Duck Butts and Dandelions

I’m looking forward to this upcoming long weekend. Why? Because it’s Victoria Day, which means fireworks. Other than that, I really hope that this is as far as the drama in my life extends for the next little while — duck butts and dandelions.

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

After a personally difficult legal dispute over BME, I’ve had to face the potentially insurmountable reality of being massively in debt, and I have chosen to transfer the business to Rachel (the details of this deal are sealed, so please don’t ask). Within the month my role at BME will come to an end*, and new staff (made up largely of people who’ve been working on BME for some time as well) will be taking over. I will no longer be writing online about body modification, although I will be maintaining my regular blog and other projects of course, as well as working on several body modification book projects which I am eager to complete.

It’s definitely a very strange and mixed set of feelings, having run this site from the very beginning, over nearly a decade and a half. On one hand I’m very much looking forward to having the opportunity and time to paint and tackle new adventures, and on the other hand I will very much miss both the people and the subject in general that I came to know through BME. That said, when I grew up and fell in love with body modification — and later built BME — this was a very different and much more “outsider” culture, so maybe now, as not just tattooing but body modification as a whole enjoys unprecedented levels of popularity and acceptability, it is a good time to pass the torch on to a new generation. It’s my hope that they maintain the site in the spirit that it was begun, while taking on the challenges of a new environment.

I have very much enjoyed being a part of BME and I leave it with good memories. Thank you to everyone who’s been a friend of the site, and everyone who’s helped bring it to this point. I hope you’ve enjoyed my contributions — I know I’ve enjoyed yours — and I hope that you continue to enjoy what BME brings in the future.

See you in hell! :P

         Shannon
         snowrail@gmail.com
         zentastic.com

* Edit, Jan ’10: In reality, it ended up being September before my role with the site wrapped up… One thing I discovered is that legal processes can move much much more slowly than either expected or desired!

Pity my neighbor’s back yard

No, we don’t really shoot that far… but seriously, is there any day that is not improved by spitting cherry pits off a high balcony? Well, I do have a memory of my brother and I peeing off a 15th story hotel balcony in Germany as kids, but mmmm… Cherry season!

Summerstart Stencils

Caitlin and I went out putting up stencils for the first time since last fall. I am very out of practice and mine is admittedly drippy with overspray. Hers are pretty cute; I most like the “O RLY” owl, jajaja… Next time I’ll do something more inspired but it was nice to get out and do something fun.

Inspired by the artwork from Jörg Buttgereit’s Der Todesking“Das ist der Todesking. Er macht, daß die Menschen nicht mehr leben wollen…”

Tree Flower

The power plug on my laptop broke, so it takes serious precision jiggling to get it to stay powered up, oh no… I’m going to have to bring it in the shop to have a new jack soldered on… At least it was a sunny, beautiful day. I need a patio and a beer.