Takeshi's Reminder that Life is Precious

On a day of unlikely inkspotting (8+ inches of snow, frigid temperatures, blustery winds), I thought I would be okay without my camera. Fortunately, I had one on my phone.

Fortunately because, during a brief sojourn into Borders, I met Takeshi, who was visiting from Boston. And he had quite a few tattoos.

Takeshi offered up this neck piece for the Tattoosday audience:


The words "Hold On" refer to the song of the same name, by rock band Good Charlotte, from their album The Young and The Hopeless.

The song is an anti-suicide anthem, and the lyrics relate to the feelings that one battles at a time when suicide seems to be the answer:

This world, this world is cold
But you don’t, you don’t have to go
You’re feeling sad you’re feeling lonely
And no one seems to care
You’re mother’s gone and your father hits you
This pain you cannot bare

But we all bleed the same way as you do
We all have the same things to go thru

Hold on...if you feel like letting go
Hold on...it gets better than you know

Takeshi is a huge Good Charlotte fan and has strong feelings about the subject ever since his childhood friend from Japan, who he has known since they were both very young boys, attempted to take his own life.

The good news is that this is not a memorial tattoo. Takeshi's friend did not succeed and has recovered from the despair that led him to the edge of life.

This tattoo is dedicated to his friend who, when he first saw what Takeshi had done, was moved to tears. The piece serves as a source of strength and inspiration that remains a daily reminder to keep holding on, and to live life fully.

This tattoo was created by Bob Vanderberg in 2006 when he was a guest artist at Chameleon Tattoo & Body Piercing in Boston. Vanderberg left his gig in Michigan and has since joined the staff at Chameleon. Previous Tattoosday posts featuring work from the shop appeared here.

Thanks to Takeshi for sharing his tattoo with us here. We look forward to possibly seeing more of his work in the future.

Below is a video of Good Charlotte's "Hold On":

Fundraising Drive This Wednesday (3/4) at Red Rocket Tattoo

We pause a moment for an announcement...

Chris, who I met on jury duty, and shared his tattoo here, sent me the following message:

Dear Friends and Fans of Red Rocket Tattoo,

A very loved artist in our tattoo family has suffered a tremendous loss. His eldest daughter was tragically killed on the night of February 26th. As he and the rest of his family suffer this loss, we suffer right along side and are doing everything we can to lend support.

Red Rocket Tattoo is putting on a TATTOO DRIVE to raise funds to help with funeral arrangements, legal fees and anything else necessary to aid in the resolution of these unhappy times. We are ASKING FOR YOUR HELP! Wednesday March 4th in the Manhattan Red Rocket Tattoo Studio we will be donating all earned income towards helping our family. Red Rocket will make no profit from this day's efforts.

Along with a few scheduled appointments, we are running a crazy tattoo special and are looking for as many willing participants as possible. We will do everything to accommodate all clients and will work into the night. We will tattoo any name, any kanji, flowers, skulls etc. or any Sailor Jerry style design smaller than your palm for $100. In addition we will do any regular piercing for $20 or exotic for $40 all day long. The first ten clients get a FREE RED ROCKET T SHIRT!

PLEASE HELP US HELP OUR FAMILY! COME IN AND GET THAT TATTOO YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED. TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS! TELL ALL OF YOUR ENEMIES! JUST COME IN AND SHOW SOME LOVE FOR ONE WHO LOVES YOU!

We cannot thank you enough!

RED ROCKET TATTOO

Wednesday March 4th
11:00a.m.- whenever our hands fall off!

46w. 36st. 2fl. (between 5th and 6th aves.)
New York City
10018

212-736-3001

The artists over at Red Rocket are top-notch. Their work has been featured on Tattoosday here.
I encourage anyone looking to get tattooed to check out this opportunity, as your participation would not only get you a great tattoo, but would also help a worthy cause.

Here's to You, Joe DiMaggio...

Living in New York City, a metropolis known for its die-hard sports fans, it is not unusual to see tattoos honoring and celebrating the rich athletic tradition that exists here.

On Friday, during my lunch hour, I spotted a New York City Fire Department truck parked at the corner of 40th Street and 7th Avenue. Standing along side it was Johnny, one of New York's bravest, enjoying the warm weather, in shorts, and baring this incredible leg tattoo:


This is, of course, Marilyn Monroe, but with a twist. She is sporting the New York Yankees jersey of one of the franchise's greatest players, Joe DiMaggio, to whom she was married for less than a year.

Johnny is a huge Yankee fan, and also loves Marilyn Monroe, one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, and among the most popular celebrities tattooed. I have featured Marilyn tattoos previously here and here.

The image is based on a lithograph that Johnny purchased at a FanFest in 1996. After having it tattooed on his right calf, he felt something was missing.

He contacted the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, and purchased an archival photograph of the original Yankee Stadium, circa 1923. This was then used as the source material to create the recognizable backdrop for Marilyn.


Johnny has a ton of tattoos, approximately 15 pieces in all. This one, along with others he has, was created by Cort Bengston at Cort's Royal Ink Tattoo Studio in Patchogue, New York.

Thanks to Johnny for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Stephen's Tailored Tribute to His Father

I met Stephen while walking through Herald Square on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon.

He had his sleeves rolled up and I noticed the set of circles on the outside of his right forearm. He was more than happy to share the story behind them.

Stephen was raised in New Jersey and he remembers his father commuting daily into Manhattan, where he was a Vice President at AT & T. His father was extremely dapper, and always wore a "crisp" suit to work, dressing impeccably for the job.

He vividly recalls his father taking him for his first suit, and how his father imparted all of his knowledge onto Stephen; how the suit was the uniform of a true gentleman, and all about the cut, the style, the fabric, etc.

When Stephen decided to get his first tattoo, he wanted to pay tribute to his father and wanted something above and beyond a normal tribute tattoo.

With a tip of the hat to nostalgia, and the acknowledgment that his father's influence guided him toward a career in the fashion industry, Stephen had the circles tattooed on both outer forearms:


Seen together, and knowing his background, it is all the more apparent that Stephen has tattoos representing two sets of buttons on the suit sleeves of childhood memories.

When I asked him what his father thought when he saw this tribute, he replied, "He wasn't super pumped about it, but it grew on him. The first thing he said after I explained it to him was, 'Couldn't you've just gotten DAD tattooed...?' ."

Stephen now has 10 tattoos, most of which were inked at Electric Lotus Tattoo and Piercing in Boonton, New Jersey. His friend Don Perdue was the artist responsible for these honorary buttons.

Thanks to Stephen for sharing these cool tattoos honoring his father!

On the Bookshelves: A Late February Update

Despite some miraculous google algorithm that has doubled my traffic in the last week, regular readers may have noticed we have been light on content, in this shortest of the winter months.

And so it goes. I can only blog about what I see (generally speaking), and the ink has been a-hidin'.

But fret not, a calendar informed me that Spring is less than a month away, and April (just you wait) will have these pages overflowing with a cross-blog project that will certainly entertain and educate.

So, in the mean time, I've spotted the following titles on my local Borders bookshelves:

High Voltage Tattoo by Kat Von D.

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Vintage Tattoos: The Book of Old-School Skin Art by Carol Clerk.

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Tattoo by Dale Rio and Eva

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo by John Reardon.

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Ink: The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide to Getting a Tattoo by Terisa Green

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And this one has nothing to do with tattooing, per se, but it still looks cool:

Comic Book Tattoo; Tales Inspired by Tori Amos

by Rantz A. Hoseley (Editor), Tori Amos (Editor)