NSFW - willy bum bum

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this. I guess I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old. Anyway this entire video is so stupid and definitely not safe for work or church or grandmas. Unless your grandma is into silly cartoons and songs about butts and wangs. So on that note...

"You friendly old bum," hahahaha WHY DO I THINK THAT'S FUNNY?

Tattoo party - for the ladies only.

Welp, Mikel Johnson is the best. Last summer he did a guest spot at my work, and I was there, hovering over his shoulder practically the entire time watching him tattoo. He does really interesting stuff, lots of black radical tribal, Maori, mandalas, dot work, etc. He's not afraid to tattoo a throat or a thumb. He doesn't even give a care.

Anyway, maybe because I was constantly and forcibly inserting myself into his comfort zone for days on end, he said to me one day that he would give me a tattoo if I wanted next time he was in town.

Uh YES PLEASE!

So a few weeks ago I heard a rumor that he was coming for a visit, just to tattoo me and Sarah! I can't even explain to you guys how fortunate I feel. It's like being in a really cool family, working at the tattoo shop. And times like this are almost unbelievable.

Mikel drew me a mandala while he was still in Vancouver, and posted it on his tumblr (click here to see the drawing). Then when he got here we just kind of picked a spot and went for it. I am getting to the point where there's not many 'easy' places to just throw a tattoo, so we figured it would look cool behind some stuff I already had. And yes it does!

Do you like how both my animal friends have found a way into every singe self portrait I ever take? What a couple of jerks.

This tattoo has no lines at all, it's all dots. It was the easiest tattoo I've ever gotten. It barely even hurt. I told Mikel I just felt like I was lying there and hanging out with him, not even getting a tattoo. He has a really mellow happy sort of aura about him anyway, and that, plus the lack of pain and the fucking awesome tattoo made for a really great experience. And because I live so far out of town I never really get to do the hang-out-after-hours thing with everybody. That was nice too.

When I was finished Sarah got her thumb tattooed. I'm gonna be honest, I can't remember what the name of the symbol is, or what Mikel said it signifies. Something about the path of enlightenment in Thailand I think?? Here he is drawing it on:

And tattooing it:

You can see the finished tattoo here. 

And then our friend April got some dots on the sides of her hands. Doesn't it look neat? My favorite part was when she yelled "MOTHERFUCKER" hahaha I guess one of those dots hurt pretty bad.

So, in conclusion, I am loving life and feel very special and happy. The end.

Things I Love Thursday

I love my motherflippin' knee tattoo and I don't care who knows it! :) I love getting tattoos on body parts I'm not particularly fond of or hate showing. It gives me an entirely new perspective. I literally said to Gerry that "somebody's wearing shorts this summer!" haha (Psst...the 'somebody' is me!)

I also love...

My friend Kyle's newest paintings. I especially like the weird shapes coming out of eyeballs.

You can find more of his artwork here. And cool tattoos he's done recently too!

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Die Antwoord on Letterman. I can't not smile when these guys are on stage. And I don't know if you can tell but they are swearing a LOT, they're just getting away with it because of their accents.

We're seeing them play live in a couple weeks!! :) So excited!

I also love...

How to deal with plagarism. Which I conveniently stole from Diana.

An interview with Chris, Simpsons' Artist. I have also decided that interviewing this guy is a goal of mine. He's the funniest dude I've ever heard of. 

Mark Jenkins' sculptures. 

Learning to love your body regardless of size. This is important for everyone. Related: How can I get over the feeling that I have to look pretty?

Lauren's birthday surprise!

Before I die - a tumblr of items off peoples' bucket lists. 

Louis vs. Rick. A man teaches his cat to use instant messaging. "mittens blum" LOL

This video is so clever. You think he's just a jerk but then...well you'll see. (Thanks Chelle)

Bark off, McDonalds!

Grilled cheese social.

Why I took my 7 year old to a tattoo parlor

How to back up your Wordpress or Blogger blogs.

Sandwiches > flowers. 

Scription chronodex planners. I'm thinking of DIY-ing something like that for myself in a moleskine. . 

Kyla's new friend, hahaha so cute.

And last but not least...

The internet is my religion. Intense. 

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You will be changing the world of each person you serve.

Kristin. Ladies and gentlemen...you must get to know this girl. I insist.

I first really found Kristin's blog when she had just made the decision to work for Operation Smile in India. She was detailing her suitcase contents and reading lists in vlogs, and the excitement in her writing was palpable. She was going on an adventure and I was instantly hooked. 

When she arrived to work in Guwahati her stories became very humble. When reading them you can almost see her slowing down and utterly absorbing the culture and the feelings, the hope and dispair and love and excitement. The emotions in a job such as hers have got to run high, but all of Kristin's tales are of other people. Never negative, always full of optimism. 

Her blog is a great read, even for plain ol' voyeuristic lurking, but there's something amazing going on over there that you can be a part of as well. She's created a charitable organization almost by accident.

In her own words from a guest post on Sometimes Sweet: 

For a longer time than I like to admit, I walked past these children and though my heart ached deep inside my chest, I did nothing. After weeks of planning, talking with friends, going back and forth and feeling discouraged, I made a decision. It was a basic one: I was going to feed the kids. I went down to the slums that first week scared, shaking and alone.

I had made 20 meals and in under five minutes they were filling the bellies of 20 hungry children. It was clear, I had to keep this going. Now I am almost two months into this project that I call Asha Guwahati, and it is growing by the day. 

The goal of what I do is simple, I want to show the children of this slum and street community true love. I feed them without expectation of anything in return. I am still just one person orchestrating these feedings out of my kitchen. I currently make 50 meals at a time, one to two times per week. 

It takes me around three hours to make the food, and less than ten minutes to pass it out. Every feeding I have different friends come and help, everyone that helps gives of their time freely. Once a month we hold a street kids day where we bathe, trim hair, and cloth 20-30 kids. I am not changing the world as a whole but very certainly, very slowly, the whole world of each child we care for is changing.

She started using her own money to build little lunch boxes for the neighborhood kids who were clearly malnourished. And then some people heard about this and offered to send her some money. And so she fed more. And then more people heard, and she was featured on Sometimes Sweet ... twice, and suddenly she had enough money for six thousand meals.  She's recruited help from friends, and it's all amazing. 

I emailed her and asked if she would do a little guest post over here and she said yes (!!) and even sent photos! So without further adieu, the one, the only, the Kristin!

 ---

I remember when I was a child, we lived in a town where a train track passed through. Though the track was miles away, I could hear the blasts of its horn as it travelled by. At times it kept me awake at night, even though it was half way across the city. I remember when I was a child I could hardly walk from the front door to the mailbox without a pair of shoes on. If I stepped on the tiniest of rocks I might cry out in pain. When I was growing up I went to school every day, had a meal on the table every evening and most certainly found myself tucked away in bed at night. I remember when I was a child I dreamt of leaving all of that.

I remember standing in the door of my closet one year ago at 25 years old, crying to my (then) boyfriend telling him that I did not belong in the life I knew anymore. I sobbed as I was so worried that my need to change everything and give my life to service might come across as me feeling I was above others. I remember meeting his eyes and telling him "I am not better than this... I am less than this. I am so much less than this."

I remember what it felt like to get on a plane and truly leave it all behind. I remember the very first patient I took care of in Guwahati, I remember the first child I handed out a meal to, the first pair of dirty feet I stooped down to wash, the first wound I cleaned on the street corner. I remember sitting at my kitchen table having a true epiphany that my life was no longer mine, instead it belongs to the children who were deemed untouchable.

All of my memories are nothing compared to what the children here remember. Some remember a life of being an outcast, told to cover their smiles because they have a cleft lip. They remember the feelings of shame, being told it was their mother's bad luck that caused their broken smile. Some of them remember finding hope, being told they are beautiful. Being played with and loved on and given surgery for nothing in return.

Some remember sleeping on cold, hard ground with trains barreling by just feet away. They remember being evicted from their cardboard homes by the government. They remember being told they are the lowest of the low. They remember fellow children dying every year from Cholera as the monsoon rains flood their slum. They remember learning to sniff glue, to get high to make their hunger go away. The children of Lakhtokia remember the first meal served to them by myself and later on my friends. They remember being scooped up into huge hugs, being bathed, being served and loved without expectation of anything in return. They remember the joyful reunions, they remember learning how to give to one another.



Be the hope, create memories for the children in your lives that inspire wholeness. In your smallest of actions, know there is greatness. In life we do not often get to truly see what the light we plant inside others grows into. I promise that if you give selflessly and love endlessly, you will be changing the whole world of each person you serve.

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If you want to donate financially to help Asha Guwahati, you can do so via PayPal. Just send the money to ashaguwahati@gmail.com through PayPal. Easy. It costs Kristin about 25 cents to make a meal so really, every teeny little bit helps. Kristin is not an NGO, and cannot provide receipts or letters for tax purposes or whatever. This is a real informal deal, but I promise you, every cent will go toward helping people who need it and that's all that matters.

If you think you can help another way, if you want to say hello, if you want to fly out to Guwahati and shake Kristin's hand, you can write to her at kristinechaos at gmail dot com.

And I highly recommend you follow along with her adventures here.http://kristinechaos.blogspot.com/ 

Single Secret Behaviour

 

Oh shit, I was tagged in a meme post thing.

WAIT, COME BACK! I promise it's not a 45 question survey about my favorite toenail polish color and what car would I drive for the rest of my life. One of my favorite bloggers is making me tell you guys about a weird behavior I was forced to hide when I moved in with my significant other.

It's hard to think of one, actually. Ryan and I have been living together for years, and he's been finding out the weirdest and most embarassing stuff about me on a pretty consistent basis. Singing to the cat? Duh. Licking the flavor off the potato chips before I eat them? Natch. But I don't think he knows this one yet.

I drink beverages while I'm in the shower. Sometimes in the morning I'll bring a coffee in there for kicks, but usually it's when I'm getting drunk at home alone. Here's a hilarious picture I was tagged in on Facebook of what I look like when I'm drinking, to illustrate my mindframe.

Why yes that is me and Ryan Mason drinking on a rooftop, jealous? Don't be, that face ruins the entire photo.

Wait a minute, wai-ai-ait a minute. Let me clarify that I do not drink at home alone very often. But when I do and I want to shower you can definitely catch me with a beer or even a glass of wine in there. It's mostly because I think it's funny. But it's also a time saver! Win-win! Funny time savers are the bee's knees.

I'd like to tag a few people and find out what their weird quirks are. Steven Andrew, Amalie, Rochelle and the recently married Danielle. Come onnnnn, it's fun.

Say no to crack.

Thievery at The Joint.

The Joint Pizzeria is right next door to Tattoo Zoo, and I probably eat there on average one day a week. Lucky for me they make pretty much any pizza you can dream of. Pesto? Potatoes? Vegan 'cheese'? Vegetarian 'meat lovers'? No problem. Gluten free crust? Yup. Anything. They will even make nachos or my favorite, quesadillas, if you ask nicely.

Anyway the photos on the wall are the ones my sister came to Victoria for. There are a few on the walls but as you may notice in the second picture there's an empty booth...because somebody stole one of the pictures! I told her to take it as a compliment.