Venus In Combat Boots

Running Away Fantasy #16

2008-07-17T07:53:00.002-06:00

Swimming with the dolphins...

Hold On To Your Pasties

2008-07-14T17:10:00.006-06:00

When one stumbles across a headline that reads, "Stripper, 80, still taking her clothes off" (on CNN.com, no less), one (okay, me) might be hard-pressed not to check out the article in a bit more depth and really, really hope that there are pictures of said 80 year-old stripper (come on, like you wouldn't?).

Allow me to present Ms. Tempest Storm...

...then

...and now.

Taken in 2004 - wow!

A. Mazing.

Too Much?

2008-07-13T17:17:00.002-06:00

Yeah - too much FUN!

Bye, Bye Little Birdie

2008-07-12T15:31:00.006-06:00

My daughter moved into her own apartment today. Of course I'm happy and excited for her as she begins her solo-cheese adventure (Dane Cook reference), but I also feel a little empty and sad. And worried. Really, really worried.

She's so little and this world is so big.

What if she forgets to lock the door? Lock her windows? Keep the blinds drawn so strangers can't peer in? What if she doesn't eat right? Stays up too late? Gets involved with the wrong people? What if her neighbors are mean? What if they're noisy and they keep her up all night long? What if she burns a candle and forgets to put it out then goes to the store or - worse - falls asleep and a fire starts? What if she leaves her key in the door? What if she gets sick? What if she needs me?

What if she doesn't need me?

This is just the beginning of the letting go and my heart doesn't know what to do. I'm not ready to share her with the world yet. She's still my baby - my heartbeat; the little girl who taught me what real love and real heartbreak feel like. We've been through a lot together; wow, have we been through a lot together...

She says she's ready to spread her little wings so I guess it's time for me to step back, let nature take its course, and give her room to soar...

I love my Holly Bear, oh yes I do

I don't love anyone as much as you

When you're not with me, I'm blue

Oh, Holly Bear, I love you

Running Away Fantasy #10

2008-07-12T08:12:00.007-06:00

There's no in-store Starbucks and the wooden floors are marvelously uneven, but I could spend dozens of perfectly contented hours in this historic book shop thumbing through the plethora of literary offerings; happily tucked away in a muffled little corner just reading, reading, reading and occasionally tuning in to the glorious tolls of Notre Dame...

Hard Question

2008-07-11T09:38:00.006-06:00

Okay - I'm not sure if I'm more freaked out by the fact that McCain can't provide an "informed answer" when asked whether or not it's unfair that health insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control, or that we live in a country where a man's need to get an erection is somehow more important than preventing an unwanted pregnancy.

No opinion? Access to affordable health care coverage is one of the biggest barriers Americans are facing today. Lack of basic, preventative health care leads us all down a very grim path. And how about reproductive rights? A hot bed of controversy since the freaking beginning of time.

How is it that you aren't informed or that you cannot provide an opinion on the matter, Senator McCain? For someone who has served as a member of Congress for the past 26 years, you are sadly and shockingly out of touch.

Why Breast Cancer Sucks

2008-07-10T17:47:00.002-06:00

"Hi! I'm Jen and this is Kari! What's your name?"

Saturday #1:
It was the first day of a class I was taking in January 2006 - a required course that I had absolutely no interest in. Fortunately, it would only take up two and a half Saturdays and it would be over. Gary and I been out late the night before and I'd had way too much to drink. I mistakenly thought I'd be able to lapse in and out of consciousness during this class.

I contemplated changing seats (I'm not the small-talk type. At all.), but by the time I'd weighed the pros and cons of making that kind of asshole-move, all the other seats were filled up; I was stuck next to Miss Happy Pants.

Strewn all over the large U-shaped desk formation (which took up the entire classroom), were doodads, doohickeys, doobobs, doomarkers and doocandy - a veritable smorgasborg of plastic, elastic and whatever play-doh is made out of. I was confused but grateful for any diversion that might help keep me from passing out in my seat.

I quickly realized that the only students in attendance were women. One by one, I watched them walk into the classroom with their venti-sized Starbucks cups clutched tightly in hand. A hangover, a happy pants neighbor, and a class full of women hopped up on caffeine. It was going to be a long day.

We were tasked with an ice-breaker in which we were to take a piece of flip-chart paper, divide it into four sections (home, work, play, and what we wanted to get out of the class - I think.). Once we finished our masterpieces, we hung them up on the wall and the introductions commenced. First woman spoke - tears. Second woman spoke - tears. Third woman, fourth woman, fifth - tears, tears, and more tears. There was laughter, too, but the tear-worthy stuff was heady.

Then it was Jen's turn.

It only took two minutes, but I fell head over heels for this well-spoken woman who, in spite of her trials and tribs, had boundless energy and a ridiculously positive attitude. I got it - got why she was so happy and full of life while I was slogging away in my own pathetic alcohol-drenched black cloud. Maybe it's true (Charles Dickens) that you can't really appreciate life until the bony finger of death pokes you in the eye.

I don't really feel that Jen's story is mine to tell (especially since she does it so well here) but suffice it to say she had, at a tender young age, been diagnosed with breast cancer, fought it and won.

So she thought. And by the way? It's never really gone. But then she probably knew that.

Saturday #2:

Jen is quiet. She doesn't speak until the end of the class when we stand up for our final exercise. The cancer is back. The air sucks out of the room in a single, black instant.

Saturday #3:

I'm more of a wreck than Jen who has already begun to bounce back to her perky self. It's impossible to wrap your mind around breast cancer - what it does to your body, your mind, your family, friends: Your life. It's an insidious disease and, by the time a woman can actually feel a tiny pea-sized lump, it's been growing - feeding greedily on your once healthy blood, cells and breast tissue - for roughly six years. SIX YEARS! And, because the little fucker grows at an exponential rate most doctors just want to strap you to a table and hack one or both your breasts off. Then you have little choice but to endure chemo and radiation; both of which are totally lethal.

What I love about Jen is that she's so cool and funny about the whole thing. I'm not. I am filled with rage every time I think about it. How unfair it is. No woman should ever have to endure this hell; but most especially, no YOUNG woman.

I had the incredible opportunity to go to Washington D.C. a couple of years ago (thanks to and because of Jen), to attend a conference and to do some lobbying in support of an act that would channel money into research geared toward young women with breast cancer. The women I met changed my life and I fell in love with each of them as well. How could I not? So much grace and character in the face of a total nightmare; superheroes, every one.

One woman was 20 years old. She went to her doctor complaining of breast tenderness and pain associated with a lump. He sent her away and told her it was probably due to her monthly hormone fluctuation and the lump was probably just a fatty cyst. She went back two more times - each time, the shape of her breast was becoming more and more distorted and she could barely sit upright. The fourth time she went back and demanded an x-ray. By then it was too late; her death sentence had already commenced. She lost both breasts, had been pumped full of chemo and had been exposed to enough radiation to kill a small city; still, she had less than a year to live.

I've done lots of research; so much that I sent myself headlong into a depression and had to step away from it for awhile. Jen and other women in her situation aren't so lucky.

You can't examine your own breasts enough. Get in there; poke and prod - don't forget to go over to the sides of each breast and all the way up into the armpit.

Talk to your doctor immediately if you notice a change. Do not let them tell you that you're too young to have breast cancer. You're the boss - not them.

Read Dr. Susan Love's The Breast Book. You needn't have cancer to read this one - but if you have breasts, I'd strongly encourage you to study up on them. This book was amazing and incredibly informative.

Hi, Jen, I'm Shannon. It is an honor and a privilege to sit next to you and to be your friend.

Blogadoscious

2008-07-08T12:58:00.003-06:00

I realize that this blog is a compass of sorts for my far-away loved ones. Not a compass for their directional needs but one that's indicative of my general well-being. As such, I'm sending a virtual thumbs-up to say all is well here in Denver.

Just trying to focus on the book. Not getting much actual writing done, but I sure am focused on it...

Running Away Fantasy #5

2008-07-08T09:49:00.005-06:00

I'm going to hitch a ride with these girls...

Wearing this fabulous Dior spectator...

*SO* fierce...

Running Away Fantasy #2

2008-07-07T11:18:00.003-06:00

Bora Bora

Running Away Fantasy #12

2008-07-06T10:13:00.008-06:00

Joining the Peace Corps...

Writing Schmiting

2008-07-04T14:55:00.005-06:00

Damn if I didn't try to get serious with my novel this week. The intention was there and I even had a gameplan.

And that, my friends, was my first mistake.

Writing is lonely.

Writing is painful.

...isolating

...tortuous

...maddening

...frustrating

...boring

...destructive

...exhausting

...soul-sucking

...all-consuming

...demon-waking

...demon-fighting

My mind constantly wanders, I begin to daydream and, before I know it, my characters are running amok. Now I have to go back and clean up all the messes they've made.

Damn writing.

Dancing Matt

2008-06-30T14:04:00.006-06:00

This one is making the rounds today - and with good reason.

You can watch the video below, but if you want to see a better quality version of it, click HERE and click on "watch in high quality" - it makes all the difference - trust me.

-Shannon

Spanking Bananas

2008-06-27T14:44:00.003-06:00

I have been in a hole and not wanting to come out. I'm thinking. Processing. I'm still here, though, and I haven't given up on Venus; I just took a bit of a break to re-group from graduation and turning my hair green (don't ask).

My husband, on the other hand, has been working madly on a new blog, Spanking Bananas, which is a new and growing collection of his comic-striptitude. THIS is my personal favorite, but they're all funny. I'm not just saying that because I'm married to the guy. Or because he's standing right here with one of my Louboutins and a pair of scissors.

Tomorrow, I begin my "Book in a Month" challenge which means that, by this time next month (if all goes well), I will have written a novel. Apparently, stress is my drug of choice.

We were supposed to win the lottery on Wednesday so we could each focus on writing full-time (and buying really expensive shoes), but Gary accidentally picked the wrong numbers. I forgive him, though, and will give him a chance to redeem himself in time for tomorrow night's drawing. I know, he's lucky to have me - right?

-Shannon

Food For Thought

2008-06-21T12:13:00.006-06:00

What you see is not always what you get…

All style, no substance…

Looks can be deceiving…

You can’t always judge a book by its cover…

You have a choice between the large, shiny, red apple and the smallish, dull apple – which will you take and eat? What are your deciding factors?

The distinction between appearance and reality is an issue that’s been chewed on by philosophers for thousands of years, so I thought why not throw it on the table for a little pondering of our own.

As conscious thinkers, we challenge appearances and ask meaningful questions in order to determine the true reality of the issue or situation at hand. (Though reality in and of itself is a thing that’s entirely subjective and unique to its definer…a proverbial can of worms, as it were.) "Why is this apple so freakishly large? What makes it so shiny?"

As unconscious thinkers, we often act blindly (or on faith) and bank on (or trust) a pre-conceived outcome of events. "Mmm! Big and shiny must taste better than small and dull!"

Question 1: Do we, as citizens of this planet, have a social (moral? ethical?) obligation to challenge the things presented to us before we decide to buy into it or not?

Question 2: What happens (what has happened historically) when we don’t challenge the appearance of some one or some thing?

Just some food for thought…

-Shannon

Forgiveness

2008-06-16T19:38:00.001-06:00

"Being unwilling to forgive is like drinking

poison and expecting the other person to die."

James Arthur Ray

Visualize This

2008-06-13T07:32:00.003-06:00

Since the whole graduation thing, I've sort of been in a funky frame of mind. The words, "Now what?!" keep running through my head and, the thing is, I just don't know what. I'm really having a tough time naming what it is I want; if I could just figure that part out, I'd be golden.

I've been grousing about this whole "naming what it is I want" thing for weeks (years, actually, and really only from a career standpoint), so of course it makes sense that something would present itself relative to my angst (since that's what I'm putting out in the universe).

Coincidentally (not), I flipped Oprah on yesterday afternoon and it was a follow-up piece called, "The Secret Behind The Secret." I watched the show about The Secret (which aired a year ago), so my interest in the follow-up piece was piqued. It's likely that you already know that The Secret is basically about the laws of attraction - what you put out to the universe (good, bad or otherwise) is what you get back. I'm not going to push this idea off on anyone; I'm only going to say that I've found it to be true in my own life.

Anyhoo - back to the follow-up piece... Of course lives were changed and all that good stuff, but the common theme was the people featured in the show yesterday had all used a "Visualization Board " to help them achieve their goals, hopes and dreams. So, I'm sitting there watching this show with my husband and we decide that we need to try the whole visualization board thing out. It can't hurt, right?

So, there's the set up. A quick trip to Office Depot and we have our board. We're going to visualize our hearts out and all of our wildest dreams are going to come true (I'm not even kidding).

Gary's stuff is on the board, too, but this can be a very private thing for a lot of people (clearly I am not one of those people). And, speaking of Gary, I would just like to put out to the universe how grateful I am for him and his presence in my life. Y'all have *no* idea how lost I would be without him. So, in a way - I already have everything I could possibly need.

Life is good:):):)

-Shannon

Master's Degree? Check!

2008-06-07T09:57:00.009-06:00

As with a lot of women, education fell down on the list of priorities when I got married and had my children. I had my daughter at 22 and my son at 25; I didn't go back to school until I was 32. I only had a handful of credits to take with me as I started my journey as a non-traditional student at the University of Denver, so I was basically starting from scratch. I graduated with my BA in August of 2003 and began grad school the following January.

The company I worked for offered tuition reimbursement up to a certain amount each year, so of course I took full advantage of that. I would like to thank Allied Insurance for the $42,000 they contributed toward my education (I wonder if they took that into consideration before they laid me off in February...). Given the $54,000 I owe in student loans for my undergraduate degree, I would have been reluctant to pursue a Master's Degree without their help so, I truly am grateful!

If things keep going the way they are with this economy, tuition reimbursement may become a benefit employers decide they can no longer afford to offer. If you work for a company that offers this benefit, please consider using it; it's money sitting out there for *you*!

Anyhoo...I graduated from DU with my Master's Degree in March but the actual ceremony was yesterday. I'm posting these pics for my Grammy and aunt back in Des Moines; you were both with me spirit!

With my mom before the Master's Hooding Ceremony...

Receiving my Hood...

Yep - that's the Hood...

You know these folks...

The first picture with both my parents in a looong time...

With the coolest guy in the entire universe...

The processional...

The moment...

After the ceremony, we had friends and family over to celebrate both graduations (Holly graduated last week). Thanks to my mom for doing all the food preparation and to my husband for doing just about everything else; I am so lucky to have such a great support system!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to begin researching my next steps toward a PhD...

-Shannon

Three Things

2008-06-05T09:25:00.005-06:00

First, I totally love Carter's workout regimen. Second, the Clintons should have *never* crossed his path (a VF writer published an article about a 2007 clandestine encounter between Gina Gershon and Slick Willy which both parties vehemently deny). Third, nice maracas.

This video, coincidentally, was released yesterday...

Doppelganger

2008-06-04T07:58:00.007-06:00

Vanity Fair is my bible, except, of course, when the 32-pound fall issue of Vogue comes out (duh!). It's not as good as it used to be, but I'm happy to fork out $12.50 a year for my subscription and look forward to its arrival in my mailbox each month.

I paricularly enjoy Graydon Carter's caustic swipes at the Bush administration each month in his "Editor's Letter" (though even I must admit that, after eight years, that song and dance routine has grown somewhat tiresome).

Anyhoo...whether it's deserved or not, I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Carter is going to have some bad press in the next couple of months. Just a few rumbles here and there; I'm sure it's nothing...

I realize that I am about to blow my chances of ever contributing to VF, but...

-Anna Wintour

So Long Yves Saint Laurent

2008-06-02T06:10:00.004-06:00

Monsieur Saint Laurent, an incredible fashion pioneer, died yesterday in Paris at the age of 71. The New York Times ran this piece late yesterday; the cause of death is still unknown.

Yves Saint Laurent

1936 - 2008

Madonna: Give It 2 Me

2008-05-31T10:14:00.005-06:00

In case you're a hardcore Madonna fan, the newest video, "Give It 2 Me", *just* leaked. I'm not a fan of Perez Hilton, but he's the only one who seems to have the video at this point.

Not the best video I've seen of Madge's (and I'm a little tired of the dance-studio-look-at-my-body-in-a-leotard-while-I-watch-myself-in-a-mirror-and-pretend-to-know-how-to-dance-like-a-20-year-old routine), BUT, I still have to give it up to this woman for how fabulous she looks (I think she drinks formaldehyde).

Anyhoo...enjoy!

-Shannon

We Are

2008-05-31T05:46:00.003-06:00

We Are

We are.

We just are.

We live. Eat. Breathe. Sleep.

Life is unfettered when we know not its extremes.

Soon enough our lives begin to expand

outward inward

upward downward

to the unfamiliar fray.

Many things

feel good.

Many things

do not.

Once we begin to feel

we can never

know

what it's like to be numb.

We are forced to reconcile

things that we can

never

understand.

Intense

joy.

Intense

sorrow.

We live our lives

in the cracks between

love and loss

and just...are.

Shannon Piserchio

May 2008

Congratulations, Holly!

2008-05-30T06:57:00.010-06:00

My daughter, Holly, graduated from Green Mountain High School yesterday. It was an emotional day for everyone, but especially bittersweet for Holly because her papa is in the hospital and wasn't able to make the ceremony. In fact, several adult-type realities are converging on her path right now but she is strong and, if she can accomplish what she did yesterday, she will find a way to get through these difficult times.

With her Dad before the ceremony...

The stage at Red Rocks - before the wind blew everything over...

Holly (at bottom of stage) getting ready to approach the podium...

Getting ready to walk toward that diploma (now standing at the podium)...

Got it!

Holly - middle of photo - with diploma in hand (yellow envelope)...

With Gary, Grampa Dan and Duncan...

A kiss from mom...

Congratulations, sweet girl, I am so incredibly proud of you!

Love, Mom

So Long Sydney...

2008-05-27T10:32:00.002-06:00

...You will be missed.

Sydney Pollack

July 1, 1934 - May 26, 2008