20/20

What's up, good people of the internet?
I imagine many of you are also putting your resolutions into play.  Like me, your 2019 may have been a bumpy ride, and maybe your life saw dramatic changes.  Hey, maybe your world got shaken up a bit, and you've had a lot of time to ponder the future.  That's my 2019 too, if so, and I'm ready to get to work in 2020 in more ways than one.
While I have a number of resolutions, I am also teeing off a project of sorts, and I am going to be discussing it here.  My blog is certainly part of it, so it makes sense.  If anyone decides to take a similar approach to the new year, I would love to hear about it, and we can surely have each other's back.  If I've learned anything from my 2019, it's that a support network is a precious commodity, and every bit of encouragement helps more than one could imagine.
So, here's what I'm doing.  I'm calling it 20/20, and it's pretty straightforward.  Where my writing is concerned, I have 20 goals that I'm looking to nail in '20.  Some are truly outrageous in scope, while others are honestly rather mundane.  All are surely steps in the right direction if I want my passion to become more than a glorified hobby.
I'll be breaking down my goals with you here and tracking my progress.  Blogging more frequently is one of the items on the list, so there's that too.  And all of these items could help me cross off the first thing on the list, my lifelong dream, and a longshot to end all longshots in this modern era when there may well be more writers than readers.  Yes, dear peeps, I really want this to be the year I see a book of mine land with a publisher.  And I have a candidate, and I have a lot of goals that could only help me where this is concerned.
And I'm hoping that my 2020 will represent the recovery to end all recoveries as I put my accident behind me and run down some dreams.
So, yeah, that's what's going on with your boy.  Happy New Year, my friends.  Let's celebrate for 365 days if we can . . .

Ringing in 2013 with Fresh Ink!

Well, I've been wanting some new ink for a while, and I have this really cool wife who wanted to do something special for me to kick off the new year.  My dear friend Tony Davis has been telling me about all the cool stuff happening at Queen Anne's Revenge Tattoos in Collinsville, so I decided to check them out.  I wound up taking advantage of their ridiculous 6 hours for $200 deal, which they only do on Tuesdays, and Rooster did a fantastic job on me.  I had a blast and I think the work looks great.

I got some serious black art and a touch-up on my dragon on my left arm, and I got a new dragon on my chest.  I've already booked another appointment, so there's another dragon coming to the chest area (I have this thing about balance) and some other stuff that I'll be sharing with you shortly, but here's a look at the pieces Rooster did today:

She had to touch this dragon up.  Once upon a time a dude who called himself Frog tried to bore a hole through my arm in several places after doing some great work on some of my mates, but things are looking up for yours truly in 2013.  Rooster did a great job of fitting the new black art with the dragon.  I've always said I wanted kind of a gauntlet on this arm and not a sleeve, and that's pretty much what we did today.

Now, we roll the arm over a bit to show you more of the tat.  It's actually a take on the initials "RW", but I told Rooster I was more concerned about the artwork and less concerned about how much it looked like the initials I asked for.  She nailed it, but it's upside-down and I couldn't really fit it into a single picture, so you may not be able to tell.  Trust me, Rooster did a great job with the presentation and the "RW" is definitely there.

This is what the rest of it looks like, and you can also get a peek at the new dragon chilling on my chest.

Here's a better look at the new dragon. 

Anyway, it was good to see Tony again, Queen Anne's Revenge Tattoos is a cool shop with some great deals to offer, and I'm thrilled with my new ink.  Thanks again, Rooster.  

I'll be adding more in 2 weeks, so stay tuned, and if you're feeling bored, read my book.  2013 is ours.

Love,

-j