"It's been three years." Shinji said as I was getting
dressed. This was in answer to the question that is usually asked by one of us,
rhetorically (mostly), at the end of my appointments: "How long has it
been?" “How long does it usually take other people,” I asked. “Most people
do maybe two appointments a month,” Shinji said. “So maybe a year and a half?”
So I spent the bus ride home going through the photos on my laptop, organizing
my tattoo shots into an album—in part to see how long it’s really been.
The photo at left is dated March 6, 2013, when I first visited
Shinji and he drew on my back. The second is from April 26, when he
started the tattoo. So it’s been closer to two and a half years.
Today Shinji worked on my left shoulder, and continued farther down my back. I had a longer appointment today—almost three hours—and I have extra
time allotted for December’s session too. We’re working to finish the black
background by the year’s end. Except for several longer appointments in the
beginning, I’ve been averaging one two-hour appointment per month. Since this
is my twenty-seventh appointment, that brings the total number of hours to
about thirty. Halfway there—maybe?
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