My House of Stairs

Why all the tattoos?

A lot of people ask me that question and the answer varies every time. I got my first tattoo in high school right before graduation. It wasn't about rebellion, it was more about permanent self expression. Since that time, I've gotten a tattoo at every major juncture in my life. Each one represents something particular to me and is a biography/historical timeline of sorts.

Why that latest tattoo? As many of you know, we've been working really hard for the last 4 years getting yOOnew off the ground. When we started, we had no idea how difficult it would be to create an electronic exchange. Imagine building the NASDAQ or Euronext.liffe from scratch. After several prototypes, several years, several iterations, several long days and even longer nights, we are now getting ready to come out of stealth mode.

Having said that, my latest tattoo, M.C. Eschers's House of Stairs, was my most ambitious undertaking.

I always say that each successive tattoo has to be "better" and more complex than the former. Boy did I underestimate the complexity of Escher's work.

I arrived at The G-Spot Tattoos around 11:15am. (Don't be fooled by the outdated website. The shop founder, George Moore, is probably the most talented tattoo artist on the east coast.) For those who know how anal I am, it takes a lot to convince me to put something permanent on my body. On top of that, I would never want to bastardize the work of Dali or Escher. George is the only person that I would ever trust with the task. No disrespect to Chris, Arni, and the rest of the Miami Ink crew or Kat for that matter, but George is on another level.

Anyway, G started at about 12:45pm and finished around 5pm. When I say finish, I mean just with the OUTLINE.



After all the shading was said and done, it was about midnight!


Now...I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this was a bit ridiculous. The last hour was the absolute worst. However, when it was all said and done....George had created a masterpiece. (I'll post the final product when things have completely healed).

What's the point of this post? These last four years of my life have been like the 11 hours I spent sitting in the cold, dark room bleeding profusely. I had a great idea of what I wanted when we started......the adrenaline was pumping and I was juiced. After the first year or 2 hours, things were a breeze. I felt good and my heart was filled with fervor. Then things changed. The soreness kicked in and it became uncomfortable. The lack of comfort then transformed to pain, then annoyance and then all I could do was just pray for it to be over.

What is most frustrating? You start with a clear vision and begin to see the beautiful picture come to life before your very eyes. As things develop you start to realize this is going to be a long, hard, and painful process. After awhile, things don't seem to look right and the only thing you can think about is.......when will the madness stop?

Why all the masochism you ask? Because when the wounds heal and the bugs have been worked out.....the end product is so gratifying. It's the final masterpiece that keeps you enthralled, keeps you focused, and keeps you prepared to do it all over again...........

WGTCT