Last fall I travelled to New England to give my first presentation on The Healing Library for the New England Library Association’s annual conference. (More on that another time!)

After the conference I took a couple days to reunite with old friends from when I lived in VT.

One unexpected meet up was with Andrew Clingenpeel. Andrew and I used to ride together and even shared an apartment sometimes. Back then he was studying art and making kick ass music. I found out he was back in VT and now sharing his talent through tattoos and knew it was time for me to get my first one.

He said yes right away to the design when I reached out being a Bowie fan himself and dug the added Dewey Decimal twist (nerdy as it is!).

Getting time to hang out one on one and talk music, art, and shows was so awesome and we’ve kept in touch since then to talk about upcoming shows and life in general.

To all my librarian friends considering ink, all my fellow punk/metal librarians – Andrew should be your man! His love of learning, authenticity, and true commitment to the piracy and outlaw side of life means your tattoo will be filled with your own meaning as well as rooted in the rich tradition behind this art form.

For now you can find him at palehorse tattoo in Brandon, VT or on Instagram at clingenpeel_tattoo. Tell him I sent you but don’t ask for old dirt on me!!!!!

Oh, and if you don’t know what 781.66 is, look it up!