I just realized that Jack Rudy, one of the great old-school tattooists on the west coast, is going to be at the Central Coast Tattoo Expo this weekend. So now I have a more specific tattoo goal.

I’m not sure that I’d even be able to hook up with him to get inked, it would not surprise me if he’s already fully booked. But for a collector (People who want tattoos from certain big name artists), he’s a big one. He’s one of the pioneers of black and gray prison/cholo type tattoos, a style I don’t have much of but love.

I’ve never been a totally dedicated collector; I have pieces from from well-known artists (Deutsch, Corbin, Mike Malone), have a couple others I would like to get a piece from just to have (Leo Zulueta, Pat Fish, Ed Hardy, a few others). But I don’t go out of my way to get inked by these people. I just sort of figure, I get a chance, I’ll do it.

I ran into Rudy in Amsterdam, one time when I was there as a tourist (sigh — the red light district — sigh), and there just happened to be a tattoo convention in town. It was funny to run into local guys I knew from here on the canals in amsterdam; but I didn’t have time to hook up and get tattooed that day and I generally don’t get tattooed when I don’t have time to rest and let ’em heal a bit. But ever since, I’ve pictured getting something from Rudy. At very least, I hope to get a change to talk to him and see if anything clicks.

I have a feeling that if I ever go to one of these things as a civilian and not when I’m working, I’d wind up getting tattooed more than I planned to. I’m highly suggestible.