This set of knuckles comes courtesy of “Fat” Scott Morrison, of N2SKIN Tattoos in Farmington Hills, MI. His story is great:

I’d been tattooing for about a year and a half at the time, and it jsut dawned on me that I was in the middle of living my dream and persuing a carreer with no boundries. I had grown up with a father who worked in a Ford plant for 32 years and had taken a medical retirement due to stress-related heart problems, and a mother who had owned her own accounting buisness for 30 years working 13 hour days in dress atire. I had always promised myself that I would never let my life pass by working a job I didnt have a passion for or spend my time sitting at a desk in the corperate world in a suit that was uncomfortable. so, when I came to this realization (that I was living my wildest dreams), I decided that “LIVE LIFE” would always be that constant reminder to just enjoy every little thing I can, and never let something so petty like money or posessions come between me and my love for the simplest yet finest points of life. One week to the day that i got the tattoo, my father passed away suddenly, and literally in the blink of an eye meant more to me than I had ever imagined it would. He worked his entire life, literally till the day he died to make sure that I would be able to persue my dreams, so for him and for me this is the path I have chosen. Nothing will stop me but death.

I photographed these beauties way back at the Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival. I’m pretty far behind still. They were on the hands of Kindel U., who is married to a tattoo artist. In explanation she just said “I’m a silly girl.”

Devon G. of Long Island, New York presents these knuckles and a killer story:

As i was growing up, and even still now, i have been fortunate enough to bear witness to the duality of all things. i have watched people rise to the highest highs, becoming extremely sucessful in their way of thought, of life, and i have watched people slowly kill themselves, through drugs, or other forms of destructive behavior, often resulting in death. My knuckles serve as a constant reminder, maybe even not only for myself, that there is always a choice, of way of thought, perception, and action. As being a professional chef, i often see actions that glide along the surface of the day, riding the wave of life, taking it as it comes, and adjusting… And i see the floundering that results from illl thought, laziness, and fear. Either we can swim effortlessly through all things, or we can sink from the weight of our own negative energies.