I think the key thing, above and beyond any kind of subject is -- it's corny to say it but -- if you really have a dream, kids...For me, in the mid-fifties, the dream was tattooing. It was so not cool then. It was such a marginalized thing, and I was just driven to do it. When I got into it coming out of art school, it still was totally looked down upon, and I just thought it had a lot of great potential, primarily as a medium, and I wanted to pursue that. That's an important thing for people to know.

But I know the playing field is so completely different now. People are always coming up to me saying, "Oh, I have a nephew or niece or whatever, who wants to be a tattooer, what's your advice?" And I say, "Well, they probably shouldn't do it. It's so crowded. It's not a sure thing, but if they are really driven to do it, maybe it will work." There was an interview with Bob Dylan, maybe about a couple of years ago, and someone asked him, "If you were 18 and going to get into music today, what would you say to people?" and he said, "I would never do it." Because he got into music at a time when it was right. I got into tattooing at a time when it was right.