i still think he's a jackass

after three days and countless looks in the mirror to check out my new tattoo i'm still stuck with this pervasive thought of what a jackass the tattoo artist was. actually he cannot be called an artist. he was a dude doing a job, not someone with any passion for art or working with someone carefully on creating something meaningful together. i'm trying so hard not to be pissed off. . .actually i guess i'm not pissed off, just disappointed. nolan and i have talked about getting a tattoo together for a long time, but haven't been able to come up with something until now.

i brought nolan an early christmas present over thanksgiving weekend that sparked an idea for the tattoo. i got him an ammonite, which is a fossilized shell that once housed a squid like creature. its something like 68 million years old i think. anyway, once petrified, it was sliced in half to reveal the beautiful work of mother nature. perfect geometry and amazing natural colors.

for several years nolan has been sort of obsessed with the fibonacci sequence. . .also known as the golden section or the divine proportion. if you start with the numbers numbers 0 and 1, and make a list in which each new number is the sum of the previous two, you get a list like this:
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ... to infinity-->

this is known as the fibonacci series and can be observed in nature with the growth patterns of plants and shells. nolan's love of this sequence has something to do with asthetics, but more to do with the fact that it is a symbol of nature, a beautiful example of what occurs without any influence from man. i find meaning in this personally for its beauty, the connection to nature that it symbolizes, and most importantly because my little brother loves it.

so, back to the tattoo. after giving nolan the ammonite it wasn't long before we were talking about getting it as a tattoo. the next day we scoped a few shops and checked out some portfolios. we settled on a place that seemed right. unfortunately, our tattoo dude turned out to be a cocky, disrespectful, pervert! nolan went first and was really happy with how it turned out, despite the fact that the guy with the needle was totally gross to say the least. i on the other hand was not that psyched about how his turned out. it did look good, but it didn't look anything like what we asked for. i told the guy that i wanted some very specific differences and he simply disregarded me, which of course i didn't know until after i spent an hour on the table.

soooooooooooooooooooooooo, the end result. . . . nolan and i have matching tattoos. nolan is pretty happy with his, and i'm working on getting there with mine. although it doesn't look like what we asked for, it does look pretty cool. i'm just trying to appreciate it for what it is and not harbor resentment for the jackass that didn't listen. can you tell i'm having a hard time? but, when you get a tattoo you take the risk that it may not end up exactly like you want so i can't be too upset. what i do love about it is that nolan and i got it together and will share that forever.

i have one more day of training here in oklahoma city. i was planning to stay a couple of extra days to check things out around here, but i'm not feelin' it at all and have decided to head home as early as i can, which is friday afternoon.

i'll post pics of the tattoos when i get home. . .