Shanna profile picture

Shanna

Dignity is the new black

About Me



There was a photograph of me inside the Gonzo fist cannon that launched Hunter S. Thompson's ashes. My efforts for coolness can stop today.

I fancy myself a singer/songwriter at times. Hear my lo-fi recordings *HERE*.

My Interests

travel, literature, human rights, women's rights, art nouveau, photography, expatriation, music, tomfoolery, shenanigans, vintage fashion, hookah, jasmine tea, late night conversations in cafes, cars, and quiet neighborhoods, the relentless pursuit of knowledge and experience, being mildly pretentious (but very friendly!), knitting, completing my Pokedex, the essential truths and fallacies of the universe, rocking out. VERITAS.

I'd like to meet:

I'd like to meet: gentle people, people of substance and grace. Compassionate people, embracing life and experience. The perpetually restless. Literature geeks, music geeks, science geeks, geeks in general. Conversationalists and contemplatives. People who read books for the style and craft of writing. Conspiracy theorists. Seekers, activists, outcasts (and Outkast). Enlightened ones, gurus, mystics, shamans, modern-day prophets.
No work-party-TV zombies, just passing time. No ever-so-clever cynics. Cynicism is weakly-sublimated cowardice, a thinly veiled doctrine of narcissistic convenience. The cynic adopts a world-view that exempts him/her from responsibility to self and others, then calls him/herself a 'realist.' I have no use for their kind, I'd eat them for lunch but I'm sure they taste bitter too.
I'm equally disinterested in meeting smarmy dudes.

Music:

Elliott Smith, The Kinks, Ella Fitzgerald, Willie Dixon, Devics, Pulp, Pinback, Louis Armstrong, Aphex Twin, the Smiths, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Tori Amos, Jeff Buckley, Blur, the Cure, Black Heart Procession, the Flaming Lips, Boards of Canada, Massive Attack, Jimmy Eat World, The Yardbirds, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, Vivaldi, Tool, Depeche Mode, Crystal Method, Deathcab for Cutie, Alison Krauss, Daft Punk, Eagles of Death Metal, Air, Broken Social Scene, Gorillaz, Magnetic Fields, Neko Case, Billie Holiday, Hall and Motherf*ckin Oates.

Movies:

a few I recommend: Metropolis (SERIOUSLY), Croupier, the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, Woman of the Year (yay Katherine Hepburn), Almost Famous, Miyazaki films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.

Television:

I don't own a TV, but I wish I had the Weather Channel, the History Channel, and Comedy Central for the Daily Show. The Mighty Boosh is the greatest show to ever grace the airwaves, but it doesn't come on stateside... thank goodness for the internet. Black Books. The IT Crowd. I like the songs from Flight of the Conchords.

Books:

Baudelaire, Blake, Camus, Donne, Zola, Leroux, Nabokov, Wilde, T. S. Eliot, Thackeray, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, Henry James, Will Durant, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, C. S. Lewis, Miguel Ruiz, Rousseau, Rolheiser, Henri Nouwen, St. Teresa of Avila, etc...
gnosticism, mysticism, classicism, romanticism... even some existentialism... but hardly anything modern, and no I have not read any David Sedaris.
Currently Reading: Not casebooks, haha!

Heroes:

They got me to trade all my heroes for ghosts. Except for http://fishel.tumblr.com. Davey Dance is my hero this week.

My Blog

The loveliest Outkast cover you’ll ever hear

Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker. Skip ahead one minute, because he messes up the lyrics once and starts over. You can download a studio version on iTunes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ8f5NXtgpk...
Posted by Shanna on Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:37:00 PST

Forcing the Issue

My criminal law class is an intense experience. It's fascinating but deeply disturbing, reading case after case of the horrible things people do to each other-- HAVE done to each other-- somehow it's...
Posted by Shanna on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:05:00 PST

Monarchy Sucks!

Especially when it looks likeSee, the French pride themselves on their aesthetic. Versailles is a visual monstrosity, a disaster of design. The French all rallied together to discuss their reputatio...
Posted by Shanna on Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:04:00 PST

Indie Wedding Essentials!

While on the iTunes store, I was checking out Joanna Newsom at David's suggestion. In my search results, the following compilation came up. Weep, my friends, for your favorite band is probably liste...
Posted by Shanna on Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:54:00 PST

Got a letter from Harvard the other day opened it, read it, it said "Big Brother is Watching."

So I received my rejection letter from Harvard. No big deal, I pretty much applied on a lark anyway, and I couldn't be happier with how things have turned out. I've put it on my fridge anyway, for t...
Posted by Shanna on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 06:47:00 PST

The Hollow Men - 1925

I We are the hollow menWe are the stuffed menLeaning togetherHeadpiece filled with straw. Alas!Our dried voices, whenWe whisper togetherAre quiet and meaninglessAs wind in dry grassOr rats' feet over ...
Posted by Shanna on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:51:00 PST

SD City Beat: Dripping with Style!

Click on the image to go to the article. There's also a 'release party' at Cream in University Heights... there will be an art show, DJs, bands, etc... some other stuff involving local boutiques... c...
Posted by Shanna on Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:54:00 PST

The future really is so bright you gotta wear shades.

This earns the "goals, plans, hopes" tag (when did they add that?).So I've been trying to come to a point of acceptance about my Berkeley rejection. I didn't take it personally, because I know the co...
Posted by Shanna on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 08:35:00 PST

Got a letter from Berkeley the other day, opened it, read it, it said they were SUCKAS

It's true.  I was excited about our future together, everything seemed so right& I thought we were the ideal match.  For some reason, though, my feelings forBerkeley remain unrequited. ...
Posted by Shanna on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 01:30:00 PST

Soon we'll be away from here, step on the gas and wipe that tear away!

This should be an edit to my last post, but I'm too lazy to do that. :)None of the Beatles are known for any particular vocal prowess, but McCartney's parts on Abbey Road are really impressive. He be...
Posted by Shanna on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 12:46:00 PST