Monday, March 29

NYC & MoMa

I have so much to say! But aesthetics homework and photo editing are keeping me away, and Jill calls me a bad kid if I put things off too long. I promise an update in the very near future of my exhausting fantastical weekend (with another coming up this week - normally when people's weekends begin on a Thursday, it's an exciting revelry sort of thing.. not in my case this time. It's all photo shoots and queens, just the way I like it.)

So check back soon! There will be photos and naked people and Tim Burton and deep artistic conversation!

Thursday, March 25

Just to Say

I want to clarify how busy I have been.
I have not been on imgfave, texts from last night, LookBook, or read Elsie's blog since the last week of January. I have not had the time to read three new magazines, let alone a real book, since the first week of February. StumbleUpon? Forget it. These are all things I relied on to keep my sanity.
Now it's all caffeine and loud music.

I cannot wait til everything is simply a waiting game with snailmail. Then I will read blogs, peruse clothes and fashions I cannot afford nor have the fashion sense to put together myself, giggle absentmindedly at cute pictures and snarky phrases, and revel in other's drunken regrets while I too drink again with the intention of it being social, not a stress release.

I look forward to the days where I make my own schedule, where I make my own meals, and where I don't have to do busy work to feel like I accomplished something on my to-do list.
They are both the scariest sounding days, and the most freeing.

Tuesday, March 23

Vanity Faire


Vanity Faire - urinal
Originally uploaded by Shanna McKay

Some photos from my shoots have turned ironic and kitschy at least once, and this one started it all. More to come, such as kings handcuffed and gangsta on a bike with training wheels.

Any thoughts on my set yet? Feel free to drop me a line, I'd really appreciate any feedback whatsoever as I'm getting ready to get the book together and I'll need to know if something is horrific and shouldn't be put in the book, or a spectacle enough on it's own to garner more space on a page. I've been looking at them for so long that I've sort of lost discretion.

Monday, March 22

Whew

I am so sorry for being MIA - it has been such a chaotic week and I have not had a free moment to catch you all up. I'm going to do this as briefly and to the point as possible, as I know I have a habit of making stories so much longer than necessary.

Where to start though?
Pro Contact meeting with Cindy first thing Monday morning was fantastic - she loves what Sarah and I have done, and can't wait to see it all pulled together for the show (that I'm installing legit a month from today).

Ordered my post cards and business cards right before getting back to school. I can't believe I didn't immediately post an update when they arrived because I was stoked for days after. They shipped 3 days early (thanks VistaPrint). And they're beautiful. I couldn't be happier with them. If you'd like one, you should probably email me your address and I'll send one right out to you! (Shanna.McKay2210 [at] gmail [dot] com)St. Patrick's Day was... other-worldly and a bit of a blur in my memory at this point. Lots of booze but no buzz, hung out with nearly everyone I know in Shove before actually making my way to the bar for all of 10 minutes, and making some new friends. It was just... fun. I can't recall anything too hysterical other than Sarah taking 4.5 minute video of Jill being a belig drunk on the floor of the suite before leaving for the bar. And Hannah, Miss Honors Student USA, putting her temporary "kiss me I'm Irish" tattoo on her chest, upside down.

In other news - I had a photo shoot with a Syracuse King, Lauren, aka Craven More. She's spectacular and performs on a regular basis at TREXX. I knew I wanted to work with some Kings for the project and I couldn't imagine a better King to work with. Beyond thrilled with how excited she was to work with me on the project, and even more thrilled with how the shots turned out. I have to finish Samantha's edits, and then I can move on to Craven's shots. That was Friday.

Saturday was spent in NYC with the art kids - 70 degree sunny weather, no agenda, it was delightful. Got bagels, a purse for Hannah, layed around Central Park in the sunshine, watched Tony contort in the West entrance of the Park, and then found our way to 3 fishbowls of Swamp Water at Brother Jimmy's before NOT getting lost and finding out way back to the bus relatively efficiently. The ride home was hotter than hell, but other than that, the day was a total success.
Sunday found me back in Binghamton for the reshoot with my Bing King, Caitlin aka Blake Christian. The shoot was ridiculously short and gave me everything I was looking for. Sonic and a visit to Starbucks to see Erica later, Jill and I hit the road back to Caz in time to attend an SGA meeting with Prez Tierno. This is a public forum so I'll keep my opinions to myself, but I will say this: I am prepared to riot on behalf of this campus' students.

In other other news - I made a Danny Elfman station on Pandora and it's basically my new favorite homework music because it has a ton of excellent action movie soundtracks and backgrounds on it. It's like classical music but for my modern (movie-oriented) brain.

Time to get back to editing. I have a whole hell of a lot to tackle this week that isn't directly related to any classes other than Capstone.

Love Love Love kiddiepoos ♥

Saturday, March 13

Heads Up Cazenovia

This spring, I'm gonna learn how to wear these beauties like... everywhere.


I've never used 4-wheelers, just in-lines, and having nothing to push off of with the front of my toe is scary as hell. But they're in perfect condition (I want to spray paint them something fierce, but they're my mom's, I'll have to clear it with her first) so I'm going to learn. I can't think of a more fun way to get around in the summertime (never did learn how to skateboard, don't own a bike, hate running, etc.) so keep a look out, I'll be whizzing by to South in no time.

That's all, just thought I'd share that to dump this pissy mood I'm in, I dug out these gems so now I can fantasize about new shoelaces.

Juried Student Art Show

Forgot to post these last week - they're not great quality off my phone or anything, but just to show how my rings and head dress were displayed.
(Let's Never Grow Up)
Head dress on the waist? Oh well. Still looks delightful. Apparently Neil put it on before putting it on display, wish I had been there for that visual.

Today, we look for clothes and hope CVS offers some retail therapy.

Friday, March 12

I am not a fan of Fridays

They've become a hassle, is all.

Good things today:
- Ordered my postcards & business cards
- Get to see Erica (& Bailey) in an hour or so
- Got to pet 3 pugs in the mall
- Found the ideal outfit model for my gallery opening, so here's to hoping I can put it all together tomorrow when I try again with my mom

Bad things today:
- VistaPrint had a lot of hidden fees. My order came to a whole hell of a lot more than I anticipated.
- I was reminded how poor I have become being without job.
- Lost 2 hours of my day killing time at the mall, hoping my shoot wasn't totally a lost cause
- Shoot became a total loss. Rescheduling as soon as possible.
- It's cold & gray out again. I've been spoiled by sunshine lately & this is killing my good ju ju.

I'd like to say the yay's outweigh the meh's, but I'm not sure yet. I was really amped about my cards, they're amazing, I couldn't be happier (ok, we'll see when they get in and I can hold them and gush ... I may love them more then, gonna have to play that one by ear), the final price just brought me way down on them.

Here's to hoping the rest of the day looks up.
Back in Caz on Sunday, very much looking forward to settling in front of an a&d computer, with solid color corrections and all, before putting up the final shots of Jordan & working through the rest of last weekend's shots.

oh ps - as long as I can find the money, I'll be attending Normal England Erica's wedding in Illinois with the most beautiful of beautiful dates, Miss GracieLou in May!

Tuesday, March 9

Weekend Recap aka I'm A Sleepwalker

Longest weekend of my life!
Saturday's Parade Day was delightful - Katie & I were the first ones (and the only ones for quite some time) at Merlins, so we were showered with beads and beer. I had my first Irish carbomb. Mama Sann picked up the tab for the day. Ran into loads of CV alum & even some Caz kids. Gorgeous weather. Love for Binghamton all around. Ran into and took out a large standing sign at Wendys right by the counter... that's what happens when you've been drinking since noon. Spent the rest of my night hanging out with my Love.

Sunday was day 1 of photo shoots with Miss Vanity Faire. On Rt 13 on my way to pick Jill up from Caz, I got pulled over (shock, right?) -- but due to the beautiful weather, my speeding wasn't ungodly over (69 in a 55 apparently, I thought I was only going about 60 so I guess I just lost track), and being heckled by the fire department I was pulled over in front of, she let me off with a warning. "It's a beautiful day, I don't feel like doing paperwork, so as long as this car isn't stolen and you don't have any outstanding warrants or expired paperwork, I'll let you go if you slow it down." Yes ma'm, you've got it ma'm.

Got in Rochester an hour early (actually shocking!) so sandwiches, chai, motorcycles, the ugliest dog ever, and one "vicious" reindeer chihuahua later, we were ready to shoot. Of course nothing worked right at first, but as the day went on, more and more gorgeous shots came up. She even braved the chilly evening to shoot on location at The Village Gate among gorgeous artwork. I felt like I was home.

Spent the night with Hannah & Ashley, had a really ridiculous adventure in WalMart, and slept like hell. Also, last minutely found out that my Monday shoot canceled on me. I was livid & panicked, but Jill brought me back to reality and told me to simply ask Vanity if she had friends that would be interested in filling the shoot time. Low and behold, she did! Space filled, panic subsides, and Monday, Jill and I found our way to Rochester again and met the vivacious Samantha Sulay. Shot by the waterfront, made friends with a sketchy biker, played with her chihuahua (yes, my weekend was full of chihuahuas and motorcycles...), and ended up with a whole set of amazing shots all over again. I couldn't have been more thrilled for her flexibility and willingness to help on such short notice.

All the Rochester queens want to carpool for the gallery opening - stoked. It's going to be a riot in Cazenovia I can't wait.

After the longest drive home ever, I got a good night's sleep [finally] and today is once again beautiful. Kyle washed my car & then we went for a walk in the park. It was delightful. Now I'm catching up my to-do list of homework, finalizing edits on Jordan's last shoot, Lightroom'ing Vanity & Samantha's, prepping for tomorrow's shoot, and burning a lifetime supply of cds for all the past shoots to mail & deliver throughout this week.
Busy day, my favorite kind.

Saturday, March 6

Parade Day!

Headin downtown with Miss Katie Sann, watching the shit show of Binghamton, and meeting up with firemen and My Love at the end. Last year, today was incredibly sad and raining. Today it's 38 and sunny and happy and I am thrilled.

PS - Suze got all the roomie*loves super soft bunnies as a spring break / happy spring!! gift. She's so darn cute.

Wednesday, March 3

McKayla Starr


smiles for hair, originally uploaded by Shanna McKay.

Check out the flickr stream for more from the shoot!

Scene Kid Hair

My hair post-hat looked very poofy and scene-kid, so Sarah and I rocked out. Ok, she did most of the rocking, I had to make emo scene faces. Too bad I don't have any geek glasses or a lip piercing, the look would have been complete.In other news, I finished Mike's photos completely, and finished Alyssa's portfolio work completely. Tomorrow (time permitting although that's not expected) - Jordan's photos all done, and Laur's port all done. On flickr shortly, expect another post.

Art Student

This month, the role of Shanna will be played by an art student. I have so many artsty things coming up in March, I couldn't be happier. I'm so tired of the writing busy work, and instead this month is full of photos and trips to NYC and Tim Burton and art galleries and cute knit hats and dark nailpolish and inspiration. I'm going to ignore the fact that I graduate in 2 months and instead enjoy being an actual art student a little longer...

The earrings here are hand made dichro fired in a small kiln and fused to posts, and Art Club is selling them for $5. If anyone that reads this wants to support, let me know what color you'd like and I'll see if I can get a pair to you. I have dark blue/green and black ones, but they're also selling bright green, red, and a goldish looking pair - they're all one of a kind and adorable.
The Juried Student Show opens at 4 today, I can't wait to see if my rings made it. They were the one thing I made in my small metals jewelry class that I was really proud of. I didn't submit any photos this year, which is odd, but we'll see if my other artsy interests can stand alone. I need to make more rings, I have been twitchy and craving working with silver and solder lately. Can't afford it and really don't have the time, but I can't deny the pull I've had to South lately.
I think it's the haircut.

Tuesday, March 2

I love when other people love the things I do:

Found this in one of the blogs I frequent (with Hell Week over, I have the time to be human and read them again, I have nearly all of Feb to catch up on with everyone!!) Rockstar Diaries:

10 things that make chanel terribly happy:
  1. yogi purely peppermint tea...mmm.
  2. laying on the grass, nuzzled in the shoulder of someone you love.
  3. laughing. uncontrollably.
  4. disney movies! especially the little mermaid.
  5. crepes. preferably with bananas and nutella.
  6. watching the sunset.
  7. sending and receiving lovely things in the mail.
  8. the indescribable feeling you get after performing for a loving audience.
  9. sweet, stolen kisses.
  10. bacon cheeseburgers. with fries.
Agreed. On all counts short of the bacon cheeseburger, but a solid baconless cheeseburger would make my day. Other things that have already made my day are my new knit hat compliments of Laur (payment for shooting her portfolio), new handmade glass earrings from the Art Club fundraiser, petting a golden retriever on the quad (all college students need pet therapy.), and my Love applying for a paid fire position in North Carolina - here's to hoping!

Today can only look up! Lots of photo editing & photo taking coming up.
Thrilled as always