Take care of yourself

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were wonderfully busy. From opening to close, I was completely booked. I was so excited going into the week! Note the exclamation mark, I rarely use those.

I tried to plan as much as possible: no room to skimp on preparation. Drawings were to be completed with time to spare. Tubes were to be cleaned and ready for action. All things ready. All things fell into place. Be it a 4 hour tattoo or a 15 minute Kanji, I kept on going. I took a few breaks here and there, but nothing substantial because I was "squeezing the most out of my time".

I could kinda hear it in my head: "Risin' up, back on the street. Did my time, took my chances." So I hummed to the song in my own world, while Cradle of Filth was blaring over the speakers. You know how it goes..."the eye of the tiger, the cream of the fight."

And I'm not quite sure what that means, but it seemed to fit. I was pumping out tattoos. It feels good to finish a substantial tattoo in a day, let alone a few.

I booked more money than ever. But I didn't realize how quickly my hands were getting tore up. The equation was asinine: constant work + short breaks - appropriate meals x caffeine = swollen hands, numb finger tips and diarrhea.

Nice.

But no complaints here. This was a lesson that'll stick.