The Legend of Mansour

Mansour Kazemi lived in Iran for the first 8 years of his life. His parents moved him and his brother to the United States after that to give them a better life. Mansour picked up English in a fair amount of time, but he found that the language barrier he faced was nothing compared to the cultural barrier. Seeing how the other kids his age acted and hung out with each other was kind of intimidating. They all had common interests, all related to something seen on TV or bought from Toys R Us. He didn't share any of these interests or ever really understood what new fad they were even talking about. At least not until he played his first video game. That video game was the famous "Legend of Zelda." Mansour quickly became addicted, as most kids do to a video game at some point or another. He attributes that video game as one of the most influential parts of his childhood, which may seem like an exaggeration, but helping him cross a cultural barrier to fit in better with his peers is not something to ever take lightly. That is why he got the Zelda logo tattooed on his arm.

The logo part of the tattoo came first. The sword was a design drawn up by his girlfriend at the time and given to a tattoo artist that specialized in pop-culture tattoos. Mansour feinted both times. Something about his body chemistry causes Mansour to pass out when he's getting tattooed. So because of that he has never gotten another one. He feels that if he only gets one tattoo in his life then he chose the right one.

Miranda's Peace + Miranda's Love = Miranda's Happiness

Miranda got this tattoo to represent her extended family. Miranda and her sister were the first children in her mom's group of friends. They were showered with so much love and attention that her mom's friends were no different than actual aunts and uncles to them. It made it all the more painful when their "uncle" Dave passed away from brain cancer. After they lost him, Miranda's family started a yearly auction to raise money for different cancer foundations. One thing they did was design bumper stickers that had symbols for peace + love = happiness. Once Miranda turned 18 she knew she wanted something to represent and honor her "extended" family and those symbols felt like the perfect thing.

 

You Can Call Me Evan!

Evan Laudel loved his grandfather very much. His favorite memory of him was riding in the car with him when the song You Can Call Me Al, by Paul Simon, would come on. His grandpa would just completely break out dancing to it. Evan thought this would be the best tribute to him.

See the Shop! See the Work!

I drove all over St. Louis and St. Charles getting pictures of the best tattoo shops in the area. The pictures of the shops were taken by yours truly and the pictures of the tattoos were taken from the shop's Facebook pages. Click on the picture to be taken to those pages!

Eastern Missouri Tattoo Hotspots

I visited and took pictures of almost twenty tattoo shops in St. Louis and St. Charles county over the past few days to try and get as many pics as I could for this blog! I hope you enjoy!

Cousin Paul's Tattoo Co.

Laura Bonfanti has been tattooing for 20 years. She opened up Cousin Paul’s about six months ago. She and her co-workers, Greg and Jeremy, used to work at TRX Tattoos until Laura decided it was time to strike out on her own. Her dream was almost dashed just as soon as it began, however, as her grand opening was delayed over two months because of the neighborhood’s zoning committee. She had done everything right to their standards and was ready to go but was illegally blocked by people not ready for her special kind of awesome. The neighborhood thought a tattoo parlor did not meet their level of propriety. Even in this day in age some people still look down on tattoos, and I will never know why. The trio eventually got the shop open and now give their customers some of the most kick ass tattoos you’d ever see!

            The name Cousin Paul’s is something very close to Laura’s heart. She got the Paul part after her grandfather. Even though he was a military man (he actually fought in World War II) he did not have any tattoos. Was not a fan of them at all actually, but he was a fan of his granddaughter. He loved and supported Laura all the way in her career as a tattoo artist. Which transitions well into the other half of the name—Cousins. To her that term is just synonymous with the word family, and family is the most important thing. Family is why we get out of bed in the morning and go to work. So why not name your business after the reason you’re doing it? That’s what Laura believes. We could all learn a thing or two from her.

            Cousin Paul’s is located on 4530 Hampton Ave. St. Louis, MO 63109. You can get a hold of them at (314) 875-9075. Ask for Laura, Greg, or Jeremy.

Motorcycles in Heaven

Jeffrey Alan Chandler was my cousin and an all around amazing guy. He got his first tattoo when he was just a teenager and he did not stop until his body was completely covered. His two favorite things in the world were tattoos and motorcycles. One day Jeff was in a horrible motorcycle accident. Unfortunately the accident took away his leg. It did not, however, take his spirit. His prosthetic leg was actually a Harley Davidson design. He made jokes about being a foot shorter. That was just Jeff. Nothing seemed to break him.

Jeff had lots of kids that he loved very much. His two oldest were twins; Zach and Lexi. Zach and Lexi had a younger half sister, not related to Jeff in any way. On weekends when Jeff would pick up the twins he would see little Tori just left behind. Jeff started bringing Tori with them on weekends and he never looked back. Tori became his daughter and there was nothing more to it.

Jeff passed away a little over a year ago. He spent a week in a coma and passed once he was taken off life support. He was a very important man in my life and I miss him very much. Jeff was the kind of guy that didn't only love someone because they were related but because they deserved to be loved. That is just the person he was. I am of course not the only one who misses him. Tori misses her father more than you could possibly imagine and she got one of his tattoos to honor him.