Tattoos are soooo GAY! National Equality March 10-11-09

I had an incredible time this past Sunday with my friends at the National Equality March. I chanted with the awesome crowd, wrote sharpie all over myself, and walked with the hottest item at the march - my friend Will, the big gay chicken! This is me with him and my wonderful photographer, Ana :). There were SOO many great tattoos I saw at the march, and I've highlighted a few of my favorites below:

Greg got this art in Orlando, Florida. It's his very creative ode to hairdressing, with bubbles, bright colors and all. He wanted a "Lisa Frank" inspired tattoo. I mean, hell, who doesn't like Lisa Frank?
Love it, Greg!!


Next we have Athena with her tribute to her namesake, the goddess Athena, by representing Athena's owl mascot. The design is based on an old greek coin that can still be seen on some euros. She got this done at Great Southern Tattoo in College Park, MD .
This is Mikey Corona of Chicago Free Press. Mikey has a really awesome tattoo. It looks like this:
This was done in Chicago, and it is a "deconstructed crown" that represents his interdisciplinary degree from school and his interdisciplinary life in general. I love this tattoo because it is simple yet the solid colors and black lines make a bold statement. I saw a lot of myself in this tattoo as well, meaning it reads very well. OKAY, Mikey Corona!

Holy literary tattoos!!!!! Ally from Knoxville, TN has the mother load (is that the phrase?)... anyway she has a lot of them.


Tributes to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree, and more. I think the message is clear - read more, people. Read more.

Reychl got her bright artwork done up in Michigan, and it has a great story behind it. She used to eat Nerd Ice Cream Blizzards with her mom and sister and have food fights. She's always had fond memories with this dessert, and it makes for a very interesting tattoo. The cupcakes represent her tradition of making new friends cupcakes in college. Cute :)

Julie

This is Julie Granger. I'm in love with her, she's cool. And kind of really talented. She works with me in the kitchen at Nightclub 9:30, but is also a full time student at the Corcoran School of Art and Design for photography and video art. This is Julie's second tattoo.


It is based off of Ralph Steadman's drawing "bat country" from the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (above). She got this done at Tattoo Paradise in Wheaton by Gore over the summer. This is such a great idea for a tattoo, and it gave me inspiration to look into famous artwork and sketches for tattoo ideas.... thanks Julie ;-).

A Tryst with Steve Trewitt

This is Steve. Steve works as a bartender at Tryst in Adams Morgan, one my favorite cafe/bars to hang out in for some good food, jazz, and peoples. He has lots of sweet tattoos that I could not capture on my silly camera in the shady lighting of a bar. However, we work with what we got, right? I chose a willow tree on his right forearm:



While this picture gives it no justice, I love this tattoo because it looks very personalized and unique. Steve got this at Tattoo Paradise in Adams Morgan about three years ago. He has lived between DC and Colorado and this tree served as a "DC reminder" for him while he was out west. It is a sketch of an actual tree that used to be on the corner of Willard and 18th. It's a very original piece of art, and I really like the idea of treasuring such an interesting landmark as a reminder of home.
ps - Steve, send me another pic if you have one so we can show how awesome it really is!

Sam the man

One of the many different lives I lead is one as a kitchen worker at Nightclub 9:30 ( www.930.com ), THE best music venue in the nation. I love working there not only for the awesome perk of seeing amazing shows on the clock, but also for the amazing people I work with. This is Sam RB - kitchen and bar back extraordinaire. He trained me back in February, and is kind of the sensei of Food Food (the entirely original name of the kitch). He has lots and lots of tattoos, so I told him to choose 1. He chose "Gilbert":


Gilbert was born two years ago, in a shady shop in Alston, Mass. by Sam's friend. The design was adapted from a flash tattoo Sam found very unique. I must say, when it comes to flash designs, this is the creme de la creme. I especially like the placement on his arm, very interesting.