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Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology (v.157, #1)
High-Level Expression, Purification, and In Vitro Refolding of Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) by Dongming Wang; Linmei Shi (1-9).
Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a new member of the TNF superfamily. In this paper, we report the expression, purification, and preparation of a recombinant form of the extracelluar domain of the TRAIL (sTRAIL) without posttranslational modifications, which may selectively induce apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro. To obtain recombinant nonfusion sTRAIL protein, the encoding region for sTRAIL was cloned between KpnI and BamHI in pET32a. The Trx (thioredoxin)/sTRAIL fusion proteins were expressed in the form of inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli host strain BL21 (DE3). The expression level was more than 35% of total cell lysate. Inclusion bodies were disrupted, washed, and isolated at pH 9.0, and were completely dissolved in a buffer containing 2 M urea at pH 9.0. After nickel ion metal affinity chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, and renaturation, the refolded fusion proteins with a purity of >98% were obtained. Trx/sTRAIL L proteins were digested by enterokinase to both Trx and sTRAIL fragments, which then were separated by cation exchange chromatography. Cell proliferation experiments proved that the rsTRAIL (98% purity) retains its cancer-selective apoptosis-inducing properties. This result suggested that the recombinant sTRAIL may have cancer therapeutic applications.
Keywords: sTRAIL; Fusion protein; Inclusion bodies; Protein expression; Refolding; Protein purification
Phytodegradation Potential of Erythrina crista-galli L., Fabaceae, in Petroleum-Contaminated Soil by Vanessa de Farias; Leila Teresinha Maranho; Eliane Carvalho de Vasconcelos; Marco Aurélio da Silva Carvalho Filho; Luiz Gustavo Lacerda; Jayme Augusto Menegassi Azevedo; Ashok Pandey; Carlos Ricardo Soccol (10-22).
This work aimed at investigating both the tolerance and the phytodegradation potential of Erythrina crista-galli L. in petroleum-contaminated soil. It consisted in analyzing E. crista-galli germination, surviving, growth, and development when cultivated at different contaminant concentrations and pollutant degradation rates. This specimen was selected because it presented a special behavior among others also exposed to petroleum in an accident that occurred in the Araucaria region (south of Brazil), resulting in a four-million-liter oil spill. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse containing non-contaminated soil (NCS), vegetated contaminated soil (VCS), and non-vegetated contaminated soil (NVCS) at the following petroleum concentrations: 25 g kg−1 (VCS-25), 50 g kg−1 (VCS-50), and 75 g kg−1 (VCS-75). After 60 days, the soil samples were analyzed by gas chromatography. Germination was more and more evident as higher petroleum concentrations were observed. The surviving rates of groups NCS, VCS-25, VCS-50, and VCS-75 were 64%, 70%, 61%, and 96%, respectively. The VCS group growth was reduced when compared to the control group (NCS). The individuals exposed to petroleum pollution presented differences in the anatomic structure of their roots when compared to the NCS group. It was observed that the petroleum degradation rate was higher for VCS group than for NVCS. E. crista-galli is potentially recommended for petroleum-contaminated soils because of its positive association in the presence of contamination.
Keywords: Phytodegradation; Petroleum; Erythrina ; Root; Fabaceae
Purification and Characterization of Thermostable Chitinase from Bacillus licheniformis SK-1 by Sanya Kudan; Rath Pichyangkura (23-35).
Chitinase was purified from the culture medium of Bacillus licheniformis SK-1 by colloidal chitin affinity adsorption followed by diethylamino ethanol-cellulose column chromatography. The purified enzyme showed a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular size and pI of chitinase 72 (Chi72) were 72 kDa and 4.62 (Chi72) kDa, respectively. The purified chitinase revealed two activity optima at pH 6 and 8 when colloidal chitin was used as substrate. The enzyme exhibited activity in broad temperature range, from 40 to 70°C, with optimum at 55°C. It was stable for 2 h at temperatures below 60°C and stable over a broad pH range of 4.0–9.0 for 24 h. The apparent K m and V max of Chi72 for colloidal chitin were 0.23 mg ml−1 and 7.03 U/mg, respectively. The chitinase activity was high on colloidal chitin, regenerated chitin, partially N-acetylated chitin, and chitosan. N-bromosuccinamide completely inhibited the enzyme activity. This enzyme should be a good candidate for applications in the recycling of chitin waste.
Keywords: Bacillus licheniformis SK-1; Characterization; Chitinase; N-bromosuccinamide; Purification
Isolation and Identification of a Newly Isolated Alternaria sp. ND-16 and Characterization of Xylanase by Yin Li; Zhiqiang Liu; Fengjie Cui; Lifeng Ping; Chongyan Qiu; Geng Li; Lijiao Yan (36-49).
Alternaria sp. ND-16, a bacterium isolated from soil sample, was identified as a strain of Alternaria mali based on the morphology and comparison of internal transcribed spacer rDNA gene sequence studies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that this strain has xylanase activity, and the activity can be optimized under suitable growing conditions where wheat bran and urea are the primary sources of carbon and nitrogen. Partially purified xylanase from Alternaria sp. ND-16 is shown to have an optimal pH of 6.0 and optimal temperature of 50 °C, making this enzyme potentially suitable for industrial applications. It is also demonstrated that Na+ and Mn2+ show strong inhibition of the xylanase while K+, Li+, Fe2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ have no significant effect on the activity.
Keywords: Alternaria sp. ND-16; Isolation; Identification; Production; Xylanase
New Thermostable Amylase from Bacillus cohnii US147 with a Broad pH Applicability by Raoudha Ellouz Ghorbel; Sameh Maktouf; Ezedine Ben Massoud; Samir Bejar; Semia Ellouz Chaabouni (50-60).
A new thermophilic bacterial strain identified as Bacillus cohnii US147 was isolated from the southern Tunisian soil. The identification was based on physiological tests and molecular techniques related to the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid. The isolated strain produced amylase, which was purified. This amylase had an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Amylase US147 showed K m and V max values of 0.7 mg/ml and 2.2 U/ml, respectively, with starch as the substrate. The enzyme was active in acid and basic pH and had a maximal activity on starch at pH 9 and 70 °C. The enzyme was stable at pH 9 for 72 h and retained half of its activity after incubation at 70 °C for 150 min. A partially inhibition (15%, 25%, 23%, 20%, and 22%) was obtained with 1 mM SDS, 1 mM NaBO3, 1 mM H2O2, 1 mM Zn+2, and 5 mM ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), respectively. The amylase recovered its original activity by the addition of 10 mM Ca 2+ to the 5 mM EDTA. These properties indicated a possible use of this amylase in starch saccharification, in detergent, and in other industrial applications.
Keywords: Bacillus cohnii ; Amylase; Acid and basic pH activity; Purification; Characterization
Kinetic and Stoichiometric Parameters in the Production of Carotenoids by Sporidiobolus salmonicolor (CBS 2636) in Synthetic and Agroindustrial Media by Eunice Valduga; Alexsandra Valério; Helen Treichel; Agenor Furigo Júnior; Marco Di Luccio (61-69).
With the objective of determining the kinetic behavior (growth, substrate, pH, and carotenoid production) and obtain the stoichiometric parameters of the fermentative process by Sporidiobolus salmonicolor in synthetic and agroindustrial media, fermentations were carried out in shaken flasks at 25°C, 180 rpm, and initial pH of 4.0 for 120 h in the dark, sampling every 6 h. The maximum concentrations of total carotenoids in synthetic (913 μg/L) and agroindustrial (502 μg/L) media were attained approximately 100 h after the start of the fermentative process. Carotenoid bioproduction is associated with cell growth and the ratio between carotenoid production and cell growth (Y P/X) is 176 and 163 μg/g in the synthetic and agroindustrial media, respectively. The pH of the agroindustrial fermentation medium varied from 4.2 to 8.5 during the fermentation. The specific growth rate (μ X) for S. salmonicolor in synthetic and agroindustrial media was 0.07 and 0.04 h−1, respectively. The synthetic medium allowed for greater productivity, obtaining maximum cell productivity (P x) of 0.08 g L−1 h−1 and maximum total carotenoid productivity (P car) of 14.2 μg L−1 h−1. Knowledge of the kinetics of a fermentative process is of extreme importance when transposing a laboratory experiment to an industrial scale, as well as making a quantitative comparison between different culture conditions.
Keywords: Sporidiobolus salmonicolor ; Synthetic media; Agroindustrial media; Carotenoids; Kinetic parameters; Stoichiometric parameters
Survival of Freeze-dried Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus plantarum Related to Their Cellular Fatty Acids Composition during Storage by Ibourahema Coulibaly; Anastasie Yao Amenan; Georges Lognay; Marie Laure Fauconnier; Philippe Thonart (70-84).
Lactic acid bacteria strains Lactobacillus plantarum CWBI-B534 and Leuconostoc ssp. mesenteroïdes (L. mesenteroïdes) Kenya MRog2 were produced in bioreactor, concentrated, with or without cryoprotectants. In general, viable population did not change significantly after freeze-drying (p > 0.05). In most cases, viable population for cells added with cryoprotectants was significantly lower than those without (p < 0.05). Cellular fatty acids (CFAs) from the two strains in this study were analyzed before and after freeze-drying. Six CFAs were identified, namely, palmitic (C16:0), palmitoleic (C16:1), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), linoleic (C18:2), and linolenic (C18:3) acids were identified. Four of them, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, and C18:1, make up more than 94% or 93% of the fatty acids in L. mesenteroides and L. plantarum, respectively, with another one, namely, C18:3, making a smaller (on average 5–6%, respectively) contribution. The C18:2 contributed very small percentages (on average ≤ 1%) to the total in each strain. C16:0 had the highest proportion at most points relative to other fatty acids. Moisture content and water activity (a w) increased significantly during the storage period. It was observed that C16:1/C16:0, C18:0/C16:0 and C18:1/C16:0 ratios for freeze-dried L. mesenteroides or L. plantarum, with or without cryoprotectants, did not change significantly during the storage period. According to the packaging mode and storage temperatures, C18:2/C16:0 and C18:3/C16:0 ratios for freeze-dried L. mesenteroides and L. plantarum with or without cryoprotectants decreased as the storage time increased. However, a higher C18:2/C16:0 or C18:3/C16:0 ratio for L. mesenteroides and L. plantarum was noted in the freeze-dried powder held at 4 °C or under vacuum and in dark than at 20 °C or in the presence of oxygen and light.
Keywords: Viability; Oxidative stress; Heat stress; Freeze-drying; Cellular fatty acids; Lactic acid bacteria
Isolation and Biomass Production of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain Binding Copper and Zinc Ions by Aurore Stroobants; Jean-Marc Delroisse; Franck Delvigne; Julien Delva; Daniel Portetelle; Micheline Vandenbol (85-97).
Copper and zinc are essential trace elements participating in many physiological functions, notably immunity and protection against oxidative stress. Yeasts and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in particular, possess in their genome tandem repeats of the CUP1 gene coding for a protein (a metallothionein) capable of capturing and binding toxic elements such as copper ions. The number of copies of this gene in a cell determines its physiological level of resistance to these ions. This paper describes the selection, characterization, and production of a new copper-resistant yeast strain that can bind large quantities of copper and zinc. This approach should lead to increasing the bioavailability of these trace elements and hence to reducing their emission into the environment.
Keywords: Selection; Metallothionein; Probiotic; Prebiotic; Yeast; CUP1 ; Bioreactor
Synthesis of Cephalexin in Aqueous Medium with Carrier-bound and Carrier-free Penicillin Acylase Biocatalysts by Andrés Illanes; Lorena Wilson; Carolina Aguirre (98-110).
The use of very high substrate concentrations favors the kinetically controlled synthesis of cephalexin with penicillin acylase (PA) not only by Michaelian considerations, but also because water activity is depressed, so reducing the rates of the competing reactions of product and acyl donor hydrolysis. Commercial PGA-450, glyoxyl agarose immobilized (PAIGA) and carrier-free cross-linked enzyme aggregates of penicillin acylase (PACLEA) were tested in aqueous media at concentrations close to the solubility of nucleophile and at previously determined enzyme to nucleophile and acid donor to nucleophile ratios. The best temperature and pH were determined for each biocatalyst based on an objective function considering conversion yield, productivity, and enzyme stability as evaluation parameters. Stability was higher with PAIGA and specific productivity higher with PACLEA, but best results based on such objective function were obtained with PGA-450. Yields were stoichiometric and productivities higher than those previously reported in organic medium, which implies significant savings in terms of costs and environmental protection. At the optimum conditions for the selected biocatalyst, operational stability was determined in sequential batch reactor operation. The experimental information gathered is being used for a technical and economic evaluation of an industrial process for enzymatic production of cephalexin in aqueous medium.
Keywords: Penicillin acylase; Enzyme immobilization; Cephalexin; Cross-linked enzyme aggregates; Multipoint covalent attachment
Structural Genomics on Membrane Proteins by Vikash Kumar Dubey (111-112).


text:
Copyright © 2008 by Kip Fulbeck.

Foreword Copyright © 2008 by Takahiro Kitamura.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-8118-7581-3

The Library of Congress has previously cataloged this title under ISBN: 978-0-8118-6131-1

Designed by Brett MacFadden.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

## **Acknowledgments**

My thanks and love to my parents and family for their constant support, even when I fled premed for a lifetime of making art, buying guitars, getting tattooed, and pursuing other things not listed on the Asian family "to do" list.

Thanks to the many friends who helped out with this project: Kris Andrews, Lindsay Castro, Jonathan Cecil, Tim Connelly, Adam Day, Seymour Duncan, Al and France Garcia, Manny Garcia, Jim Goldberg, Mariko Gordon, Jake Jacobson, Ethan Kaplan, Carianne Laguna, Rachel Lithgow, Horacio Martinez, Quinn Messmer, Saudia Mills, Dan "The Nazz" Nazzareta, Paul Nelson, Permanent Mark, Ken Phillips, Kara Richardson, Jessica Sonquist, Joey Souza, Splinter and Diablo, Tim Stephens, Kellie Stoelting, Tian Tang, Josh Thomas, Tynisa Winslow, the staffs of the Japanese American National Museum and the UCSB Department of Art, and the UCSB Academic Senate for its generous support.

Thank you again to the wonderful crew at Chronicle Books—particularly Brett MacFadden, Patti Quill, and my amazing (and patient) editor, Bridget Watson Payne. Thanks to my superagent, Faye Bender; my multivernaculared research assistant, Jessica Hulce; and my students, who are a never-ending source of challenge and reality checks. Thank you to Phel Steinmetz for being my teacher always. And thank you to Horitomo, Horitaka, and Horiyoshi III Sensei, for honoring me with their work; with particular thanks to Horitaka for his friendship and guidance.

My special thanks to Michael Velasquez for his generosity, vision, and skill; and to my lovely wife, Heather, for her strength, loyalty, and caring.

I am indebted to each and every individual who took the time to share their bodies and stories for this project, opened their homes and businesses to me, offered words of encouragement and support, and found meaning in personal narrative. Vita non est vivere sed valere vita est.

## **Foreword**

Why do you do it? This may in fact be one of the most common questions directed at the tattooed, and is closely related and just as confusing as the question "What does it mean?" And there is no easy or all-conclusive answer. People get tattooed for a wide spectrum of reasons—group identity, lack of group identity, joy, sorrow, hate, love, drunken stupor, insecurity, security, affirmation. . . . The reasons are endless, and as varied as human nature, imagination, and emotion.

I began collecting tattoos when I was in high school, and at that time I think they were connected to a variety of motivating factors. Though I find it hard to pinpoint exactly (teenage rebellion and art appreciation were certainly influential reasons), I do know that I just wanted them. And since then, I have continued to collect . . . sometimes in commemoration of an event or time, to mark friendship or love, or maybe to prove something to myself. Oftentimes, I have been tattooed in order to receive a tattoo from a particular person. This exchange often has nothing to do with art, but more with friendship or respect. There have been a few of these done by people who are not tattooers and ended up doing their first, and probably only, tattoo on me. Other times, I have simply admired tattoo art. And despite what the TV programs tell you, no one has to die for you to get tattooed. Tattoos can have some deep profound meaning, but they don't have to. I would remind people to take what they see on TV or read in books with a grain of salt.

So why do we do it? It seems like this is a topic that is overdiscussed and overanalyzed, particularly in the "scholarly" arena. Being a tattooed person and a tattooer focusing on the Japanese style of art myself, I came across one such conjecture that strikes me as grossly unfair and worthy of rebuttal.

Early Chinese reports and archaeological findings evidence Japanese tattoos and body arts dating back thousands of years. In the current world of Japanese tattooing, the bodysuit design affecting the appearance of a large area of the body is salient. The roots of this current incarnation of Japanese tattooing are in popular arts of the Edo period (1603–1867). There is speculation and debate about the origins of this type of tattooing, and I repeatedly hear scholarly theories asserting that the large style of tattooing was created in order to cover and hide penal tattooing. It is true that the Japanese government once employed what is probably one of history's grossest misuses of the tattoo needle—tattooing those convicted with marks designating their alleged crimes. And because of this legacy, one can easily see how such a theory developed.

I find this theory to be particularly insulting, pessimistic, and laden with scholarly arrogance . . . arrogance combined not only with a large amount of ignorance of the tattoo profession, but also with no attempt at gaining understanding from an insider perspective. This happens largely because, until very recently, writings about tattooing rarely came from within the community and did not include the knowledge of a member of a group (in this case an underground group—by the way, that's underground, not underworld). While I freely agree that individuals who were tattooed to cover "convict marks" existed—as they do now—I find the notion that a beautiful art form was simply created as a disguise, or the implication that all of the tattooed were criminals, to be quite derisive. Ironically, if one studies diagrams of said penal tattooing marks, many are on the forehead and simply could not be covered with larger tattoo work. The majority of other marks are solid black armbands of varying number and size, slightly similar to the "black tribal armband" tattoo popular in the '90s in America. And as any working tattooer will tell you, these are quite difficult to cover well. Even in this era, with improved inks and the use of machines, masking solid black bands is a tall order. The covering of penal tattoos in old Japan probably existed, however poorly, but noncriminal firemen, artisans, and laborers were among those who celebrated tattooing as well.

Scholars tend to want to quantitatively analyze and understand everything, and there is a value to this. However, how do you quantitatively analyze a love song? Or why a certain painting may move you to tears? At their best, tattoos can be seen and appreciated as an art form. I think in some cases, such as in the Japanese tattoo, tattooing can even transcend art and embody a culture. But I don't think this is a requirement. Certainly not all tattoos can qualify in that manner—nor do they have to. They can just be enjoyed. Tattoos, for better or worse, reflect the human experience. Our successes, joys, mistakes, and failures are all recorded on our skins. And just like life itself, sometimes they aren't perfect. Sometimes they're even tragic. But they are real. A tattoo is just ink in skin . . . it is up to the bearer to ascribe a meaning or value to it.

And while Kip Fulbeck, decorated, published, and tenured as he may be, is in fact a scholar himself, his approach with this book was one of a field researcher—or, more important, of a human. He documents and presents without judgment, a necessary factor when hoping to elicit an honest response. He also approaches the project as an insider himself, one of the ranks of the tattooed, and is less restricted by outside prejudices. And I think you will find his research to cover a wide spectrum, the answers being as simple or as complicated as the human psyche itself. What follows is truly an honest response to the question of why.

With regard to tattoos . . . me personally? I just think they're cool and I still love them as much as I did in high school.

Horitaka (Takahiro Kitamura)
San Jose, California

## **Introduction**

When I teach my college art seminars, I start the first class by asking each student to tell the group something unique about themselves—or, as I put it, something nontransferable. What I'm looking for is a random fact, a salient feature, an off-the-wall quirk that separates them from the Xeroxed pack of names, majors, and ID numbers blurring my roll sheet each year. I'm looking for something that makes them them. Part of this is an exercise in thinking for themselves and part of it is a gimmick for me to help keep their names fresh for the next ten weeks until I can Ctrl+Alt+Delete them and start over. Since we already spend our lives individualizing ourselves, the task should be simple. We all customize our behavior and appearance every day—our dress, our gait, our vernaculars, our possessions, even our tastes. The exercise starts and we go around the room, giving each person a turn. "I don't know any of you," I say, "so give me something that makes you stand out. Tell me something that's yours."

"I love playing soccer" doesn't work. Boring. Neither does "I come from a family of six" or "I'm obsessed with Ashlee Simpson." Invariably, someone else has the same family size or the same questionable taste. Try again.

I tell them each of us has our own histories; our immensely varied and private experiences to cull from that are completely and absolutely our own. And because of this—because we have all lived different lives, eaten different foods, kept different dogs or cats or fish or birds or monkeys, kissed different people, made different mistakes, bought different shoes, watched different movies, told different lies—finding something unique about ourselves, something utterly our own, should be easy. Sure, sometimes we get caught in a fad, finding a commonality of iPod ownership or Project Runway watching, but the vast majority of our lives are completely and idiosyncratically ours and ours alone. So tell me something non-transferable.

At this point, I'm usually met with uncomfortable and prolonged silence—every teacher's nightmare, complete with poker faces, spiral notebooks, and fresh pens. Until eventually, a brave alpha or two will venture forward into the conceptual abyss, tentatively volunteering a particular fondness for fondue parties, or detailing the gory particulars of a recent relationship breakup or a youth spent with a bipolar mother. Something we actually find memorable, even intriguing. Something we actually want to know more about. When this happens, and it happens every class sooner or later, the group as a whole takes its first step in differentiating what really interests us from what we're supposed to care about when we ask someone how they're doing. And occasionally in this exercise, rather than say anything at all, a student will simply stand up, lift their shirt or roll up their pant leg, and show us their tattoo. Then things really start to cook. It doesn't matter if we like the ink or not. Everyone wants to know why.

There are forty million people with ink in the United States alone, and thousands more every day. Forty million different reasons for choosing to permanently mark our bodies. Forty million different answers to the question. You can go to most any town in America now and get inked. Pick up a magazine, turn on the television, or go to the gym and the person next to you has a tattoo. What was once a bastion of nonconformity is now mainstream, the same way Reagan era–led youth incarceration eventually brought baggy denims to the Gap and the word punk moved from describing the working-class anger of early Clash and Sex Pistols to the barre chords and pop harmonies of the latest Green Day clone.

It's like I dozed off for a second and missed the middle chapters. All of a sudden we're in Act III and someone is talking about the ides of March. A random Justin Timberlake is onstage singing black-inspired music, dressed in clothes inspired by black prison youth, wearing ink inspired by generations of sailors, bikers, criminals, and other social outcasts with a million hot girls cheering him on, and no one seems to care. No one bats an eye. No one even asks if it bothers me.

These are easy things to complain about, but complaining about them just gets you pegged as old and cantankerous and I'm already in my forties. I might as well be yelling at kids to get off the front lawn, complaining about those damn skateboarders, and misplacing my coupons while standing in line at Rite Aid. It's easier just to roll with it. Tattoos are everywhere, and counting.

Maybe it's a perceived lack of individuality in a world of Starbucks, Circuit City, Carl's Jr., and Olive Garden. Maybe it's the absence of meaningful rituals within our modern culture (quick: name me something meaningful about your high school graduation). Maybe it's as simple as a love of a historically dismissed art form finally being recognized and accepted by the masses. Or maybe it's really, as I'm often told, just another trend like straight-leg jeans, silver cars, Bluetooths you have to scream in to be heard, and those horrible Croc shoes. Except this one you can't pitch on eBay after your visiting cousin copies you.

Trends come and go like sudoku books, and while tattooing one's body can now be as easy as an impulsive trip to the local strip mall, both the reality and the art form's history involve much more than that. Anyone, if they want it bad enough, can come up with the money and bear the physical pain of getting inked. But money and pain aren't the issues. Whether we realize it or not at the time, choosing to get tattooed transforms you—sometimes innocuously, other times with profound significance. The process itself can be purging—a way to memorialize a life event or person, or an attempt to navigate an emotional experience. It can be a bonding between friends, a display of aggression or of belonging or not belonging, a revered adornment, an abhorrent branding, or simply the visual evidence of nothing more than a whim caught at the right place at the right time. Whatever the circumstance, one constant remains present. Getting tattooed transforms how others view you, and often how you see yourself as well. As a friend once told me after my first ink, "You're no longer Kip now. You're Kip with tattoos."

I don't feel any particular kinship with other tattooed people, any more than I have some inherent commonality with someone just because they're American or they enjoy surfing. Some people I like. Some I admire. Some I'm embarrassed of. Most I ignore. I'll be the first to admit I don't care about most tattoos I see. A lot of hasty decisions being made, and a plethora of questionably skilled practitioners putting out loads of shoddy work (the better to offset the several dozen amazingly talented tattooers out there, I suppose). But what I do like, what I have always liked, are the stories behind our decisions.

What makes us how we are—how we dress, how we talk, who we're attracted to (and who we're repelled by . . . the whole would-you-rather-do_____or_____game). And particularly, what drives someone to permanently mark their body. The individual reasoning, the thought process behind why we choose to be tattooed—where on our body we do it, what style and design we settle on, and who we trust with the process.

I want to know why someone walks by a tattoo shop and spontaneously decides to enter, pick some flash off the wall, pay whoever happens to be working, and walk out an hour later bandaged while others read books, attend conventions, and interview tattooers for decades before ever getting their first tattoo (if they ever do get one). Why do some people tattoo their lover's name on their chest and others their favorite automobile manufacturer? Why do some feel the urge to immerse themselves in a foreign culture's historical tradition while others choose to create their own or simply FTW? Then again, I wonder why people read The Da Vinci Code instead of Salinger, why they wear cowboy hats in cities and care what Tom Cruise's baby looks like, why more people know Flavor Flav from some insipid reality show than remember the sheer brilliance of Public Enemy (actual student comment: "He used to be in a band?"). Maybe I just have one of those brains you can't turn off.

I photographed hundreds of people for this book from all walks of life, from Chelsea to Compton, asking them to tell me about their tattoos. Asking them to tell me their stories. Asking that question why. Maybe you'll find some of the images or the stories interesting, or meaningful. Maybe you'll see something about yourself in another's image or writing. Maybe you'll admire someone's artwork, ridicule someone's mistake, or be inspired by another's courage. I'd like to think some of these will make an impact on you, but if not, that's okay. It's not my deal, not my story. It's nontransferable. It's theirs.

Kip Fulbeck
Santa Barbara, California

### Interview with Evan Seinfeld

Kip Fulbeck: Okay, you want to tell me about your tattoo history?

Evan Seinfeld: Oh shit.

Anything you want.

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where tattooing was illegal until the late '90s. The only guys who had tattoos were guys who had been in jail and older Italian guys—wiseguys. And most people got their tattoos from Tony Polito on Westridge Boulevard. I thought he only had four tattoos. He had the panther, the Christ head, the parrot, and the redheaded girl with her foot on the pirate chest. Being that I didn't really like any of those things I was never really going to get a tattoo.

I grew up in Canarsie and I was very into heavy metal and hardcore and punk. When I got into the hardcore scene in my teens, I started hanging out at CBGB's and going to L'amours and I started seeing amazing black work on people and I was immediately sucked in. And Billy, from my band, from Biohazard, he introduced me to Mike Perfetto—Michael Angelo—who did half my tattoos before I was even twenty.

Wow.

And it was, I remember it being kinda freakish to people because nobody had black-and-white tattoos. Nobody really had sleeves where I lived in New York. The only guys who really had sleeves were the Hells Angels and bikers, pretty much. And I've always ridden bikes, you know, but . . . it seems like it's become so mainstream now.

Yeah, tell me about that.

It's like, it seems like everybody is sure that they're not going to have to look for a bank job.

'Cause you're going on, like, year fifteen, right? Or more?

I'm thirty-eight. I started getting tattooed when I was eighteen. So twenty years, twenty-one years.

And how has that changed in terms of the reception?

Well, I just think now it's funny. Because you're in an elevator and grandma's gonna go, [in nasally voice] "Oh, look at you all tattooed! You look like 50 Cent, or Dennis Rodman."

You know, and that's the other thing, it's like black people never had tattoos until Dennis Rodman—like, almost like he started it. And, I don't know . . . I feel like people get tattoos for different reasons. People used to get tattoos to stand out. Now people get tattoos to fit in.

That's true.

It's funny. It's like if I were eighteen all over again and looking at what it looked like now, I probably wouldn't get tattooed the way I did because it would look more different to not get tattooed, in a weird way. You know, I'd probably choose something that was more like what you did—like a full back piece that nobody saw unless I wanted to show it to them.

So you wouldn't do your arms and stuff that shows?

No, because, it just seems that more times than not I wear long sleeves nowadays. You know, and even then, my neck and my head and my hands are tattooed so I can't ever really hide it. Not that I ever want to hide it—it's just that sometimes I don't feel like talking to people. And it seems like people feel a nervous obligation to strike up a conversation. And it's always in an elevator! It's always in an elevator. People feel really uncomfortable when they're alone with a tattooed person in an elevator. And they go, you know, what the fuck is people sayin' like, "Whoa, that's a lot of tattoos." I'm like, what kind of fuckin' idiotic statement is that? It's like, "Wow, you're really fat" or like, "Wow, you're really ugly" or, "Wow, look how shallow you are." You know, I really kinda refuse to get into those conversations.

Now, do they recognize you in the elevator?

You know, that's the other thing. People think you're a celebrity because you're on reality TV, then I'm like—"This is stupid." You know, it's like—

And they don't know you from music?

You know, it's funny. Biohazard was the biggest thing I ever did in my life, creatively. I did ten albums over nineteen years. And we sold four million records and we played in ninety countries around the world. Shit, we used to play three hundred shows a year. We may have played more concerts than anybody ever in kind of a weird way. And, you know, we used to impact people's lives because our lyrics were deep and spiritual and we talked about the strains of society at every level. Politically, socially, mentally, spiritually, physically. And we kinda created this kind of music driven—Biohazard was the urban soundtrack to, to, like, a modern-day young tribal ceremony. And we used to bond, and people would be in there, you know, slamming and letting out negative energy in a positive way. And more people know me that I slapped Sebastian Bach in a fuckin' stupid TV series. And like, they're enamored by that. And I'm just like, "Go buy a fuckin' record and read the lyrics. Oh, I'm sorry. Download it for free."

So when people meet you in elevators, is it usually because of the tattoos or because they recognize you?

No, the kind of people who strike up a conversation are people that are just like, they're scared that because you're tattooed that you're going to dismember them or something. I don't know where people get this kind of image in their mind, but it's pretty funny. You know, the only people I'll talk to are little old ladies. It's funny—they say "from the mouths of babes." I feel like kids and old people are really honest and everybody in the middle is usually full of shit.

So like, when you're in the supermarket— when me and Tera are in the supermarket, standing in line at fuckin' Whole Foods, waiting to get some fuckin' whatever we're getting . . . a four- or five-year-old kid will come over and touch my skin.

Yeah, I've had that happen.

Because, wow, look how interesting that is. And it's their parents who—

I like that, though.

Me, too! I think that's honest. They're inquisitive and they're trying to learn about life and they're interested in something different. And their parents who are in their forties are yanking that kid back and apologizing to you.

And I always say, "No, no. It's okay, come here, little boy." You know, why they're scared is none of my . . . I couldn't tell you. But little old ladies are the same thing. Little old ladies stop me in the supermarket, too. And they go, "What in the hell were you thinking? What does your mother think of that? Why would you do that? You're such a nice-looking boy. Why would you do that to your body?" You know?

So what do you say?

I don't have a stock answer for a question like that. I mean, you know, if a lil' old lady who seemed really sincere asked me that today, I would say, "You know, it was my body. It was my choice. It wasn't about my mom and it wasn't about God and it was just about me. It's my real estate and I'll decorate it how I want to." I'll appreciate their interest because it's genuine as opposed to someone who's just like, "Wow, you sure have a lot of tattoos." It's like, what? What is that?

It's like a nothing statement.

That's like saying, "Wow, you really are black."

[laughs] Yeah, I get that after I swim, in the showers. People are like, "Oh, wow, that's a lot of stuff."

You're like, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

I don't know what to say.

You know what? If I'm feeling really sarcastic, I do this bit where if someone goes, "Wow, that's a lot of tattoos." And I go, "What are you talking about?" And they go, "Your tattoos." And I go, "Oh my god! How did that get there?" You know? Stupid.

Could you talk really quick about your parents or about what they thought or about—

My parents . . . my parents are Jewish school-teachers who were really put off by me getting tattooed. But they're pretty liberal and open-minded and I think once they got over the initial shock of the stigma they attached to it in their generation, 'cause they were coming off, you know, Holocaust survivors were the only Jews who had tattoos . . . My parents were born here in America. I'm born here in America. My kid's born here in America, you know? I wouldn't be surprised if my kid went and got tattooed. I hope he would consult me first—I'd make sure he gets the right artist.

Good point.

You know, I hope he doesn't come home with like, a Yu-Gi-Oh or a Pokémon tattoo!

### **Interview with Kat Von D**

Kip Fulbeck: Tell me how you first got into tattooing.

Kat Von D: I got into tattooing about the same time I started tattooing, which was fourteen years old, just hanging out with a lot of kids in the punk rock scene, you know? All my friends had tattoos and being naturally inclined to the art, it was just something that kinda naturally came.

Where was this?

This was in San Bernardino. That's where I was kinda raised.

Inland Empire.

Yeah, yeah. I was born in Mexico and I came to America when I was about four years old.

And you got tattooed at fourteen?

Yeah, and it was all homemade stuff and that's kinda how I started. Just like tattooing a lot of gangsters and shit like that, and the punk rock kids. And then I got into my first tattoo shop when I was sixteen. That was in San Bernardino at Sin City Tattoo. And I worked there for about a year and a half or so and then moved to Pasadena.

Was it mostly machines or were you guys doing needles and india ink?

No, we had rigged up machines to the whole cassette player motor and all that stuff. It was all guitar string that we'd filed down and all that stuff. Sometimes we'd get fancy and make a foot pedal, but for the most part it was just hooked up to a battery.

And then you came to L.A.?

Yeah, then I came to L.A. I worked at a few shops before I started working out at High Voltage in Hollywood, which is my favorite shop that I've ever worked at.

And you're here permanently now?

Yeah, pretty much. I want to be here for a long time.

How many people think that you're in Miami?

A lot of people think that I'm in Miami just because of the show [Miami Ink], and people just assume that I live there. But I would actually never ever live there. The only reason I'm there is because they pay me.

And how did you get into your specialty doing the black and gray?

You know, as a kid I would always draw portraits of my family members, so I think I've always been drawn to realism. So when I started tattooing, I tried to do my realistic take on everything. So, even with traditional stuff, I'd always shade it out too much and kinda lose that whole traditional effect to it. But now I pretty much just stick to fine-line black and gray. I don't really do that much color nowadays. I mean on my friends I'll do it, but I want to focus on something and just stick to it.

Do you see yourself continuing with your other work you're doing? Which is, like, on calendars and your—

Yeah, you know, because of the show and the success of it, I've been able to launch a merchandise store, I guess you could call it, where I sell, like, tattoo-influenced clothing and calendars and shot glasses and bells and things like that. I mean, I eventually plan on expanding and actually doing, like, a legit clothing line, so I think that might be a plan for the future. But I don't know. I'm just trying to kinda build my little empire right now.

And how did you feel about getting in so young, because you were so young coming into the scene—especially as a woman?

Yeah, I'm really grateful I got into tattooing as young as I did because I feel like I was able to learn more at such a young age. And I have a lot of years ahead of me now because of it. But it was tough at the same time, you know? I didn't really understand what I was getting into when I got into it. I just was like, this is something I want to do—I love it. But then you start realizing all the politics, and all the tattoo drama that comes along with it, which I've tried my hardest to stay out of. But it's definitely a lifestyle and it's something that I'm pretty loyal to.

Do you ever get people who ask you to do stuff you just don't want to do?

I think at this point in my career I can pick and choose what I want to do, so out of all the requests I get I just kinda pick the ones I want to do. I just feel like, you know, I have a certain amount of years to my tattoo life and there's a certain amount of tattoos that I can do in that time.

And I'd rather focus on the things that I want to perfect. I want to be better than what I am right now. So it's like, I'd rather just focus on doing the portraits and the realism and the black and gray.

When I was in Japan getting tattooed, I saw Horiyoshi Sensei doing this insect on this girl's back—like an American dragonfly—and when I asked him about it, he said, "It's what she wanted." It's just so weird to go to Japan to have him do something that wasn't his style.

Yeah, I'm not in any way trying to say that I'm better than certain styles. I just feel like I'm good at what I do and I know my limits. Like I would never attempt doing a Japanese sleeve because my brain doesn't think the same way. And I would never want somebody to be unhappy with what they get. I'd be much happier referring them to somebody who specializes in what they love, you know?

You have a favorite piece on you?

I think my favorite tattoo that I have is the portrait of my father on my right arm. It was done by Tim Hendrix. My father has always been my hero growing up and still is. I can always look down at my arm and look at my dad. And he loves the tattoo, so it's cool.

What brought you guys here from Mexico?

My brother, my sister, and I were born in Monterrey in Nuevo León, Mexico. But my family is actually from Argentina. My parents were missionaries for the church at the time and they were going to school in Mexico and doing missionary work and whatnot. And the three of us were born and then we came to America.

What do you think about how tattoos have changed in terms of being so much more prevalent now than when you were growing up?

Well, you know, especially with the popularity of these TV shows and things like that, it has definitely opened people's minds up to tattooing. Nowadays you've got soccer moms and people that normally wouldn't be into tattooing tuning in. Even though they might not necessarily get a sleeve or get tattooed, they can now appreciate it and understand why people get tattooed. So I think that in a way it's really nice and at the same time, I kinda liked, you know, feeling punk rock and being the only—

More underground.

Yeah. You know, being the only person—the only girl—with her face tattooed or having full sleeves, you know? But at the same time, it was still a pain in the ass. Even like five years ago it was so different . . . going to malls or going to a Christian Dior store, you don't get the same respect that you get now. People are way more open-minded to it.

So you had problems when you were a kid?

Well sure. You know, I was young and had visible tattoos and living in the Inland Empire wasn't like—it wasn't Hollywood.

[laughs] IE . . . I was born in Fontana. Oh yeah! So you know all about it.

It's so different than just—

I think, you know, once like, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and Angelina Jolie started getting heavily tattooed . . . those are the people that launched the popularity before these shows appeared. I think these shows just kind of exploded it for the rest of them.

How about face tattoos? Anyone ever copy you?

You know, I saw a few girls that got it and it really bums me out because like—obviously, I'm not the first person to get a star on your face. But, like the way that I got the stars on my face was something to be an individual, like the rest of my tattoos. It was something that meant something to me and I liked the way it looked on me. And so when you see other girls doing it—and a lot of girls, whether they're copying my style or whatever—you have to take it as a compliment. But if it was up to me, I wouldn't want them to do it.

Right.

I mean, having your face tattooed is a really big step and it's not something that I promote, you know? It's like, I'm a tattooer. It's what I do for a living. I feel comfortable in my skin. But some people at a really young age, they just go crazy. And it's like, dude, you still gotta get a job and you still gotta function in society.

The first ones I saw were the stars and I have seen people try to copy that.

Yeah, yeah. It's a bummer . . . and I mean, in the same sense it's like, everything's been done, you know? Tattooing's been around forever and we're just regurgitating different styles and either improving them or taking our own take on it.

Exactly.

But, you know, it does suck when somebody—I would never go into a tattoo shop and show them a magazine and go, "This is what I want."

Exactly this.

Which is what people do.

Any last advice for people thinking about getting their tattoos?

Just do your research. I think there's tons of amazing artists out there. You don't have to stick to one person. There's a lot of people out there that you could check out their work and their styles before just going into any shop to get just any random tattoo.

### **Interview with Brittany Farmer**

Kip Fulbeck: Tell me how you decided to get a tattoo.

Brittany Farmer: I decided I wanted a tattoo probably in high school. It wasn't a really big deal because most of my family has tattoos. And then I was thinking about it a lot when I came to college.

How old are you now?

I'm nineteen. [laughs] And I got it on my nineteenth birthday. The first go-around I had some elaborate design like an orchid and this whole thing and I had this tattoo artist draw it up for me. And then I made the appointment and chickened out at the last minute and I didn't call him—mostly because I didn't want to be tattooed at a place called Precious Slut. [laughs] And also because, I think it was kind of one of those things where I knew in my gut it wasn't the right one to have. I didn't have that "for sure" feeling that I think you should have before you go into something that's going to last forever.

So what happened?

So I didn't get it done. I chickened out. And then about six months later, I was still thinking about it and I really wanted to get something done. And at the time I was going through a lot changes with myself, just as far as my Christian identity is concerned. Before, I was very by the book . . . typical youth group, non-Catholic; people will teach you about the Bible and Christian life—I would go by that. And then all of sudden I had all these questions and all these doubts.

Like what?

I had a lot of trouble with . . . the way they teach is very in a box and I never felt like I really belonged in the world they were trying to create—where women are traditionally, they're docile and obedient to their husbands. It was mostly being a female, I think. Just second best to the male gender. I just didn't feel like that was God's intent for women to be second best. And that really started the ball rolling . . . and also with homosexuality and things like this where people justify telling people that they're going to go to hell for certain behavior when the entire rest of the Bible preaches about love and forgiveness and acceptance.

And how did that bring you to get a tattoo?

I wanted something that would signify what I knew for sure. And that was that there is a God. And for me, you know, it's the God of the Bible and that God is always with me and cares about me. And that's one thing I knew for absolute sure and that I still know. So, I just kind of wanted to remind myself of that in this whole world of change. That there is something permanent for me, right there. So I was flipping through images, Christian iconography, on the Web. And I didn't want to get a cross because it seems kind of cliché. I wanted something a little more unique, a little more personal. And I just found this symbol of the triangle representing the Trinity and the circle representing eternity. And I decided that that would be something nice and simple and clean and kind of like me.

How did your family feel?

My mom did not want me to get a tattoo until I was about thirty-five years old, so I'd know I'd like it the rest of my life.

But you got it at nineteen?

It was sort of my first act of rebellion. Although, I guess it's kind of a weak rebellion, rebelling toward a tattoo about God. [laughs] That's okay. It's me. So I went down, I didn't tell her I was gonna get it. I didn't tell anybody, actually. I took two of my roommates and we went down to the tattoo parlor called Custom Ink, this time, which was a little bit more acceptable to me. And he did the tattoo. And it hurt! Just about as much as a Brazilian bikini wax, I'd say. They're about on the same level of pain for me. [laughs] And I was just really happy with it and it was really one of the first things I'd done that I didn't care what other people thought about it. You know, my mom told me "wait," and my dad probably didn't really care, and my boyfriend said, "Are you sure you really want to get a tattoo on your foot?" because of this and this and this. And it was just one of those things where I knew I wanted it, so I did it for me. No questions asked type of thing.

How do you feel about all the tattoos going around with your college friends . . . all the tattoos that you see everywhere?

I think a lot of tattoos that girls are getting especially—and guys, too—they'll end up thinking they're dumb later in life. Getting tattoos is really trendy on the college campus. And I think that people just want a tattoo and don't want to think about what it means. So people end up with punk rock stars on their wrists or a NorCal symbol huge across their back. And it might be meaningful for some people, but when you see twenty-five of them walking down the street, you know not everybody is that connected to that thing. So when you go into the tattoo parlors and flip through all the stock images and you can name fifteen people that have it, I think it kind of loses its relevance in a way. I think it's something that should say something about you, permanently, say something about who you are—not just something you liked at a certain age.

What would happen if all of a sudden you saw a whole bunch of college girls all getting the same tattoo you have now?

Um . . . it wouldn't really bother me because I know what it means for me.

What if you started a trend and you were the first one and then all of a sudden fifty people have yours?

[laughs] If all of a sudden people had mine, I . . . you know, it wouldn't really bother me if people really connected with it. It would bother me if people, all of a sudden it became an image where it's seen everywhere and then people would come up to me and go, "Oh, so you're just another person with that tattoo." That would bother me. Because I'd have to be on the defensive about it and explain everything. But if I started a trend, that would be flattering. [laughs]

How do you feel about tattoos on men?

I like tattoos on guys or don't. I think it depends on if it fits the person, then it's nice. It can complement the person. But, you know, the armband, tribal tattoo that everybody got in the early '90s, like Nick Lachey–type tattoo, I don't like those, because they just seem, they seem fake. They seem just trendy. Just like you went out with your bros and you all bleached your hair and got an armband tattoo. But, like, my cousin has this full-body tattoo. And for him it fits his entire personality, and every tattoo, he sat down with the artist and helped design it. And he did a lot of the sketches himself. So for that, it's meaningful and it's him. If you see his tattoos it says a lot about who he is. So I like those ones.

Have you ever had any of your girlfriends ask you for advice on their tattoos?

Right after I got my foot tattoo my roommate now decided that she wanted to get one, um, on her foot! But she didn't want to do it in the same place, you know, as a me type of thing. And she wanted to get something a little bit different. So she just kind of asked me about how much did it hurt or "What do you think about this?" showing me things. But I think she was talking about it a little bit before I did it and then as soon as I did it she was like, "All right, I want to do it."

What happened?

She went and got it done. It's right on the side of her foot and not on the top.

Would she have gotten it on her foot if you didn't?

Um . . . she was looking for a place, I think the same as me—she was looking for a place that was kind of appropriate. For example, like you don't want to get a cross on your ass because it's just kind of odd. I mean, if you want to you can. But she was looking for sort of that appropriate place and I think she likes mine. I'm not the only person in the world with a foot tattoo, so I'm not gonna take credit for that.

Any advice for people who are looking at tattoos?

I'd say, obviously think about it, not that I thought about it a certain amount of time. But the most important thing is, I think, go with your gut. Because if you see something, you know you love it. Give it a couple of days to make sure that feeling still sticks or, you know, however long you want to wait. For me it was just a couple of days. But if you know it, then do it and you'll probably be happy with it. But if you have any inkling of, you know, "I'm not certain about this," I would say just—however embarrassing it might be that you don't show your face at Precious Slut anymore—don't do it! You're going to regret it when you're eighty years old with a tattoo you don't like.

Anything to say to your tattooer who's waiting for you at Precious Slut?

[laughs] Your sketch was beautiful. But it just wasn't for me and I wish you'd change the name of your store. Well, for people like me, anyway! [laughs]

### **Interview with Oliver Peck**

Kip Fulbeck: Tell me how you got into tattooing. Oliver Peck: I guess pretty much the same as everybody does, just fascinated by art as a kid. I was always drawing and once you get old enough you start drawing yourself and getting bubble-gum-machine tattoos when you're a kid. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, which is kind of not the big city life at all. I mean, it's a city—it's a downtown—but it's kinda like a small-town city. There's not much diversity there at all. It's pretty much rednecks. And the only tattooed people I ever saw were people that my mom would steer me away from. It's like, you see a biker, or some gangster, or a convict-looking guy with tattoos and I was always like, "Man, that's awesome. That's what I want. When I get old I'm gonna get tattoos."

And this was the '70s?

Yeah, this is early, like when I was, like, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten . . . you know, '70s, late '70s. And then, once I got into high school, got on drugs, whatnot, met some people who knew how to make homemade tattoo machines, I just started tattooing on myself, started tattooing on friends.

What was the first one you did?

First one I did on myself was without a machine. Just a straight loose needle and some ink. I hand-poked on my ankles a moon and a star. Later I came to find out that it was a Muslim symbol.

Yeah. [laughs]

[laughs] But at the time in my teenage years, it was actually a skateboard graphic from Todd Swank. And it was just, he just had a moon and a star, and I was just like—at the actual night that it came to be that I got that tattoo, that sticker was there and it was a simple, easy design. There was not that much thought put into what my first tattoo was gonna be. It was just, "I want something. Okay, how about that?"

How old were you?

I might have been sixteen. Either sixteen or seventeen. It was in the summer . . . eighth-grade summer, ninth-grade summer, tenth-grade summer. Something like that.

So you cut your chops in Fort Worth?

Yeah, then I started tattooing more friends and made some homemade tattoo machines. And then I ended up moving to Dallas after high school and actually purchased some legitimate tattoo equipment and was tattooing out of my house. And then, just got a job at a shop from some referral. Some guy I tattooed went in the shop and they said, "Who did that?" "Oh, this kid." I went and got a job there pretty much. It was really, you know, just a little-budget, no-good little tattoo shop. And I worked there for a few months and started hanging out at another shop in town called Paradise that Richard Stell owned at the time. And he was like a long-term, old-school veteran tattooer in Texas that was really badass. I started hanging out over there and made friends with him and the guys that work there and one day he just asked me if I wanted to learn how to tattoo.

Really? Just took you on like that?

Hell, he was like, "You want to learn how to tattoo?" And I was like, "Fuck yeah!" He's like, "Well, come work over here and start all over and we'll teach you how to tattoo." So that's what I did. I worked there for about five years and really learned to tattoo and built a clientele in Dallas . . . a few years after that me and some partners opened up Elm Street Tattoo in Dallas, which I've been there for going on eleven years now.

How much time you spending out here now?

Just within the last five or six years I've started working in L.A. and California. First was working in Orange County at Classic Tattoo with Eric Maaske. And he was the person who brought me out to California. Because I met him on some road trips and he really changed my life and changed my tattooing and brought me into the style of tattooing that I do now, which is old-school, traditional, American, whatever you want to call it. I worked for him at his shop and I was going back and forth between Dallas and Orange County until he died two years ago. And then I started working in L.A. at True Tattoo. So now I've evolved to where I'm in L.A. half the time. I do two weeks in Dallas, two weeks in L.A. every month.

What do you think about the resurgence in traditional American style now?

A few years ago, the whole classic tattoo American thing—like the old-school tattooing thing—has really become a big buzz with clothing companies and refrigerator magnets, and Sailor Jerry Rum and Ed Hardy Clothing Company. It's good and it's bad. Now you have a lot more people getting the style of tattoos that I like, but then you also have people that you don't like getting that style of tattoos. So it's like, there's always good with the bad. There's people that are getting it because they love it and people that are getting it just because somebody else got it. It's like, you know, you miss the old days when people were original. Tattooing has really gotten so crazy. It's so popular. I mean now there's, like, crazy fads and trends in tattooing. Like, there'll go years where everybody gets a tribal armband and then years where everybody gets a swallow and then years when everybody wants a Japanese koi fish. You know, when I was early tattooing, every college girl got a butterfly on her butt or a dolphin on her ankle. Early '90s, I bet there was more dolphins tattooed than anything else for, like, three years straight. Every sorority girl had a dolphin on her ankle.

And then mid-'90s was the tribal?

Yeah. Every dude had a tribal armband and every girl had a little tribal shape on her lower back. It's weird because tattooing originally, I mean the way most people get into tattooing is because they want it, you know, it's the desire for art and a desire for individuality. And now it's almost become the exact opposite of both. Now it's like, it's not about the art and it's not about the individual. It's about picking whatever's hip and getting whatever whoever else got. So, it's like, it's totally opposite of what it used to be.

What do you think is going to happen over time with that?

Who knows? A lot of people say that tattooing is this growing fad and it could crash at any minute, but they forget to remember that all these people have these tats and they're stuck with them.

Forty million people.

All these people. You can't stop something like that. You can't—it's not something that can be forgotten because every new kid that turns eighteen every day is gonna see someone with a tattoo—whether that person they saw still likes their tattoo or not, that eighteen-year-old kid is still gonna be influenced by it. There's no turning around. You can't erase it. And even though people are all, "Oh, people are getting their tattoos removed," that's like, there's, it's still not possible to remove . . . I mean maybe the technology'll get better to where they can just walk in and [snaps finger] zap your tattoo off painlessly. But until that happens, it's not—

I can't imagine getting this off. I mean how much, how long it would take?

Yeah, anybody that's heavily tattooed has no hope—

You could just blacken your arms out at some point.

People do that, too. And that's still going to influence the next generation to get tattooed. No matter what, no matter how much you discourage young kids not to do heroin, every year there's more heroin junkies on the street. I think the main thing that's gonna probably try to hurt tattooing is the legal aspect. Because now they're coming into health issues and the health department's coming in and they're gonna start registering and monitoring the uses of the inks and everything. Like the FDA approves food, they're gonna try to approve the inks. And the inks we use—they're safe, comparably speaking. But they're not medically proven safe by any medical standard to have a product shoved underneath your skin.

There's no research on it.

Yeah and no. The research they're doing now is showing that the ink is not—they're considering it not safe. Now they put out warning labels on—I think they're gonna start putting warning labels on tattoo shop doors saying it could be hazardous to your health.

Really? They're not talking about hep and communicables?

No, they're talking about the ink filtering through, like when your body filters it out. They're finding people that are old have clogged-up ink in their livers and in their organs and stuff. I mean, whatever. I mean, people are still gonna do it. You put a skull and crossbones on a cigarette pack and people still buy it. People are gonna still do it, whether they say it's safe or not.

Of course.

I mean, it's made it through the scare of disease in the '80s. In the '80s and early '90s there was a big scare of disease transferred from tattooing and people are getting tattooed more now than ever. So who knows?

What's your advice for people thinking about getting tattooed?

I think that there's a fine line to be crossed between thinking about what tattoo to get and thinking too much about what tattoo to get. If you're the kind of person that's gonna think too much about what to get, then maybe you shouldn't get it. You know . . . the kind of people that do tons of research and the kind of people who spend months and months deciding on one little factor of their one little, small tattoo that they're gonna get—those are the people who regret their tattoo. The people that just come in and be like, "I want this. I want that. I want to get a tattoo because I love tattoos because I love art" . . . those people, like me, they don't regret their tattoos. Regardless of whether they were done well or done bad or faded or old or shiny or new. It's like, if you're getting tattooed, you should get tattooed because you love tattoos. End of the story. You know? That's it. People that try and find other reasons to get tattoos, they're just . . . it's a false hope and they're building themselves up to be let down later because it's still just gonna be a tattoo and it's still gonna be old some day and it's still gonna be . . .

It won't be trendy at some point.

Yeah.

It'll change.

I mean, whatever you get . . . if you get it because it's hip, it's not gonna be hip some day, you know? If you get it because you love it, then you're set. You got nothing to worry about.

### **Interview with Bill Smith**

Kip Fulbeck: Mr. Smith, can you tell me about how you came to get your tattoos?

Bill Smith: Well, I signed up for the Marines as soon as I could after we got attacked. I went over there in March, but they wouldn't take me until May.

Why wouldn't they take you?

Because I wouldn't be seventeen until May 28, 1942.

And you said before you didn't weigh enough to get in at first?

Well, I managed . . . was able to push my weight up to 125 by drinking a lot of water and eating bananas—right down to the doctor's office.

How did you choose the Marine Corps over other branches of service?

Well, my father had been a Marine since the, what they called the German-American War—1916. So I was a second generation.

And when did you decide to get the Marine Corps tattoos?

Oh, in New River at boot camp. We had a tattoo parlor right there, a roof over the, what do you call it—an alley. A guy named Ace Harland set up tattoo needles. There was about two bars, and four or five taxis. It was a big delivery town, ya know, with the parlor houses there. Seventh heaven. They raised the pay from $17 to $21 a month, and after that went in, it went up to $35. Then they made it to $50. Fifty dollars a month to spend!

That's a big jump.

It was a land of ten-cent cigarettes and $3 girls. You were loaded.

And how much did the tattoos cost?

Oh, a buck and a half, I guess.

That's great. Did a lot of your fellow corpsmen get tattoos as well?

Whole lot of them, yeah. Some of the guys who had bigger arms got the bulldog, ya know. The big dog, bulldog, with the helmet on, and the spiked collar, USMC.

And how did you pick what to get?

Ah, I just liked the emblem. I don't have a big arm, so I couldn't get the big bull, that big bulldog wrapped around.

Was it real busy that time in the tattoo parlor?

Well, there was all those guys waiting, so yeah.

And always Marine Corps?

Yeah, it was all Marine Corps. We had naval medics, ya know, they were sailors. They resented the handed-out Marines. I remember one of the doctors when I was in the hospital said, "If you had enough people in the Marines that could read and write, you could have your own medical corps." I thought it was kind of insulting.

So did you ever have any problem with the tattoo up until what happened at the theaters?

No, no. You can see 'em, they're blurry now, ya know. But ex-Marines know what they are right away. "Semper fi, buddy."

So what happened at the movie theater? How'd that come about?

Well, when I was hired we had a nice uniform with a shirt and a bow tie, red vest, black pants. And a few years later, I don't remember just when, they went to the polo shirts, which were a lot cheaper. And, oh, the guys, they all thought the uniform looked great, and now the polo shirt—okay. Now, we had a manager then, from Philadelphia, black lady, very nice. They had that tattoo rule, but she said, "That doesn't affect Bill. He's not going to lose his job." 'Cause I was a bit unusual, more or less. And then, somebody had made some remark about it and she said that I had that fleece jacket, ya know. She said, "Put that on if any of the big shots are around." So I had that thing there and I'd put it on sometimes if I knew somebody was coming. But then this outfit bought General Cinema out.

Mr. Smith, how old were you when all this was going on?

Well, when I first went to work there I was sixty-five. I had just retired that spring and I decided I didn't like being retired so I took a part-time job. So they had the same written rule about tattoos. And as I had been warned about it—

And the rule was you couldn't show tattoos?

Couldn't show a tattoo on the forearms. If you had tattoos anywhere else that didn't show, they didn't object. But I know I was working away and putting a standee together—you know, those cardboard things with a picture? And I was down on my knees and I heard the manager say to somebody, "There's no key on that box," meaning the doorman's box. But I didn't put any significance on that. And that was the night that the two girls told me that they had to fire me. And I said, "What? I've been working here fifteen years. I never had a write-up. I was never late." And they said it was the tattoo thing. I was in shock.

That's amazing. So what does that have to do with that key thing he was talking about?

Oh, the doorman's box is supposed to have a key, but the lock doesn't work and she was only pointing it out to someone who was not familiar with it. They put two pieces together, this was some guy . . . one of the big wheels from Kansas City.

I see.

Kansas City, now, Wichita, where the hell they are? Anyway, so I went to a lawyer that my wife's friend knows and told him what they did. And he said that was a pretty high-handed thing. And he wrote a letter to the top legal officer of the company and said how the United States was in a state of war and so forth and that this was no way to treat a Marine veteran. And he said we'll give them three or four days to answer.

What happened?

They didn't answer, so right away he got in touch with Courier News and told them the story and Sunday afternoon a lady came up with a photographer and took the story and picture. I think it was Tuesday it was in the paper. And the guy that was the manager now said that they don't want you to talk to the media. And I said, "Too late. I talked to the media. It'll be in the papers tomorrow and the television people just left."

That's great.

So the shit hit the fan and then all of a sudden everything was all forgotten and forgiven. Some gentleman from Kansas City—Wichita—wherever the headquarters is, was up here, ostensibly for some other reason. He made a point of coming to me and telling me this shouldn't have happened and apologized and if I would wear something to cover the tattoos so they could keep their, ah, formula. And that wouldn't bother me, no. So I got some sleeves, put 'em on underneath the shirt and that's how that's covered. And I'm there from now on, as far as I want to be. And that's the whole story.

Now, Mr. Smith, how old were you when that actually happened, when they actually fired you?

I guess I was seventy-nine or eighty.

And you had been working there fourteen years?

Ah, I'm in the sixteenth year now. Started a sixteenth year.

That's really an amazing story.

Yeah, I'll be. You know the law is that you can fire anybody. You don't have a union, you got no rights. But there is such a thing as, ah, public outreach—and that works.

That's great.

In fact, I was working yesterday. I work all the holidays and weekends, ya know. Christmas—so people with kids at home could be home. I said I could work. And yesterday, a fellow said, "I'm glad to see you're back. I heard about the case." And there was a woman Thursday said the same thing, that she knew about the whole story. So every day, from the time that happened right around all through the fall I was getting this. A couple people said, "Oh, you should get a lot of money out of this." Actually, you don't have any real rights. Because under the law, in this state, I don't know how bad the rest of 'em are, they can fire anybody for any reason. And unless you can prove racial discrimination or something, you haven't got a case.

And so, they didn't respond to your lawyer at all until you went to the media.

Oh yeah. That's what did it. The legal officer, he should've gotten right on the ball, but he didn't.

Would've saved him a big headache.

Yeah. See, ah, this is a very good attorney and he likes that sort of thing.

It's a great story.

Yeah, well, the public has a lot of power in the service business. And, like a theater, you want people to think you're trying to do a decent thing. Otherwise, they can, there are plenty of other theaters.

And what is your job at the theater, Mr. Smith?

Mainly, I'm a ticket-taker. I greet the people, bounce the kids who misbehave, and like that.

What do you think of tattoos nowadays now that they're so popular?

Well, there's nothing wrong with it as far as I see. And a lot of them get a lot of pointless tattoos and other tattoos mean something. And some of them are just art—artwork. Well, all the different tribes in Melanesia where I was, they tattoo the faces. And on black people it doesn't look bad. But it shows you what family they're in, what village, what tribe, and so forth. And I've known other people get their faces tattooed, too. I would never do that.

Have you seen that really change a lot in the way tattoos are accepted?

Oh, it's changed a lot in that. When I was a young kid, I knew one tattooed woman. She was a Paiute Indian woman. She had two, three children that I knew, by three different men and they were all middle-aged. Jeanie, Tudy, and Gene. And she had a big butterfly on her shoulder, on the back of her shoulder, from when she was a wild girl in San Francisco around 1906, I guess. And I had never seen a tattooed woman before. But now they're all over.

Were you treated differently when you were younger having tattoos?

No, no. I never heard any complaints.

Not until—

My wife's father had a small tattoo on his shoulder. And it never bothered her that I had tattoos. [to his wife] Did you mind that I had tattoos, honey? . . . She says no. And that's about all there is.

### **Featured Participants**

Nancy Ahn

Al Albarran

Cix Allender

Sebastian Allender

Kris Andrews

Anonymous

Jimmy Arnett

Carlinda Atkinson

Mike Atkinson

Richie Belton

Chris Bradford

Eva Brown

Jim Burnett

Tiernach Cassidy

James Castillo

Silvestre Chavez

Samantha Chin-Wolner

Austin Cho

Margaret Cho

Andrew Cornish

Jesse Lee Denning

Travis Diebolt

David Donikian

Donnell Duffie

Winnie Duffie

Jason Dung

Caitlin Dunham

John Evans

Brittany Farmer

Daniel Ferreira

Christopher Flippin

Bugsy Flores

Roman Flores

Jack Frost

Kip Fulbeck

France Garcia

Chris Garver

Terry Gingles

Rhian Gittins

Chet Glaze

Rob Gray

Grime

Saroj Groebler

Armando Gudiño

Tona Hamashige

Beth Harrell

Kelley Henning

Horitaka

Horitomo

Horiyuki

Kara Houston

Jon Huerta

Scott Ian

Adrian Jackson

Marcus Jackson

Joan Jett

Jason Lemieux

Kurt Levee

May-Har Li

Chuck Liddell

Milton Love

Nikole Lowe

Bonnie Malcolm

Christi McGuire

Duff McKagan

Georgia Michel

Chelsea Moore

Gavin Moscon

Sabrina Moscon

Sabrina Motley

Christian Mount

Cindy Mune

Kym Nathan

Julio Nava

Dan Nazzareta

Gina Ngo

Betty Nice

David Oropeza

Annie Orth

Alex Padilla

Keith Palumbo

Tera Patrick

Oliver Peck

Michelle Pedersen

Greg Perez

Fred Pisturino

Holli Porreca

Mark Pulver

Shi Reeves

Pascal Riff-Raff

Ryann Robinson

Michelle Rooy

Mike Rubin

Jamie Ruth

Koji Sakai

David Salles

Joe Samatua

Eric Sardinas

Liz Schiller

Harrison Sebelia

Jeffery Sebelia

Evan Seinfeld

Aimee Shaw

Al Shaw

Edith Singer

Slash

Bill Smith

Nikki Sonesen

Malia Spanyol

Splinter

Paul Stanley

Natalie Studzinski

Anu Tagara

Josh Thomas

Tony Tieu

Jules Tupas

James Tyrell

David Velasquez

Michael Velasquez

Dolores Vallejo

James Vallejo

Vivian Vargas

Monica Vega

Kat Von D

Shannon Walker

Scott Weiland

Sean Wheeler

Beth Wilson

Kate Wilson

Johnny Winter

Pwee Witrago

Gabe Wu

Dan Wysuph

John Zayac

Ronald Zulueta

Kip Fulbeck is the author of Part Asian, 100% Hapa (also from Chronicle Books) and Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography. He got picked on too many times as a kid, fell in love too many times as an adult, fronted a band that never went anywhere, and eventually became an award-winning artist and filmmaker. He passionately teaches, surfs, lifeguards, rides motorcycles, and loves to race guys half his age in the pool. A professor of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Kip is deeply respectful of the artistry and ritual of tattooing and proudly wears the works of Horitaka, Horitomo, and Horiyoshi III. For more information, go to www.redsushi.com.

Horitaka (Takahiro Kitamura) is the author of several books on tattooing and is the owner of State of Grace tattoo shop in San Jose, California. He is a senior apprentice of the world-renowned tattoo master Horiyoshi III, the master's first and only American apprentice. Named by Horiyoshi III himself, Horitaka strives to represent his master and his tradition in the West. He is one of the most active and well-known contemporary American tattooists, and he speaks and tattoos across the country. His drawings and artwork have appeared on clothing and snowboards nationwide.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaBook


The Southside has been the proud home of San Antonians for generations, and it's also been in the midst of a renaissance over the past several years. Extensive new retail and restaurants at City Base Commons in Brooks City Base are among the newest additions to this bustling area within the fastest-growing city in the nation. South San Antonio is also the site of popular SouthStar Communities masterplanned community Mission del Lago—another reason all eyes are on this dynamic side of town.
If it seems like Texas dominates every time a new "Best of" list comes out, it's because it does. Texas occupies 20 spots on U.S. News and World Report's new list of the 125 Best places to live in America. "Austin ranks No. 1 for the second year running, and San Antonio clocks in at number 14 on the list," said KSAT. The two cities are not only some of the best places to live in Texas, but across the country.
SouthStar Communities is proud to announce that Vintage Oaks, it's flagship community in New Braunfels, is the fastest-growing community in the Texas Hill Country for the fifth consecutive year. The 3,300-acre Vintage Oaks masterplan is the fifth-most active and successful community in San Antonio, with an annualized 180 home starts in 2017, marking its best year by far.
It has been a decade since the real estate crash and while it took a few years to start bouncing back across the country, Realtor.com reports that "the boom times are back." But, before anyone starts to worry about the "what goes up must come down" principle, the real estate authority offers that conditions are "way different" now, especially when it comes to Texas real estate.
The New Braunfels real estate market continues its hot streak, with median home prices, active listings, and closed sales all up and the average days on market down. The median price rose in September to $222,750, an 8.7% increase over last year, and active listings were up 22% over the same month last year. The overall market mirrors what is happening at SouthStar Communities' two New Braunfels communities, Vintage Oaks and The Crossings, each of which are seeing a quick sales pace.
Those who watched the Houston Texans' first home game of the season or caught the highlights on the news saw JJ Watt burst onto the field carrying the Texas flag, to the raucous cheers of more than 71,000 fans. Watt became a national hero in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, spearheading a charity spree for those who were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. What was intended to be $100,000 in matched funds is now more than $31 million raised thanks to all those Watt was able to inspire. SouthStar Communities is among them, having donated $10,000 to the JJ Watts Houston Flood Relief Fund, it was announced by SouthStar Chief Operating Officer (COO) Thad Rutherford.


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Read more about the prescription drug TRAMADOL - ORAL What's disheartening about the drug, however, is that it may take several weeks before positive effects are felt, and what's worse is that the manufactured tramadol side effects humans drug has side effects including sedation, agitation, anxiety, tremors, constipation, decreased heart rate, and upset stomach.. Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur: Burning, itching, and redness of the skin Tramadol can cause various side effects in dogs. Skin rash, hives, or itching skin. When administering Tramadol, do not give your cat the human brand of the medication known as Ultracet. Fast heartbeat. Tramadol is an opioid and too much of it can cause severe reactions Yes, always. Itching. Cognitive decline , digestive problems, fever, and overactive reflexes are other serious tramadol effects that can result from continued tramadol use As most medications, Tramadol has some side effects in dogs. Like most medications, tramadol has side effects. Considering just how severe some. Find information about common, infrequent and rare side effects of Tramadol Oral Although side effects tend to be minor and either require no treatment or are easily treated by you or your healthcare provider, there are some serious side effects of tramadol that require immediate medical attention Drugs that may interact with ULTRAM® include: Alcohol or other sedative drugs may enhance the drowsiness caused by tramadol; Carbamazepine may increase the metabolism of tramadol and reduce the analgesic effect; Tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Digoxin,. Chest pain. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness, and weakness. Fatal side effects can occur if you use this medicine with alcohol, or with other drugs that cause drowsiness or slow your breathing. Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness, and weakness. Includes side effects, dosage guidelines, interactions and warnings.. Side Effects of Tramadol for Cats. General aches and pains in the muscles and joints Stop using tramadol and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects: phentermine a controlled substance agitation, hallucinations, fever, fast heart rate, overactive reflexes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of coordination, fainting; seizure (convulsions); a red, blistering, ativan life threatening side effects peeling skin rash; or. Constipation. ULTRAM® can be administered without regard to food. Tramadol extended-release There haven't been enough studies done in xenical 120 mg uses humans to …. Indigestion. Cough. Feeling agitated, nervous, or high. Seizures are a side effect Humans on tramadol have reported seizure activity as a side effect, so if your dog has experienced seizures in the past or is taking drugs that lower the seizure threshold, use this drug cautiously. Tremor. Diarrhea. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: mental/mood changes (such as agitation, hallucinations), severe stomach/abdominal pain, difficulty urinating, signs of your adrenal glands not working well (such as loss of appetite, unusual tiredness, weight loss) tramadol side effects humans Other side effects of tramadol include: Sleepiness. Common mild symptoms include: drowsiness, upset stomach, constipation, blurred vision, and difficulties sleeping Physicians also frequently prescribe tramadol for human aches and pains, and it is one of the few human painkillers that is safe to give to dogs under the guidance of a veterinarian.. According. Loss of Appetite. lorazepam side effects in hindi As long as you follow veterinarian´s indications properly, your dog should be able to tolerate the drug. Vomiting. Anxiety and agitation are other side effects, as well as upset stomachs Although side effects tend to be minor and either require no treatment or are easily treated by you or your healthcare provider, there are some serious side effects of tramadol that require immediate medical attention Tramadol side effects in dogs. Monitor your clonazepam overdose quantity dog carefully after administering tramadol Side Effects of Tramadol in Dogs. Drowsiness. Combining tramadol with monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs (for example, tranylcypromine [Parnate]) or selective serotonin inhibitors (SSRIs), for example, fluoxetine ( Prozac ), may result in severe side effects such as seizures or a condition called serotonin syndrome Tramadol is a narcotic-like pain reliever used tramadol side effects humans to treat moderate to severe pain. Most dogs tolerate tramadol well, as long as the dosage instructions are followed properly, but there are a few. For humans it is probably the worst drug to come off. Nausea and vomiting Tramadol side effects in humans All the information, content and live chat provided on the site is intended to ativan 1mg australia be for informational purposes only, and not a substitute for professional or medical advice Yes, tramadol can lead to unpleasant outcomes in your pooch. Puffiness or swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes, face, lips, or tongue. Vomiting. Tramadol has caused seizures in some patients. Another effective analgesic strategy, epidural analgesia, carries the risk of nerve injury and side effects that include pruritus, urinary retention, hypoventilation and hypotension Tramadol is a prescription narcotic (opioid) pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. Tramadol side effects for dogs. This product is a combination of Tramadol and acetaminophen, and it can be extremely harmful to your cat's health. Dry mouth. For people with kidney problems: Tramadol immediate-release tablet: If you have kidney problems or a history of kidney disease, you may not be able to clear this drug from your body well. Seizures are a side effect Common side effects of tramadol include: Abdominal problems, such as diarrhea, constipation, nausea, or stomach pain. Other potential side effects include tremors, anxiety, constipation and appetite loss. Difficulty with swallowing. Sarkar, the most common side effect is sedation. Each breed. Vertigo, diarrhea, rash, and itching are less common side effects Tramadol works on our() receptors just like narcotics do. Sleeplessness. Tightness in the. There are also a number of tramadol side effects (dogs) that you can watch out for, so that you can make sure that your pet is not in any additional pain. ULTRAM® is not recommended for minor pain that may be treated adequately through lesser means where benefit does not outweigh the possible opioid-related side effects. Shortness of breath. This effect can persist for up to 72 hours after grapefruit juice is ingested, making this a particularly troublesome interaction, as the loss of effect may lead patients to self-medicate with higher doses, risking the side effects that are caused by Tramadol itself (serotoninergic effects) The above 10 tramadol side effects and symptoms may be some of the most risky for users; however, other side effects may still occur. Depression, including feelings of sadness and discouragement.


And it includes everything your closet needs this spring.
You might know Rachel Parcell from her blog Pink Peonies and her collection of feminine, lace dresses. But, as was announced at a Nordstrom Live event, Parcell's designs are now officially available for purchase in Nordstrom stores and online at Nordstrom.com on April 10.
This is major news for Parcell. Not only did the fashion lover grow up adoring Nordstrom (years ago, it made the top-ten on her list of things she's most thankful for), but — like most blogger collabs that drop on Nordstrom.com — it'll likely sell out fast and could crash the website.
Parcell's 987,000 Instagram followers will certainly be excited to shop the line, which includes a ton of floral and ruffle-trim dresses perfect for warmer weather. "For our spring collection, we wanted to create an offering that was really feminine, that was approachable, and really versatile," Parcell exclusively tells InStyle.com. "Something that they could wear with ballet flats or sandals. Also, something that they could dress up with heels and a blazer and feel really chic and wear it to work."
You'll find flirty dresses in the collection, but Parcell also ventured into the world of accessories for the first time, creating flower-shaped earrings ($39; nordstrom.com), waist-cinching belts ($65; nordstrom.com), and summery straw hats ($59; nordstrom.com). The best part? The affordable price range, starting at $26 and going up to $169.
See some of our favorite pieces below and start shopping Rachel Parcell's first exclusive collection at Nordstrom.


text:
Turks want new energy routes
Turkish President Abdullah Gul joined east European leaders at a summit in Azerbaijan aimed at promoting energy routes to Europe outside Russia's influence. Amid concerns in the region that US president-elect Barack Obama will see the Caucasus and Eastern Europe as less of a priority, a senior US official told the summit that he expected Washington to stay engaged in the area.
The Turkish president joined the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine for an energy meeting three months after Russia dropped bombs close to crucial energy routes through the Caucasus state of Georgia in a brief war.
Amid renewed criticism of Russia by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Gul steered clear of inflammatory rhetoric toward Turkey's historical rival Moscow. However, Gul emphasized NATO member Turkey's desire for a greater diplomatic role in the region, after his government earlier proposed a new forum for cooperation in the South Caucasus.
"The crisis which broke out last August in Georgia confirmed that unsolved conflicts in the region constitute a major threat from the perspective of security and stability," he said. "Our idea is to transform the South Caucasus from a region that is known for its conflicts to a region that would set an example for cooperation," Gul said.
Turkey, a close US ally, has become a growing player in the Middle East and Caucasus energy trade. It has a long history of involvement in the Caucasus as well as close linguistic and cultural links with Azerbaijan.
The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine have long met to discuss plans to strengthen the corridor of energy routes that passes from the energy-rich Caspian toward Europe, but the meeting was the first time they were joined by Turkey. Backed by Western governments, international energy firms have invested heavily in building a corridor of oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey and then on to hungry Western markets.
The European Union is hoping to connect the network to its flagship Nabucco gas pipeline and both the EU and US are backing efforts to link Central Asian countries to the network through a trans-Caspian pipeline.
The summit follows the unveiling by the European Commission of a plan to boost energy supply security and cut back dependency on Russia.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl