I do. I believe it is some sort of depression that keeps me up in the dark. Getting time to yourself is hard to do for me lately.  I feel light.
   I have barely any ropes on me these days. I'm goin with the flow of this amazing quick pace journey. I know where my destination is. I know where to point the needle so to speak, but the reality is I just don't know when I want to get there.
    I do not feel adventurous in Tucson. I love this area for its culture and distinct flavors.  A brilliant landscape with a dirty city. It's dusty and hot.
  Living in the camper, is the only true adventure here.
   I have to take it and dump it. It's basically a tin can here. The air conditioner can only work so hard and it just doesn't even have what it takes to push around triple digit weather.
So I guess my adventure here in the camper is just learning to suffer the extreme weather. It never gets cool enough. Not until 3am or so.
So I just got back from Sturgis and I'm gonna tell you even through the corona, that was the chillest rally of all time. There wasn't a lot of people there to be honest, that's what made it so chill. You could get around. Places to park. Walk up to the bar and get a drink quick. It was super rad!
This year was a super rad fucking Rally because I got to tattoo two powerhouses and part of a small number of women who were like the foundations for young women tattooers stand on. I'm proud to have tattooed a woman who is well known in tattooing now many more years than she's been working the rally and She's been doing Sturgis now for 35 years.
Her name is Kay Davis.

   I never heard of her before meeting her in the tattoo shop, but that isn't unusual with artist who have  events they attend every year. She didn't tell me any poor stories about how hard she had it being a young  female tattooer in an era when it was the outer realms of society getting tattooed.
   I got to tattoo her. She wanted me too. I was super juiced to hear her ask me. "I'm like I'm over here trying to buy one from you. " I said.
  The whole Reason I found my way to Knuckleheads Tattoo was another offer on the table from the hand of a good friend of mine, Tom Meyers, and I honestly could not pass it up. Forefront Female Tattooing Trailblazer, Jackhammer Judy Parker. 
   Judy, unlike Kay Davis, I have known about her since my beginning in professional tattooing.
    She's a freehand artist that whips up amazing wildlife landscapes  and draws people doing stuff in them.  She has flash dating back to the 80's and all her tattoo designs were flavored in her own sketchy natural drawing ability. Super nice. Very generous. I have always loved her. 
    Just doing her designs, fed my children so many times, I cannot count how many,  honestly. The iconic Judy Parker was also tattooed by me.
Running the Sturgis Rally for 26 years.

Judy Parker is an inspiring artist in the tattoo world because,  before there was a lot to go from for tattoo designs, Judy drew a vast amount of images in all her spare time, and accumulated so many tattoo designs, she went on to publish them and they were sold, traded, or stolen from time to time. None the less, Judy Parker is known for her Freehand Imagery spanning to mythical, barbarian warriors, to wild life tattoos scenes and underwater sea scapes.
Before I knew about stencils, I was reading about the upcoming artist who was known for her original art work and undeniable signature, tattoo styles. And when she did a sleeve for you, she drew the whole thing for you with a pen and showed you how it was gonna fit or blend, on the fly.
Not only did I get to work with her, call her my friend and talk to her as an equal, she let me tattoo her when I was asking her for a tattoo.
After we opened up our shops in Tucson, due to this stupid pandemic, I was scared that I wasn't going to make it home for the summer. I wasn't gonna have the funds to make the trip because we shut down for two months and I was afraid I may have to stay in Tucson for the entire year the way this corona stuff was going down.
But before I knew it, I made what it took to make the jump and take the risk. I do not regret it.

   I had kept close to me, a couple expectations, upon coming back to Rapid City. Maybe they were realistic, only to me. And for what it's worth, my shortcomings, poured over into boundless fruits.
   Some of the things I thought would be a righteous welcome home kind of feel.  And ... as I have learned this whole trip, if I plan it, it just doesn't go as planned.
   So I did get a righteous welcoming home but it wasn't really from the folks I thoughtfully desired to be with.
  What a blessing it was.
In Rapid City, there is a shop filled with upcoming  talent coming from humble personalities. I cannot believe I didn't get to know these guys sooner.
    The shop is called Bad Cat and in this truest form of originality. The shop itself has the personality that fits each individual working within it.
   Housing young artists from its beginning, I've watched these guys grow over the last few years immensely. There was no question as to why I was curious about wanting to work there.
   I knew there was a lot of talent there. What I didn't expect was how each of them allowed me in on some level and made me feel welcomed.
   I made life long connections in this shop and if you ever show up there you are bound to feel the same way.
Going back to the Black Hills, I never once thought of how it may affect Franky. Frank was asleep in the back seat when we came up over the first set of hills, driving into South Dakota from Wyoming , headed for Hot Springs.
Not sure if it was the wind or the sounds of it changing in the back seat, but what I do know is that Frank shot up into the front seat and weirdly, I've spent a lot of time with this guy, man. It's almost as if he remembered the smells of the Black Hills.
It was weird watching him react to places he knew.
We drove by the house where he was born or where I picked him out. I mean he knew... I knew he knew that his mother fed him there and it was cool to meet eyes with him in a way, that kind of made it so I knew, he knew. You know what I mean?
A whole year went by and this guy still remembered where he came from. And every time we passed that house, he longingly watched it close as we passed it.
I know a lot of people might be able to say that they have the best dog and they do.  When I tell you that there's something special about this beast, you got to know that there is.
    Frank is trail trained and skateboard trained and this guy is the most friendly dog I've ever owned.
A year now, this guy has shown me more about dogs than any other dog I've ever known.
It isn't that I haven't known great dogs throughout my time, it's just that I've never in my life lived with an animal like I have with Frank from pup to dog I know all of his faces. I know his body language.
He is a true friend to me. My boy might even impress that really nice lady dog trainer we met earlier in his life.

I was able to hang out with my grandson, Ollyvor and his mom, and dad Tristan and Carter. I've been gone a year now, and I'm super impressed with how fast the human grows. Isn't that funny?
   It seems that we are always impressed with a persons progress when we get a little bit out of touch with them. I tend to forget how fast time really moves and how we are chasing it always.
  Full sentences. Likes to run. Pees on his own. Counts and reads. I'm a very proud grandfather. Someday, I was promised this little
Guy could swim. We will see.
   These guys have their problems and obstacles just like any young couple does. I'm really proud of them both for the moves they're making to make this guys life a better one.

These girls are my heart. I miss them all so much but my lil Dinah on the right has made me steel kisses from the day she figured it was best to make me
Eat every one of them. Lilah is the newest addition to my family. Born when I was on the road, during Corona.... she still loves me from her first sight of me. I can not wait to have our moments when I'm way older!
  I have a lot to be grateful for, indeed.

Brody, is my 21 year old baby boy. This dude has shown me more about being a decent human, more than anyone else in my life. He is my compass. So many decisions in my life were based on coming back to all my kids but this poor guy had to meet everyone of them after thinking for many years that he was the only one.
  He knew he had a sister but he didn't know about a second one. He didn't know he had an older brother but he went to meet him. My dude is my best friend for sure and being out here on the road makes me miss home even though I'm not really sure where that is anymore.
   I just hope that it's a place they would all love to visit.

Bad Cat Tattoo
(Colton Wienickie, Bill Kinnerson and his wife Sarah, myself and my date Amanda Lashley, Tanner Fitch John Rhian and Samantha Loftus.) I do believe that Brando is missing in the photo cause maybe he was taking it. I dunno.
    This was a good time. Second time ever ax throwing. We had a blast doing this as a group and I was super impressed with myself for ja at getting that damn ax to stick in the target at all.
   I lived in Rapid City a longtime. I've watched these youngsters turn into men as they furthered their careers in tattooing. I never got to know them before this but I'm sure that it will be friend like for a very long time. In the top photo we are all  in the middle of the lake on kayaks.
   Best absolutely the best, LSD experience I have ever had.  These guys were so gracious and welcoming to me as I was not having a great welcoming back to this area.
   I learned fully on this trip that plans are shit. Plans are an expectation and they never seem to go through when they're heavy. Learning to accept this was tough. I was very resentful.
   The people I thought were my friends, my work family... eh..
   No shit talking here, they just didn't want me. Corona was their reason. "How are you going to pick the healthy person out of the rally?" Was what I was asked. Can I just get some respect from people I gave ten years of my life to...
   Bad Cat gave me a shot and I didn't have to hide anything about me from them. I could be myself and it was just way more than I thought it could have been.
  Bill has been the bro I always needed there and I never knew. I just see him everywhere I go when we are out over the years. Always seem to be doing the same shit on the same day type of shit. No wonder we never lined up earlier.
   What a waste of time. I could have been less snobby when I lived there. My mission was different then too. I wasn't like,  I smoke weeds and and drink beers. Possibly do a lil acid. Jajajaja.
  Either way man we made a bond that I'm gonna try to rekindle every time I see them.
      One of the coolest things I did here was go to Dayton Wyoming with Bill and Sarah.

We went there to learn how to paraglide with this viagra commercial. His name is Johann Nield and he's been flying like 40 years.  I bought my first glider from him and I wish I knew more but I was stubborn.
Now that I'm back in Az, I thought I would be able to learn here but the landscape is unforgiving and the price to learn seems a bit unreasonable to me, so I plan on heading to California to learn this sport.
I told Johann about it and he totally agrees. They will sell me an up to date glider and harness and the one I got from Johann will be the one I beat the hell out of to learn how to use it. It's a fun sport and I cannot wait to really fly.

When I went to Rapid City this year, I went for a lot of reasons. Wether or not, I liked the taste, the flavors of closure were well worth the drive. All the hopes and dreams of any expectation I may have had, was fully answered upon arrival.
One of the things that ended that really stung was finding out Mandy wasn't the one. I really had some high hopes for her. She had quite a few of the characteristics that I could see I needed in my future, it just didn't work out. At the time, I couldn't see why but I've been talking about life's directions a lot and life was directly pushing towards someone that is a way better fit to my story.

Her name is Manda.
Right now, she's pretty dope, and is winning a heart that I swore I would never give away again. We always do the shit we never say we're gonna do. But yeah. Manda has been dope.
I like floating. People don't stop really in the moment, to really appreciate a "good ol sweep you off the feet" kind of feeling. Maybe they do. I haven't felt like this since meeting my last special lady.
She's gonna play a role in my life for awhile. Not sure how it's gonna pan out but I know it's gonna go down the way it's supposed to. We will just see what happens. For sure.
I haven't posted shit in awhile. I don't think anyone has been missing it. I know it takes time to build these stories so they're not filled with poor me memories. I try my best to keep these happy.
Currently living my best life. I've learned about living a little. I have a lot for a guy who has very little. I'm happy. I want my stories to reflect that. Can't believe I've been here six years already. Five at least.
When I go back and read these stories, I really appreciate the comments and the eyeballs. It was those comments and feedbacks that keep me wanting to write in here. I apologize for all the misspelling and bad grammar, I'm just happy to have some word combinations for you to configure.
The summer of 2020 had a lot of hurdles and I had a lot of promises to myself. I was lucky to have a boss who was kind enough to let me adventure and keep those promises to myself like making my full loop and seeing my kids and doing things a person only could during a second childhood.
I've said it a thousand times in here. The adventure only starts with your first step. Don't look back, keep moving and don't get stuck. There is a story out there waiting for your part in it.
Love you guys and thanks for the support.