09.29.2008 by Shannon
This is not a political blog.
I try my darndest to keep it as close to a creative personal narrative as possible. But I have to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for this public service announcement [I'm sorry, in advance, to those of you whom I know read my blog but don't, however, agree with my politics]. We all must do what we must.
Category Announcements, In the News | Tags: conservative,democrat,donate,make a difference,mccain,obama,palin,volunteer,yes we can | 1 Comment
09.08.2008 by Shannon
If you hadn’t noticed, we’re playing around with the look of Not Keeping Score. Some new paint, wallpaper, welcome mat. We’ll get it eventually. (Comments always welcome; patience always appreciated).
Category Announcements | Tags: redesign | 1 Comment
07.09.2008 by Shannon
Running around like a chicken with her head cut off, your author neglects (temporarily!) to post new material on NKS… but trust that it is all leading to bigger and better things. You can’t stop this girl from writing; she loves it like breath.
[[-End tedious 3rd person narrative-]] I’m doing another poetry reading this Thursday, working on putting together a chapbook, in the editing (finally!) phase of my grandfather’s memoir, writing mad-hot copy for [confidential!] client, and making headway to return to my other love: Vietnam
And just in case you think I’ve turned soft on you — worry not. I am only a Sonoma County yippie-poet part time. The rest of the week I still perform the Robot-Lego FlashDance that you all know and love.
…Hang Tight.
Category Announcements, Poetry | Tags: poetry,reading,sococo | No Comments
06.26.2008 by Shannon
I’m doing another performance for Mortified Live SF, where people stand up on stage and read edited material from their childhood / teenage years. I am once again reading a series of diary entries of when I was in Junior High and took a militaristic approach to making my crush fall in love with me… (didn’t work). But I got some good embarassing material out of it, which is what counts in life.
And my mug seems to have made the Mortified website (far right, wincing – that wince is for you, Aaron!) Come witness my humiliation Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28 at the Make Out Room (Google Map) in San Francisco at 8pm.
Category Announcements | Tags: diary,make out room,mortified,perform,san francisco,sf | No Comments
05.25.2008 by Shannon
Suddenly, in Turkey–merhaba!
(That happens sometimes; I wake up, and — I’m in Istanbul! Holy kefta!) As I travel around the country getting my Turkish on, expect posts and stories soon… Inshallah.
(Or in three weeks. As internet is available.)
~Shannon
Category Announcements, Location-Location | Tags: | No Comments
04.27.2008 by Shannon
Dearest NKS Readers and The Occasional Surfer Who Stumbles onto My Site by Googling ”Oddwall,” ”Cragslist dates,” or ”How Much Does a Transvestite Cost?” (top searches that turn up this blog):
I apologize that Project Muu-Muu was put on hold after only two days — but what with the rising cost in gas, I couldn’t make it over to Goodwill for a muu-muu restocking… that, and this week I’ve been attending the Butter & Eggs Day Parade, readying my garden for May flowers, and packing for New Mexico — plane takes off in 10 hours! –will write soon!
–Your Ever-Dedicated Author
Category Announcements, Muu-Muu | Tags: | 1 Comment
04.08.2008 by Shannon
NKS is being updated, upgraded, redesigned- please pardon the state of things while I tidy up
Category Announcements | Tags: | No Comments
03.03.2008 by Shannon
Moo: I love you. Come home.
t.
Category Announcements | Tags: | No Comments
02.14.2008 by Shannon
My New Year’s video letter, delivered on February 14:
Category Announcements | Tags: | 1 Comment
02.05.2008 by Shannon
I showed up the Penngrove Firestation, my polling place, in the early afternoon.
I was excited to vote. I’ve been largely undecided through the past few weeks, owing to my pervasive innate indecisiveness, but also to my mixed feelings about the candidate choices —
before Obama even decided to run, I was a fan. Ever since reading about him in the Economist a year and a half ago, I thought he was presidential material. And of all years for him to run, this was his chance year.
Hillary, I’ve always liked her involvement in health care — a very big issue for me — and although she seems more political and divisive (can you just imagine the GOP going after her in the general elections?), I have to admit, I like Team Billary anyway.
And every one else? Sorry, I’m in it to win.
But I woke up this morning and decided to go with my original feelings — I was arguing with my friend back in January of ’07 that I wanted to see in the white house someone who could inspire the country again, regardless of experience or politics, and that Obama was it.
Plus, when it comes to voting, my decision methods are simple: Cry me once, shame on me. Cry me twice, shame on you. Oh, Hill- I was with you for the first waterworks, but you should know better than to try the same stint twice. And at Yale, of all places.
So there you go.
I told myself that I wasn’t going to write on NKS about my primary election opinions — honestly, I’m not smart enough to publish political opinions in a public forum.
But then I arrived at my polling station, where my registration was apparently cancelled. I had them call the San Francisco Registrar’s Office in the event I was still registered there. Nope.
I was a homeless voter.
And so, I was turned away with no glowing satisfaction of citizenly duty, nor cocky “I VOTED, DID YOU?” sticker.
Dejected, I drove home and checked my email. In my inbox was an all-call to vote for Obama.
“I wish I could!” I shouted, my voice truly going unheard. [sigh]
And so all I can do, I suppose, is watch as the results come in, and write this little post in the hopes that some of you out there, if undecided, forgive me and my celebrity friends for sharing our opinions:
OBAMA in’08
Category Announcements, In the News | Tags: | 1 Comment
01.17.2008 by Shannon
See — life isn’t all doom and gloom: my cat Patches, at 16 years old, finally learned to use the litterbox! We celebrated this morning with an extra serving of Giblets & Gravy (for her) and freshly-brewed homemade Dong Quai tea (for me). Then I sat down to write.
It is precisely at this moment — when I find myself not only celebrating my elder cat’s ability to piss in a box but my writing about it — that I realize I am still the same goofy nerd as ever. No amount of loss or tragedy can squash my dorkism, thank God.
I am smiling.
Category Announcements, Unthinkable Loss | Tags: | 3 Comments
01.04.2008 by Shannon
Hey ya’ll.
New Year’s we had a gen-u-ine hoe-down in a friend’s barn: fire-pit, chili-dip, moonshine (yup, someone whipped up some homemade vodka), live band, keg, pig-tails and hay bales (actually, they were alfalfa, but who’s keeping score?)
Still recovering from the boot-stompin’, line-dancin’, free-wheelin’ good time; that, and the rain has me mesmerized. Stay dry, and I will be writin’ soon. Come back now, ya’ hear?
Category Announcements | Tags: | No Comments
12.30.2007 by Shannon
Heading to Mendo to have a night off with Tha Gurlz (yes, I actually just spelled “girls” with a ‘z’) and then coming back in time to attend a real live Ho-Down (hot doggie: we have hay bales, a barn, and a live band) for New Year’s in my grand hometown of Penngrove.
In the meantime, start thinking about New Year resolutions, and what and if you want to make them. It is a practice with which I have been long fascinated. Does anyone make them anymore? And a better question — does anyone ever stick to them?
Counting down the rest of 2007…
Category Announcements | Tags: | No Comments
11.29.2007 by Shannon
Sometimes there is nothing to say. Sometimes there is nothing to write.
My brother died suddenly this past week.
He didn’t call Tuesday for my father’s birthday; I made a mental note to chide him when I saw him later that week. When Thursday arrived, I called to ask him when he thought he would make it to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving; maybe he could come a little earlier so we could have a little one-on-one time? No answer.
When he still hadn’t shown up to the family dinner, I really started to worry. I left Thanksgiving dinner and drove to his house. His car was in the driveway. He did not answer his door. The light was on inside.
I hopped the fence and banged on every door and window around the house, trying to break in, or get his attention. All I got were the dogs barking.
The police were called, and they found his body inside.
We still do not know the cause of death, and have been trying the best we can to piece together information. What we do know is that there is a perverse interruption in our lives, a manifestation of the unthinkable. There is nothing to say. There is nothing to write.
Except that I have found that I have to write. Writing has saved my life before, and I have a feeling it will again. So, despite my reluctance to 1) write about this very troubling and personal loss in such a trivial public venue as my blog, and 2) write about something so unwritable to an audience traditionally used to reading, let’s just say, more lighthearted fare — I am writing about this.
I have to. I have to chronicle this process of loss somehow, and Not Keeping Score is my chosen method.
Sometimes there is nothing to say. Sometimes there is nothing to write. And that is precisely when we must.
.
Category Announcements, Unthinkable Loss | Tags: | 1 Comment
10.31.2007 by Shannon
[Shannon dials A Friend's number, who answers after 5 rings.]
Shannon [enthusiastically:] Happy Halloween!
A Friend: Um, yeah.
Shannon: I’ve made it through Israeli security, recovered from Dengue Fever, and am trudging through Jet Lag Supreme, but I’m BACK!
A Friend: …You were gone?
Shannon: Funny.
A Friend: No seriously, you took off somewhere? Were you on a trip?
Shannon: I went through Israel and Vietnam. [pause] I was gone for almost three months.
A Friend: Oh. [pause.] That went by fast. I didn’t even really noti–
Shannon: Okay, okay.
A Friend: Soooo, what’s up?
Shannon: Gonna celebrate Halloween. Oh! And perform some poetry.
A Friend: Now that is scary.
Shannon: I have another poetry reading!
A Friend: You had a first one?
Shannon [enunciating:] I’m reading at Word Temple on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9th at 7pm.
A Friend: I’ll be sure to miss it.
Shannon: I thought you liked poetry?!
A Friend: No.
Shannon: I thought you liked me.
A Friend: A little.
Shannon: [rolls eyes; softly:] …I missed you, too.
A Friend: Are we done here? CSI is on.
Category Announcements, Poetry | Tags: | No Comments
10.07.2007 by Shannon
A typhoon hit the middle of the country and a bridge has collapsed in Southern Vietnam — however, luckily your humble NKS author remains unscathed, writing and thriving in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In fact, there is good news to report: today I got an email from a friend who noticed that a quote from my coverletter to Zyzzyva appeared on the back cover of the Fall 07 issue in the Letters to the Editor.
I figure it’s a good start to appear on the journal, even if I didn’t get published in it
Category Announcements, Location-Location | Tags: | 1 Comment
09.13.2007 by Shannon
Have flu. (Backlog of stories). Will post soon.
Please Keep Faith. (But never Score). -Shannon
Category Announcements, Location-Location | Tags: | No Comments
08.13.2007 by Shannon
The SoCoCo Poetry reading went well. I’ve been asked to read at WordTemple November 9th (I’ll be sure to post a reminder as the date nears for all you rabid poetry fans.)
I’ve had excruciatingly little time to write, however. I leave for Israel in three days, afterwhich I am traveling for 2 & 1/2 months. This means more time shopping for travel-sized shampoo bottles and less time coming up with insightful narratives for my audience at Not Keeping Score.
But never fear! Despite an intense work timeline in Israel and several days away from the old keyboard while trying to figure out how the hell I’ll get from Beijing to Shanghai, I’ll have many a-day adequately plugged in to broadcast more travel and couch-hopping adventures. So stay tuned!
And for those I’ll miss seeing before take-off, have a good summer’s End and I’ll see you in the Fall!
Category Announcements | Tags: | No Comments
07.30.2007 by Shannon
Shannon would like to timidly announce her first “poetry” reading this Thursday, where she will be reading all-original, highly-amateuristic, and ever-questionable poems from her stint in Penngrove.
But seriously, I’m excited to be reading with some local poets and friends I’ve made while living in sleepy Sonoma County. I’ve learned so much about humility, the importance of having the confidence to suck, and giving what deserves priority, priority.
And although I’m sure very few of you readers out there can make it to the reading (nor would/should you, in all honesty, want to) I want to the thank you for your readership, your comments, and your support; Not Keeping Score was started as a project to get this young woman to write, regardless of topic, genre, (or quality) — and continued to write she has.
For better or worse.
Category Announcements, Poetry | Tags: | No Comments
05.30.2007 by Shannon
Wedesday night (May 30) I’ll be presenting at Pecha Kucha, a showcase for design talent and ideas in San Francisco.
(…I’m getting some help from an architect/designer friend of mine…)
The format of Pecha Kucha is dictated by each presentation — on any topic you like — consisting of 20 slides, 20 seconds each, and it goes down at 20:20 (8:20PM).
This was a natural extension of my 20/20/20 Project.
In order to create a presentation on modern dating, I had to revisit all of my date write-ups in an attempt to draw some conclusions about the influence of technology on love.
While doing the project, I was often asked whether anything came from any of the dates — did I find love through experimental writing projects? No, no, no, I would shake my head, thinking: this was a writing project… I never intended to actually meet anyone! Except for Date #11, who reads my blog occationally (maybe? perhaps no longer?), no one I still keep in contact with –
Er, but I’m wrong. I actually, um, did meet someone. (Crap. Now whenever anyone asks how we met, I actually have to say I met my boyfriend by posting an ad on Craigslist.)
You see, I didn’t think I had met anyone. Date #18 was actually an “un-date.” He never expressed a desire to be part of my Project… just wrote to say he thought what I was doing was… interesting. He read my blog. He did wacky projects of his own. That was that.
But suddenly, I found myself a couple dates short, back there in December of 2005. This dude had been telling me about this zany idea he had for a Project having to do with Edward Furlong. I said we should do it… (“and can I call you Date #18, puh-lease?”)
Well, we never met. Rained out.
Months later I had a couple of friends asking me about this Project Furlong business, when was it going to go down? Shit, I thought, these people actually took me seriously. So I emailed What’s-his-name.
Nothing happened. We lost touch.
Fast-forward a year: I needed someone to sublet my apartment for a month as I was moving out of San Francisco. Lo and behold, guess who was looking for a place to stay for one month? We met for a burrito and the rest, as they say, is history.
Why have I gone into this indepth description of my personal life? Well, to set the record straight: I guess you can find everything in life on Craigslist.
My only warning: if you throw your love-hook into the dating pool, be careful with what you might catch:
For more on love, control, technology, online dating and the 20/20/20 Project, you can see Shannon present at this month’s Pecha Kucha:
30 Ritch St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Between Townsend and Brannan (SOMA)
Doors open at 19:00
Show starts at 20:20
Category 20/20/20, Announcements | Tags: | 1 Comment
