Happy New Year (still)

2010 will be the year of new adventures. I've experienced the following new-ness so far:

Rock Climbing -
It may have been my first time clinging to a plastic rock and using silly words like "belay", but it won't be the last time. Rock climbing is no longer a mystery sport reserved for uber-athletes and adrenaline junkies (although I guess I've become one of those). This is one of those things that looks difficult but is simple (also deadly, so don't get distracted). The key is to use your legs to push yourself up instead of trying to hoist with your arms.

Contrary to what you might think, as the belayer (the person who stays on the ground and holds the rope) you have absolutely no time to ogle the toned butts of fellow climbers. Disappointing but true.

On the bright side, you do hold your friends' life in your hands, so they'd better be really nice to you.

"Oh, you're ready to come down?! Tell me again how great my hair looks. Say it like you mean it!"



New Car!!!! -
Not really "new" but new to me. Continuing the Honda dynasty of my household, I purchased a 2005 Honda Element as the upgrade to my 1990 Accord. If I loved it any more, I would change my Facebook status to say "Selina Shehan is now in a relationship with Honda Element." All of the seats come out or flip up, it has a tail gate that you can sit on while putting on your snowboard boots or waiting for your tofu pup to come off the grill, it's got a moon roof, outlets for pluggin' stuff in, more cup holders and armrests than you can shake a stick at, and most importantly: dramatic pause...

When you drive this car, you feel like the captain of the starship Enterprise.

I have named him Geordi LaForge.



Training for my first Triathlon -
Both Liz and myself are planning to do the Wunder Woman triathlon in Medical Lake this August. It's still a long way off, but we are both inexperienced with swimming and we want to kick serious butt, so training starts now. Training will include swim caps with giant fake daisies.

I'm including this photo because it makes me laugh so hard I snort. This is a mugger taking down a jogger...no, wait...that's me running a 5k on a cold day. Go 204!


New Band -
The Bleeding Edge was fun while it lasted, but we have moved on to a new project. The new band name is Cryptid, we are a trio with Greg on bass, Tony on guitar, and me on guitar and vocals. I'm hoping to get us out playing shows by early Summer.


On top of all that, I just finished up a few projects that I'd like to share.

The first is the flyer and postcard invitation for Boutiques and Blooms.

Boutiques and Blooms is part of the Inland Empire Garden Club tour, the proceeds from this event will benefit RiteCare Spokane, free speech therapy for children ages 2-7.


The second thing is the updated homepage for Rings & Things
Here's a side-by-side comparison of what the Rings & Things homepage looked like when I started working there, way back on July 6th, 2005, and how it looks as of today (click 'em for a closer look):


an Alice in Wonderland themed ad for Rings & Things

and finally, here is the 2010 postcard invitation for the Rings & Things BeadTour.



And...back to my New Year's resolution of "promoting my business"; I am showing a painting in the SVS (Shrinking Violet Society) Birthday show. Sharing my "fine" art is yet another thing that I've never done. Art for art's sake has always eluded me. Although I've been drawing and painting for many years, I never considered that I could sell anything other than my commercial art abilities. I thought: "why would you pay me to do something that has no function?" It doesn't sell anything, it doesn't inform anyone, it doesn't save the world...but I guess it's pretty. This is my first shot at art that needs to defend itself based on it's arty-ness and not it's effectivey-ness, and that is scary.

Amor y Muerte ~ Selina, January 2010


That's whats shiny and NEW with me. What's new with you?

Serious Business

"2009 is the year we got our grown-up pants. 2010 is the year we get to wear them." -the past year eloquently summed up by Devon

At South Perry Pizza on December 31st, in between bites of delicious pizza and swigs of equally delicious beer, I arrived at my New Year's Resolution. As with most things that come out of my mouth, it popped into my head less than 1/10th of a second before I blurted it out:

"I will aggressively promote my business."

Which immediately led to the question, "um...which business?" ...Good Question. Officially, there's Rings & Things, Spike and Lola, and Selina Shehan Design. But unofficially...there's absolutely everything under the sun that I've ever done or plan to do.

My business is not just a day job, or a haphazard collection of projects, my business is me, and I am serious about my business. Everything about me adds up to the image I project into the world.

Take a minute and think about you - How many social networking sites are you on? Have you ever been in the paper? Ever been on television? Who are your friends, do they all know each other? How do you dress and what does it say about you? If you had something to say, where would you say it?

What would happen if you Googled yourself? Go on, try it.

I took a screenshot of my Google results (see image below) and I pretended that I hadn't heard of this "Selina Shehan" person, whoever she is. Here's what I assume about her based on the search results:

• "Spokane-based Graphic Designer" - she lives in a town with a silly name
• "25th Birthday"- she is in her mid-twenties
• "ETC, for Rings and Things, sets an outstanding example..." - she has a weird acronym in her job title...hmmmmm...I thought she was a graphic designer
• "Spike and Lola Handmade Resin Jewelry" - a different business? There must be two Selinas.
• "Through the Grapevine - Marquette Books LLC" - yet another random thing, she seems like a job-hopper.

That's a quick impression of me from the internet. Not much info, and certainly not anything that I care to click on or learn more about.

Now, here's what you might think if you encountered me in the real world:

• If you saw me on the street, you would probably assume that I'm a good-for-nothing skateboarder who works part time at Taco Bell.
  
• If you saw me at the gym, you might think that I'm a hardcore bodybuilder who has a girlfriend.
  
• If you saw me out with Greg at Twigs in my fancy coat, you could guess that I live on the South Hill, own tiny dogs, and drive a Hummer.
  
• If you've seen me at a concert or a craft fair, you probably think that I'm 16 and extremely emo.

And you might be partially right, but you are mostly wrong. Am I sending the wrong signals?

What I wish you could see all the time is the graphic designer, skateboarder, gym rat, musician, fashion lover, vegetarian crafter that I am every second of the day, and not just when it's outwardly visible.

I want you to know about my jewelry business.

I want you to know about my design work for RiteCare Spokane, a nonprofit speech therapy clinic for children ages 2-7...and I want you to give them money, because they deserve it.

I want you to know that I love where I live and support local business and events whenever I can.

I want you to know about running and skateboarding and snowboarding and everything else that makes my life fun.

I want you to know that I've illustrated books.


This year I'm going to aggressively promote my business.
I want the Google search results for me to read like a transcript from the life of the world's most interesting man. I want people to say, "Oh, I've heard of her," and to know what I do.

What am I doing about it?
So far, I've made a video to promote Rings & Things and Spike and Lola (and myself). I've also put together a press release and gathered some nice photos of my work to send to magazines and newspapers in the area. Then I made a Squidoo lens (it's like wikipedia for projects and businesses), set up a Twitter account, and of course I will continue to blog here.

And that's just to start. This year I am putting on my grown-up pants and applying everything I've learned from years of school, work and life in general to make a name for myself.


I leave you with the following thinkables:

What does the internet say about you? What do you wish it said?

Now...what are you going to do about it?