Day 2 (Saturday)

With nothing to do first thing in the morning, I chose to sleep in and play catch-up. I think I rolled out of bed sometime around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The convention didn’t open until noon, so I wasn’t missing out on too much. I jumped in the shower and then walked to the convention.

By the time I arrived, pretty much all of the tattoo artists were hard at work, and the place was packed. Thankfully, the venue they chose for this convention was huge and it was able to handle all the people that showed up for it. I would say there were almost as many people as the Milan convention, but because everyone wasn’t crammed into a smaller space, it was easier to walk around and really be able to enjoy it better. I hope the Milan convention has a larger space next year.

Anyway, one of the tattoo artists that I was able to speak with was Thomas Hooper, who happened to be originally from England, but was not living and working out of Brooklyn New York. I first heard of him when I was visiting Rachel (of BME) out in LA. She was giving me a tour of Canvas, the art gallery she works with, and I saw this giant ink on paper piece that was just amazing. I think I stared at it for about twenty minutes. The detail was amazing, and the style was just awesome. It’s hard to describe, but if I had to, I would call it medieval wood cutting pirate art. You really just have to see it. Anyway, I caught up with him at the convention right after he had finished up a piece and was able to speak with him briefly. I will be meeting up with him once we’re both state-side to do an interview and schedule myself for a consult =). So look forward to a review on this guys art and tattoo work soon!

Seeing all these great artists in one place, it’s hard not to get the itch. I know I just started finishing my sleeve a couple weeks ago, but I want to get tattooed now! I needed to head outside for some fresh air. Out in the gathering area, I ran into Marisa of the tattoo blog NeedlesAndSins.com. I haven’t talked with her in years, so it was nice to catch up. I really like her new blog site as well. We traded some secrets, and mainly just joked around. I was able to get a picture of the two of us, mainly to show off how tiny she was. The photo on her camera was a lot better though, so I hope she posts it online so that I can steal it and put it up here =). There was another guy that we were talking with (a friend of Marisa’s), and I feel like a total dick for not remembering his name. He’s a french chef and part of a suspension crew. Amazing guy, and I hope to run into him again!

While, we were being a bit crazy, I heard from behind me, “Adam?”. I turned around and it was an old friend of mine from Michigan, Jesse. Holy shit! I haven’t seen him in years, and the last I hear of him, he was backpacking through South American and vowed never to return to the states. Apparently he was still on that mission and was still traveling. That’s what I like to see. Traveling is pretty much one of the most fun things ever =). While catching up with him, anther familiar face showed up. Well.... actually, the face wasn’t familiar at all, but the voice was. It was Jimmy Buddha from Diablo Organics. He had shaved his huge beard, and I’ve never seen him without a beard before, so it caught me off guard. His sparkling, “I’m up to something” eyes gave him away though. He had just arrived into town and said that he was also just passing through on his way to BMXnet the following week. Looking forward to seeing him there!

Once the sun was gone, it started to get kinda chilly, so I headed inside to grab my hoodie. When I reached the booth, Ethan and his girlfriend, Ryan, was heading out for dinner and invited me to join him. Knowing that he has good taste in food, and a better taste in wine, I grabbed my bag and we were off.

Tonight, we were having Indian food from a plac