Ever since getting that 1st little lizard tattoo, I wanted another one. I wanted another one bad, but I didn’t know what I wanted to get. I wanted something personal, something that meant something to me. I didn’t just want to flip through an artist’s book and pick something at random.
I thought about this for years – seriously, years.
One night I dreamt of my brother getting a tattoo. He got this ginormous illuminated bible page on his arm. It was glorious and it glowed – a really impressive tattoo. I told him, in the dream, that I was still trying to figure out what to get for my next tattoo. He said:
“Why don’t you get that one you were telling Bob Moab about.”
- Note: Bob Moab was a truck driver that I worked with at the time. His name was not Bob Moab, but it was Bob. Bob from Sacramento. I liked the sound of Bob Moab better than Bob from Sacramento though, so that’s what I called him –
“Which one did I tell him about?” I asked my dream brother.
“You know, the one of the pocket watch with roman numerals on your leg, set at 12:01.”
“Right, ‘cause at 12:01 the whole idea of time falls apart and proves that hours and minutes are just manmade concepts.”
Then I woke up.
Now the whole time at 12:01 thing made perfect sense in the dream, and still sort of does if you look at it from the side and sort of squint. But don’t ask me to explain it.
This is my favorite tattoo. The guy in North Beach who did the work created a great design where the chain sort of wraps around like a treble clef. It is large, takes up one entire side of my left calf, and took hours to do. It is the tattoo that made me learn to change pain to pleasure; because after the outline was done, that shading hurt like a bitch.
Plus the whole thing was like a gift from the subconscious.
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5 comments:
I too have thought about your pocketwatch tattoo in the last year or three. I have always felt that it was super original, extremely random, and yet very cool. I would think to myself, that maybe one day I could ask your permission to get a pocketwatch on my leg too.
...but then yours might be less original, less random, and less cool. And then I don't think about it any more.
Strangely enough, I also think about your wife's dope, saturn-tattoo too (...no, just the tattoo you sick pervert). I have seriously considered getting a planet on my shoulder as well, but I don't think it will be Saturn... just won't fit right. I am interested in a more regular-looking planet because that arm is going to be space imagery and a round planet naturally fits into the shape.
But back to the pocketwatch. Shannon and Jen got matching tattoos on their foot, because they are super-good friends. So maybe if I got a pockterwatch tattoo too (or maybe two!) then we would be B.F.F. ...best friends forever! Or maybe I would just be another tattooed stalker with a healthy obsession toward long, rambling comments on your blog.
You can get pocket watch man, I don't feel it would take away from mine. But if we were both walking down the street together in shorts, it means we would have to hold hands.
Beth's planet is Neptune (which apparently has a ring as well). I would recommend Jupiter for you, it's got that cool ass red floaty!
Ooh, my bad. Neptune huh? Men are from Mars, Women from Venus and apparently Beth is an alien.
It's 12:01? Man, I should get home. Oh wait, I am home.
I have a pocketwatch on my chest.
Feb. 22, 2008.
=]
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