A DAY OF GOOD OMENS

It's a day of good omens! 

GOOD OMEN #1: While leaving my building to get groceries — one of my freelance checks finally arrived — I ran into a cute brunette who was entering my building to visit a friend (who happened to be one of my favorite neighbors). As I let her into the lobby I noted she had a tattoo of a turtle on her arm, so of course my mind immediately went to "Gee, wouldn't it be cool if that were Gamera?" Then I took a good look at her ink and was delighted to see that not only was it of Gamera, it also featured Gamera's bizarre opponent, Barugon (not to be confused with Baragon from FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD). I stopped her and asked if I could photograph her awesome display of representing in the name of us rubber suit junkies, and she was only too happy to oblige. We chatted for a bit and she said "I'm thinking of getting another one, this time of Godzilla, well, 'cause!" I noted that if I got an old school kaiju tat, I would likely opt for the Gamera foe Viras, out of my love for malevolent tentacled wiggles. And I ran into her again on the street as I was bringing home my groceries, so I asked if I could get a better shot. The lighting was perfect!

As seen in the lobby...

And on the street.

Like I've said on a number of occasions, ladies who dig giant monsters and know the stuff inside and out are rare, and those who go the extra distance and apply ink to themselves to show that appreciation are living treasures.

GOOD OMEN #2: 

I ran into this guy at the local Key Food and gave him a shoutout for rocking a t-shirt of Sleipnir (look it up). He was surprised and delighted that some random black dude knew exactly what it was, and we chatted about our fascination with Norse mythology and Snorri Sturloson as we packed our purchases at the self-checkout. He told me that his wife bought him the shirt so he could wear it and get photographed when they visited Tokyo's rainbow bridge. Talk about a cross-cultural collision!

Sometimes it pays to get out of bed after a couple of weeks of misery!