Well its creeping up on the tail end of the first week of keeping up this blog, and so far so good. It's taking a lot more time then i had anticipated, but that's not necessarily bad. I'm sure if i weren't squinting at my phone typing tiny little characters and copying tiny little code id be dazed off into some food network show,effectively not being productive at all. writings creating and all thought this is just my rinky dink blog it still seems more productive then watching Alton Brown wander around whole foods for an hour. not that there's anything wrong with that :)
Any how i hope that in the coming months that i can find a good flow to this whole thing. i don't want it to read like someones diary, or a strict how to or progress page. but a nice blend. I'm sure with time it'll fall into place as it becomes more habit and less something i have to try and make time for.
So, what exactly am i up to? what am i thinking? who is this guy rambling on anyways?
well, currently I'm enjoying the cool over cast rainy weather even though its flooded the fields for the Nth time this summer. im also trying to figure out were it is im going, were im going to land.
full of inspiration from jinxi (see link to the right) and Shawn Barbers writing i decided that i needed to stick to one of my own mottos a little better. "why dont you stop bitching about it and do something about it instead".
my job had become something i dreaded. dont get me wrong i love my profession. to be entirely honest even on the worste of days i dont think i could function in life not doing it. however the deserted city the studio is located in, the constant struggle with shop drama, and the lack of fellow artist to whom i can glean knowledge from made every day harder then the last.
it realy takes alot. the shop, the city lacking any art scene or any one between the ages of 18 and 40, it was making me hate something i love almost more then anything.
i had to do something.
i quit my job.
i mean, i did it in the nicest way possible. i gave my notice, im helping to try find replacements. but without any real plans i quit. the end of september i do not work in sioux city iowa.
in all honesty this has been in my 5 year plan all along. ive just gotten to comfortable in my settings to move on to the next stage.
the stages:
1:get into a reputable busy shop
2:get good enough to get my foot into a better shop, travel some
3:get into the better shop, preferably a great one, and let the shop blare my name all over in asociation with them. get WAY better at tattooing and make a name for myself
4:with an established name move to were ever i want and let people come to me, relax and do rad tattoos.
5: have some kids or something.
so there we are post stage 2. ivse actualy got a possition offered to me at a great shop in portland oregon. id make fantastic money, portland is super awesome, and id work with 6-8 great artist daily while traveling the country and world freely.
so whats the hold up you ask? everything else.
even with a massive family, 24 aunts and uncles with 3-6 kids of there own massive, im still very family centered and even though its not moving forever its still hard to be that far from them.
my girl freind lives in omaha, thats not in oregon.
my best Audi lives in omaha, still not in oregon.
And to be honest i just dont know if portland 'clicks' with me. you know? even though on paper it looks like someone just took everything i love and put it on one dot on the map.. albeit about 100,000 people to many.. i just dont know that it feels right. but then again maybe its the nerves, maybe its family being so far... maybe im just a sissy.
its not like itd be permanent, im looking at this as almost a tattoo grad school. you know, move to somewere youve never lived and become way better at what you do.
my option outside of portland is currently limited to omaha, and though there are many studios in omaha there are only 3 good studios that id considerd working for. if im moving to become a better artist then it seems that i should be allowed to be a picky tattoo snob when it comes to the studios. if i were moving just to move.. which i partialy am, id get a job in a random 'ok' studio and do what i do and pay my bills. but i know i wouldnt get as good as fast as if i were in a great studio.
omaha studio one blew my off as soon as i walked in the door, studio two actualy offered me a position but i got a bad vibe, noticing lots of things that reminded me of were i was leaving, and studio three. studio three is still a possibility but i keep being tagged along. it seems like i should have a shot there but nothings really happening. and with the sept deadline creeping up on me i dont want to waist time on something that doesnt come to fruition for me.
so yeah, lots of that in my brain currently.
and no i didnt forget you, bea also lives in the omaha area even though she says she'll come vist in the NW should i go.
so onto a little lighter reading this is Rob Hill. rob-hill.com cus he's a big deal or something. he's back to working at the shop in sioux city again as well as mantaining a massive international travel schedule performing freak shows and piercing at studios and tattoo conventions all over. but right now? he's hiding in the basement polishing jewlery.
so things about me:
i drive 42 miles to work everyday.
when i drive to work in the morning i listen to NPR and MPR radio. my brain doesnt realy work well when ive just woken up so talk radio helps kick start it. and i love random information, those stations are full of it.
when i drive to work i mainly think about having kids. how my life decisions will effect them in the future. how were i pick to live will effect how they grow up. how ill needt ohave a partner in that endevor that understands im not ever going to stop traveling and tattooing and being me, that i can agree with in the big things when it comes to raising our children. its one thing to disagree with someone your dating. but when it comes to your kids it seems like you should be able to stay on a similar page with each other. i want to work very hard so that when i have kids i can give them the world.
when i drive home from work i listen to music on the radio that i dont hear at work and try to relax, to disconect from my job for a minute before im home. for some reason lately im epicly emotionaly tied to my music, i generaly cry listening to it on the drive. theyre usualy not sad tears, just tears.
my girlfreind knits faster then anyone ive ever met. or even seen in person. she can knit while reading a book and talking on the phone standing on one leg faster then you can doing nothing but knitting.
shes working on these socks right now, you dont even want to know how much time it didnt take her. ~her blog at right under sarah baker does crafty things ~
yes that is a ball of yarn flower on her foot :) yes i did tattoo it there for her
the socks are almost finished but she just got a book in icelandic about kniting shawls so i hope they get finished before shawl-fest happens. theyre tocool to be put off to the side i think.
and yeah i dont know, knitter must be universal because im preety sure she doesnt speak icelandic.
on an about me note AND progress note, i'mone step closer to meeting my goal of having eaten in every single booth at the Milwaukee wiener factory in sioux city iowa.
some greek guys, brothers? own the place and its been in operation since 1918. always greek run im preety sure
on crappy wet/ snowy days i walk the few blocks from the shop to get some of there chili. it always makes me feel better seeing this when i sit down.
they know what i order, i dont even have to tell them anymore haha.
hope your day was great. im off to bed.
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