At Home in St. Paul

I made it!! It's taken forever to get everything set up, but I am finally here, and I finally have Internet access. All I need is a dresser, and I am set!

And guess what is on the way up here from Texas. Kansas City. What does that mean? Hammerpress, Hallmark, and all kinds of kickass places!! The Hammerpress space is amazing. It was just inspiring to be there. Any artist or designer should try to make it there at some point in their career. And then you should drive on to Minneapolis to see me!! :)


For more photos of Hammerpress, visit my Flickr photostream.

My apartment is...let's call it intimate. It's a nice little studio space with small kitchen area and bathroom. It's perfect for me right now, and I'm very happy in it. It is true that there is no air conditioning, but I've put a few fans up, and it's really not unbearable. I feel like I get a look of pity from other people who visit, but I don't think they see what I do.

This place was built in the '30's, and not much has changed since. The windows, light fixtures, wood floor, etc. is all original. This means that the windows all stick and hardly open, and there are scratches and dings everywhere. I have to tell you, I love wrestling with the windows, and all of the scratches really just mean that I don't have to worry about messing things up. Nice for an artist.

The furniture is similar in that way. I've gotten most of it for free, "borrowing" everything from families who don't need them anymore, who are kind enough to let me use them. People say that I can get nicer things as I have more of an income, but honestly I'm perfectly comfortable here. I think I'll just save my money and satisfy my travel thirst.

My neighbors seem pretty interesting. The oldest tenant spends every day sitting out on the front lawn with her dog, sort of guarding the place and greeting passersby. There are some college students that stay here. One of the residents owns this ridiculous car [note the toilet on top]. It might be for a parade coming up, we'll see how long it stays parked in the lot.


(I wish you could get the full effect from a photo.)

The location is incredible, I am right behind a great local coffee shop called Nina's with free wi-fi, and a few restaurants and salons. There's also an art school on the corner, a park across the street, an old Swedish church on the corner of my street, and an old Cathedral a few blocks away. There are also a few pubs around, and a really nice street not far with a ton of small businesses and great locals to meet.

Did I mention that my complex has red doors? Just the cherry on top of an amazing place to live. Photos of the interior to come, I've got a few things to set up still. More about the Mini Apple and it's brother, St. Paul, to come as well. Stay tuned.

Taking the Leap

So guess what, folks. I am moving up there. Nope, no job yet. Screw knowing how I'm going to have any income, I'm just going to do it. I have a studio apartment in St. Paul, right near the governor's house, right down the street from Garrison Keillor and a huge beautiful Cathedral. We'll see what happens, eh?

Okay, a bit more info. I've always had the travel bug, and I've always seen myself moving out of Texas as soon as I graduated college. I had always seen myself as a New England kind of girl, but my sights have changed to the Twin Cities. That's right, Minneapolis/St. Paul. Where, you say? Don't I know it's cold up there? Yeah, I realize. But I'm excited.

I researched a bit and the Twin Cities is exactly my kind of town. The theater scene is huge, music is big, it's practically a design mecca, and the average age there is in the early 30's. It's a young, cultured, fun-loving scene, and I think I will fit right in. They call Minneapolis the Mini Apple, as opposed to the Big Apple. It is a lot like New York, only smaller and cleaner and more affordable. And more Scandinavian.

Alright, that's basically it. I wanted to let y'all know I'm doing it, taking the leap. That's right, I still say y'all. I think that's one I'll keep.

"Oh, Pep."

So, funny thing happened to me today. I tell ya, it's a very odd feeling to be trapped in a confined space. You may be thinking of elevators, where normal people get stuck. Nope. Think bathroom.

First I should tell you that I am staying at my aunt's house in Minneapolis at the moment, trying to find a job. So I am getting ready to shower this morning, and there was that odd moment when you are using someone else's shower when you wonder, Should I lock the outer door? What if someone needs to come in just to use the outer space? They know I'm showering, they wouldn't walk in here... The debate goes on, but you catch my drift. So I decide (yes, I made a decision) that I should just close the inner door. And I find that it locks! And then I find that it does not unlock and will not open. Mmmmm fun.

I took my shower, because if you think about it, they are more likely to go looking for me if they hear that I finished my shower and am still not out yet. Then I just sat and waited. I tried banging on the door a few times and yelling out names, but they couldn't hear me. I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me.

So I was just waiting until I hear someone walk up the stairs, and I am proud to say that I was rather calm. I rationalized that I wouldn't be stuck in there more than a day, someone would have to use that bathroom at some point. Plus, when you think about it, I was locked in the best place to survive for a long time. Think about it, you've got a toilet to use, and you've got water to drink from the bath faucet. You couldn't really eat anything in there, but you could survive quite a while in there. I was trying to think of something in there that would be edible, and I found myself wondering, What would Survivor Man do? I can just see it now. You know he would make it all dramatic. He would probably find some "extremely rare edible lotion," or wrap a damp bath towel around his head to keep cool.

I seriously did wonder about running out of oxygen at one brief point. Stupid, I know, but it was pretty humid and hard to breathe in there after I had showered. You always see them worry about oxygen in movies when they get trapped in a space. I wondered how long it would take to run out. It would be such a weird way to go. The paper would read, "Girl, 22, just graduated college and about to embark on the rest of her life, and had just arrived in Minneapolis to become a successful human being, died yesterday after accidentally locking herself in a bathroom." Life can be ironic like that. Have I told you I was hit by a Hummer a few days after my 21st birthday? Yeah.

Of course, it never came to that. I couldn't have been waiting more than half an hour before my aunt came upstairs and heard me. She didn't even have to call a locksmith or anything, she just got a screwdriver and jimmied it open. Anti-climatic, I know.

But hey, I can now add Trapped in Closed Space to things I have survived. When you think about it, it's interesting how much we live through. Sure, some hardships/dangers seem minor, but practically anything you do could be life-threatening. I mean, I've flown in planes more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. In the end, we do okay. It kind of makes you question fear, and the way we sometimes let it control our lives. It's a stretch, but my bathroom story comes with a moral: "The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all." Wise words spoken by the dad in Princess Diaries.

(If you continue to keep up with me, you may look forward to hearing many stories like this. I tend to get myself into weird situations. My friends in Lubbock would respond to a story like this with an "Oh, Pep." They're used to it.)

Gradients

I was lucky enough to get some freelance work while I am in Sugar Land. A friend of the family contacted me to design some logos and a mousepad for his clients. I am so grateful for the work, and it is always good to get experience, but prepare yourself for a short rant.

The client wanted a gradient. They want a logo with 3-D Times New Roman or something boring. With gradients all over it, of course. I think they think it looks professional. I see dated. They're lawyers. They would probably win the argument.

On top of that, the Extrude & Bevel option in my Illustrator wasn't working right, so I did every gradient on that thing myself. And it looks damn good for being so ugly, thank you.

Did I mention there's a star? There's a star. Because we live in Texas.

I am terrible, I shouldn't be ranting about this. This is what I do, I give the client what they want. Even if I disagree. Can I help it if I disagree?

This is an age-old problem for designers. We know what we're talking about when it comes to design - most of us have studied or practiced it for years - yet rarely does the client really take full advantage of our design sense.

I think I'll allow myself this rant. Just this once. I swear. :)

I may be lying.

The Drive Home

The drive between Lubbock and Sugar Land takes 8 to 10 hours, depending on your road personality. I usually get looks of pity when I mention this fact to friends; however this drive is something that I am really going to miss. It's like I was telling a friend of mine yesterday, you just kind of have to accept that you are about to spend an entire day on the road, and give in to the experience. I am not very Texan, and have never felt that I really belong in Texas, but over the course of these trips across the state, I have fallen in love with it.

There are only about 15-20 small towns you drive through along the route that I take. They are all adorable and quirky in their own way. One town, Hamilton, boasts the slogan: "What a Hometown Should Be." And it is. Then there is Gatesville, where some of my friends are from, a town known for their high-security prisons. I also pass through Fort Hood. And there is one landmark I will never forget, which marks the halfway point in my trip. Believe it or not, this little ranch in the middle of nowhere just outside of Comanche is called Deep Shit Cattle Co. No joke. Don't blink or you're bound to miss it. There are also tons of antique stores, Dairy Queens, and town squares along the way (surprisingly few Starbucks), but none of these places take more than 5 minutes of your trip. The rest of the day is filled with open land and sky.

Thus, if you are driving this alone as I usually do, the majority of the trip is spent in your own little world. When you are not stuck behind a huge semi going 60 and trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle your road rage, you are left to your music and your thoughts. I went through about 7 CDs this last trip, a few of which I had not listened to in ages and brought back memories from high school, and one of which was "Learn to Speak Italian." This particular CD poses somewhat of a dilemma, as it supplies all of the names and locations for you. Thus, when someone asks me my name and where I'm from, I just know I'll answer, "Mi chiamo Maria Santoni; sono di Dondra," which means, "My name is Maria Santoni; I am from London." That's false, by the way. But I am learning more with every trip.

Other than that I thought a lot about my future. I just graduated, and I'm at this odd point in my life in which I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, but I could go anywhere and do anything my heart desires. So what does my heart desire? Too many things, I can't decide. I'm dying to travel, I have a degree in graphic design and am going to use it (how, I don't know), but I would also love to learn to cook, and maybe open my own shop somewhere, maybe teach somewhere down the road, and I definitely need to start that band. I figure I'll work it out along the way, for now I just need to choose one direction and go with it. I'm a big girl now, and if I find I am unhappy with what I am doing, I can always change it.

Anyway, I highly recommend this kind of drive to anyone and everyone. If you are ever presented with such a long "boring" task, dive in headfirst and embrace it. As with every other experience, you may get more out of it than you thought.

Welcome to Peptalk!

As I mentioned in my About Me section, I admit I am a bit odd. I am one of those people who sees and experiences the world differently than most. This comes out a lot in my design, but I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words. I know that, if only you could step into my head for one second, you could join my train of thought. But this is probably the closest you can get. Here you will find random thoughts, inspiration, moments, design, music, and everything that interests me as the days go by. This can be a good place to keep up with me and my life, to learn new things, to ponder different issues, to get inspired about what you do, or just to look at the world through new eyes.

I do hope you enjoy!