Hiding from the sun (continued)

It's a crazy place, this Hawaii,

especially for tattooed weirdies trying to avoid the sun (like me).

Yesterday we got driven around Maui in the back of an old bio-diesel Mercedes by the Cucch and Rebecca, and it was so amazing.

We hit black sand beaches, red sand beaches, a billion waterfalls,

caves, spring fed pools, and other other-worldly views.

All of this on a 12 hour, too-close-for-comfort,

driving-on-the-side-of-some-cliffs kind of adventure.

Highway to Hana.

It's even better when someone else is driving,

and you can hang out the sunroof.

On vacation.

Hawaii, kids.

It's a love/hate relationship.

I love the ocean, but hate the beach.

I love islands, but hate the people that flock to them.

Meryl has family living down here for a year,

and she had never been before.

And she's also moving out to Oregon just for me,

so......Hawaii for the holidays!

You know I don't even own a pair of shorts,

but so far we're doing well.

Day two and I already have two different lighthouse visits.

This first photo is at the top of a mountain Meryl and I climbed to get to Makapuu Point Light the really hard way.

There's a two mile paved path winding around to the lighthouse,

or an unmarked, not-at-all-legitimate super steep climb up to the top and then over.

It got dark before we even hit the top,

it was scary windy,

and some Hawaiian dude kinda told us we were screwed.

But we did it,

and it was so rad.

Here's a view of of the Makapu Point Light from partially up our hike.

At our destination we met this couple who were both biologists working in Hawaii.

We bonded over our shared love of dead birds

(i was wearing a 'dead birds are sexy' shirt)

and they brought us out to dinner and drove us home.

And since their jobs include working with sick and dying birds,

we're about to have some amazing additions to the I love dead birds blog.

So awesome.

This morning I woke up early

(which isn't hard to do with a four hour time difference)

and took a bike ride with Meryl's mom, Colleen,

out to Diamond Head Lighthouse.

Then a few hours later,

Meryl, her sisters, and I hiked the Diamond Head crater,

and got to see the lighthouse from above.

We then ate lunch at the top in a coastal artillery bunker built in 1908.

Tomorrow we fly to Maui,

and get to see some stuff out there for a while.

Rebecca and the Cucch are living on that island these days,

so we'll have some hang out time with them.

And New Years happens while we're there.

Luckily, I was prepared,

and shipped those 30 Japanese floating lanterns to myself.

I don't know who else will be there,

but I will be saying my goodbyes to 2011 in style,

and making sure 2012 gets kicked off right.

Last day of Fall (and Maple Grove).

Oh man.

I'm done with Identity Tattoo for a little while.

Don't expect to see me back there till April.

It's been an awesome 4.5 years,

and I look forward to more fun when I get back.

But for the next few months,

I'm very excited to be working out at Jeff Gogue's shop in Oregon.

My last day there was spent working on Manda's strange animal sleeve.

We colored in a lot of poppies around an antlered squirrel,

did some background,

and tried to tie everything together.

Up top is the (antlered) blue footed booby,

and the sheepgoat under that,

and then some squirrels playing in a poppy field.

(i didn't do the blue armband thing)

It was also Handsome Adam's last day,

and he's leaving for the west coast, too.

So after packing and cleaning up,

we smashed our coffee mugs and released a couple floating lanterns.

Adam's such a good dude,

and it's been a pleasure working with him for the past year.

So it's just Todd and Ben at the shop for a few months.

Do me a favor, and check up on them every once in a while.

Stop in and be loud for a minute,

just so they don't forget about me.

I'm afraid they might get soft while I'm away.

(i can almost hear Maple Grove collectively breathing a sigh of relief)

This tattoo is garbage.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

It's a real thing.

And now it's not just polluting the Pacific Ocean,

but also taking up space on Adam W's forearm.

It was a lot of fun, so I hope he collects them all.

I guess every ocean has one,

due to ocean currents,

and filthy, wasteful human beings.

One week till xmas.

Which means one week till we board a plane and fly to Hawaii.

I'm gonna fly right over that big, floating garbage patch,

and spend the holidays somewhere a little less....seasonal.

I mean, you probably won't find me on a beach,

but you won't find me shoveling snow, either.

But if you're super into the holidays,

and need some new xmas jams,

head over to the Suckapants blog,

and get this years (and all the previous ones, too) mix.

It's free, and Dark Dark Dark has a track on it.

Get caroling.

Stealing Shiny Shit

Liz got her magpie and pendant tattoo yesterday.

It looked all red and hurty when we were done,

so I asked her to stop back in today so I could grab another photo.

Unfortunately, the best one I took came out blurry.

Nice.

So, here's them both,

and you get the idea.

I also tattoo her brother-in-law on Saturday,

so I'll try for a third time, then,

if it's not too peely and gross.

One more week left at Identity Tattoo (for a while).

It doesn't quite feel real yet...

but I'm about to send out a big deposit for our "vacation home" rental,

and that is certainly helping it all seem less pretend.

We're a bunch of stressed out weirdies at Louderhorn Inn these days.

We've got multiple to-do lists,

but there's not enough coffee or hours in the day to get it all done.

It'll be less sleep and more yelling then normal.

My apologies to the last few people getting tattooed by me before I leave.

It's a Rocky Horror sing-a-long from here on out,

(no matter WHAT is playing on the stereo)

happy holidays.

Dead Rabbit, healed.

Alleeshia came in yesterday for a quick touch up to her 11s dead rabbit tattoo, and I grabbed a few photos before I went back into it.

Black and grey healed looks so brutally different than fresh,

so I try and get healed photos whenever possible.

I'm pretty much trying to do anything right now

other than pack up and clean the house.

If you also need some beautiful distractions on a sunday,

nothing beats old Sinéad O'Connor videos.

Herbs and Tea.

I had a four hour cancelation for today,

so Handsome Adam called in Chef Ryan.

And he showed up, of course.

We have a chef sleeve to finish up, after all.

(including this, this, and this)

We got some rosemary, basil and sage done,

along with some smokey background action.

This is the sage part:

Also, a while back I did a shirt design for a store called Juniper,

but haven't posted any photos yet.

Here they are;

a close up of the printed shirt,

and also Rahma modeling one for me.

I personally don't have any for sale,

but if you want to get one for yourself

(or some special lady on your holiday gift list),

just head to Maple Grove.

If you're out of state,

you might be able to order it over the phone.

(just ask for Liz and tell her I sent you)

If you're usually a 'bad at gift-giving dude',

I just handed this one to you.

Updated.

I spent tonight gathering photos together for my new portfolio,

and also uploaded a bunch to my website.

Here's one of the ones I just added,

Katelyn's moth-eaten fan chestpiece all healed up.

I also changed my contact info,

and added my extended guest spot plans.

It's getting closer,

and starting to feel more real now.

I'm fully booked the rest of December here in Minnesota.

I'll be back in MN in April,

and will probably start booking a month before my return by email.

I'll drop the info here on the blog first,

then my website and facebook.

It's winter here now,

with snow on the ground.

And it'll probably stay there till I get back into town.

Nothing melts in Minnesota,

it just piles up.

(i'm pretty sure I should have raked the leaves before this snow fell,

this spring is going to be a mess)

It's also getting really cold,

but instead of hibernating,

I'm packing up and moving out.

Jumper.

Did this elephant hockey referee today on Clayton.

My last tattoo of November

(only one month left in MPLS, kids).

Then off to visit family for the holidays,

and out to Oregon for the next three months.

If you didn't book your appointment for before I leave,

you might be too late.

(though i hear that Handsome Adam might be taking bribes to fit you in)

I also tattooed Nona of Dark Dark Dark today.

She didn't sing any DDD for us,

but she did sing some Third Eye Blind as she filled out her paperwork.

no kidding.

I mean, it wasn't her fault,

Ben has it on the ipod for some reason,

and that shit is SO catchy.

(if you like her singing in DDD,

check out her side project with her choir)

Anyway, it's after 2am,

which means December is here,

and 2011 is almost over.

Hope your 11 months have been good so far.

If not, you've got 31 days to make it better.