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pbandjesse · 5 years

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I'm tired. It's been a long day. I need to go dry my hair and get ready for bed soon. But today was really nice.

I had some trouble sleeping last night but once I was asleep I was very much asleep. I only got woken up once because of sweet pea. That was fine. My alarm went off at 7:30 and he and James both were like no. We gave ourselves 10 more minutes and then got up. I want to go get dressed and James got ready in the other room. I started making breakfast to bring with me and all of a sudden James asks if I had called out. Because Amy had just texted him that I was not coming in. No idea where that came from. But it turned out it was the other Jess and she was just a little confused. But for a few minutes we were very very worried because it was our first shift together with him being in charge. And I was really excited for it. Even though I felt not a hundred percent.

James put my other earring in my cartilage piercing last night and the whole side of my head kind of ate. My teeth and my eye. And I was just very uncomfortable. I thought maybe it was just cuz I was irritating it but it just got worse throughout the day. So my energy level was a little Zapped from that. And we bike downtown and got there very early. I took James bike and went to wait by consolation while he went over to 7-Eleven. He left his bike lock with his parents so he had to keep his back inside all day. But that was fine. It was a really beautiful day out and I did not mind being outside at all.

We had our breakfast and clocked in. And it was a really nice day getting to work together. A few things were goofy like he didn't turn the alarm off the ship but then told me to go up on the ship. He had to Run after me to turn the alarm off. But it was fine. It was my first day working with out the canvas tarp on top of consolation so we had a lot of sweeping to do. Because all the birds were dropping seeds and poop and berries all over the deck. But we work together to get everything ready. I went to go make my charge for the day and got changed. James hang out with me down at the desk until our first customers came in. And he went outside.

I was inside all morning. I worked on my lesson plans. I have one more I have to finish for Tuesday night. But it's really just images so that should be no big deal tomorrow. We had a lot of really nice people come in today. We were all a little surprised because it was so gorgeous and it's technically a holiday weekend. But everyone who came in was great. We did have to deal with a bird trapped in the conference room. Which was a little odd. But I tried to learn it out by keeping the porch door open. Hopefully it's not trapped in there anymore.

Maya came as our lunch relief. And I always liked working with her because she always calls me a Disney princess. And she really liked my new green hair. She's fun to talk to. She went down to the desk and I went outside to watch James firing. It was a very good talk and I enjoyed collecting people to have them come watch him. Including some kids who were very enthusiastic.

James took a lunch break and went to do our time sheets for us. He did not eat which upset me. But he said he was fine. I took the later lunch after doing food in the Navy with Maya. And it was a good lunch. I brought leftovers. I spent a little bit more time down at the desk finishing up some stuff and reading. And then finally at 3 I went back on Deck to do gun drill.

I had the best gun drill. I only forgot a little bit at the end but nobody knows. But everyone seemed to really enjoy it I even got some questions. And then I did the second firing. That was more nerve-wracking. I only had a small crowd so that wasn't so bad. But the primer fell out again and then I had a misfire. My very first one. I pulled the lanyard and it went pop but nothing happened. So then I'm like shaking. Because I had already had two rear am at once. And now it's a dangerous situation. Because it could just go off. But I have to wait 30 seconds and then I can put a new primer inside of it. I was very concerned because the inside of the gun was very wet. And I told my audience that if it did not work this time that that was our last shot. But I put it in there and I pulled it and it went off. Thank God because I was shaking I was so nervous. That was my very first misfire and I really hope it doesn't happen again. Or at least doesn't happen very often. It was no fun.

We finished up today. Me and James took the flag down. We cleaned up and got ready to go. My ear was really bothering me and I desperately wanted to take my piercing out. But it's a little tiny screw and not a good way to get a grip on it. James tried but it just made my ear more swollen. I just wanted it out so bad so when we got home that was the first thing we did. But it was kind of a disaster.

We tried tweezers and pliers. We tried cutting it off. Nothing was working. And then James head crimped the actual piercing too far down and it was just a mess. Finally I was able to break the screw off the top of the piercing and it came right off. But my ear hurts so much at this point. I was just so glad to have it off but my ear was very tender. James put my old piercing back in after we realized that the new piercing was actually a bigger gauge. Which is probably why I was having so much pain. You can't stretch hard cartilage. That sucker is not going to get bigger or smaller. So I'm glad to have the other piercing back in and I think at some point in the future I'll go to an actual piercer and get a new piece of jewelry for it.

But we still had plans tonight. We were going to go on a date. So I took James to Hampden and we went to have pasta at the pasta bar. I like the pasta he got better than the pasta I got. So I have my pasta in the fridge to be dressed up at a later date. Probably with a red sauce and more mozzarella. But it was really nice just sitting and talking to him. He just means so much to me and everything just feels so nice with him. We walked over to 34th Street to see the Christmas lights. Which he loves so much. I thought it was nice. I prefer the Shady Brook Drive through one but it was still really cute seeing how excited he got. We even got to go in somebody's house that had turned their front room into an art gallery. And that was pretty neat. We had gotten ice cream before hand at the charmery. And I really like my ice cream. But I mostly just like being outside with him on such a beautiful beautiful night. It was starting to a cooler though and so we walked back towards the Avenue and called a car and came home.

We said goodbye once we got back here. He grabbed his backpack and went home. And I went and took a long bath and listen to a scary story. And now I'm going to go dry my hair and get ready to go to sleep. Dad's coming over in the morning to fix my windows. To try to make them more winterized. I'm glad I get to see him for a little bit though I hate that he has to drive such a long distance don't may see me for a few hours before I go to work. But it'll still be nice to see him.

I hope you have a really good night tonight. Sleep well. Stay warm.

#ootd #work #babe #selfie #tired #good day #sunday #boy #christmas

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balisticbane-blog · 6 years

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Iowa City Tattoo - Essay #2

[Old School Jeff - Interview] [Derek Rempfer - Quote] [Iowa City Tattoo - Location]

Bane Roberts

Amy Parker

Writing Commons WRIT:1500:0004

23 October 2017

Iowa City Tattoo - The Culture of Iowa City’s Parlor

My whole life, I had had differing opinions on tattoos, tattoo artists, and the tattoo industry. When I was young, I thought they were scary, and that only bikers with arms bigger than my body would bear them. I’ve eased up since, and only recently (within these past few years) have I concluded that I myself was interested in getting one.

I promised myself that when I finally did turn eighteen, I would get myself my first tattoo. In fact, I ended up raising over 500$ - enough for a tattoo of a bear that would cover my entire shoulder and extend onto my chest. Raising this money hadn’t been easy, and at one point, I found myself asking for some help from my parents. It had been my birthday, as I said, and so they gladly accepted - I just hadn’t received anything else.

Unfortunately I ended up spending that money on a school trip to New York, something I had been expected to do on my own. The tattoo had been within my grasp, basically calling my name. Despite this, my dream of getting a tattoo has never faded. Author Derek Rempfer once said, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” This quote reminds me to live and act in the moment, and so I’ve decided to get a tattoo the week of October 16th-21st. Throughout this text, I’d like to recount my experiences with the tattooing community, and how I was made to feel when submerged within the tattoo industry’s culture.

Walking in for the first time, I had been especially nervous. The entire walk over, (nearly ten minutes) I had been telling myself that I wouldn’t be scared. I was. The room was clean and well-organized, images of previously-done tattoos lining the walls. My girlfriend had been right beside me. Was she intimidated too? Possibly, but nowhere near as much as I had been. My dream was now so real. Maybe this is what scared me.

I’d decided to get my first tattoo at Iowa City Tattoo. Located on 393 E. College street. Iowa City Tattoo has been in the area for around fifteen years, and has been voted Best Tattoo Parlor in Iowa City for three consecutive years. After seeing such impressive records, the parlor seemed like just the right place. I could have gone to a number of other parlors, but they had been either too far a walk, expensive, or simply not my style. What was my style? Frankly, I’m not quite sure, I just happened to like Iowa City Tattoo’s designs. Perhaps I would find out soon.

For many people, especially younger students, the tattoo industry can be an intimidating scene. As someone who’d be getting a tattoo for the first time, I feel I emulated this quite well. On the contrary, I was greeted by a friendly smile from the woman at the front desk. She asked me how she could help me, though I continued to stutter over my words. I let her know that I wanted a tattoo, mind you one much smaller than what I had originally planned. We ended up agreeing that a walk-in for that Wednesday would suit me well. That only gave me two days to prepare.

Her smile persisted as she guided me through the scheduling process. She could tell I was young, dumb, and intimidated. This didn’t bother me. Well, not after a while. After a while, she was too warm to be intimidated by. This would not prepare me for my meeting with “Old School Jeff”, however.

Wednesday came faster than I thought it would have. It almost seemed as if I had snapped my fingers, and there I was in front of the receptionist again. Maybe I was excited? Probably not. Time seems to go by faster the more you dread something in your future.

I walked in yet again, and just like the previous day, my nerves got the best of me. More words had been fumbled over, more apologies left my mouth, and if you’d like to know if a single thing I said made any sense, I think you already know the answer. I like to think that was because this time I was actually doing it. I would leave with an actual tattoo.

The music had changed drastically. Instead of the usual light, alternative folk, a rough, raunchy rap playlist had been running the entire time. That was due to who I had scheduled to be my tattoo artist. Old School Jeff - that was his name. This would be the man who poked me a billion times with a tiny needle for nearly an hour. If the name wasn’t enough, imagine a tall, bearded, tattoo-covered man who smelled of cigarettes. This was his way of intimidating the young adults that entered his shop. (That’s a joke)

The first thing I showed him was my design - half quill/half sword with blood dripping from the blade and ink from the tip of the quill. I told him I would like it on my forearm.. He didn’t ask to be greeted, or introduce himself, so I didn’t bother. Like I said, I was a nervous wreck. I began by showing him a few of his works that I liked, and told him that this was the style that I’d like my tattoo to be in. He responded by saying, “So you don’t want your tattoo to look like shit, is that what you’re saying?” This was the moment I realized I accidentally insulted his other works.

We entered the tattooing room after a half-hour wait because Old School Jeff needed a smoke before we started. (I probably stressed him out, to be fair) When we finally did start, he brought me to a black leather chair.

The room where the tattooing took place was much cleaner, and much more welcoming than I imagined. It was a separate, slightly elevated room with bright, warm lighting and a polished wooden floor. There were a few stations for tattooing, but I had been the only one there, my girlfriend beside me yet again.

Old School Jeff placed my design onto my forearm, asking me if I liked the position. I examined it in the mirror, and to be quite honest, I was dissatisfied. I asked him to place it a little more to the right, and he quickly became angered again. He told me, though subtly, that I was wrong and he was right. He changed the position again, and back I was at the mirror.

Sorry Jeff, I didn’t like it again. “Actually could I just get that in between the two we just did?” Old School didn’t look so happy when I said this, but was a little relieved that I wanted it closer to his original placement. How could I tell? Vibes.

We started soon after, and boy did it hurt. He didn’t talk much. He only asked if I was ok every now and then. I said yes out of fear. He had agreed to do questions before we started, but refused to talk for whatever reason.

At one point, I explained the tattoo to him. I told him I was a writer working towards a Creative Writing degree. He smiled this time. “My wife was in the writing program.” Jeff started to speak up. He told me she was a professor here at the university.

We started on other topics such as the medical program, how he doesn’t trust doctors, and how he was big on conspiracy theories. I started to realize all I needed to do was warm up to Old School Jeff.

It wouldn’t take long before we were joking and laughing with each other. I eventually asked if many people asked to have the position of their mock-tattoo changed and he quickly responded, “Nope. I get it right every damned time.” I laughed at this.

Before I knew it, I was done. He had finished the last bit of ink at the tip of my wrist, which hurt quite a bit. The talking helped me through this. And before I continue, yes, it did hurt the entire time. And yes, my girlfriend was laughing at me the entire time. I like to think I handle pain well, but, I had been making quite an array of faces during the process.

When we finished, Jeff got my arm all wrapped up, and I pulled from my bookbag a series of questions.

I started off with some simple ones. “What’s the strangest tattoo you’ve had to do, or at least one weird example.”

“I have no idea, really. My immediate response is that all tattoos are weird. I mean, the idea of changing your pigment is weird in general. No, I can’t think of a weird one, but I’ve turned down some requests. I had to turn down a guy who wanted Goofy from the Disney cartoons smoking a crack pipe with the word ‘crackhead’ underneath. Another guy wanted scumbag across his neck.” This was followed by another laugh from my girlfriend and me.

“When did you start tattooing?”

“Professionally started tattooing in 2004. [I] Did my first on myself when I was 14. [I have] Been in the business from ‘94. [I did] Body piercings from ‘94 and then I became a tattoo artist.”

“What got you interested in being a tattoo artist?” I noticed his responses becoming longer and more in-depth the longer we talked.

“Working as a body piercer and getting sick of body piercing. Working with tattoo artists and getting tattoos. One of the guys I had been working with basically told me I was stupid and I needed to start tattooing. [There was] No babysitting involved with clients. Basically with tattoos, you do the tattoo, and then you’re done. With body piercings, the people wanna come back after five years and blame you for an infection they got and shit like that. I had been working there for five years (at the body shop) and my boss was tired of training new people and having them quit so he asked me if I wanted to tattoo and I said ‘fuck yeah’.”

“What tattoos do you have and what do they mean to you?”

“None of my tattoos really have any meaning at all. I guess my favorite tattoos are usually my newest ones. When I was getting tattoos, you would just pick something off the wall, you know. My buddies would draw something, if I thought it was badass, I’d get it. I worked with them, I knew their work, and I’d sit down and let them do their work.”

“What’s your favorite style of tattoo?”

“I like traditional style, japanese style, and japanese fusion style. Actual line work, lots of bright color, lots of black.”

“What are the requirements to become a tattoo artist?”

“When I first started, it was very loose - not a traditional apprenticeship. It was up to the guy training you. Washington had no regulation on tattooing back then, a lot of states didn’t. There’s still no set standard on learning, but I learned from someone who knew what the hell they were doing. I started by making tattoo machines and needles - which is something nobody has to do anymore. I had to sterilize all the shit, I had to clean the shop, the toilets, basically all of the shit nobody wanted to do. That’s how you paid for your education in the tattooing business. Spend a year doing the shit. One day you would do a tattoo, and that’s how you started. I started on citrus fruit. After you tattoo some grapefruits without fucking them up, you tattoo yourself. Then grab some friends and tattoo on them. Once you do a few of those and don’t mess them up too bad, you do some names. Maybe some Japanese letters. You’re on the floor now.” “What’s the longest amount of time you’ve spent on a single tattoo?”

“Twelve and a half hours in one time. Continuous? Over a few months. But yeah in a single day, about twelve hours. I wanted to shoot myself.”

“Do you deny people service if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol?” He had to think for a moment.

“Ummm, technically it’s against the law. I mean, if people are sloppy drunk, hell no. I can’t do it. What if they decide to turn me in for that after waking up. I know I’ve tattooed stoned kids. That’s on them. It hurts a lot more when you’re high. Not sure about drunk, I’ve never done it. Even before it was illegal, we wouldn’t do it. I tattooed a guy who passed out while I was doing it. He was drinking rum out of a tea bottle. I thought he just fell asleep - he had a gym bag with him. He didn’t seem drunk. Figured he was sleeping. He got up to go to the bathroom, didn’t realize he refilled his tea bottle. When he got back, the rum bottle fell out of his bag.”

“Do you think that the general public has a more negative view on the tattoo industry? And do you think there's a stigma surrounding tattoo parlors?”

“I don’t think their stigmatized at all. I think people have gotten too comfortable coming into tattoo parlors. There are so many fuckin’ tattoo parlors nowadays. If you went sixty years ago, there were two-hundred tattoo parlors in the whole country. They all knew each other, half of them hated each other. They hid secrets from each other. Now you’ve got two-hundred tattoo artists in every small town in America. I can’t even tell you how many thousands of tattoo artists there are in this country now. So, with that being said, it’s gotten so popular, especially with the young - the twenty to thirty year olds.

When I first started tattooing, people were usually scared to come into the tattoo shop, there was definitely a stigma about it. They’d come in scared as shit, you’d calm them down, they’d realize you were just a normal human-being like them. [There’s] Nothing scary about being in a tattoo shop.

Now, there's so many tattoo shops, we get a lot of attitude. We get treated like we work at a fast-food restaurant. They come in, they demand what they want, they want it now, they want it the way they want it, they don’t wanna listen to any advice you give anybody, and well - I shouldn’t say everyone. A good majority these days. They get on the internet. They researched what they wanted for six months before they came in here. They have friends who have tattoos, they know everything about tattoos. And they don’t wanna hear from the guy that’s gonna actually do the tattoo on them.

So no I don't think they are stigmatized, but I think people take it for granted. They don’t realize that we actually are skilled laborers. Nobody can walk in from the street and do what we do on a day to day basis. I get treated well by most folk. Myself and many other people that I work with - we have many similar situations.

It’s mostly younger people. I was a young, brazen, asshole when I was young, but I was afraid of tattoo artists. When I would get tattooed, you would walk in and tell them what you want, maybe you gotta tell them one or two colors you wanted, they did the tattoo and that was it. Now I’ve got backseat tattoo artists the entire process.

It’s great that tattooing is popular and I get good business. I got good money coming in. I’m doing a lot more than I used to do. But I definitely get a lot less respect than I used to get, and a lot of tattoo artists feel that way.

It’s just a matter of getting people to realize that tattoo shops are tattoo shops.

No, I don’t think we’re stigmatized at all, I think we’re here to stay, we’re not going anywhere. There are some people in it for the fame, it’s like being a rock star. Instead of picking up a guitar they pick up a tattoo machine, those people fade out. People like us who actually wanna tattoo, we’re here to stay.”

I thanked Old School Jeff, and we shook hands. Somehow, I don’t feel like he does this much, but he followed me to the front desk when we finished. He gave me tips on how to care for my tattoo, handing me his business card as well. He even threw in a booklet on how to wash your tattoo as well.

The process had taken about two hours, meaning I would owe him around $120. Before I took my leave, he asked, “How’s 100$-even sound?” I gladly accepted, and with a final handshake, I walked back out into my comfortable little world.

An experience as such tested my opinions on the tattoo industry as a whole. Within the first thirty minutes, I was intimidated and slightly insulted. Within the last thirty minutes, I had been the complete opposite. I was able to learn something from Jeff.

And though my original question had little to do with the treatment of tattoo artists, I look to this as a much more important topic. As Jeff said himself, he does not think there is a stigma around tattoo parlors, they’ve become too popular.

How is it that we can fix this issue? Clearly, according to Jeff and his fellow tattoo artists, there is no stigma, but something bigger - an obsession. Should we then stop demanding so much from the tattoo industry? Should we disregard Old School Jeff and look toward the “Future.”?

I don’t think so. I think Jeff made a good point. I can understand, as someone who came into the parlor asking for so much to be quickly judged by Jeff. I showed him exactly what I wanted, indirectly told him I wanted it now, and told him to change it’s position - twice.

I like to take it back to the phrase, “It’s great that tattooing is popular and I get good business. I got good money coming in. I’m doing a lot more than I used to do. But I definitely get a lot less respect than I used to get, and a lot of tattoo artists feel that way.”

Here, we can see the real issue. In an age where we have so much information at our fingertips, a world in which we get what we want, when we want it, in the way that suits us best, I can understand why the tattoo artists of modern America suffer.

But frankly, I quite like my new tattoo. I got it for cheap, and it looks good. That’s really all that should matter right? We should stop demanding a meaning from our tattoos. We should stop acting as if we are ordering off of a menu at a restaurant.

My experience with Iowa City Tattoo, and my experience with Old School Jeff has helped shape my opinion of the tattoo industry. I haven’t walked away thinking that they are just a bunch of nice folks and that I shouldn’t be as scared. I walked away thinking that these people are not only nice, but deserve more respect. These people deserve more than a bunch of twenty-year-old kids bossing them around while they perform their art.

Long story short, I enjoyed my experience, but even more so, found it to be a revelation, as exaggerated as that may sound. And next time I visit, I might just pick something off of the wall.

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