Since I’ve last posted, there have been tons of things going on. I turned 23 (ugh) and now I feel older than ever, which sucks. However, in commemoration of my birthday, I decided that I wanted to get my second tattoo. I always had an idea I wanted another tattoo – hell, I’m entertaining the idea of getting a partial sleeve done on one of my arms – but although it had been something I’d thought about for a while, I never though about actually getting it done. My parents are pretty opposed to the idea of tattoos, and so I knew that in order to get one, it’d be in blatant defiance of what they wanted. However, my mind was made up, and two days after my 23rd birthday, I made an appointment and next thing I knew, I was sitting in a chair, waiting to get permanently altered. From the inception of the idea, I knew I had to get it done. I was born and raised in San Francisco, and still have very strong ties to the city by the bay. I’ve always been drawn (no pun intended) to Benny Gold’s Etch-a-Sketch skyline design for skate and streetwear brand HUF, and when I really thought about it, the more perfect it seemed by the second.
My friends Doug and Jenny were coming up that day to hang out, and so in a good show of their moral support, they came along and Jenny snapped some photos of me getting my tattoo done.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. I don’t mind admitting it at all – it hurt like nothing had ever hurt before. but somehow, the pain was so cathartic to me. I knew that at the end of that session I’d have something on my right forearm that forever represented my home, and where my heart was. In the future, I might move or travel but no matter where I go, I’ll always have San Francisco with me.
