Beer Can Hill

My buddy Jason sent me this for my birthday.

My friend Carrie sent me this:

Angela gave me this:

Eleanor emailed me this picture. I don’t remember when it was taken but judging from the tattoos that are and are not on my arms, it was late 2007 or early 2008.

• Air conditioning.
• Parrots and a tortoise that make me laugh when I am sad.
• My friends & family.
• Being alive.
• The proven ability to adapt & overcome.
• My 5th Blogathon sponsor!

_{Beer Can Hill is participating in Blogathon 2009 by updating twice an hour, for 24 hours, today. Proceeds are going to RAINN.}

_{Beer Can Hill is participating in Blogathon 2009 by updating twice an hour, for 24 hours, today. Proceeds are going to RAINN.}

Check them out.

Also, Giada Bella has this one.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Giada Bella is two weeks old today."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Photo owned by Christopher."][/caption]

Christopher is turning 35 on July 14th. He agreed to discuss his tattoos with me the other day.

Carrie: Where are you from?

Christopher: I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but have
lived in Seattle for almost ten years.

Carrie: What do you do for a living?

Christopher: Online advertising, but I’m a contractor and will be looking for work soon. Hoping to stay in the industry, because I studied advertising in college and worked in it for several years, and
it’s great to be back in it after my original layoff.

Carrie: What do you do with your time?

Christopher: I’m a big movie watcher. I have a six-at-a-time Netflix membership and try to see as many as I can in the theater. I enjoy the full spectrum of visual art, from graffiti and stickers to museum shows. I also really like taking my own photos and I’m happiest when I have a lot of free time to walk around an unfamiliar place taking pictures.

Carrie: Is there a non-profit group that you support?

Christopher: I’ve never really been big on charity or fundraising, but this year, several of my friends are walking in the 3-day, 60-mile walk to benefit breast cancer research, so I’ve donated to each of them. I’ve had some major personal, professional, and financial setbacks since I moved here, so it was nice to be able to donate to them this year; it wasn’t a huge amount by any means, but it would have been impossible so many other years.

Carrie:  Who does your tattoos?

Christopher: The kanji characters on my left arm were done off a printout from Microsoft Word that I brought in to Eric Eye at Lucky Devil in Seattle. All my other work is by Thomas Graham at SuperGenius, and I plan to get a lot more done by him.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Photo owned by Christopher."][/caption]

Carrie: Why the pagoda?

Christopher: People ask me the same question a lot, and the funny thing is, it’s the one tattoo I have that carries the least significance. Basically, I needed something tall and skinny to go in that spot, and I figured I should look for something Asian-inspired to go well with the tree.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Photo owned by Christopher."][/caption]

Carrie: What do your arms mean?

Christopher: I’ll explain how everything happened, in order. In March or April of 2004, I’d just lost a job right as I was trying to figure out what to do with a free airline ticket I had. I ended up in Corpus Christi of all places, and I was in the hotel bored, watching TV. My good friend Nancy called and told me she was about to get a free tattoo, so I asked what it was going to be. She was getting the kanji symbol for “star” on the back of her neck. I told her I wanted “your mom” in Japanese on my arm, so that when people asked what it meant, I could just say “your mom”. When my 30th birthday rolled around in July, Nancy bought me that exact tattoo for my birthday.

For my next tattoo, I decided I wanted a seahorse, but decided they were too cute for a guy to wear. I figured a skeleton would look tougher, but seahorse skeletons look almost exactly like seahorses, so I decided to have one drawn up as though it were made from mammal bones. I took my sketch to a shop and talked to an artist about it, and she told me she’d need a week to work on it. I came back and was extremely disappointed to see that she found the exact picture on the internet that I had in mind as an example of what I didn’t want, and the proportions were all wrong for my forearm. She proved that she hadn’t listened to me at all when she said, “I figured you didn’t know
what their skeletons looked like so I went online and found this.”
Yeah, what I told you is that I didn’t like what they actually looked
like and asked you to draw something else!

I was pretty disappointed so I took a copy of my sketch over to
SuperGenius and Thomas drew exactly what I wanted in about 25 minutes. He really listened to me and it came out perfect, which is why I’ve gone to him ever since.

After my mom died, the “your mom” joke tattoo started to bug me a bit, so I wanted to turn it into a tribute tattoo. I decided I wanted to put her favorite type of tree on my arm, which is a weeping willow. Thomas took a photo of both my arms for reference and came up with a highly-stylized version of one which turned out really cool and actually mirrors the shape of the seahorse on the other arm. I’ve also noticed that he took the time to make the shapes in the tree mirror the characters it surrounds.

I’m actually going to cover my whole left arm with blackwork, the plan is to put a moon on my upper arm and hide something crazy like a skull in a samurai helmet (Thomas’ idea) on the inner part.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="239" caption="Click to see Christopher's series of T-Rex quotes."][/caption]

Carrie: I have seen the T-REX comic but am not familiar with its place in pop culture. Can you give my readers the cliff notes version?

Christopher: Dinosaur Comics is a daily web comic by Ryan North. He used clip art to set up the panels and mostly only changes the words each day. I discovered it during a period of unemployment and have been a huge fan ever since. Ryan is a modern philosopher of sorts, and I really enjoy the way his mind works.

The first and second panel of every comic always consist of T-Rex’s initial thought in panel one followed by a gasping realization in the second. The second panel taken out of context is usually funny on its own and I decided the spirit of it was exactly what I wanted as a tattoo. I noticed after the fact that I’ll be needing a touchup, though. I gave Thomas a prinout of the t-shirt version, which is missing the webbing from the sides of T-Rex’s mouth. I didn’t notice this until after the fact.

Carrie: Have you had to deal with any prejudice over being tattooed?

Christopher: Not at all. I’m willing to bet money that Seattle is one of the most heavily-tattooed cities in the world. I was in San Francisco over the weekend and was noticing the difference. At first, my dad didn’t like them and balked when I said I was planning more, but I could tell he warmed up to them a lot when he told me he thought the tree might look even better if I shaved it.

Carrie: What would you tell somebody who is getting ready to get their first tattoo?

Christopher: I would tell them they shouldn’t worry as much as people say they should. People act as though tattoos have to represent a milestone in your life or that they need to have a deep meaning, but I believe it’s fine if they do, but all that matters is that you enjoy them. It’s ok if you consider them decorative or fun, and it’s fine if they’re abstract, serious, silly, or ironic.

I would also tell them that it is indeed painful, but pain one time is no reason to miss out on a lifetime of wearable art.

Lewis does not live with me. But he does have his own MySpace page.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="239" caption="Giada Bella is one week old today."][/caption]

My trip to Monterey,California was amazing.

I tested and proved my theory that Carmel weddings need Jack Daniels.

There were pit bulls.

And I made lots of new friends!

Rusty had an extensive conversation with Friday night’s thunderstorm.

I had a few damaged inches layered and cut off of my hair.

The trumpet vine on is in full bloom.

So is the pecan tree, where I hide the bird bath.

I am trying to grow my own tomatoes.

Jennie loves supervising the yard work.

And, unlike the rest of us on Beer Can Hill, Merlin loves the hot weather.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="239" caption="Giada Bella Cinotti Gomez / May 29th 2009 / 7 pounds 5 ounces 19 inches"][/caption]

If you miss me, I am @gynosaurusrex on Twitter.

I obtained this masterpiece from T-Shirt Hell last winter. It has greatly amused my friends that are also parents.

Bakersfield’s C.A.L.M. Zoo opened in 1983. It houses rehabilitated wildlife that is native to California and can’t be released back in to the wild. It also has some farm animals. I was really impressed with the exhibits and the quality care that the animals receive there.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Sorry y'all, she's spoken for!"][/caption]

My friend Angela kicks ass at everything she does. And she rescued two dogs from the pound and has helped them recover from their past owners!

I love both of her dogs, but I have a soft spot for German Shepherds. I had two when I was a kid and also a GS/wolf hybrid. If I settle down someday I’d like to adopt one. But I’ve got to make sure that I can find one that can live with Merlin.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Roger telling me WHAT UP last Sunday morning."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="344" caption="Me & Angela at the C.A.L.M. zoo in Bakersfield. I wanted this dinosaur for my yard!"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Photo by FresnoFamous.com"][/caption]

My mom told me to look at Fresno Famous today. That’s me, playing Q&A to Fresno’s Tattoo Convention visitors at the Cryin From The Iron booth. That’s Brentwood behind me. Check out the other pictures from the convention here.

Angela and I have serious shenanigans to commit.

My friends Eleanor and her tattooist son Alex recently visited Kat Von D’s shop. They told me that Kat Von D. and her staff were friendly. I have never seen the Miami Ink or LA Ink shows myself because I don’t have cable or satellite TV. I am interested in speaking to people who have patronized this shop, so hit me up at beercanhill@gmail.com.

Click on the pictures to find out more about these people.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Mike Ferguson of 1st Amendment Tattoo. Organizer of the convention."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Industry veteran Tenneessee Dave."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="With one of my best friends, Eleanor Bracamonte."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="With the band Vengince. "][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="K.R. Rossi of Yuba City,California."][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="239" caption="Long-time friend & artist Danny Durran of Death Or Glory Tattoo in Fresno,California."][/caption]