Brea Leigh

201 notes

The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill themself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.” 
― David Foster Wallace
(via kristensrecovery)

(via windblownseed)

4,923 notes

G U B L E R N A T I O N: take the 2013 GUBLERCHALLENGE

gublernation:

image


ONE DAY A WEEK LEAVE YOUR HOME WITHOUT A CELLPHONE


i think you will like what happens.


immediately you will notice things
small things…


like the color of your car’s dashboard and the way the sun reflects off of it
the lady in the car next to you adjusting her shoulder pads at the stop light

that little bit of toothpaste in the corner of your mouth


there’s a nice old man standing behind you in line at Starbucks and he is wearing very fancy tennis shoes
the kind you usually only see gangster rappers wearing


where did he got those very fancy tennis shoes?
does he know they look kind of out of place on his feet?
perhaps a grandson or granddaughter bought them for him for Christmas?
or Hanukkah?
what’s the proper way to spell Hanukkah?
is it H-anukah or CH-anukah? 
maybe a friendly store clerk helped that old timer pick those shoes when he went in to replace the shoelace from an old pair of loafers.
perhaps they have really comfortable soles that are good for aching joints?
do rappers get aching joints from rapping too hard?


oh wait, it’s your turn to order


you’ll make direct eye contact with the cashier and maybe notice the fact that one of her eyes is a slightly different shade of blue than the other
beautiful
how interesting


is it just me or does it smell like winter in this coffee shop?
like that foggy night you helped dad build a fire for the first time


woah


what’s happening?


your mind is working
formulating thoughts
interacting with it’s surroundings
creating questions and answering them


your face is not stuck to a glowing electric square


you’re not looking at facebook updates from people you haven’t talked to in 4 years

you’re not watching a 2 minute video clip of a cat riding a dog

you’re not looking for a song you are going to listen to the first 37 seconds of before skipping to the first 37 seconds of another song you prefer

you’re not reading a grammatically flawed blog written by an unqualified entertainer about how technology is making us less patient, less imaginative, and less interesting

you are LIVING LIFE IN REAL TIME
and it feels great


the old man with the cool shoes smiles at you

and you smile back


welcome to reality

1 note

Anonymous asked: Not to sound rude, but do shop managers make enough for a living? Or would it be more of a supplement?

I have no idea. Tattooing in generally isn’t especially high paying unless you own a shop/you’re booked out/work at a very busy walk-in shop. 
 

0 notes

Anonymous asked: When I say I cannot draw, I also mean I have no artistic ability in my body at all. That being said, something in the modification industry would be amazing. I am in love with it.

There are a lot of jobs out there as counter work or shop managers or whatever! Maybe that would be a good fit!

2 notes

Anonymous asked: Hopefully this doesnt sound ridiculous, but I figured, why not ask. Does one need to know how to draw to become a tattoo artist? I love getting tattooed, hanging around the shop, the whole history and culture of tattooing and modification. I cannot draw a thing. Is there a way to work in this realm of body modification without some sort of artist ability?

I couldn’t draw when I started. I oil painted and did some stuff with graphic design but my art background was extremely short/limited and I really could not “draw” by hand to save my life.
That being said I dedicated a year of my life every day learning to draw. Tracing old flash, drawing portraits, painting etc. and I still sucked.
I think if you put your mind to it and decide to do something you will be successful.
That being said, are you sure you want to be a tattooer?
It’s not really a glamour filled job.

116 notes

Things that infuriate me volume 10

Seeing people who don’t know what they’re talking about at all chime in on things.
Please, If you don’t know what you’re talking about sit down and shut up. Your ignorance is showing.

This especially gets me riled up when it comes to tattooing. I’m not saying all Tattooers know everything (obviously not) or that non-Tattooers don’t know anything (again, obvious) but there are just some things I feel like most people are not going to understand until you deal with it day in and day out.

It’s like any job, the longer you do it and the more immersed you become in the history or the community the more you understand and know about it.

It burns my biscuits when non Tattooers get all adamant that “a tattoo is right if the person likes it” (ok but its still blown out/upside down/backwards/poor design) or “they traced your design but you should be flattered” (no actually that isn’t flattering and no its not a learning tool) or “it’s not upside down to them” (just to the rest of the world) or “people should be able to get their face and hands tattooed with out having any other tattoos and then also be safe from ridicule” (you’re wearing tattoo mittens and a tattoo cowl.. I cannot.. I can’t) I could go on for a million years because Instagram is full of people with opinions about tattooing.
And I guess to some people this seems like someone’s being an elitist but it just isn’t about that.
If you love tattooing and you love the industry and you respect the history you just want to protect it a little.
Only a little.
It seems like these tattoo shows have in a way taken away the mystery and made everyone into an expert.
I mean I’ve been in the industry for 3 years and I barely know shit. So what do you know?