Welcome to His Nightmare

I was walking up Seventh Avenue, headed back to work, and contemplating the left ankle of a young woman. She had a tattoo of the Black Flag logo (just the bars):<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eBqnOgwVwp9inX4CMTRlkdBK3vhbiaNGCJ_G-Bi6lwgiTYY6hbcWa_xAWx9A0r5Ye-85-rqMwxguw4PMPrzyJIrzkmQn1sEggrZLb4IfZAg5GI-jej3tcKOHJdTDFWyYW5XDQ7rI_2xS/s1600-h/bf.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114875745311331858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eBqnOgwVwp9inX4CMTRlkdBK3vhbiaNGCJ_G-Bi6lwgiTYY6hbcWa_xAWx9A0r5Ye-85-rqMwxguw4PMPrzyJIrzkmQn1sEggrZLb4IfZAg5GI-jej3tcKOHJdTDFWyYW5XDQ7rI_2xS/s400/bf.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>but she was traveling with two friends. I have a harder time approaching people in pairs or groups, for some reason, perhaps because I fear not the rejection of one person but of two or more. Imagine: I approach a person and ask them about their tattoo. Their friend shoots them a "Who is this dork?" look and the tattooed is less likely to be forthcoming about their art. I also don't like to intrude on conversations and/or stop people who are moving. It's a courtesy thing, I guess. Although, if someone is sporting an incredible tattoo, I may suspend these "rules" for a shot of an amazing piece of body art.<br /><br />So there I was, walking uptown, thinking it will likely not be the day for the Black Flag ankle tattoo, when I spotted a guy leaning up under a scaffolding. He had ear buds in and was reading, but his tattoo was interesting enough that it was worth disregarding those two deterrents.<br /><br />This is the piece that was on his upper right arm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHU0QoJg_kWxfV5Graya6I5rDHv7V2VHNAIfdyD5QgBBASVX6DByyx1S4hfBklpuQ6-MG0lWjzNHKtp8ib5hoBO4wSAmV0hPg97kv5egpWXxF3Cq-BkWJdQW6j5HPpnrXIqI1Avj4T_2eA/s1600-h/night+tat.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727465860404642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHU0QoJg_kWxfV5Graya6I5rDHv7V2VHNAIfdyD5QgBBASVX6DByyx1S4hfBklpuQ6-MG0lWjzNHKtp8ib5hoBO4wSAmV0hPg97kv5egpWXxF3Cq-BkWJdQW6j5HPpnrXIqI1Avj4T_2eA/s400/night+tat.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Now, wouldn't you say that's fairly unusual? I just had to get to the bottom of this one. Before you continue, click the photo to see it in greater detail. It blurs a little, but you get a better idea of the full piece.<br /><br />This tattoo resides on a guy named Losie, a resident of New Jersey. I introduced myself and he was very receptive, removing his ear buds and speaking very openly about his tattoo. This was his second tattoo (more on #1 later). It originated from his finding the art of Greg Simkins online at his website <a href="http://www.imscared.com/U.htm">IMSCARED.com</a>. The tattoo was then inked by Damion Ross at <a href="http://www.nyadorned.com/tattoo/index.htm#">New York Adorned</a> in the East Village.<br /><br />So why did he choose this artwork for himself? "It reminded me of having nightmares when I was a kid," Losie related, "The kid is me."<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uJu-KH4KMfEMnsS-CeJASojQTc9Aj8NmpAsC9ZkfSAVfGboOIhaP_NHwpznvYhaqSOHa4HCLCPj6qGpNW2lCTjWzKk1YLaZCRrwFfWoqutBl6oI9yLNlP9t5-pei71Nnw8R5nu1avkfH/s1600-h/night+tat+kid+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727551759750578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uJu-KH4KMfEMnsS-CeJASojQTc9Aj8NmpAsC9ZkfSAVfGboOIhaP_NHwpznvYhaqSOHa4HCLCPj6qGpNW2lCTjWzKk1YLaZCRrwFfWoqutBl6oI9yLNlP9t5-pei71Nnw8R5nu1avkfH/s400/night+tat+kid+detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>Greg Simkins seems like a perfect match, then, for Losie's nightmare motif. If you look at his site, you can peruse dozens of his paintings, sketches, and drawings and they all resonate with a sense of the macabre, depicting spectacular, colorful visions of an imaginary world in which rabbits are terrifying and inanimate objects come to life.<br /><br />Losie definitely has a fascination along the same lines, and indicated that he would eventually like to have an entire sleeve dedicated to the horror genre.<br /><br />The kid in the tattoo is having a nightmare, he is on his bed. The headboard appears as rows of teeth, things are crawling in through the window and from under the bed. Even his pillow is terrifying:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxRfT0bLak8rrWXBAFF-fFcCvnXTp3LGzw1a_bcLevSfhsz6QAE9yCUne3dbY1RSVFON8oIkVqYtHvpicDmpPSVHvTdYAEKLsFmONzqiOahIqyYKme3QhHcIh79KNe4C7xknbIsprjzNM/s1600-h/night+tat+pillow+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727620479227330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxRfT0bLak8rrWXBAFF-fFcCvnXTp3LGzw1a_bcLevSfhsz6QAE9yCUne3dbY1RSVFON8oIkVqYtHvpicDmpPSVHvTdYAEKLsFmONzqiOahIqyYKme3QhHcIh79KNe4C7xknbIsprjzNM/s400/night+tat+pillow+detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />I asked him about the tattoo on his other arm, he indicated it was done at a shop in Burbank, California, where he had lived for a couple of years.<br /><br />The tattoo is the logo for the band <a href="http://www.noworldfortomorrow.com/">Coheed and Cambria</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpMnh0Kunmw_Biy09zSqtBzzurdUPJVxlcZpvXVO4eck6V7ZkQU2cR_hTFr7stPFg6n-QnkFjWA-qAwbEzfIBGZoh0DvLs28pl2j7hsUnhx9_OMPnX8K6B5YTVE5oID0MneIFjUXGd-l7/s1600-h/100_5224.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727281176810898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpMnh0Kunmw_Biy09zSqtBzzurdUPJVxlcZpvXVO4eck6V7ZkQU2cR_hTFr7stPFg6n-QnkFjWA-qAwbEzfIBGZoh0DvLs28pl2j7hsUnhx9_OMPnX8K6B5YTVE5oID0MneIFjUXGd-l7/s400/100_5224.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i7RY9UVPbt1p3-2I9J2pBasAS46uB4j0dVx6wa01bNjGIPNjA7R3DwmBkjaTKbA_D8RheSrRZxtT6FmTErWzxvbDraxCZyl2RBaRENNrtkriQxYs9O57V9ZKtUJP6Cu7m5UqkxvWGCA0/s1600-h/C&C_logo2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114896674686965282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3i7RY9UVPbt1p3-2I9J2pBasAS46uB4j0dVx6wa01bNjGIPNjA7R3DwmBkjaTKbA_D8RheSrRZxtT6FmTErWzxvbDraxCZyl2RBaRENNrtkriQxYs9O57V9ZKtUJP6Cu7m5UqkxvWGCA0/s400/C&C_logo2.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Interesting, I was following a Black Flag tattoo and found a Coheed & Cambria one instead. Losie explained the bats around the logo as a reference to an ex-girlfriend. He elaborated, "Her name was Jamie, so I added five bats, because Jamie has five letters in her name."<br /><br />He then directed me back to the first tattoo:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VKY8qHsSd15YuLak_bHa83H2exGxhOrQBNwf5uDTwABNjbvBYzJvN5ibydZSOYzu-6eg7h8c6siHIVA1yBErEpkPaGRv34pY02UmfuGqE0iT5mB3KJMuap2iFD1PFPW-V2RHXEvjAIxS/s1600-h/100_5223.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727195277464962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VKY8qHsSd15YuLak_bHa83H2exGxhOrQBNwf5uDTwABNjbvBYzJvN5ibydZSOYzu-6eg7h8c6siHIVA1yBErEpkPaGRv34pY02UmfuGqE0iT5mB3KJMuap2iFD1PFPW-V2RHXEvjAIxS/s400/100_5223.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />"See the purple skull coming out from under the bed?"<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4yaHkx-p0BBpIX-3MNldUluRCe8kJCjwBledc2RaI1RsAoQBRXJW-uX_uS764yflgilmncjwhn3ssTXBN0gR_b7MxfCk2-kJO287qMkQZ9OGVTmoIxCcHIyHGtL96J1iU2A3MUi8nEui/s1600-h/night+tat+violet+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114727766508115426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4yaHkx-p0BBpIX-3MNldUluRCe8kJCjwBledc2RaI1RsAoQBRXJW-uX_uS764yflgilmncjwhn3ssTXBN0gR_b7MxfCk2-kJO287qMkQZ9OGVTmoIxCcHIyHGtL96J1iU2A3MUi8nEui/s400/night+tat+violet+detail.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />"That's for my ex-girlfriend Violet."<br /><br />Do note, all quotes are approximate and may not be 100% accurate. I took notes but did not write down exact statements. The messages, however, are accurate.<br /><br />Losie did allude to a third tattoo, on his stomach, but we didn't discuss the exact location, or what the piece consisted of.<br /><br />Thanks again to Losie for his participation!

Welcome to His Nightmare

I was walking up Seventh Avenue, headed back to work, and contemplating the left ankle of a young woman. She had a tattoo of the Black Flag ...

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