Stolen from Jessi - thanks girl!

      

1. Have you ever cried during a tattoo? Definitely. My first tattoo was absolutely awful, I had never experienced pain like that before and I was in tears most of the time!

2. When did you get your first tattoo? December 1999

3. What was your first tattoo? The Man Ray “Le Violon d’Ingres” tattoo on my back.

4. Which tattoo is closest to your heart? I think the first paw print I got. I was going to say the ILY because I designed it myself, but I got the first paw print for Empress Wu when she passed away in January 2006.

5. Do you have a matching tattoo with someone? No, and I don’t think I’d be into that kind of thing.

6. Do you have a tattoo that someone messed up on? I am not at all pleased with the second paw print, which I got for Toadstool when she passed away in July 2006. I was in NYC the weekend I decided to get it, and I went to Fineline Tattoo, and the guy there did a bad job. Some of the lines fade out till they are invisible, you can see where the gun stuttered, the shading isn’t right…and all this despite having a reference image less than an inch away.

7. Do you have anyone’s name tattooed on you? No way, and I am NOT into that. I don’t want to have any particular language on my body. I even researched the ILY to make sure it was international before I got it.

8. What one was the most painful? I have forgotten the pain of the first one, so I think the second one - Wu’s paw print - was the worst. It came almost seven years after my first tattoo and I was squinching my eyes shut and trying not to cry the whole time - and gripping my wife’s hand tight! The next two weren’t nearly so bad.

9. How many tattoos do you have? Some would say 3, some would say 4, and some would say 5. I usually say 4, because that’s how many times I have worked with individual tattoo artists. If you consider the two paw prints to be one tattoo, it’s 3; if you consider the back piece to be two tattoos (I’ve heard some people say it that way), then it would be 5. But I say 4.

10. Do you plan on being heavily or moderately tattooed? I really like tattoos, but I feel there isn’t a whole lot of canvas on my body. My back is pretty much already “full” because of how the tattoo is integrated rather than tacked on. It wouldn’t look right if I got more stuff there. I am also weird and want a symmetrical balance in my tattoos.

11. Do you have a tattoo that you constantly have to explain? Nobody ever sees the paw prints. The back tattoo I usually have to explain the origin; the ILY tattoo I occasionally have to say “no, it does not mean rock on.”

12. Have you ever gotten an infection from a tattoo? Not to my knowledge; they have all healed very well.

13. Which one took the longest? The back tattoo took five hours, I think, but that’s because I’m a huge wuss.

14. What is the biggest tattoo that you have and how long did it take? I think the 5-hr back tattoo is probably the biggest in terms of square inches covered. It might be the ILY, which took 2.5 hrs.

15. Did you tell your parents? I told everybody. I might have held off a bit before telling my parents about the first one; I don’t remember.

16. Do you regret having gotten any of your tattoos? I would not get a tattoo that I would regret. I have thought out each of my tattoos very carefully.

17. Would you consider ever getting any of your tattoos removed? No, they are all of pretty good quality and have significant meaning. I would never have them removed.

18. What are you going to get for your next tattoo? Something designed by my wife for our 10th anniversary. She’s said that she’s thought about a bunny because that is her pet name for me. It will go on my right hip, I think. Maybe extreme lower right leg.

19. Do you think members of the opposite / same sex with a lot of tattoos are hot? It depends 100% on the tattoos. Yes, I like it if people have tattoos, but if they suck, then no.

20. Are you unfortunate enough to have an arm band tattoo? No, I don’t have an armband tattoo, but I have seen some good ones, so there.

21. How many people have tattooed you? Four - Mick Michaeli-Beasley of Dragon Moon, some guy at Fineline (Mike? Larry?), Lea, a guest artist at Fatty’s, and Susan Behney at Jinx Proof.

22. Do any of your tattoos have color? Only the ILY. I consider the paw prints monochrome because they are only brown.