It is true, sometimes we have to fall hard to really rise up again, sometimes the people you think will be there when you stand back up again are not the ones you surround yourself with.

It can be easy to forget in a battle of who needs who the most, and situations certainly get messed up, but they get turned around sooner or later.

So I failed to impress a few people this year, I forgot some old friends, but in the end, I guess most things seem kind of small to reuniting with old friends who still remember you when where a solid person or at better yet, in Jesse Bronson’s case, help you remember why you do what you do.

SEO Done The Right Way is now composed of two board members and is a full nine yards consulting firm. Yes, Nick Prieve, Dr. Prieve, and all the other fun things I go by on the internet is now duplicated with my best friend and partner, Mr. Jesse Bronson. As I fill his mind with compound marketing and math, he has helped me learn a thing or two about getting in touch with yourself instead of just touching yourself.

Picking Shit Back Up Again, Doing Marking With An Old Friend

Believe it or not, I was not inspired to blog for a long time. As if every single thought that Nick Prieve has is worth a million dollars right? No, last night when I talked about clients with my partner, Jesse Bronson, I realized something, one of my first was pro bono and meant the world to me. It was a smaller food venue in Southwest Minnesota, I traded food for my work and I remember putting my all into the project because I really believed in consulting. Somewhere along the way, maybe when I started teaching the shit, there was a part of me that forgot why we are consultants and that it is really another word for friend.

This lapse won’t happen again and the large RFP’s knocking down the door from companies that do not give a shit, well they can fuck off, I am in it for the little to medium guy. I am in it for the small business, the non-profit. I watched SLC punk the other day and realized that I used to be pretty fucking punk rock, that that was why I donned the Dr. Nick Prieve cap, got the MBA, studied law and computer science and became a keyword. Then I forgot all the real shit and lost sight of some things. Tattooing seemed like salvation, but it was not, it was just a way to pass the time. Deep down, we all need someone we can trust and as a consultant, I guess I have to go back to why I started, the process of doing that has been painful, but it has helped me think about more than just nice cars and capital.

The post 6th Avenue Heartache: Back To The Twin Cities appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Fixing a server is a cognitive process, it is like repairing part of your brain or fixing a messed up file system in any computer. One of the things that you realize about halfway through the process is that your brain, at least in the case of  Dr. Nick Prieve, MBA,MIS, and a bunch more of that kind of thing, has the same type of file issues.

Over the last year, I figured out that most of the time, we are tied to our associations and concepts of what is and what is not, whether we are terminally ill, trying to get by, or have the world on our shoulders, we all find that what we know is often tied to our perception.

To almost a fault, I have hammered home the idea that facts and perception are often different from one another and that our own perception corrupts the two of them at some random point or intersection. I suppose to a large degree that this is the case, but what I learned over the last few weeks is more often than not, we do not understand where the broken links are or where file errors tend to occur in our own heads or within our personal histories.
This is a hard thing to swallow and while self awareness just seems to be one of those terms we hear on the day to day, it does not happen as often as we would like to believe in reality.

No One Ever Plans To Sleep Out In The Gutter, Sometimes That Is Just The Most Comfortable Place

It is all too easy to think that we are untouchable, to ask for help or to realize that things might be OK. I have been homeless a few times in my life, sure, it has not been easy but there was a sense of liberation to it. To be without any kind of ties or shackles, to be really free, I thought it was a part of having nothing to lose. It turns out that it is close to this, but in truth, has a lot more to do with having a clear head. This never means to be devoid of all responsibility but rather that it is sometimes easier to think when you are starting over. The last two weeks have been just that. One of the things I have learned is that memories can be short and helping hands are always a great thing, sometimes we just have to reach out and ask, and other times people will spit on us as we sleep in the alley, taking that chance though, that is what it is all about.

With a liberated mind and a sense of purpose, I am back to the blogsphere, this time, as Nick Prieve, everything I am supposed to be. It has been a long year, but fuck man, it is over.

The post Everything Is Zen: Back To The Basics appeared first on Nick Prieve.

No, I do not expect any tattoo artist or any artist to give up the Mac love, I am a PC Professor, MBA and tattoo artist, so it has always been PC’s for me. The question burns, once a month whether you should install that new software that your buddy reccomended or whether this or that app or tool will save any more of the free time you have been promising yourself but sometimes it is just a lot more of a hassle for you and the shop then you really need, isn’t it?

So, withought further ado, here is a list of kick ass tools that are easy to use and actually make the life of a tattoo artist better instead of bogging down your schedule, machine, and work life balance. I figure I owe it to artist everywhere to share the tidbits of wisdom I have found as a software engineer and MBA/ Tattoo Artist so that we can…you know… move forward. The nuts and bolts of this post cover simple and next to free software to automate the stuff we forget when thinking about the next months supply order, revenue, shop drama, clients, booking and accounting. In short, life can be simple if you use your machine for more than Angry Birds. This first installment might find its way into the appendix of the up and comming MBA Quick and Dirty for Tattoo Artists that I am working on at Ouch Ink, but who knows.

1. Lastpass

Never leave home without it, first, all of your shit from bookmarks to apps is stored in wonderful encrption, you click a button with a master password and poof, everything is there, you log out and secure you are. These guys are going places and at $12.00 per year, it is a good time to get in on this train. Check it out at Lastpass.com, after all, why should you have to remember everything? Plus security is never bad, especially when it is this tasty.

2. Yelp

I am not calling this a trade secret and if you haven’t heard of it, it gives you marketing moxie. I know we are a bit behind tech in some ways, probobly for good reasons to be honest, after all, progress takes time right? Anyway, stop forking out those yellow pages ad dollars or the pay-per click bullshit. Get your clients to reccomend you on something that drops on GPS locaters for phones and everyone and their mothers search engine. Really, you cannot pay for marketing like this and it is fun to read and write. If they cannot find you, getting work down is a problem. Check out www.yelp.com

3. Dropbox

Keeping your whole portfolio on your hard drive has obvious risks, go to the cloud storage plan that is next to free and kicks some ass. Your data is safe, secure and you can get that image anyware. Frankly, why settle fellow tattoo artists? You do not have to so join the cloud, it makes life easier and gives you access to those files, programs, etc, wherever and whenever at www.dropbox.com

4.Light Shot

Run it from firefox or download for Mac and PC, it is your call. Either way, the ability to grab the screen, get a PNG file instead of a messy JPEG and even edit it in an online suite that is more or less Photoshop Express for the price of jack shit is a steal. Check these guys out, why not, it might just make your life easier at www.lightshot.com

The goal these days as a tattoo artist is to have a life though, and it has come to the point where I want to hit the sketchbook, not Autocads rockstar app but the real deal, sometimes analog is the only way to go. If these tools or my shameless self promotion of the tattoo artist best friend, Ink Income (yeah I co-developed it but it is a dollar on Google Play) help then great, at least the might save some time, create better work and let us focus on the real deal, the art.

That being said, it has been a long day and I am headed to the sketchbook.

Nick Prieve, Tattoo Artist, MBA, Tech Guy, Sometimes Proffessor, signing the fuck out.

The post Beyond Photoshop, Software For Tattoo Artist’s: Nick Prieve Weighs In appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Substantial revisions in all tattoo updates, I still teach part time but tattoo full time. Lately I have traded in my SEO badge for art and it has been a transformation. All transformations take time, something must be destroyed if we are to build anything of substance right? So I lit fire to the animosity that seemed important, the bullshit that clouded my mind and the usual knee jerk need to comment on the world through the veil of gloom that only Nick Prieve can pull off.

A few changes,yeah my RSS feed is broke as fuck, server issues and frankly, going back to a windows machine is a real fucking hassle my friends. The whole, this last year has been hell thing is over,yeah I am busy as fuck, of course I am overloaded but, shit is working out and through art, I found the age old zen trick, the fuck it buck it.

I never cared for facebook a great deal and honestly,I forgot my own encryption within an encryption, so nothing personal, but this site and www.inktake2.com as well as www.ouchink.org are the main sites. They are under construction as is life right now but when life gives you lemons, you have to take a long look in the mirror and say, well, what the fuck can I do about it but make a drink, sip it and keep going? After all, not everything is negative, far from it, it just shows through more than the other stuff some days.

Anna still rocks, she has put up with me a lot this year, everyone at Ouch Ink has been great and I am starting to draw, really fucking draw again.

So the changes are pretty obvious, I am ignoring twitter because it is a bloody hassle, I don’t bother with status updates and I am posting artwork and comments on the day to day.

Live, breathe and fuck all the rest.

Put it in the fuck it bucket and move on, it is a new year and the spring awaits, new lights, new pencils, action my friends, it is about fucking time though right?
The keyboard is even getting action lately, a lot of life with not much time for living was the MO, but in 29 years, it just has not worked that well.

Nick Prieve, Tattoos and Transformation, Ouch Ink Hibbing MN

The post Nick Prieve 2.0 appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Many people on the sidelines seem to have ringside seats to my life, taking shots and trying to get to me, under my skin, inside my guts. The truth is that you have been playing the wrong angles, and my goal for some time has been to be underestimated. Often, I find myself pretending to know far less than I do or having to expierence shock as a man who claims to have done time tries to murder me after I buy him a drink and realizes he is wrong when restrained and when I do not press charges.

He is a good man, is his view off? Of course, but sometimes, people cannot understand mercy until they see it, when they do something called cognitive dissonance occurs, the same is true for the Nazi who finds out he is Jewish or the pebble hearted man (me) who knows love.

People have worked hard over the last year to find just what means so much to me and why I behave the way I do. For example, after he nearly tore my eye out with a knife for really nothing more than not talking to him, he realized some truths, I did not press charges because I know him to be a good man and in truth, my secret is that I would rather be happy than right any day of the week.

How can you heart me? Some of you have picked up and forgotten that there is only one love in my life, only one that has ever existed, I have done all the things I say and they can be verified however, my greatest accomplishment was winning the hand of a woman I find to be a goddess. I would do anything for her, her pain is mine and the bond we have is something I have never felt. I will act rationally on all other things in this world, if you have not discovered this than check your eyes. Sometimes wordplay is fun, other times it is just boring.

So, I have told you, there is only one thing you can take from me that has not been taken in this life and the epiphany of a man who walks away from a life sentence when I could have said one word should be proof enough. I do not have the ability to feel rage, but when those around me are hurt or sad and it is done so to get to me, all bets are off.

Anna is the first. One of the greatest friends in my life is also Roger, gruff, honest and rambling, he is always there. I truly care and would put myself in the path of any bullet for him. I might not tell him nor would I tell Anna but over the past year I have done this a number of times. The thing of it is, your approach is off, if you want my attention, ask nicely because it is divided into the same thing that Capricorns always divide it into, work and attempts at love.

I have loved Anna since Jr. High School, there is nothing in this world I would not do for her, with a partially fractured “cheekbone” (not sure what the name is) and no real feelings about it, I cannot help but love these people. Fred understands pain and has  been kind to me, his choices tonight were poorly made, but if I were what the sideliners say, he would have done life. I chose mercy. Stephan obtained his license and funding as well as inspiration to show his Girlfriend that he was competent from me. It is foolish to believe someone is after you based on hearsay, I am well aware of the feeling of worthlessness you just have to rise above.

I am aware of what it is like to die, what almost all pains feel like, what it feels like to be made stupid and how the loss of love hurts.

My point is this, however angry you may be at me folks, I did not rape you (ex-wife) or take your tattoo machines that were mine (Stephan) if you recall, I gave you the very box that you hold them in.

I seek beauty. I seek innovation, like Roger, coming up with tattoo studio ideas that I dreamt of as a kid. Like Anna, who has gone through hell and back to stay in school, like a mentor, Cal Barnett, who did so much for me. No, it is true, my parents are more complex than I can explain, but everyone, please realize that I do not remember most of it.

If you want to get to me, you know how to, I am surprised you have not gone this route because my Kevlar, and my mercy come from protecting two great loves, Ouch Ink, the first tattoo studio and my business partner that really get it and the love of my life, Anna.

I am sorry that you are not in my roster of hate, maybe brief frustration and maybe a few games, but yes, you can look through the records, I let yet another attempt on my life go for Mercy, in Fred’s eyes, I saw for the first time that his wisdom still existed, I really was what I said I was and pinning him after trying to kill me must have been embarrsing, not pressing charges, even more so. What he will not know, because he does not believe in the internet, is that some time ago, he one a place in my heart by given me an entire pipe collection for no reason. It was a day after I was stabbed by my ex wife and it meant more than he will ever understand. The point is, I get C’s in communication, maybe the cops were called because you have threatened your own life, maybe they are to remind you that I am nice but you have a kid and these stunts should not be pulled with someone that is not me.

Maybe, just maybe, you have the wrong person pegged, and I am playing your game to see how fast you turn on me, being paranoid is a powerful thing. When you realize that someone is merciful (to my ex-wife (sort of, it is was more of a contract than anything) I saved her life after she attempted to murder me for moving the computer. If I felt like it, I could put up these documents, or the ones stating I paid for certain persons licenses or better yet, times I have picked up bar tabs but chose to remain anonymous.

Maybe it was me that destroyed your lives and maybe not, but I do not seem very effected, hell ask the cops, two times (death attempts) I expressed more concern for the person than myself. Most of my life I have been detested because I come off as an asshole and a wise person told me today that this is no crime. Anyway, the point is, someone so in love, looking forward to Sushi and great art, really does just want to make peace. People are like children, the average computer has the IQ of a 15 year old these days, I should know, it is my field. But compassion, that is something you see when you wear a scar below your eye and let someone live out their life because you realize that misperception happens daily.

After all, if I were this powerful, I would make the world happy, cure Parkinsons and fix the economy. If I were this evil, I would not have brushed off most of these events, see the messed up thing about Parkinsons is pretty simple, your emotions sort of go away. I should be angry I suppose, but I am not, I saw something in Freds eyes as he realized for the first time in some time that he was wrong and I respect him.

I did after all, buy him a drink.

Anyway, I turn to managerial economics and as a I told a friend today, a photo with you that says “I Fucking Love Ouch Ink” will give you 50 percent off. Roger, Anna, everyone thank you. I have not had many friends in this lifetime as I have seem them as hard to maintain, I could not imagine a better year. Although, thanks for getting me sick asshole (Roger)

The post The Truth About Nick: How To Get To Me appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Let us clear the air folks,within 20 minutes of a prior post I had 70,0000 views and some people named in them were a little beat up about the use of their likeness as tattoo artists on the Iron Range. I want to make it crystal fucking clear that it is not my goal to hurt the reputation of these scratch  , they are former friends (sort of ) and they are simply the most recent examples of the type of tattoo artist that I have seen come and go over many years. The point of the post is that you have to want to be a tattoo artist bad enough to be open to a few things , you need a think skin and you should never fuck up a client or the goals they have with a piece by bringing your drama to the door.  I did not even names and there was butthurt, look I have to tell you something, this shit is not even coming from me, it comes from the work we fix up that you all hacked up. I studied enough law to know that libel and defamation are only issues if what you are saying is untrue, and in this case, I have been nice enough not to name names.

Furthermore, it is not good practice to simply dish out the pain without rewarding success. Ouch Ink in Hibbing is not the only tattoo shops you can choose , remember, we get what we pay for. As far as getting a tattoo on the Iron Range goes though, there is really only one other shop that I would consider, and that is Lenny’s out of Eveleth. Readers, you are saying, what the fuck , did Nick Prieve from Ouch Ink promote another shop ? Yes, of course I did and the reason should be pretty clear, they are damn good at what they do and even though they keep it humble, if you are going to get a tattoo on the Iron Range , Lenny’s is a great shop. One of the best piercers I have ever met , Sonny ,works there and has one of the best eyes for placement and structure in body art that I have every seen. See, I am willing to give other shops credit when it is due and advice when it is due. They do not have a site and are hard to find. People call us looking for tattoo artists and have heard of us and I realized something yesterday, it seems that it has become hard to tell bullshit from good shit.

Ouch Ink: What You See Is What You Get

This is not about Ouch Ink and tattoos in Hibbing Minnesota or award winning tattoo shops in Minnesota , it is about you. These are a few things to ask the potential artist or piercers long before giving away any of your money to them. First, what do they specialize in? This is a question that I like to hear asked a lot because it tells me that someone is really interested in my style . As far as full color goes, it is not one of my strengths, yes I understand color theory and yes I have done thousands of hours of tattooing but it is not my favorite area. I love black and gray and Asian styles. Just last night I helped explain why getting a certain Japanese character may not be the brightest thing to do because of the triple alphabet and heavy reliance on sub context within the language. What I mean to say is ,with three alphabets and a culture that relies heavily on context , the symbol you are getting might not really be what it means and traditionally, letters where handmade by scribes to symbolize the meaning of the content from region to region in most of these  cultures.

The client made a better choice in the end and found the meaning she was really looking for by working with Roger, CEO of Ouch Ink in Hibbing Minnesota.

Don’t Get It Done Right Now

If a tattoo artist is kind enough to try to get you to make an appointment and ask or clarity, you should respect that they truly understand tattoo remorse. I had a young pup telling a client the same thing at a prior shop I worked at but with a handful of tattoos and less that a year of tattooing background, she could not have possibly understood this concept. I on the other hand do. Here is why, I started tattooing at the ripe age of twelve and have a lot of shit tattoos on my legs that meant  the world to me back then but now just remind me that I was kind of an idiot sometimes (and still am). A tattoo artist traditionally tattooed their own legs or the legs of their mentor for this express purpose. It is something that you can put pants on and cover up. I have two unfinished sleeves on both arms that came from the mind of a good artist who had a problem completing anything within three years or less. I really don’t hate the guy, it is time consuming , but did I get fucked on the deal and do my arms look like shit? Yes, yes they do. Don’t get me wrong ,the intentions were probably there but the fact is the guy was to busy managing a bunch of rookies and fixing broken tattoo promises to finish what I had paid for eons ago.

Partial Tattoo’s & 100,0000 Sessions Later

Don’t let this happen to you, I went out of my way to promote his art and yes , he is quite good, but I am hardly the only person with the same gripe, make sure that your tattoo artist cares enough about you to actually finish your work. Those meant a lot to me and they never got done, and once again, this is not about me or Ouch Ink which should be a hint, if a tattoo shop tries to turn you away because they cannot handle the piece or refers you to someone else , it probably means they have more respect for you than your wallet. The biggest  problem with this is that people stop trusting you and tattoos are about meaning, I mean they had better be if a person is willing to put ink into their skin ,otherwise, what the hell is the point. Any artist should be able to do custom work, we have a flash rack but even when working on a client from this flash rack we still go out of our way to make sure that the piece is really original.

A long time ago I worked at a tattoo shop in the Twin Cities, and some would hail it as the end all be all of shops , others would say that the best artists left to form another shop, since this is not about talking shit this shop goes unnamed but the goal was to hammer out as many tattoos as you could a day and it really did not matter in the end what they looked like. Your artist loves to do custom work, and if they don’t you have an issue. Make sure right away though that you are clear on the time and the budget or your arms might look like mine.

The post How To Select A Tattoo Artist: What You Need To Know, From Ouch Ink appeared first on Nick Prieve.

I don’t mean this as a negative statement, it reads as it does. When I first started tattooing myself at the ripe age of 12 I did it because it meant something, because I could and because I did not give a fuck. These are key to being successful in the industry, if you do not have a thick skin , no matter how great your art is, you will yourself always asking for approval.

I met such a male bitch some time ago. Some people I knew held the kid up as a god, revered his artwork and figured he would be an amazing artist. The kid hates me now because he thinks I stole some of his shitty  dollar tattoo machines which is just irony since I paid for his license, but that is neither here nor there, the point is, he was and is a male bitch. He could not run one line on me without crying or making a big deal about it. Fuck I ran plenty on myself at 12 and this is a grown ass adult we are talking about.

Rule Number 2: Leave Your Baggage At The Door

Anyway, something about how his dad blew his head off and was never there for him and it was his fault. We  are getting off topic but the point is, you need some moxy, people are going to hate you somewhere no matter what you do and in the industry you need a think skin. To get up every day and go to work on people and really have empathy takes a lot of inner pain and crying about it gets you know where. This is just an example, there are 400 plus people like this in my career that I have met and have forgotten just as quickly, so if you are reading this, stick to it and don’t let your personal shit get in the way.

Rule Number 2: You Are Never A Rockstar

I don’t give a shit how great you think you are, there is much to learn, I stick by the at least I know I know nothing motto because it has been said that those greeks, yeah, they were pretty fucking smart. Every single day presents a new set of challenges on how to tattoo, how to draw, how to be a professional, you know, the whole bit. If I thought I knew it all then I would likely quit tattooing. It is easy to say your shit is the shit but sending me 80 texts of horseshit work and asking for my approval will not get you far because I will not say outright that you blow but the sum and the gist of it puts it out there.

This was another guy (notice this is a what not to do kind of thing) that weighed in at 300 pounds and had an addiction to chicken wings. He was a nice enough guy to be sure but all that estrogen really tore up his moxy and made him think he had nothing new to learn. So I just said, that’s nice. I mean, a critique is a good thing, honestly if you can find someone nice enough to rip your work apart, you just might want to take their advice.

The point is not that these people blow donkey ass at tattooing, it is that they might have made something more of themselves if they had left their baggage at the door. If you know me, you understand that I do no go out of my way to make someones life hell or even step on toes, frankly because I don’t have time to fit it in the schedule and it is never in my best interest. However,  you owe it to your client and to the profession to really give it a go before you give up, otherwise it is not possible to grow or to serve your clients.

Rule Number 3: Draw Every Day

You have to stick to it, if this is really your dream, to tattoo in Minnesota or wherever ( I have readers all over the world and I have no fucking idea what the laws are in Russia or Italy or Australia, but the point is, take an hour a day to draw. It does not matter how many appointments you have, we are all busy and you just have to take the time to give a shit enough about your own work to really learn to make it better. I know a guy who does this on the day to day and stays current with the best of the best. Yeah he is my business partner but still, I would have bragged up about him before that for the pure and simple reason that he taught me I needed to get my chops back and that drawing was the first step. This guy is a fucking vet, these days everyone is running around saying they have been tattooing for 10 years and most of it is bullshit, to my knowledge, there are only four artists with more than 8 years of expierence in the field on the iron range, I might be wrong I do not really know, but I do know that lying about how much time you have in and failing to draw only hurts yourself. The thing is, people will assume you already know a lot of things and take it for granted that you might need some help. I was and still am terrified of rotary tattoo machines. They are not like coils and it is not within my comfort zone, but if I cannot have enough moxy to make that happen, then I would violate my own rules.

Get Both Feet In Or Walk Away

Maybe these things will scare you away from the profession, hopefully the thought of being told no will make you want it even more. The people I list, I have no real beef with, they are just examples of what we call hobbyists, that is, they do not make any money doing what they do. They are good examples though and that is why I bring it up, you cannot have no in your heart as Joe Dirt says and if your letting your own shit twist you up then you are going to feel a sense of worthlessness you just have to rise above.

The post How To Become A Tattoo Artist: Staying Motivated appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Here is the skinny, I really owe my readers some fucking content, after all, this shit gets traffic assholes so I am giving you what you want. If I really just left it at the one post, I would suck a bag of dicks like Andy Dick.

Anyway, these are a list of three discoveries this month that kick some serious ass.

1. E- Smokes ( I am not enough of a fucking hipster to call it anything else)

If you are new to the site, I push the envelope, a lot and really do not mind what the happens as a part of that. I love e-smokes for three reasons. The first is that as a chain smoker they are cost effective and let me work out, the second is that they do not kill my fucking lungs and the third, well this is simple, it pisses people off.

That is right, if I had a buck for every fat diabetic asshole who came up to me and told me it is bad for me, I would be rich, but the world does not work that way.  If it did, fat fucks would not cruise the aisles of Wal-Mart with self induced illnesses running my terminally ill (through no fault of my own) ass over. But I am not the type to say anything, let them believe they are disabled, I could care less, I just want to smoke. The thing is, now I can, whenever I want, wherever I want and there is jack and or shit that one can do about it.

It also saves on the wallet, I am a massive fan and since this blog is about freedom, I will move to the second part, linux.

2. Linux Is Not Just For Nerds

Most people do not realize just how easy it is to grab access to their computer, nor do they realize that those of us with ethics would not. A distro like backtrack or Deft say could really make one wonder about things. But for those of you that just want a computer and some software that does not blow ass, check out the many flavors of linux. I have been dual booting (quad actually) for the shit that I use daily and use a YUMI stick for the shit I do in case I need to. It is about freedom, give it a try, you should not have to pay for software that blows.

3. Tattooing With Roger

I always thought of myself as a vet, a real war hero of tattooing. Fucking yeah right, I meet Roger, my business partner and day to day learn more and more from his entirely too humble ass. Each day I get a chance to look back in time on the industry and at the same time see changes and progressions. I will admit it, a Rotary machine was fucking scary at first, but I am recovering and finding that keeping current is a measure of true wisdom. The guy is misunderstood by a lot of people but he gets it, the best of old school and new school, and I have a lot to learn. Mostly I do legal paperwork and business stuff, but the innovations that come out of the guys head take some time to process. Anyway, I am not blowing smoke up his ass or promoting Ouch Ink, there is no need, I am a partner there. What I am saying is that part of setting yourself free is learning the best of the best from the best of the best and this is true growth. Hell, it could apply to anything, but you have to allow it.

Anyway, next up, why I fucking hate some software.

The post Top Ten Things That Kick Ass: Because People Actually Read This Shit appeared first on Nick Prieve.

I think that there have been about five attempts on my life in the last month, give or take, and one was pretty funny. I suppose I should not be laughing about it but it is to that point, I wanted to let you know that I am not dead, not by a twitter lunny or a women that fails at running me over three times with a truck that…well just cannot do it.

The bitch of it is these people are all pretty poor at dealing trauma or making drama. Too many reality shows have made us soft. The news is that shit like having cigarettes put out in your ears, being stabbed ,shot, run over and nearly bled to death by a drunk make you laugh at these things. Actually I fried my hard drive and was a bit sick. My health has been better but it has been far worse, there are many things to look forward to.

But to threaten a terminally ill person is a bit stupid, to try to kill them three times while they stand there and laugh must tell you, it is not exactly scary.

Look, the point is, at 300 pounds (realize these are multiple people) telling me to watch my back does not do much because I am more terrified of being sat on.

Anyway, a lot of great things are happening, I have been working hard with the tattoo shop, have people to look up to and have even developed some security software that is pretty nifty. Saying stupid shit on the internet, well it is stupid, people assume the other party cares, in truth, I have not checked Facebook or twitter in a month because I just do not feel like dealing with it. Anyone can post anything, however, unlike this blog, no one really gives a shit.

No worries readers, the next blog is on the wonders of linux and how we are transforming tattooing at Ouch Ink.

I just had to throw out the disclaimer, it is not that I am not afraid to be run over by a drug peddling tattoo artist or that an indie rocker with a complex is going to get to me on twitter with his massive  friend roster, it is that I do not mind and life is pretty good lately. Between the tattoo studio doing well, the MBA being almost done and teaching (plus Anna rocking up the world in nursing) I cannot imagine things being much better.

It should be known that I needed some time to reflect on the last year and came up with a pretty simple solution. If the opinion of others really mattered on twitter, ace book and whatever other site harvests the shit out of your data, I guess they would have an Alexa rank.

To quote slug, you can beat me up or you can beat me off, pick a side any side, just let me do my job.

The post I’m Back But I Did Not Leave Because Of The Death Threats appeared first on Nick Prieve.

Dammit Let Me Have My Storm Clouds!

Capricorn folks are known for a number of positive things , hard work , self denial and not stopping till they have climbed their personal mountain. On the flip side some have called it grumpy, others have cited that when our mood goes to shit we are the hurricane Katrina of doom and gloom.Sometimes people misread this about the goat we are really just…no they are right living with us is pretty horrible during these storms.

As bright as I might think I am( which is not too bright) , disappointment was never something I have dealt well with. Lately though I have found people who shorten the duration of gloom cloud from hell  and make me “get up and put that big brain to use man, I can put it to use for you” enter the Roger.

Roger the crazy but really nice tattoo wunderkind

Roger is the life DIY or someone will fuck it up guy. He is usually right too, anything that can be improved on will be, the guy always finds a way to boost the potential for anything, usually this is machinery, but it comes to humans too. You could give him a paperclip and some gum and he would say “Look, I am sorry but I can only build a 757 jet out of this,you are not going to have a damn warp speed option,that requires three pencils and you know it!” You cannot ask for a better business partner.
Does this sound extreme , it is ,but I am not making it up. He is 6 foot something which means giant to a short Jew like me but he has a host of talents that he would never admit to and a heart the size of Florida. We are  a lot alike,in fact we both called to vent,code for screaming at the ceiling and hoping at the same time today. Anyway when I talk to the guy my hope level goes up just a bit.He is picking me up tomorrow and reminded me that it will be early , which is good because he knows I am a flake by absent mindedness. If he showed up with a prototype for Hydrogen fuel cells I would not be surprised and probably say that it was amazing.Roger would tell me that it is a start but fuck it we are running late. The point is he keeps the world in check with sharp wit and the ability to see the big picture.I always wish I could pull one of my, but what I am really trying to say is…but he knows. Frankly we have all been through a crazy year, but it has been amazing. Everyone at Ouch Ink rocks your socks off, but I figure they deserve their own post since they do not really fit into the “Giants That Nick Prieve Admires Category”. When he looks at you through those haunting professor glasses (I am one and it scares me) you know his heart is big enough to be a great instructor (plug for the tattoo school) but at the same time, if you deserve an F, you will fucking get one.

Amazing Anna: The Annazon

The strange thing is that my finance Anna are a lot alike.Both humble and calm , and funny as hell and both able to remind me that the world sucks sometimes but it  makes for a great comedy, amd when it is not sucking there are plenty of great things to do and see.They also act as my source of common sense and remind me that life is pretty good.She lights up the room with cookies one minute and delves into dissection of brains the next. She is funny and easy going , I have a hunch that tall ass people have a monopoly on this but there is no proof, yet. Make no mistake between the cookies, she will fuck your shit up, especially if you park poorly or hold her up during a trip to target. She is also a giant, once again , from a very short mans perspective and maybe it is something about height, as if she can see what to do beforehand. While planning the eventually DNP, I suggested she become a surgeon, the things she does at school would make me lose my lunch.  We are mates though, a good pair of short MBA and other stuff and medical superstar. The point is, you need people like this in your life.

She, like all three of us can see the upside and downside of things. She could probably clep out of her whole nursing degree but stays humble about it.
This post is for them and the little things they do to make things funnier, better and not so fucking lame. I do not know why the like hanging out with a grumbling professor who cannot select two socks that remotely look-alike and thinks Markov chains are sexy, but they do and I appreciate it.This post was going to be about the year and a few things I fucking hate mixed with some that floor me, but I started to remember that being gloomy..well it’s dumb… and I am lucky to have people like this in my life.

Anyway, after this motherfucking year, I found that once and awhile, I should write about the people that make it possible for me to write at all. This is for you. Fuck off if you don’t like it because I won’t write it again.

The post Moma said there would be days like this:She has never met Roger and Anna appeared first on Nick Prieve.