Taken by Kira
Out and about…Geneva, NY
We had a family reunion earlier this month at the local fire hall. We not sure how we’re related to this girl.
Out and About…Austin, TX
Austin is packed with food trucks selling everything from Korean tacos to two-dollar cupcakes. It also has a really high number of tattoo artists per capita.
Out and About at SXSW…Austin, Texas
I got to go to South by Southwest Interactive this year, an annual gathering of hipster geeks from London to San Francisco. This attendee was probably live-tweeting the session, but I’m not sure because she skipped out before we could exchange cards.
Out and about…Philadelphia
My friend David and I stumbled across a little outdoor roller skating party. Not so tough as the chicks in these roller derby photos my brother got, but still fun.
Out and About…Washington, D.C.
I didn’t realize my friend Elizabeth had a tattoo on her ankle, until I spied it while she was playing with her son, Daniel, at the National Building Museum’s outdoor sculpture.
Photo by Kira
Out and About…Geneva, NY
Uncle Charlie got the tattoo on his forearm during World War II. He was in the U.S. Navy, serving on a ship near the Philippines. There is some confusion about the female name that’s part of the tattoo. One version of the story is that it’s a girl’s name, but the story our Aunt Pauline got is that it’s a ship’s name. (Uncle Nicky, left, is Aunt Pauline’s brother, and to our knowledge he does not have a tattoo.)
Photo by Kira
Out and About…San Francisco
This is my favorite bakery in San Francisco, La Boulange in Cole Valley. If you go, definitely try the pain au chocolat. It’s almost as good as what I make, and a lot less trouble.
Photos by Kira
Photo Shoot…Germantown, Md.
I have to make this 100 percent clear — no one inked up a 3-year-old. And if someone had, I’d be too horrified to take pictures. These tattoos pressed on with water and washed off with soap. While they lasted, she was extremely happy to pose for pictures.
Photos by Kira
Out and About…Germantown, Md.
At the wedding of my friends Robert and Jocelyn, I got chatting with this salsa-dancing couple. She told me her favorite of her tattoos is the spider on the back of her neck, because it felt so good going on. She attributed that to the density of nerves back there, which sounds counter-intuitive to me.
Photo by Kira
Artomatic: Tattoo Project’s First Exhibit
Artomatic is an arts extravaganza in D.C. This year, hundreds of artists took over nine floors in a new office building on the southwest waterfront. It’s hard to convey the level of creative chaos…on top of all the sculpture and stuff hanging on walls, there was a packed schedule of films, bands, poetry readings, comedy and fire dancing.
Tattoo Project joined in for our very first public show. We set up near the tattoo parlor on the third floor and had a great time chatting with people about the photos.
Many thanks to Daniel and Jennifer for their help setting up!
Photos by Kira
Out and About….Washington, D.C.
Every year swing dancers from all over the country come to town for the D.C. Lindy Exchange, aka DCLX. The outdoor dances are my favorites, because this stuff is too much fun to keep in dance studios and ballrooms. Take it to the streets, I say.
I caught Cole (sp?) chilling by a lamp post. She and her friend Caroline were visiting from Seattle. I never would have noticed the three tiny raindrops on Caroline’s ear if Cole hadn’t pointed them out to me. Even better, they match the light blue in her hair.
Out and About…Washington, DC
Seriously, this place is like a circus. Last time it was fire dancers, this time hula hoopers. All with tattoos. I love it!
Out and About…Washington, DC
Today was a freakishly warm Sunday, which meant that the drum circle made a rare February appearance in Meridian Hill Park. As usual, the drumming brought out other sorts of performers, too. The fire-dancing-hula-hooping contingent was out in full force.
Sadly, they brought only practice gear, which does not involve flames. In fact, these poi looked suspiciously like stripey socks stuffed with bean bags. It was still really cool to watch.
Photos by Kira
Out and About…Inauguration in DC
Photo and notes by Kira
This is Crystal, a firefighter from Washington state. It was the biggest party weekend Washington, DC, will ever see, and we were at the Green Ball, where Al Gore and Will.i.am got about the same volume of shrieks. We became fast friends in the flailing mass of formalwear right in front of the stage.
Crystal was beside herself with excitement at Melissa Etheridge’s surprise appearance, and was calling home for about the eighteenth time to say something on the order of, “Sweetie, you are sooooo jealous!!”