Ink Nerd

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Fun with flickr

Here’s what I’ve been playing with:

I tried the “blog this” function in flickr with underwhelming results. I can’t figure out a way to add WordPress tags using this tool to post to this blog directly from flickr.
I started a “Dinosaur Tattoos” group and invited some people to join (8 new members — whoo-hoo!). You may have to be logged into flickr to see all the photos.
I submitted a photo of my Triceratops tattoo to many other dinosaur- and tattoo-related photo groups, and started a discussion topic in each, plugging my new group, of course.
I added a thumbnail feed from Devil Dinosaur‘s “Geek Tattoos” group (at right; maybe I should be bringing in a feed from the group that I own, but DD’s covers more bases).

What do you think, am I doing it wrong? Any suggestions?

Posted by Josh | May 7, 2008 | Categories: flickr, my tattoos | Tags: blog, dinosaur tattoo, flickr, geek tattoos, tattoo, tattoos, triceratops, Web 2.0, Wordpress | Leave a comment

David Spencer’s awesome Hulk tattoo (from The Incredible Hulk #224) was done by Alfie Lamberger at Marks of the Spark Tattoos, in Frederick, Maryland. More views and in-progress shots can be seen in David’s “tattoos” flickr set.

This beautiful Hulk transformation tattoo was done by Monte Agee at Artistic Skin Designs in Indianapolis. More info about Monte is available on his MySpace profile; more of his amazing portfolio on his website.

This bitchin’ Hulk vs. Wolverine tattoo (from The Incredible Hulk #181) is by Shawn Thompson at Strange City in Edmonton, Alberta. This photo from Shawn’s gallery on the Strange city site; you may have seen an earlier version of this on Horrible Tattoos or Modblog.

Posted by Josh | May 7, 2008 | Categories: nerds | Tags: Alfie Lamberger, Artistic Skin Designs, backpiece, comic books, comics, flickr, hulk, Incredible Hulk, Mark of the Sparks Tattoo, Marvel Comics, Marvel Database, ModBlog, Monte Agee, MySpace, Shawn Thompson, Strange City, tattoo, tattoo artists, tattoo shops, tattoos, Wendigo, Wolverine | 22 Comments

It’s contagious!

Triceratops and Columbines, originally uploaded by ragz1138.

This pretty great tattoo with an increasingly familiar theme was posted recently on flickr. I did a double-take when I first saw it!

I wonder if this has anything to do with all the hits I’ve been getting from people searching for “triceratops tattoo”…

(FYI, I’m trying out the “Blog this” feature on flickr; we’ll see how it turns out–I may have to go back and edit this post in WordPress anyway.)

Update: My WordPress theme overrides all the CSS styles in the flickr blog template, and the default flickr size is about 25 pixels too wide for my theme’s content column. I’ll keep futzing with the flickr template; if I can get it to work, it’ll be a real time-saver. I guess I could also look into a different WordPress theme…

Posted by Josh | May 4, 2008 | Categories: flickr, Uncategorized | Tags: blog, CSS, dinosaur tattoo, flickr, flowers, ModBlog, tattoo, tattoos, triceratops, Wordpress | 2 Comments

Ink Buddies

Ashton is working on a book called Tattoos for Two about tattoos with a shared meaning for two or more people. In her (his?) flickr group, there are lots of great photos of photos commemorating love, friendship, family, and departed loved ones. Thanks to Carl Zimmer for the heads-up.

These cute Brontosaurus buddies from eggandtoast‘s flickr photostream aren’t part of Ashton’s project (yet), but they should be!

$Brontosaurus tattoos from eggandtoast\'s flickr photostream.$ $Brontosaurus tattoo from eggandtoast\'s flickr photostream.$

I was well into reading some of the stories Ashton has collected before I remembered that my first tattoo is shared by 3 of my closest friends (one of these days I’ll post pictures and the whole story). In addition to the “shared experience” thing, it seems like “buddy tattoos” are a common way people get up the nerve to get a tattoo in the first place.

Shannon has posted lots of buddy tattoos on BMEzine’s ModBlog, as well (WARNING: some of these images may not be suitable for work!).

Posted by Josh | May 1, 2008 | Categories: my tattoos, nerds, News | Tags: death, dinosaur tattoo, family, flickr, friends, love, ModBlog, Science Tattoo Emporium, tattoo | 1 Comment

NERD TATTOOS… UR DOIN IT WRONG

D’oh! According to JLP on Associated Content, I made just about every rookie mistake in the book with my new tattoo:

It’s no secret that nerds love dinosaurs. While body art of a living dinosaur is likely to look cartoonish, fossils have a certain scientific air to them. A fossil tattoo should have a subtle, classy color scheme. Fossil designs are ideal for those who want to avoid a garish, multi-colored tattoo.

Hint: Think beyond Triceratops. Consider a tattoo featuring more obscure prehistoric creatures, such as trilobites or ammonites.

Oh, why didn’t I consult the experts before I branded myself for life as a total amateur?!

But is my tattoo a fanciful picture of a fossil with floral decorations, or a scene set in the Cretaceous of a (relatively) freshly decomposed triceratops in a field of flowers? What do you think?

LOLCATS!

Posted by Josh | April 17, 2008 | Categories: my tattoos | Tags: cretaceous, design, dinosaur tattoo, flower, fossil, lolcats, my tattoos, nerds, tattoo, triceratops, trilobite | 3 Comments

Ink Nerd meets Red Rocket

Ok, finally, here are the “in progress” shots of the now-two-week-old triceratops skull tattoo; lots more after the jump…

Mike Bellamy tattooing Josh.
Mike Bellamy of Red Rocket Tattoo giving me the business (photo by Amy).

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by Josh | April 10, 2008 | Categories: my tattoos, tattoo shops | Tags: artist, design, dinosaur tattoo, flower, Mike Bellamy, Red Rocket Tattoo, skull, tattoo, triceratops | 5 Comments

Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby…

While in Philadelphia, I stopped by the Academy of Natural Sciences, to check out their Hall of Dinosaurs, and I lucked out!

Josh and a triceratops skull fossil in Philadelphia.

Not only did they have this excellent triceratops skull (it’s as big as me!), but in the fossil prep lab off to the side of the Hall, museum staff were working on cleaning and assembling triceratops fossils!

More photos (click to enlarge):

I spoke with the nice paleontologist lady in the fossil lab for a while (you can see her arms working on a cast of a big fossil in the first thumbnail photo, above), and she encouraged me to volunteer to help out with the fossil prep. When I told her I lived in a different city, she said some of their volunteers only come in once a month… don’t tempt me!

I wonder if the Museum of Natural History has a similar gig…

Posted by Josh | April 9, 2008 | Categories: fossils, my tattoos, nerds | Tags: Acadamy of Natural Sciences, dinosaur tattoo, fossil, museum, Must Rock, Philadelphia, skull, tattoo, toys, triceratops | 1 Comment

Not for the faint of heart.

Greetings from beautiful Philadelphia, PA! My wife is here on business, and I am her escort for the weekend. I wish I felt better… Yesterday, in my head-cold-induced stupor, I accidentally deleted the draft of my long and extremely interesting story about the process of getting this tattoo.

I’m working on the rewrite, but in the meantime, you’ll have to be content with these gruesome photos of peeling tattooed flesh, taken yesterday (day 5?) soon after I woke up (more after the break):

Peeling Triceratops tattoo

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Posted by Josh | April 6, 2008 | Categories: my tattoos | Tags: blog, mistake, peeling, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, sickness, skin, tattoo, wife, work | 11 Comments

Fearless fossil hunters

After sitting next to me at work for 3+ years, I’m surprised that Sasha didn’t know I was into fossils. This trilobite is my prized possession, fossil-wise, paired with a really nice tattoo I found in modify_evolution’s flickr photostream (gotta keep it on-theme, right?):

Trilobite fossil $Trilobite Tattoo, from Modify Evolution\'s flickr photos$

I found it in an abandoned quarry in the bluffs in Alton, Illinois, just a few miles outside of my hometown of St. Louis (and across the Mississippi) when I was about 9 years old. My friend Ezra had just found an excellent trilobite fossil near there the weekend before, and I begged my dad to take me (and Ezra) to the same spot to look for more. I didn’t have much hope that I’d find one as nice as Ezra’s, but sure enough, I picked this one out of the gravel. I’m sure my dad was relieved that I found something; he had been ready to go home for quite a while..

The photos after the jump will give you a better indication of scale…

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by Josh | April 4, 2008 | Categories: nerds | Tags: Alton, cats, flickr, foot, fossil, Illinois, Missouri, St. Louis, tattoo, trilobite | 3 Comments

Looks like we made it…

Ink Nerd enters the blogosphere. Thanks for the link, Will… No such thing as bad press, right?

Tricera-tattoo Status: besides being totally awesome, it’s still swollen, sore, and a little red around the edges, but I haven’t started scabbing, peeling, oozing, or any of that stuff. It feels a lot like a bad sunburn, including the hot-to-the-touch thing. I’m keeping it moist with Aquaphor, per doctor’s orders. Also starting to get a little stubble where the manscaping was done..

Next: The making of Herbie the Love Ornithischian

Posted by Josh | April 2, 2008 | Categories: my tattoos, News | Tags: blog, dinosaur tattoo, Game Hacks, healing, Houston Chronicle, press, tattoo, triceratops, Will Radcliffe | 2 Comments