Ink Lust – San Jose Tattoo Convention

I spent a little time at the San Jose Tattoo Convention today – a wholly different vibe than the Central Coast Con that I went to early this year.

That other con, in Paso Robles, CA, was more about the meth set than about the art.

I didn’t really have time to get tattooed today – I wasn’t planning to go, in fact I didn’t even realize it was this weekend until my mother told me about it. But given that I had to bag j-con (and I know I’m going to feel bad about missing that for, like, a year), I figured it was worth dropping in on.

I saw some friends – Freddy Corbin of Temple Tattoo in Oakland (Freddy, dammit, you need a web site), Klem, now of Samuel O’Reilly’s – and met some really cool polynesian dudes with great facial tattoos who were working at the Humble Beginnings booth. I also talked to some guys from Good Time Charlie’s, but the guy I wanted, Jack Rudy, wasn’t at this show.

I was gonna get a little piece from Freddy, but it turns out he wasn’t set up to tattoo today.

In any case, it had the predictable effect on me – hearing the machines and smelling the usual smells, disinfectant and ointment and so forth. I am now absolutely dying to get tattooed again. It’s pavlovian and it happens every time.

I’d intended to try to get a snap of a piece of flash down at Master Tattoo in San Diego – the design I wanna use for my back. But that fell through; I talked about it with Freddy, and he instantly understood the idea I have, so we may wing it anyhow, but I’m still hoping to get a photo of that flash one day (any San Diego folks who wanna try to get it, let me know).

I’m planning to go hit Humble Beginnings this week, talk to those cats about some stuff on my arm or hand. They have a great touch for the polynesian, and they’re close to me.

But I’ve got lots of other things ready to go – my hands need more ink, I still need to fill in my left arm, and I still need that Hulalupe tattoo I’ve been picturing. And the usual list, pirate wenches, number thirteens, etc, etc.

But now. I need it now.

Maybe I’m just feeling like I need to mark myself, change myself. I get that sometimes, like the day I got my hands tattooed without ever really planning it in advance. Just moments in time when I say – I need something just for me, right now. Or maybe I just need a little pure simple physical pain. BUt whatever it is, I’m thinking about needles.

Hell, maybe I’ll also get the nipples pierced while I’m at it. Why not.