"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such oft is the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Since nearly all my entries are public, anyone can read this. Whether you decide to lurk or befriend me is up to you. I will most likely add you back in return if we have similar interests or I know you from somewhere. However, I suggest you read my profile page and a few of my posts before adding this journal to get a sense of what I write about. You don’t have to comment on this entry to be added, but if you’d still like to, go ahead.

♫ All of my music available for upload is listed here.
♫ A list of concerts I've attended (and plan on attending) can be found here, along with their reviews.

( Additional information about me and how I use LiveJournal )

Disclaimer: Content may include vulgar language, artistic nudity, and opinions on controversial topics. I do no suggest reading this if you are not open minded, easily offended, at work, and/or under the age of eighteen. Any complaints about the content herein can be filed here.

While it still is Odin’s day, here’s the drypoint intaglio print on PVC board (12'' x 10'') I finished last night:



( Larger picture to show more detail )

The theme was time. I originally wanted to do something Tolkien-inspired, and after thinking about Galadriel’s mirror for a while, I thought what could possibly be better to illustrate the past, present, and future than the Norns. I also figured if no one knows what the text means, they’ll at least recognize the figures as the three fates from Greek mythology. The text, by the way, is translated directly from Voluspa from the Poetic Edda.

For those of you who don’t know anything about Norse mythology, the names of the Norns mean 'that which was', 'that which is', and 'that which will be'. They are giantesses that ended the golden age of the gods when they arrived in Asgard from Jotunheim. Although these are the three main norns, there are also many other norns of different races that determine the fate of every man, elf, and dwarf at birth. Not all norns are good, which is why some people have bad luck in life. Skuld, the youngest and representing the future, is also a Valkyrie, which is why she is wearing the winged helmet, chain mail corset, and has the swans near her. All swans in Midgard (where mankind lives) are said to have descended from these two birds. Valkyries can also transform into swans when they put on feathered cloaks like Freyja becomes a falcon with her falcon cloak. The tree is the mighty ash, Yggdrasil, which encompasses all nine worlds. It is kept alive by Norns, using water from the Well of Urd. This is a basic breakdown in order to understand the significance and symbolism of the piece, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. You know I love talking about this stuff! ;)

A few notes on the print itself: all the lines are straight; they just don’t photograph that way from above. The stylized ripples are also intentional, since I wanted the well to be emphasized while adding movement to the otherwise static scene. The background is also more minimal so the attention is focused on the Norns.

Number of hours for this session: 3
Total number of hours tattooed so far: 36

A few weeks ago I went in to get the background started. The whole thing is going to be done in black and gray. At first I wasn’t so sure about it, but now that I look at it more, Lane’s right: it makes the existing color pop. It’s also what is used in the traditional Japanese work, so I’m glad I trusted his idea over my own. For some reason, I thought it was going to be in color, which really would’ve been too light and spring-like for me. We also agreed on how much of the second foot will be showing, so hopefully he’ll get around to adding that on Friday. There will also be another cherry blossom in the blank space on my upper left shoulder and a couple petals to fill in a few of the areas of negative space that are left. Those will be in color, as Lane is just adding on to previous work. The ground isn’t finished yet, and brushstroke-style grass will be added. The sky is going to be a light horizontal gray wash.

( One censored photo )

Photobucket hasn’t deleted them yet, so I guess it’s safe to post these figure drawings now. Then again, you can hardly tell there’s nudity in most of them. All of these are in-class exercises on 18" x 24" paper, not fully finished works. The longest a model has posed so far is 30 minutes, and you can only capture so much information in that time.

( + 13 Figure Drawings: Gesture, Contour & Cross-Hatching (NSFW) )

( + 3 Japanese Sensu Fan )

I’ve put off updating this journal for so long I don’t even know where to start.

Now that summer has come to an end, here’s the abridged version of what I was up to this past season:

Besides the festivals, concerts, and mini-vacation, all I did this summer was work. I only saw my best friend once before school started. What was supposed to be a part-time job turned out to be full time, but at least I made well over two thousand dollars and am still working one day on the weekends. Many times I’ve wanted to post a huge rant about all the reverse racism I experience at work, but it won’t change the fact that every issue in Milwaukee is always about social class or race because the city is ridiculously segregated in terms of living space. Although I technically work in Brookfield, which is known for its uppity white residents, the store is on the border of Milwaukee and just down the road from the north side. Until another employee transferred from another store a few weeks ago, I was the only white person there out of all the cashiers and customer service associates. Needless to say, I was not welcome. After a few months, most of them have accepted me, but the customers sure as hell don’t. For some reason, all the blacks living in the ghetto of Milwaukee think all the white people around here are racist. I still have yet to meet one, so I’m not sure where they’re getting this mentality, but I am so sick of it. If I ever get around to typing up the dialogue, I’ve got a top 10 worst customers of the summer list that could be entertaining depending on your sense of humor. And trust me, it was very difficult narrowing it down to just ten. I honestly don’t mind working customer service in retail. It’s just the customers and coworkers that are insufferable.

The good news is I have enough money to continue financing my tattoo and study abroad in Ireland this summer (if I still want to when the time comes). Gaelic isn’t too difficult so far and the grammar has been a lot nicer than German. It’s actually the easiest out of all my classes. I would’ve loved to study abroad in Germany, but all the programs are for business, engineering and mathematics majors.

I’m also back in the dorms again this year, since my sister needs my car for the hour-long commute to community college. The only bus I can take goes through the ghetto. In fact, the very place I’d pick it up is the parking lot outside my work where people get robbed on a daily basis. I’ve ridden it before, and you guessed it, I was the only white person on it. At least my suitemates this year are rather quiet and keep to themselves. The girls next door to me have been dating each other for three years, and there have already been some nasty arguments between the two, but at least they make an effort to be friendly when they see me. We never see the girls in the other room because one is usually off with her douchebag boyfriend and the other is from a very rural area and seems frightened of us. But if that’s the worst of it, I can deal.

This semester I’m going to make an effort to post more of my artwork on here, since I’m taking figure drawing and printmaking. Unfortunately, my professors still have all the work I planned on posting here on display, so that’s going to have to be pushed back a week or so. I’m just relieved I’m still one of the top students in my class after not having had the time to draw anything in over a year. I really don’t feel like I accomplished much at all this summer except catching up on movies I’d been meaning to see and rereading Tolkien’s trilogy. (I actually only got through the first two, but I’m starting RotK tonight as today marks Frodo & Bilbo Baggins’ birthdays and the day they both left the Shire.) Speaking of birthdays, I also turned 21 earlier this month and ended up embarrassingly tipsy at Houlihan's over an orange juice glass-sized amount of Bailey's.

One More Magic Potion by Ensiferum, with 143 plays.

Shocking, I know. ;) Before I got my laptop a little over two years ago, my top song was either The Smiths' There is a Light that Never Goes Out or Do You Want To? by Franz Ferdinand with a similar number of plays to where I'm at now. Still love 'em both, but this one is just so catchy! It's not even my favorite Ensiferum song, but the lyrics are too fun and the melody too infectious to not put it on repeat every now and then.

Can't wait to see these guys again in November, along with Blackguard!

There isn’t really a lot to say about German Fest that I didn’t mention last year. All the performers there played polka and at least I could understand the performer from Austria, since it seems all the German speakers I’ve been meeting use different dialects than I’m used to. Everything was still very stereotypically Bavarian. I ended up buying a set of six shot glasses with various Bavarian/Oktoberfest-related sayings and pictures on them for only $15. There were also $3 desserts, which I generously indulged in. I didn’t remember the Dachshund Park, though, which was really cute. There were a couple of longhaired ones there and now I want one really bad. I also noticed a lot of Edelweiss-related things, including the flower itself you could purchase. Although they were a ton of vendors there and I mainly went for the shopping (and because admission was free), it’s still disappointing that there are more people in Milwaukee of German descent than anything else and yet other festivals outshine it every year. I didn’t take any pictures, since there weren’t a ton of people and those who were there were all locals. Irish Fest on the other hand had a crowd that made it seem like I was at Summerfest, and on a Sunday evening, too! I don’t know if it was because Gaelic Storm was filming for their DVD that night or what, but there were thousands of people there. However, there were much more drunk people at German Fest, but that’s probably because once you bought a boot, you could refill it all night for free.

Although more expensive than any other lakefront festival in Milwaukee (including Summerfest), Irish Fest is always a great time. Once again, it was another hot day and I didn’t go until later in the afternoon. I got there just in time for the parade and only saw two of the dozens of bands playing - the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, who were actually from Scotland, and Gaelic Storm - but both put on amazing shows. There’s nothing like hearing the guitar intro to “Thunderstruck” being played by three pipers! I was really impressed with RHCP’s choreographed dancing and ability to work the crowd. Those guys were as hilarious as they were talented. If I see them again, I’ll stick around for their entire set. I really would’ve liked to, but I wanted to get a decent spot for Gaelic Storm. They even had a piping competition and their frontman said the only reason he didn’t win was because Kevin MacDonald (pictured below) invited all his Irish relatives to cheer for him. It’s funny because it’s true! Other than my mom and I, I’m sure there were plenty others from Clan Donald representin’. ;) I also had to laugh that among the numerous rows of vendors, you could actually purchase dirt and peat moss from Ireland! Absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, here are some of the better shots from the day. Not very dial-up friendly, I’m afraid.



( Irish Fest Parade & Grounds: + 18 )

( Red Hot Chilli Pipers: + 9 )

( Gaelic Storm: + 9 )

( Unintentionally amusing photos: + 6 )

Late as usual, here are some shots from the Ducks tour I went on with my parents in the Wisconsin Dells a few weeks ago. (For those of you who don’t know, Ducks are amphibious vehicles used in WWII and the Korean War that now give scenic tours of the area.) We were also supposed to go to Devil’s Lake, but the steady rain prevented that. I’ve been there before and on several Duck rides in the past, so it’s really not that big of a deal. After all, we found an outlet mall on the way home with a Coach store, so the day turned out just fine. ;)



( + 17 photos )

Number of hours for this session: 2
Total number of hours tattooed so far: 33

I got the last bit of the peacock’s tail finished a little over a month ago. Unfortunately, I’ve been behind on everything this summer, LiveJournal updates included. At least I’m finally starting to get my hours cut back at work now that the minimum wage jumped from $6.50 to $7.25 an hour. One of these days I promise I’ll write about something other than concerts and body modification. ;)

Lane had the other foot drawn up and it looked amazing with the extra detail and perspective he added. The only problem was that I pointed out that his left foot was already showing, so it wouldn’t make sense anatomically to have it act as his right. In the end, we agreed that it could work really well in adding more tension to the already contorted position. However, we decided not to do it until Lane plays around with it more in PhotoShop and we both agree on how much should be showing and where it will be positioned. If we both decide that it looks the most aesthetically pleasing in the original position, I can always be pretentious and just say the peacock was also inspired by mannerism.

Thankfully, both of us had the same idea for the background: the additional cherry blossoms will be getting larger as they near the peacock, which will make the perspective more believable. The background will be a soft suggestion of a landscape, like a watercolor painting, with atmospheric perspective in the distance. He’s actually using my sister’s Chinese fan that was hand painted in ink and watercolor for inspiration, and I couldn’t be happier. Next time I go in, I’ll take a photo of the pencil drawing he laid out for the background because it’s really going to complement the existing work. Right now, the plan is to have the peacock standing/gripping a rock and the ground will softly fade into foliage with the sky near the top.

I also figured out why there has hardly been any pain these last few sessions: Lane got a new tattoo machine! It vibrates and punches a bit more than the old one, but getting tattooed now just feels annoying instead of excruciating. I was actually able to have a conversation with him and talked him into putting on some Wintersun and Amon Amarth after the David Bowie marathon. All in all, a great time, and I’m actually looking forward to going back now that the pain isn’t so intense. Lane is going to Japan for a month, so I will not be seeing him until October, and those of you who are getting sick of these updates won’t have to see them for a while.

( Two censored photos )

Wednesday was my third time seeing the Rev (second at the Mirarmar) and the first time I’ve seen Nekromantix. Unfortunately, I didn’t know cameras were allowed this time until I arrived. (Last time we were warned before entering that even cell phone pics were strictly forbidden and all cameras would be confiscated, so I had to bring mine back to the car.) I was in front of Kim Nekroman for Nekromantix’s set and in the second row for the Rev and would have been able to get some amazing shots. Oh well. Luckily, plenty of others took pictures, including corvar! I was very surprised and glad to finally meet him after Nekromantix was finished playing, since we’ve both been to quite a few of the same shows. I love the pic he took of me singing along with Nekromantix:

( ... )

Nekromantix was great live and played a good mix of old and new material. They even played the intro to “Billy Jean” before they segued into “Haunted Cathouse”. Half their set list included some of my all time favorites: “Gargoyles Over Copenhagen”, “Horny in a Hearse”, “Nice Day for a Resurrection”, “Nekrofelia”, and “Subcultural Girl”. Believe it or not, there were more people on the floor for these guys than the Rev and more of the punk rock crowd came out. It was nice not being one of the youngest at a RHH show for once. In particular, there was this really annoying punk kid who kept shoving past me to gesture at Kim with weird, rapid hand movements. I also didn’t get why people were making circle pits (maybe it was the alcohol). Nekromantix can be a bit humorous, but they’re still more rockabilly/psychobilly than punk. The stage was knee height, so I now have many lovely bruises on my legs as a result of the pit pushing too far forward. Although I’ve had much more irritating things happen to me at concerts, I was glad when the security guard pushed the overdressed punk rocker off of me because the close proximity and lack of air conditioning made me a sweaty mess by the time Nekromantix was finished.

corvar also got some great shots of the Rev and the gorgeous green car parked across the street. I didn’t get close enough to see the make and model, but it looked like it was from the early ‘60s.

Even though the Reverend Horton Heat comes around here every year, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing them. They’re all incredibly talented musicians in their own right, and anyone who plays guitar or Guitar Hero knows how amazing Jim Heath is. To this day, he still is one of my main influences and I can’t wait until they day when I can afford a decent Gretsch of my own. One thing I really like about seeing the Rev is that they do something fun and different with their show each time. Last time, they played covers of songs from “Greensleeves” to each decade starting with the ‘50s through the ‘90s. The time before, it was one Elvis and two Johnny Cash covers. This time Jim told a few stories and promoted their new album by playing several songs off it. My personal favorites were “There Ain’t No Saguaro in Texas” and the swing number. However, when Jimbo was introducing Jim at the end, he played the solo from “Folsom Prison Blues”. The Reverend Horton Heat will be opening for Motorhead on their next tour, so they brought out their lighting engineer to do the vocals while they played “Ace of Spades”. I don’t know whether Jim’s story about Eddie van Halen not being able to do Travis picking was true, but I still have to agree with Jim when he admitted that Brian Setzer is probably still a better guitarist than Eddie. Jim also completely nailed it when he said, “I’m going to tell you who killed Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson killed Michael Jackson.” Thank you! As usual, there was Jim and Jimbo switching hands on instruments while playing, Jimbo playing bass on his side while Jim stands on it during “The Devil’s Chasing Me”, and Jimbo “surfing” on the side of the bass in “I Can’t Surf”. Before the encore, I finally got to shake Jimbo’s hand! As a matter of fact, there was so much love for Jimbo that night. Between songs and during intermissions, there was always at some point a request for “Jimbo Song” or a chant spelling out his name.

Once again, another solid performance by the Rev and a pleasure to finally be able to see Nekromantix after being a fan for years. I can’t wait to see the Rev again on a headlining tour!