Milo "Mr Lucky" Marcer

I was talking to a client a few days ago, and we were just chatting on about perception and how skewed it can be when she blurted out, "I had heard that you were arrogant, but chatting with you, I see you aren't at all". This got me thinking, the first instinct was to retaliate and get really rude about what has been said about me, but I started entertaining the thought more and more and I found myself wondering who had said this and why? How could it be that the perception of me is nothing close to what is being said??? I then remembered my favourite saying "A wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep" and that put paid to that bullshit then and there. The reason I brought this up is that we have a tendency to give a lot of our power away to people of no consequence, and that perception is nothing more than uninformed opinion, and we know how much opinion and an asshole have in common don't we. People use perception/opinion like they have...

What a past couple of months... things have been all crazy with so much going on some really great, but some really bad the worst of which has been my baby girl Laika, has had to have a huge growth from her anal canal removed, the surgery went well and she is home now even though very uncomfortable. It has just made me so aware again of how fragile life is, and just how much a part of me little Laika is, I have had a few dogs, and each very special, but Laika, she some how is "that" dog. Now we hope to have her recover well and heal well. The other is a friends heart attack, though mild, a physically fit and healthy guy, younger than I, and just like that, it happened, it is just so crazy, the message caught me so by surprise at first I found the whole thing hard to believe, but fortunately it's under control and he's going to be fine. On the positive side, I have finally done what I said I was going to do for quite some time, and I have opened a studio the way I ...

It comes as no surprise that nothing, and I mean nothing at all, lasts forever, your health, friendships, relationships, your pets, your life, forever isn't really forever, not even this planet will last forever. So why is it that people still today expect to be together forever? in an existence where everything is transient, why is it we labour under the delusion that it all has to last forever? I met a beautiful young woman the other day, recently divorced, and in pretty bad shape as she struggled with the fact that her marriage had ended. I felt for her, I really did, you could see she was hurting at the fact that it was over, yet you knew it was going to end eventually, one way or another, so why is it we have this unrealistic expectation? I personally, and this is a personal opinion, take it leave it, it really doesn't matter, believe it's the fault of the church, this belief in everlasting life, and that we go to a better place, and that faith is what's needed to...

It's the 30th, I have worked my ass off this December, and I'm really super grateful to all my awesome clients, no friends, because if you spend as much time with them as I do they do they become friends. This year however has caught up with me, I feel like I have kinda been through the ringer and though I live in the moment, I am looking forward to the new year. I do have to say that I'm a little annoyed at the insensitive twats out there, that feel like they have some kind of ownership of my time because they want a booking when they want it. I would never turn anyone away who wanted a piece from me, I am still old fashioned enough to be honoured by the patronage I receive, and don't play the "tattoo rock star discovery channel" wannabe, I was at this before them and will be at it long after they are no longer the flavor of the month. So for the one or two I have disappointed, I'm truly sorry, and hope that you can forgive me, I will however say "C...

So I got back Monday evening from Johannesburg, knowing that Tuesday morning I had a doctors appointment to have my blood pressure checked out... as I get older these things, well you gotta keep an eye on them. So at 09H15, I'm on my Vespa, and into town, off to Chris Barnard hospital to see Dr Ramjee... mmmm I get there and believe me my Dr is a good guy, he listens and gets what I deal with, and my health, so I go to him here and that's it, even if it's out of the way. Tuesday however, he caught me by surprise, he checked my blood pressure, and all's good, then he said we need to chat, "how are you doing?", "how are you feeling?" "when last have you had an EKG stress test? and when last did you have your prostate checked?" to which I replied, well its been a few years, surely we can just do a blood test for the prostate and a quick EKG while I'm here.... "No Mr Marcer, you need a prostate exam, and as you said while you are here,...

I just spent 6 days working in Johannesburg, and had a blast, besides the odd niggle, and the pollution, a lot hasn't changed since I left 5 years ago. I arrived Tuesday, and after popping into Randburg Motorcycles, an experience that has left a bitter taste in my mouth, Rob and I went to his place and set up the studio, awesome place, in a beautiful garden, everything set up right, perfect and in the evening I did a cover/clean up of a piece. Wednesday saw us make a quick tour of some of the studios in the northern suburbs, and found one has moved into my old premises in Greenside.... rather funny, popped in to see Thys, and Jen at Fallen Hero's before Sek's arrival and we then started his forearm Then at 6 Pippa arrived for her session, but we stopped for a bite, the Veda and Deon arrived and My brother Sandy and his Girl and there daughter, so the house got crazy. My hostess Michelle whipped up a dinner for the ever increasing masses, and buy 9 I had to grab Pippa...

1  a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to  happen ,  without proof :  they made certain assumptions  about   the  market  |  [ with  clause  ]  :  we ' re working   on   the   assumption   that  the time of death was after  midnight . I was amused at assumptions made by what I had posted, and it came to mind that people making assumptions say a hell of a lot more about themselves and there characters and motives. Assumptions are made without fact, or proof, so already this sets the scene for disaster,  assumptions are just mere mental conjectures that do not thrive on reason ability and are therefor, questionable. An extreme and overt reaction, made by some one on an assumption, says something very clear about them, the reaction is that the issue pertains to them in some way, (the assumption) but if it didn't then that extreme reaction only underscores the guild or involvem...

Finally it broke, two days of migraine and sinus, felt like a boxer beat my face to a pulp. I don't usually get migraines so I was not prepared for it, but thanks to lots of advice and a quick trip to the chemist for a cocktail, a dark room, and I'm feeling a lot better. The cause? you ask, is stress, self inflicted as usual, but changes have stressed me out, some disappointments and the obvious annoyances at being pissed about by unimportant people. Time will sort things out as usual and taking it all to heart isn't going to solve it at all. It does however change a few things. It does mean that the sponsorships I normally do, are a thing of the past. I'm done with giving my time, effort and craft to unappreciative people. I have worked with several artists, that have always had a lot negative to say about sponsorship, or as I like to say putting a little back, from a karmic point of view it makes sense to me to do them, but of late, all it's done is prove those a...

Wednesday evening, and I seem to be feeling a better, the post convention blues have passed, I am going to mention Hymne’s passing, Tuesday was the 2 nd anniversary of her passing and as expected, coping isn’t easy, but I focus on the love she gave me and our time together. The convention was as usual, busy, as I am booked up well in advance with clients who come down from up country, and I do try accommodating them, as they do not get the opportunity often. I do however feel that the convention this year was not very well attended, by artists as well as tattoo enthusiasts. The recession I guess is felt by all this year, and with that in mind, I’m always surprised by the lack of marketing done by the organizers. A simple sign outside of the building I don’t believe is too much to expect. Having said that though, I really enjoyed this years. My convention weekend began with the arrival of my great friends Rob and his gorgeous wife Michelle, on Wednesday morning, we hustled back...

So January has begun with a bang, and the workflow is good and I am most grateful to all my awesome clients. This month brings up two big things on both end of the spectrum for me, First is the annual SIX tattoo convention held here in Cape Town and I will be exhibiting of course, but the really awesome thing is I have great friends who are coming from upcountry and it always is a complete blast. So if you are in and around don't forget to come and visit at the BMW Pavilion the dates are 27th, 28th and 29th. The other is the second anniversary of the passing of my beloved Hymne, not a single day goes by still without thinking about her, so a very bitter sweet month. But I’m not going to leave you on that note, this is the year that is going to the end of the world, according to the Mayans. The Mayan calendar is divided into Seven Ages of Man. The fourth epoch ended in August 1987. The Mayan calendar comes to an end on Sunday, December 23, 2012. So having said that wha...

I just spent the saturday finishing up the large dragon back piece and it's always bittersweet, after one spends so much time and effort  in a tattoo like that, it always is Sunday was spent with Jarad a Kaylin, I did the demon girl piece on his fore arm, the "Dark Lady" as I refer to it and it was fun to do. They have asked me to the God farther to the baby boy "Mason" who is due in a week, it's an honor and all a little scary, guess if I'm not going to have my own, I may as well be a God Father to now my second boy. Whats more daunting is having to go to church, I haven't done that since I don't know when, perhaps that's not such a bad thing after all. This is my gorgeous friend from Poland, Doris Cash, check her out.

Quite some time ago I met someone I thought was interesting we met for a lunch, and then coffee a few more times, and you know when you meet someone, and you just need to delve a little deeper to know that this just isn’t going to work out… I left it at that, we talked every now and then, but something kept warning me, I was uneasy about this person, a few things had taken place that just didn’t sit right with me and so I lay a trap. I told her something that I knew she could use against me, and waited… sure enough she did not disappoint, before long all hell broke loose, as I had expected. Obviously this made her go to ground, and it’s been a long time since I’ve heard from her, but the other day she contacted me again, wanting to be tattooed. Now the reason I’m writing this shit becomes apparent… I run a business, and things aren’t easy in this financial climate. The question is do I take her on as a client, or just keep the snake at bay? I think I know what the right answe...

As the year comes to an end here on my lighthouse lit island, shared with all manner of irritating fireworks I’m not having a hard time at all saying goodbye to year I could have done without. Most of what took place has been negative and in my opinion best forgotten, as with all those involved and so saying goodbye to 2011 has not been hard to do at all. Now with an eye to the future and the birth of a new year, and I’m grateful to be starting from a good, healthy place, deep inside myself, and with that I think the year can only be a good one. I hope to put all those hard lessons learned from this year to good use and they will serve me well, and allow me to do the best at my passion for my art by creating beautiful works for my clients. I am truly fortunate to have the clients I do, and to all of you, I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have been able to create the kind of tattoos that you love. It is a great honor and privilege to be able to continue to tattoo ...

At this time of year when everyone is reminded that being a human being is being kind and loving, forgiving and tolerant, I feel that it's all bullshit, this is not a state for the holidays, this should be a constant state and something we should strive towards in our everyday lives. I blogged about being a "mensch" and perhaps it's good to remind ourselves what it means to be one. what follows is that blog A while ago I mentioned being a “mensch” and I was not really clear on what it means. A good friend and client brought this in for me, it’s part of an article written by Charlotte Cohen, and it sums it up well. What is a honourable mensch It is a voice, and the understanding behind it. It is the eyes, and the intelligence behind them. It is the recognition that support is needed, and asked for, giving it And the kindness that lies behind all of that. It’s keeping quiet when one ought and speaking when one should and knowing the difference. It’s giving pr...

I spent a great day working yesterday, with all sorts of people popping in to chat about work and as well as cleaning up some tattoos some one else did, I have almost finished Liliana's back, one more session odd finishing touches and highlights and it's done, and we are both pleased with the outcome.

Today been a day of chores and mixed feelings, good, bad and sad, I picked up my Kona’s remains this morning, made me look at Laika and know she misses her as much as I do, and the hole she left in our lives. It’s the end of an era in my life, it closes the door, and is the final tie to my marriage, which is what has left me with, mixed feelings. I don’t miss that segment, of my life, but to make out like it was all bad would be a blatant lie, but it wasn’t a walk in the park either. We spent so much time together, people used to comment, that we were the “perfect couple” spending all our time together and never arguing. Well after 10 years of someone being with you 24/7 you are not such a perfect couple, and when you get home after spending every minute of the whole day together you just don’t have anything to talk about anymore, nothing is new, and everything that’s happened to either of you, you both already know about, so there isn’t anything left. I do think in this day ...

On wednesday my great buddy arrived from JHB to spend some time and get tattooed. We had a great time, tattooed him, laughed, while good people visited and we talked and drank loads of tea. It got me thinking about friendship, and how friendship is as they say like a good red wine, it needs to age, not that I would know as I don't drink alcohol. It's true though, I have been in Cape Town for 4 years, and have met lots of wonderful friends, from all walks of life, contrary to the belief that Capetonians are reserved and withdrawn, but friendships that have stood that test of time as ours have, through thick and thin, just are different. After almost 20 years a friendship really is a FRIENDSHIP. Louis Prima now that's what I'm talking about!!!! if you don't like it? you're dead