. Doing his own thing. As I looked at this piece I was torn between three different thoughts. One.... he's the alcoholic caring more about his drink then what's going on in the world..... two... he's the artist fighting against conformity and what the world feels is important.... and three.... He's God. Not needing to observe the event to know exactly whats happening, but yet always being there. Like I said.... it was very moving for me

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This was my favorite artist. His sculptures were awesome. Figures in poses with the enviornment becoming part of the piece.
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Genus.... pure brilliance

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Molded glass table with a swimming figure coming thru the top and bottom. I was amazed.
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Sooooooo cool. I wish I knew a rock-climber. These would just be an awesome christmas present.
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Mom scoping out some pieces for her interior design company
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I loved these waterfall sculptures. The way the light refracted thru the glass gave it a "swaying" look
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Prints piss me off sometimes........ Just because you print 300 copies of a piece and you hand number them, does not make them unique. I knew some artist who would print multipul copies and then would add to them. Each one was different. It just makes more sense to me as an artist. And I understand wanting to have a print of a piece because of a love for it, but I'm not going to pay 1000's of dollars for something that essentially came out of a Kinkos

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Moder Sculpture.
......... um.....hmmmm.....okay.....whatever
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My folks appreciating some landscapes
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No a bad little shin dig at all. Any place where you don't have to pay for a ticket and they set up free bottled water stations every fifty yards, is okay in my book. I like seeing some of the new stuff coming out of the fine art culture, but I think my first love will remain for the masters (Degas, Picasso, Monet) and urban bombers (graphittii artists)
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The last couple times I've come to visit the family, we;ve go to Jonny Rockets. It started with my dad in Miami. I think we ate JR 3 nights in a row. So this was no different. We munched a burger at Jonny Rockets at "The River" in Palm Springs
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Daddy-O, kick'n it at JR's
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Peter and Rick came over to moms place. I got filled in on the "who's working where?' "who's fucking who?" , "who alive? who's dead?" and "who owes who money". Peter...what a guy. He's like a big walking target. Rick and I always needed a straight man, and he fills the bill nicely. He takes any jabs all in stride, but I think maybe one day he'll snap and hunt us all down with a machete.
I think I'll be happy to be in Colorado on that day
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We went and grabbed some chow at Fridays. The bummer was that no one had seen the movie "Waiting", so a ton of cued up jokes were never used. Here's Rick and Alex Co' Lamp'n. We have to smoke outside, behind a tree, under the cover of dark, after midnight... and only during a full moon. God damn.... California smoking laws are a bitch

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K-Dogg. It was good to see him. I worry sometimes, but that's just my nature. I think he'll end up to be just fine
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Alex and Peter.... I assure you they wern't drunk....maybe.... I mean I'm pretty sure. Great couple guys. I didn't ink them this trip, but I have a feeling it won't be long before Alex gets another one, and Peter gets his first.
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Toby. My buddies family dog. I was assured he wasn't named after Toby Keith..... but god only knows for sure
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K-dogg and I discussing why Pepsi is better then Coke.... or what type of quantum accelerator would be most prudent with a molecule of plutonium..... or.....you... know... whatever

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So I brought my tattoo equipment with one tattoo in mind. I'd started a "Birds Of Paradise" back piece on Kevin and Ricks mother Jackie. I wanted to finish her bad. It'd been giving me nightmares. So I knocked her out first thing.... but then it grew in a full blown tattoo party. I ended up doing 6 tats 15 hours. Jackie with the birds of paradise, Arron, with a music clef, Rick with some blacklight lettering, Kevin with a big tribal, a name, and a custom "F" with a nautical star. I was just stoked I was up to it. After 5 days of vacation, tattooing was a breeze
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The tattoo party.... it just kept growing....and growing.
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Big Rick with Toby and Peter. My father suggested I put a slot machine on Big Ricks butt since he's been working in a casino for so long. I told my dad that Rick didn't have that kind of money..... very few men have that kind of money
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Jackie... thanking god she was first to get her tattoo done.
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Kevin sporting his new tribal. It's a cool design if I do say so myself. It's a "W" & "K". The W wraps his calf and the K flows to form a point at his ankle. I filled it with a 39 mag. That's 39 needles hitting his skin with every stroke. He took it like a man. I'm very impressed. I'd have cried.
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So this is what happens when you tattoo for 15 hours. Your brain turns to mush.... and people take your picture when you pass out
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This was my last night in Palm Springs. Chilling watching Star Wars 3. Dad and I took off around 11. I ended up driving from Palm Springs to LA to Vegas in 5 hours. If any of you get a chance to drive thru downtown LA at 92 MPH, I suggest you do it. I cruzed in around 1am..... very few cars. I felt worse for 13. She was driving thru Nebraska. I think I would've shot myself on that run
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Back in Vegas for a flight back to Denver... with a quick layover in LA
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One more road to cross. I landed in Denver and high tailed it up to up to Vail. Great trip, but I was glad to be back.... or at least glad to back with 13
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I'm heading back to Vegas tonight.... I read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" on the flight out....... Figured I'd throw in some quotes..... hey why the hell not? My heart is filled with joy too (grin)

"Order some golf shoes. Otherwise, we'll never get out of this place alive. It's impossible to walk in this muck -- no footing at all...I was right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo. And somebody was giving booze to these goddamn things! It won't be long before they tear us to shreds!.........My heart was filled with joy. I felt like a monster reincarnation of Horatio Alger... a man on the move... and just sick enough to be totally confident." -HST 1937-2005


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I'm coming back to Colorado soon. Been a great trip so far. I'm tattooing a bunch tomorrow. Should be cool..... but I miss 13. Soon enough, right?
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Vegas Tommorow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll start posting pics as soon as I can. God bless.
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Did you hear that "FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!" this morning around 11. I don't care if you're in Japan, Austraila, England, or any of the other countries that have been reading me lately.... That thunder clap of vulgarity was me. This is me driving to work this AM. I'm telling ya, 96' Saturns are hardcore.........
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Okay.... so it's not that bad.... yet, But fuck it's cold. It also doesn't help that my car window is stuck in the down position... I'm going to take a half day and fix it tommorow. I really...really... can't wait to go to Vegas on Wed. Elvis was right...Viva baby...Viva
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So....I'm heading to Vegas next Wed. How fucking cool is that. I'll be split'n a week up between Vegas and Palm Springs. I can't wait to see everyone. Anyways, this is a virgin I took care of today..... Tattoo virgin you sick motherfuuu..... Ricky... this ones for you buddy
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I Hate being wrong.... I fucking hate it. Faith in humanity is a lost cause. You live your life by certain principles... certain truths.... you think the sky is always going to be blue. That water will always be wet. That no matter what, some things are solid. I fuck this up all the time. Numbers, faces, places. Fuck it. Fuck it all. Some things are better left on the other side.... the dark side. We try and pull them into the light, kicking and screaming, with the arrogance to think it was ever our choice to begin with. And then we have the nerve to watch the fish flopping around on the boat and wonder why it isn't happy being under the warmth of the sun. Damn it. Up is never up. Right is never right. And "perfect" is just a myth thats beaten into us to make the fall down the mountain that much more of a disappointment. I've never felt so far away from someone as when I'm sitting right next to them. And the disintegration of time is falling on the deaf ears of the betrayed chefs, who's primary dish is always served cold. It slops over the side of the bowl, destroying the precious fabric of hearts, minds, and souls. Today will never come again. The next is being assembled on a production line somewhere on a little green marble that is flying into the onyx where we scream in silence

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So.. every Tuesday night the crew goes over to Loaded Joes coffee shop/bar for trivia night. Eagle Vail Ink Lounge donates a gift certificate as the second place prize and we just kick back and have a great time. We've been doing it since the summer, but I honestly can't remember if I've posted about it. Anyways, these shots are from a couple weeks ago, but I had to hold off posting em til someone got honest with one of their friends... You know who you are... I just glad you finally did it. But I digress...

This is a pic of Jenn (Jennifer) and I.... the pixie lying on our laps is Julie (Ms. Jewels if you're nasty)... They're the latest addition to our running crew. There's a underlying theme in the next group of posts... lets see if you can figure it out..... (***BIG GRIN*** I'M VERY, VERY HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!!!)

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Crew.... Thom, Justin, Terri, and Lauren... no doubt being told about how cool his new apartment is... or how he can't wait for the Mini Cooper guys to pull their thumbs out of their asses and get his new vehicle ready to go.
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Jewels and Darkness deciding the fate of everyone in their path... Cupid and Eeyore... "My my... aren't we a pair... raggedy man"
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Hmmmmm.... theme?... theme??... what could it possiably be????
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I think Big Daddy K was mad at Tommy Boy... why else the finger.... He must of heard that Thoms brain is hung like a horse
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Julie and I straight kicking it
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I saw Kaufman yesterday... He's back to black hair.... thank god for small miracles

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Justin and Terri.... Glad to be free
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