Adorn it

 I'm very pleased with my right shoulder tattoo update. It looks more like a thin crescent moon to me with the contrast and frame. The earthshine effect that wasn't quite what I wanted in sepia is covered by the beautiful blue.  

Before and after:

  

There are nine petals because I like the number nine. And as my daughter said, the petals also look cloudish. Coloring in was more painful than line work since it's so many more jabs banging away at the same area.

I had gotten a recommendation for someone fancy but they are looking for big interesting projects and my work was not ambitious enough to try and book with them. As it turned out I was happy to get this updated by the artist who did the original line work who is now in a different studio. I really enjoyed their pentacle mirror sticker in the restroom: Employees must carve Slayer into forearm before returning to work. 

This place is open plan and I got to hear what was going on with people on either side of me. Some local tattoo parlor goss - a client was having a consultation about getting work done on a partially completed tattoo from another studio. I heard the artist suggest "and we can cover that with something" and she said "I sure hope so." After she left the artist spoke with my person and said he'd heard similar stories in the past. The couple that run the other studio include at least one really talented artist but they fight in front of clients, ask for a lot of money up front and then some clients aren't happy with how the design turns out.  

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I liked the bigger mysteries brought up in Pantomime and may read the next one in the series. (Even if I must complain that having a culture that includes breast binding and sells those in the marketplace seemed awfully convenient for our main character.) I'm hating the Uketsu, I didn't realize this was all logic puzzles. Seems like such a throwback - the sort of thing that could have been a weekly newspaper puzzle feature. No character depth and lots of train timetable alibi shit. 

Hell's Heart is as delightful as expected. I may go pick up a copy of Moby Dick so I can compare as I go along. The dedication is deadpan and wonderful. 

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My oncologist checkup yesterday was fine and he even reassured me a bit about my high triglycerides lab result. I guess my score is in the 'diet and exercise' range and isn't compounded by a genetic heritage. Thanks, parents! But it was a bad day for everyone else I encountered at the medical office. First I was behind a man who showed up on June 10 for what turned out to be his July 10 appointment. Next an old man was called back and fell on the way. They called 911 and the receptionist and a nurse ran back and forth with bandages. It was all behind a wall but still distressing. Then my oncologist looked like he had another bicycle accident - scabs on his face and arms and bloodshot eyes. I did not ask what happened. He had injuries a year or so ago and I overheard something about a bike crash. Good luck man, and maybe try something else.