Shane O’Neill is a totally awesome and out-there kind of guy who’s been known to cause a riotous raucus on occasion. I was intrigued by his unique performances in everyday life, so we sat down for some Bloody Marys together on a Sunday morning, and in true Macalester fashion, turned a power-laden interview into a democratic dialogue.
 

Mikey: Well, you know, Shane, one of the things that has most intrigued me about you ever since my first year has been the outrageous costumes I’ve seen you parading around campus in. From hot pink tights to tube dresses to feathery boas, I mean I think we’ve seen it all. What’s that all about?
 

Shane: Well, Mikey, most of that has cooled down a little. But I think I was the poster child for going to college. You know, going all out and really partying HARD. I guess it was something to do. And I really like people to look at me and all the costumes are a good way to do that.
 

Mikey: But they were always so creative. I mean, it’s alleged that you wore this incredible birthday cake outfit.
 

Shane: Yeah, the birthday cake was Ariel Dumas’ idea. It was the queer cabaret; we wanted to do an act and Ariel had been planning this dance with a skeleton, a princess and a birthday cake. It involved many trips to Axman, a lot of work with cardboard, but she’s really the brainchild of the operation. Unknown to me, it was rather unceremoniously torn apart. I was real sad about that.
 

Mikey: Me too. It was a real sexy get-up. And definitely attention-grabbing. And speaking of that, I heard you were writing a senior honors thesis on narcissism and homos.
 

Shane: No I’m actually not doing that anymore.
 

Mikey: A damn shame.
 

Shane: Yeah, well I’m graduating early in December and I didn’t have a strong enough idea of what I was writing about, so I scrapped it.
 

Mikey: You’re not alone though, buddy. I scrapped mine too. But how are you managing to graduate early?
 

Shane: Well I was taking classes at the U of W during my time off in Madison and I did a winter program in Ecuador. I’m not really sure how it all worked out, but hell, I’m happy about it.
 

Mikey: Wow, I’m totally jealous. I mean, I hugged the registrar yesterday when she told me I had enough credits to graduate in the spring.
 

Shane: Say, how did you get roped into doing this Spotlight thing?
 

Mikey: Well, I really wanted to write a radical sex column for the paper, but I got totally shot down. Apparently the student body believes there’s way too much sex in The Weekly. Of course, in my opinion, I just can’t get enough.
 

Shane: A radical sex column, like ‘woah, I had the most radical sex last night!?’
 

Mikey: No, not really like that. I was more interested in exploring the trickier questions about sexuality. For example: does sex have to involve penetration? Or if I’m exchanging goods, money or dinners and cocktails for sexual acts does that constitute sex work, am I a whore, or just slutty with ulterior motives?
 

Shane: I guess those are good questions.
 

Mikey: That’s what I thought. But I guess Mac just not ready to hear it yet. The Weekly told me it had to be tame and I thought, well, these are definitely not things my momma would want to hear, so I guess I can’t pass it off as tame. I mean, it was gonna be classy, I had this whole Carrie Bradshaw image of it, basing a lot of it on my own life, especially my experiences the past spring when I was studying in Amsterdam.
 

Shane: So did you do some of that sex work thing there? Since it’s legal and all.
 

Mikey: Well, if it was worth, I would work it. I uh, um....I think I’ll leave it there. So, Shane where are you living at this year?
 

Shane: I’m doing the off-campus thing, Portland and Wheeler.
 

Mikey: Ah yes, an infamous Macalester student intersection.
 

Shane: Yeah, I’m actually living in the basement. And it’s a little frightening. It’s got a sort of grungy SM feel to it. My bed’s raised up off the floor by two carpenter horses. I’m working on trying to get the situation cleaned up a bit, but I’m not so good at the decorating thing. I’ve got my own bathroom down there that’s just been re-done. So that’s nice. It’s got this awesome porn video shower, you know, with the clear glass and checkered tiles.
 

Mikey: Living in the basement could be a bit chilling.
 

Shane: Yeah, no windows and practically sound proof. I’m scared of some kind of horror film scenario where no one can hear my screams.
 

Mikey: That’s awfully funny. I’d be kind of nervous too. But I think we better be wrapping this up. So, do you have any word of wisdom, especially to any of the new first years out there?
 

Shane: Yeah, definitely. Go out there and be yourself to the max, really push the boundaries. But learn limits and learn quick. Or I’m sure, no, I’m positive that you’ll end up in an embarrassing situation.