NOTES ON MEETING THE KRING:
Sometime in 2005
a person living in Seattle began sending me videotapes of a public access
television show called GODDESS KRING. I was
living in Chicago at the time and hadn't met the person sending the tapes,
we were simply friends over the telephone. I remember that
eventually we stopped talking because his girlfriend became jealous of our
relationship, her thinking that perhaps he liked me more than
her. I don't remember this person's name, though I very much wish I did so
I could thank him for introducing me to ALIEN KRING PHD (Shannon
Kringen, Goddess Kring, synKRINGnicity, etc) via SLP VHS tapes which held
6 episodes per tape. I've seen these episodes at least
65 times each at this point, quoting Kringspeak nearly everyday (WALDORF SALAD
AGAINNNNNN?). I 1/2 stalked THE
KRING on the internet,
reading about her highs & lows, trips to Amsterdam & even shelled
out some amount of money to look at the, erm, "intercourse" part
of her
website. I understood that people often gave Shannon a hard time for being
naked on TV, talking endlessly while covered in body paint, and
at times she was equally hard on herself. But I always found her to be a genuine
individual who had absolute guts. Then, I moved to Seattle.
My friend Jessica came to visit and between viewings on Out
Of Bounds with Anthony Michael Hall and eating at Than Bros., I played
the tapes
of Shannon's television show. Jessica was equally taken with her and we formulated
a plan to take Shannon out to lunch. I wrote KRING an
email and 42 exchanges later we decided to meet outside of Whole Foods on
NE 64th where I had agreed to buy Shannon a medium sized Pomegranate
Paradise from Jamba Juice. And then we sat on a bench and Shannon filled me
in with the details I had missed of not seeing her show for 5
years (save for the 1/2 hour that I saw in an empty apartment during a 2007
Seattle visit). Shannon dates a man who lives on a house boat &
she's going back to school at the Seattle branch of Antioch College. Her cat
Tux passed away in 2007. She has a new cat named Stella. She
grows broccoli in her backyard. She rides her bike or the bus almost everywhere.
She just participated in a back pain study. Last week she
got paid $100 to eat chocolate! Her television show is still on every Monday
at 10:30. She thinks San Diego is conservative & she's rather
punctual. TGFSK, WWSKD, SKFTW, ETC. I am so glad now.
BONUS PHOTO:
(LEFT TO RIGHT: NR, RR, BN, SS)