Signed, sealed, delivered...and inked!

OK, just to let those who think that getting a tattoo is inherently an impulse thing that you then have to live with the rest of your life I'll begin my newest (mis)adventure by saying I've been thinking on and off for five years now about what tattoo I wanted to get. Yesterday, it became official.

First, a little history into the design I chose. It is from one of 54 cards from a Mexican game called Loteria.

(From Wikipedia)

Lotería is a Mexican game of chance, similar to Bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of plain numbers on ping pong balls

Lotería is a tradition that involves art, passion, and culture. The origin of Lotería can be traced back to the 15th century in Italy, where games of this type were organized to collect funds for the poor. From there the numeric game migrated to other countries like France, where King Francis I founded the first state that sponsored a loteria. 

The first loterias arrived to Mexico in the 18th century from Spain]. In the beginning Loteríawas a hobby of the upper classes, but eventually it became a tradition at Mexican fairs. At present,Lotería has been adapted as a didactic tool, and several artists are using the Lotería pictograms as a base for their art projects.

Which did I choose? I chose El Diablito, which means, "Little Devil." He is a mischief maker. Before he leaves home his father always says, "No vayas a andar jugando con la tierra" (Don't go playing around with the Earth)."

The parlor I went to is in Baltimore and was recommended to me by friend Jeremy who lives near there.  He took the required deposit in AND made my appointment for me so I wouldn't have to drive up to Baltimore. What a pal!

Since the appointment was after work hours my friend Kelly was also able to come with me and give me even more needed support. Ready?

First image, my forearm. Exciting

Next up, the first element, namely Mr. Diablito himself.

Finished!

Happy it's done. Since there was a lot of solid color area it began to get a little annoying towards the end. Thanks Kelly for distracting me with various questions.

Today, I removed the bandage, cleaned it up and applied a layer of cream.

What's the final word? I LOVE IT. It's very cool and probably will be misinterpreted by some as something Devil related (you know, Lucifer, Beelzebub, those guys). Just read that the word Devil comes from the Greek diabolos.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to the artist who did the work. Charlie Foos is co-owner of Read Street Tattoo's on Park St. in Baltimore and was a great guy to work with. We all spent most of the time talking about Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock and art stuff in general. If you're thinking of inking I would totally recommend him.

EXTRACTION!

I know it's been awhile since I posted the video of my blood bag being removed and since seeing me cry out in pain gave some of you a little joy I've decided to follow up with my newest medical invasion, namely the extraction of THREE teeth today at the office of my newest, most favorite Dentist, Armin Abron (plug to follow).

Basically, the teeth gene pool in my family isn't the best. To illustrate here is a picture of my Dad a year or so before he died.

Dad and his winning smile!

The decision was made to extract three teeth, rebuild the bone loss and send me on my way. In two weeks I will have the stitches removed and work will begin to insert implants and return to me that shiny smile that dazzles all who cross my path.

So, without further ado. Watch in amazement as all three teeth get removed in just over a minute. My favorite part is the sound of the teeth hitting the bottom of the plastic cup.

There is a fair amount of blood here but rest assured, no animals were harmed during the making of this movie.

Armin was so cool about letting me video this that I wanted to share his office info with you. Great guy, superb dentist. Thanks man for a job well done.