Writing from the apartment in L.A....another week to go...while the winter hits hard in Sao Paulo I'm in California enjoying the sun...relaxing ,reading and drawing...getting ready to start tattooing a piece that might take me 4 days to finish , it's been a while since I've done a tattoo while on the road...reminds me of all the traveling I did more than 10 years ago carrying my case with my tools and tattooing people everywhere...it was a hard lifestyle to keep up for too long...yet I sometimes miss those days... (more...)

I'M IN L.A. NOW...IT'S 5:00 AM AND IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS SINCE I ARRIVED...JUST CAN'T AVOID FALLING ASLEEP WAY TOO EARLY AND NEXT THING I KNOW I'M DOING THE BLOG THING WHILE THE CITY STILL SLEEPS...NOT MUCH ELSE HAPPENING THESE DAYS...BEEN USING MOST OF MY TIME INSIDE THE APARTMENT  WORKING ON  A RING(wax carving) , CALLED A FEW FRIENDS AND NO ONE PICKS UP THEIR PHONES AND BELIEVE ME I AM TRYING TO ANSWER E-MAILS THAT ARE WAY OVER DUE...FRANKLY THE SITUATION IS UGLY...I JUST LET THINGS ACUMULATE AND NOW I GET OVERWHELMED JUST LOOKING AT THE MAIL BOX...IT HAPPENS SOMETIMES AND I SEEM INCAPABLE OF LEARNING MY LESSON... THE PHOTOS YOU SEE NOW ARE OF MR.KAGAWA, FINISHED HIS PIECE 3 DAYS BEFORE LEAVING TOKYO...ACTUALLY WE ENDED UP DOING 3 SESSIONS IN 2...DON'T LIKE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS...BY NOW I KNOW THAT THE SESSIONS SHOULD NOT LAST MORE THAN 2 HOURS EACH...TRY KEEPING YOUR YOUR CONCENTRATION AT A MAXIMUM LEVEL FOR LONGER THAN THAT AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.... (more...)

IT'S 9 AM AND I'M RELAXING AT THE APARTMENT AFTER FINALLY FINISHING PACKING...A BIT UPSET ABOUT HAVING TO LEAVE ALL THE BOOKS I HAVE BOUGHT IN THE PAST 5 MONTHS BEHIND...I'M SURE MY LUGGAGE IS ALREADY OVERWEIGHT...ANYWAYS...IN A FEW HOURS I'LL BE FLYING TO L.A. AND JUST LIKE THAT BEGIN THE OTHER HALF OF 2007 IN MY SAO PAULO STUDIO...MUCH SKIN TO BE COVERED OVER THERE... AND PROBABLY JUST BECAUSE I'M LEAVING , THIS PAST WEEK WAS JUST ONE OF THE BEST IN A WHILE...FINISHED A COUPLE OF PIECES(you'll see them here soon...) AND SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH FRIENDS VISITING THE CITY HAVING FUN DAY AND NIGHT...AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU FEEL SO CONFORTABLE THAT YOU WISH YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO...AND THAT'S ONE OF THE "TRAPS" TOKYO IS FAMOUS FOR... MY FRIEND RAUDIA FROM BALI WAS IN TOWN AND CAME BY THE STUDIO WITH HER SISTER CARTIKA...IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW , RAUDIA'S BACK PIECE WAS THE VERY FIRST PICTURE EVER POSTED ON THIS BLOG...AND AFTER MORE THAN 2 YEARS HERE WE ARE AGAIN...THE SNAKE AS BLACK AND HEALTHY AS EVER AND CARTIKA WITH THAT LOOK ON HER FACE TELLING ME  SHE'S NEXT.... (more...)