- As November gets closer to its end, I am more and more excited (and at the same time, anxious) about my annual blogging tradition of picking, and blogging my top 31 CDs of the year. There are some amazing records on this year’s list, and with each week’s subsequent CD releases, it’s only make things more difficult for me at this point. A wide variety of music tastes will be represented, so make sure you tune in all month long in December for each new entry.
- I got the test results back for my fourth Microbiology test today: I got a 93. With an 87, a 97, and a 90 on the previous tests, as well as the professor dropping our lowest test, I am going into the final with a 93 test average. Let’s just say that this is very unexpected to say the least. Here’s hoping I can turn out an A in this class! I need it for my GPA!
- Speaking of school, I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t get into Kennesaw for Summer. While I am definitely bummed about it, I am looking at it as a potential blessing; perhaps I wasn’t supposed to go to KSU? Perhaps I wasn’t meant to go that semester? Whatever happens, I am moving forward with GSU, and I am going to re-apply to KSU for fall. I am going to be a nurse, goddammit! You will not stop me! (I do have to say though, that the program at KSU is TINY, and they said that there were over 400 applicants, so I shouldn’t feel so bad about it. There just aren’t a lot of program options in Metro Atlanta for nursing; no wonder there’s a shortage.)
- I got the shading done on my phoenix half-sleeve last night, and it is REALLY looking quite amazing now. I can’t wait for the color to be done, but that is at least a month or so out… right now, I am just tending to my tender flesh after last night’s needling. I have to say though, that it is no where NEAR as tender as it was last time for whatever reason; and I am not complaining in anyway about it!
Tag: tattoo
all about me, flickr, happenings, mixed media, shiny stuff
if a picture is worth a thousand words…
by duane • • 9 Comments
…then this is going to be a wordy post!
First off, I got my new ipod Touch:
Second off, I have started my phoenix half sleeve with an outline that took almost 4 hours:
Discuss!
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tribute to tradition
by duane • • 11 Comments
Lori and I went to Ink and Dagger Tattoo Parlour today for the Tribute to Tradition event, where they were doing traditional tattoos for traditional prices. Originally, I had a different idea for what I wanted my swallow to look like, but after seeing this one, I had to have it; I loved it just as it was. Also, the position that Russ suggested was perfect; just on the outside of my knee (think not in front, or back, but on the side!). After getting the first one done on my left leg, I really felt as if I should seize this opportunity while I was there, and get a second one on my right leg in the same spot… so I did!!!
These are the only traditional style tattoos that I have, and I really love them. I have always loved the simple swallow design, and I am totally jazzed that Russ did them for me. I love that I got them where I did (great suggestion by Russ), and I really like that got two matching ones. It wasn’t what I was expecting to get, and it required me to compromise a bit, but in the end, I was happier than I thought I would be to begin with. It was a fun time, and believe it or not, this was not a very painful place to get tattooed. Interesting.
Either way, going back to Ink and Dagger gave me a chance to catch up with Russ, and also led me to set up a consultation for my phoenix half-sleeve; which I am sure I will start soon. Man, tattoos are awesome, and I love them immensely, but they cost a lot of money!
Oh well… everyone has a vice, I guess.
all about me, happenings, the catch-all-egory
checking in….
by duane • • 2 Comments
It has been a few days since I have posted; and not without good reason. I am BUSY!! School is continuing to flex its muscles; seriously, this statistics course is acting like a grad level course. I wonder if the professor knows it is supposed to be intro? Either way, I just hope I can make it out of the class with a good grade. Also, my first anatomy test is this week, and I am studying like mad to make the best grade possible… here’s hoping for an A on the first test.
Other than that, I got more tattoo on my ankle yesterday, and it looks so much better. While I liked just the flowers, I thought it was rather plan, and Malia agreed, so she added some waves and rocks to make it more of a “piece”. I think it looks amazing, even though it hurts like crazy, and I will try to get some pictures up soon… as soon as I am finished with my anatomy test!
Wish me luck!
Hope everyone is having a great week… I know that I have been enjoying this much cooler weather; I have even been kind of cold riding into work these past few days, as I have been riding with all of the windows down and the sunroof open. MAN, I love fall!!! Bring on the fleece!!!
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tattoo time in the moody-robinson house!
by duane • • 5 Comments
So James finally went and got his tattoo! He decided on a koi with some cherry blossoms and a chrysanthemum, and Malia‘s design was perfect. For the first sitting, she took care of all of the outline, and I think that it looks great! He was such a trooper… he did complain as it got towards the end, though. I was honestly surprised that he took it as well as he did!
Also, James and I have talked in the past about getting the same tattoo, like kanji for love or something like that, and I asked Malia if she would do a part of his tattoo on me, so that we would have the same thing to show our love and commitment. She took three of the cherry blossoms, blew them up a bit, and behold:
I got tattooed too! I really WAS NOT planning on this, but I am really glad that I got it; I really feel like by having something like this, albeit subtle, we have something that we can share and show our love for each other. It isn’t a ring, but it is definitely a symbol of our commitment and love for each other, and I personally love it.
I do, however, think that I may be slightly addicted to tattoos!!! Oh well… I guess there are worse things, eh?
(FYI: Malia is one of the artists at the awesome Ink and Dagger Tattoo Parlour, which is where I have been getting my red panda tattoo from Russ. I highly recommend you go here to get all tattoo work, because Russ and Malia are the best!)
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red panda tattoo, phase one
by duane • • 10 Comments
It’s time to gawk and stare, bitches. Behold, the first phase of my bad-ass red panda tattoo, as done by the amazing Russ Abbott.
I admit, it is a bit bigger than I was expecting, but so what, I love it. I can’t wait until it is finished! I am just happy that Russ was able to do as much as he did last night! Surprisingly, it didn’t really hurt that bad either. The calf is definitely the place to get tattooed.
all about me, happenings, hmm interesting, is it just me?, mixed media
more tattoo, tetanus shot pain, and reflections on losing a loved one
by duane • • 7 Comments
Getting tattooed tonight… not looking forward to the pain, but I am very anxious about getting it done; the design is so cute. I can’t wait. I am worried that it is going to hurt like nobody’s business because of the all over the body pain I have been experiencing since I got a tetanus shot on Monday.
They said that I would be a “little sore”, but it literally feels like someone stabbed me in the arm, and that my arms and legs are in a vice. I just feel extremely uncomfortable in my skin right now. I hope that the pain from that subsides, and I really hope that it doesn’t make the tattoo more painful (which it sometimes can).
Other than that, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot going on with me right now. I am pretty much in limbo zone, trying to get these vaccinations squared away for going back to school. I will be glad when it is finished, and I can find out about my acceptance and all that fun stuff. I have to admit that I am excited about going back to school, but there are two things that are worrying me; I am worried that I won’t do as well as I want to, and I am stressed about the amount of time it is going to take to finish my degree. I just wish I could dedicate 100% of my time to it and knock it out… but we work with what we have, right?
Finally, last night I was watching Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List, and it was a pretty sad episode, because her father died, and she was very distraught by his death. At the risk of coming across as somewhat heartless, I found that I couldn’t relate to what she was feeling; even though I felt bad for her, and as a result got upset myself. What most people would have probably felt during the episode would have been about how they would feel (or did feel) with regards to their own father’s death; but again, I didn’t relate. I had nothing. This is not to say that I wouldn’t be sad if my dad did die, but I just didn’t feel anything when the thought crossed my mind. Again, at the risk of coming across as heartless, I really don’t think that his death would affect me that much, mainly because of how distant my parents have become over the past several years. I talk with them maybe once every two months, and it is always me calling them for whatever reason (asking about when I had chicken pox for my vaccinations sheet was the most recent). The distance may or may not be a lack of caring, but at this point, I have stopped trying to fix it, and instead am learning to just deal with it. They are who they are, and if they wanted to be involved in our lives more, they would be.
See, here is where I am coming from: I had an 8 minute conversation with him on Father’s day, 75% of which I have heard every time I have talked to him on the phone in the past couple of years (they are coming to visit in the fall, he misses us, blah blah blah). Now, I am not saying that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, and that I don’t love my father, because there is nothing farther from the truth, but I honestly feel an empty place inside me where these deep feelings for him “should” be. Will that change? Probably not, because I know that he doesn’t “approve” of my “lifestyle”, and he and my mother keep their distance with expert skill. If things could be different, perhaps I would have identified more with Kathy, instead of simply feeling bad for her loss. Perhaps one day, I won’t feel that emptiness, and will fear the death of my own father, but for now, it isn’t something that particularly bothers me, especially because of his continued absence in my life. I remember being little and one of the things I worried about the most was losing my mother or my father, and as time has progressed, those fears have been hushed so significantly, that they simply aren’t there anymore. I have become numb to that fear, and I honestly couldn’t tell you if I would even feel anything at all. It is strange how your relationships can change so dramatically, especially when you have little or no control over those changes.
I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. Nothing to feel bad about, really, I guess I am just reflecting. I am feeling sort of reflective with Pride weekend coming up and all, and the show just triggered this lack of a reaction, really. Just thought getting it out there would make sense.
Totally shifting gears, who all is going to be out and about during Pride? We should be having a tent, so please, stop by and hang out!
"pointless", all about me, flickr, the catch-all-egory
a friday free-for-all!
by duane • • 0 Comments
I am all over the place today! So, in the spirit of that “all over the place” mentality I am currently afflicted by, I thought I would share! Why not, right?! I knew you would agree.
First of all, my car starting making a noise this week. Not a good noise either, it was a “metal on metal” scraping noise coming from the wheels. Shit. Of course, I am a proactive person when it comes to car care (I always get the oil done on time, and I rotate tires and that kind of stuff), so I called Acura and made an appointment for this afternoon. Turns out, it is something to do with brake pads and the rotors, and so I have to have the back ones fixed… the front ones are covered by the warranty for whatever reason. It’s going to be $165, but at least I have two things going FOR me here; the vibration and that awful metal on metal noise when braking will go away, AND, I luckily got my tax return money this week. So, I guess things could be worse. I just can’t wait to see how it drives when it is fixed, especially since they let me borrow a BRAND NEW RDX to drive while I am waiting for my car. That car is NICE, but really, the only thing about it I would want, is the MP3 CD capability, and the audio in jack for my ipod… my car doesn’t have either of those features. Other than that, I am very happy with Bianca, and can’t wait to get her back.
Second, to preface this next thing, let me start by saying that my tattoo guy had me on a stand by list, in case of a cancellation, in order to fix my ankle tattoo. Apparently, this was the quickest way to get in, because he has a massive waiting list (which is totally understandable, because he is amazing)… but I didn’t expect that they would call and be all, “um, can you come in tonight?”. Well, needless to say, I said yes, because I don’t want to have to wait that much longer; especially considering the main reason I went to Russ in the first place, was to get my ankle redone… and I ended up with a half sleeve!!! I probably want to do more with the sleeve in the future, but for now, we are doing ankle work ONLY. I can’t wait to see what he can do with it. The man is a genius with a needle and ink. The appointment tonight shouldn’t be half as painful as my last one (which was all inner arm work, ouch!). I just hope James isn’t too shaken by the sudden change of plans… he doesn’t deal well with that, but in this case, I didn’t have much of a choice. Oh well, I guess we’ll see!
Finally, my good friend Deb has talked me into getting a kick ass lens for my camera, because it is pretty much one of the best deal lenses for the Canon EOS cameras… it is a 50mm with f1.8, and it should allow me to enhance the bokeh in my shots (bokeh is the effect in the shot above, where the main object of the photo is sharp, but the background is blurred and softened… but this lens can make it much smoother and more soft). This is the effect in photography that I have learned, and one that I love the most, and I can’t wait to see what this lens can do, because the one that comes with the camera is pretty limited when you want to do more specific and advanced things like this; plus, it is a cheap lens (as I mentioned). I am completely loving this camera, and I am SOOOO glad that I got it. It was totally worth the wait, and I know that I am gushing about it, but I really can’t help it. Mama likes her electronics, kids!!! Also, keep in mind I waited over a year and a half to get this camera, so a little excitement is in order. Be sure to keep an eye on my flickr page, because I can assure you, things are only going to get more interesting. Well, at least I am going to posting a lot more… I have fallen back in love with flickr!
I hope that everyone has a great Friday (what’s left of it), and I hope everyone has a great weekend as well! Expect some commentary on the Oscars on Monday… GO JENNIFER HUDSON!!! WOOO WOOO!
"pointless", blog on blog, mixed media, the catch-all-egory
yay! it’s friday!
by duane • • 4 Comments
So, I guess the randomness from the other day is infectious, because I seem to still be infected with it. So here we go:
- I found out what it means to be Jewish today. No, I didn’t convert, I have a friend that is Jewish, and she helped me understand the “difference” between the religion and the ethnicity. It was cool to clarify something that I am sure a lot of people don’t know about unless it affects them personally. Needless to say, you can become Jewish if you convert, that’s the religion part. If you are born to a woman that is Jewish, you are Jewish by birth, whether you ascribe to the religion or not. Interesting! I love being an anthropologist sometimes… I should really use that more.
- I have realized that I REALLY need to go on a diet. I am not saying that I am fat, so don’t even go there. But, regardless of that fact, I need to lose some weight; I want to be able to wear my summer clothes when it comes back around. I have started back at the gym, but I need to be more regular about it. I will go today. I will!
- I am “done” with my half-sleeve tattoo, but decided that I would go forward with getting my ankle touched up; since that is why I went in the first place to talk with Russ. I am actually kind of excited to see what he can do with it, because it is a pretty plain tattoo, and it really needs some work. I am sure he will be able to come up with something great; he really isn’t capable of anything less than great.
- I realize that I have some pretty great friends/family. Last night, two people helped me get over a bad day, and I am really appreciative of that. Others are going to hang tonight, and the fun should keep going strong. And, my cousin called today just to say hi and tell me she loves me. Sometimes, it really is those little things that help me make it, you know?
- I have been obsessed with plug-ins lately. I mean, wordpress is 1000 times better than Movable Type (mainly because MT ate my blog), and there are of these nifty plug ins to keep me from going bonkers trying to re-write the chicken scratch that is PHP. I changed the default gravatars icon so that I don’t hate it. I might change it again though; I can’t seem to find a gravatars plug-in that is easy to set up, install, or change the options of (that is, without potentially fucking something up completely).
- My musical momentum still seems to be steaming along; I keep finding great stuff. I will be doing a music podcast next week (as I mentioned before), and I can’t wait. Music really is a passion of mine.
Well, that’s about all, because after all, it is Friday. Oh, one final note: we got our DSL modem from Bellsouth, and are waiting to have a phone jack put in the office (Monday). We got $250 of rebates, and I can’t wait to tell Comcast to shove it up their ComcASS! I hope it will be an improvement, but I will certainly be blogging it whether it is, or isn’t. Have a good weekend, ya’ll!
all about me
ouch! (tattoo talk)
by duane • • 0 Comments
Last night, instead of making it to the monthly APWBWGTTD, I was laying on a table being repeatedly stabbed with needles. No, it wasn’t a massive dosing of heroin, I was getting tattooed, for what I hope to be, the last time (for a while). Russ beautifully colored in the turtle on my inner arm (OW!!!!!!!!), and let me be the first to say that getting tattooed on your inner arm FUCKING HURTS. Seriously, it is almost too much. He also added another little fish in a spot that seemed like it needed something, and to be honest, it totally changed the whole tattoo for me. It looks so much more cohesive and beautiful. My arm is insanely swollen and painful, but I will try to get some pictures up soon. I love tattoos, but I sure hate getting them.
During the session last night, Russ and I were talking about him starting a blog, which I think is pretty cool. People are seeing the potential for blogs to help them talk about things they want to discuss, as well as providing them with ways to continually provide fresh content for their websites. For him, he will be able to talk about tattoo things, and as someone who only got into tattooing seriously a year ago, it will definitely be something I would be interested in reading. There are so many things you don’t know about until you try them; and sometimes, you learn a lot more than you expected.
I can’t really think of much else right now because of the throbbing in my right arm, but I do know that I hope upon hope that it doesn’t freeze around here. I can’t handle the grocery store madness and the freaks on the road. Just let me get some beers, so I can go home and prop this arm up and rest!! Stay warm!