I'M AT THE BALCONY WITH MY COMPUTER ON MY LAP SMOKING A SMALL CIGAR AND FEELING GLAD THAT THE WEEK IS OVER...THE RAIN FINALLY STOPPED , THE AIR IS CLEAR AND THE SMELL FRESH...IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE A QUIET SUNDAY NIGHT...THIS PAST WEEK LACKED THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ME THESE DAYS..."RHYTHM"...LET'S JUST SAY THAT THE FLOW THAT I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING SO MUCH THE PAST FEW DAYS JUST WASN'T THERE....TOMORROW IT ALL STARTS AGAIN...I'M TAKING A COUPLE OF DAYS OFF TATTOOING...DO SOME DRAWING AND MAYBE TRY TO FINISH ONE OF THE BOOKS I STARTED READING WEEKS AGO...I GUESS THAT'S WHAT THE PAST WEEK FELT LIKE...LIKE START READING A BOOK AND NOT FINISHING IT...ANYWAYS ENOUGH OF THAT... THE TATTOO YOU SEE ON THIS POST WAS DONE LAST WEEKEND...ON 2 CONSECUTIVE SITTINGS AND IT WAS YOKOGAWA'S VERY FIRST TIME UNDER THE NEEDLE... YOKOGAWA HAD BEEN IN TOUCH WITH ME FOR SOME TIME BEFORE WE MET IN PERSON AND I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE WINGS BEFORE WE HAD OUR FIRST MEETING...AS HE TALKED I , AS USUAL, WAS TRYING TO PICTURE THE DESIGN THAT HE WAS GOING TO WEAR AND SOON IT BECAME CLEAR THAT HE NOT ONLY KNEW WHAT HE WANTED TO WEAR ON HIS BODY BUT ALSO WHAT KIND OF ENERGY HE WANTED THE TATTOO TO RADIATE... SO WE DECIDE ON A DATE FOR OUR FIRST SITTING AND HE LEAVES THE STUDIO TELLING ME THAT HE JUST CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT I'LL COME UP WITH...AND FOR DAYS I WORK ON THE SKETCH...EVERYDAY I SPEND SOMETIME JUST LOOKING AT IT ON MY DESK AND NO MATTER WHAT I DO IT JUST WON'T COME OUT...I CALL YOKOGAWA AND ASK HIM TO COME OVER FOR ANOTHER TRACING OF HIS BACK AND TELL HIM THAT WE NEED MORE TIME...HE SEEMS DISAPPOINTED BUT UNDERSTANDS... THE DESIGN WAS FINISHED 2 DAYS BEFORE OUR FIRST SESSION...SO I CALLED YOKOGAWA AGAIN AND ASKED HIM TO COME IN FOR A "FITTING"...AS I SHOWED HIM THE PIECE OF PAPER WITH HIS DESIGN I COULD TELL BY THE LOOK ON HIS FACE THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE...THAT LOOK IS THE SAME ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD...HE LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS:"IT'S MORE THAN WHAT I EXPECTED..."AND THE NEXT DAY WE STARTED TATTOOING... THE REASON I'M WRITING ALL THIS IS JUST TO SAY THAT THE CONCEPT OF THE "DEAD LINE" IS A HARD ONE TO APLLY TO TATTOOING...OF COURSE IF I'M NOT SATISFIED WITH THE DESIGN I WILL NOT TATTOO IT JUST BECAUSE THE SCHEDULE SAYS SO AND OF COURSE "NO INSPIRATION" IS ALSO A WEAK EXCUSE...I'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH SOME VERY FRUSTRATED AND DISAPPOINTED CLIENTS BEFORE AND BELIEVE ME ALL THAT IS FORGOTTEN AS SOON AS THEY SEE THE FINISHED DESIGN...I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY THAT HAPPENS SOMETIMES BUT I DO KNOW THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE DO KNOW THAT THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF HAVING TO WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS OR EVEN MONTHS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WEARING A TATTOO THAT SHOULDN'T BE THERE... (more...)

KENJI IS WALKING INTO THIS YEAR'S SUMMER WITH THE RIGHT FOOT FIRST... (more...)

FIRST OF ALL I'D LIKE TO SAY THANKS TO THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SHOWN CONCERN AND WISDOM IN REGARD TO THE SITUATION I EXPOSED ON MY LAST POST...YOUR COMMENTS WERE MUCH APPRECIATED... AND THE WEEKS GO BY AND NEXT THING I KNOW HALF OF THE YEAR IS GONE...NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT AS LIFE FLOWS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND AT THE RIGHT PACE...SOME VERY INTERESTING WORK SCHEDULED FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS  AND MUCH GOING ON BESIDES TATTOOING...ALL I DO THESE DAYS IS WORK...RESTLESS MIND AND THE BODY FOLLOWS IT.... (more...)