My name is Lauren, as you might have guessed. I currently live downtown and work in Capitol hill making hand-printed wallpaper. I used to bake cupcakes for a living, but have been making wallpaper for a little over a year now. It still feels good to be doing something related to my degree, which is in printmaking.

I moved to Seattle almost three years ago after living in Baltimore for five years. I had never been here before. I based my decision to move here on a lot of research about U.S. cities and their relation to Baltimore. Seattle turned out to be the most opposite city from Baltimore in the states in almost all my areas of research, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Don't be mistaken though, I LOVE Baltimore, but it has a lot of problems, and I thought that perhaps I could gain a new perspective on urban life if I moved somewhere that functioned differently, dealt with its problems in different ways, and had different problems all together. So far so good.

I have a lot I could say about myself, but it's not really necessary at thins point, so here are ten facts about me you might find of interest:

1. I have traveled extensively in the U.S. on two different trips and have been to every state except: OK, AL, HI.

2. I grew up in Maine and it's still #1 in my book.

3. I look forward to the day that I can have dog and a big vegetable garden....or one at all.

4.Things I love about Seattle include: The community's support of local businesses, the availability of good produce, riding the ferries, the weather (even the rain).

5.I am very driven and often in a state of rapturous inspiration.

6.I love baseball, but have been a lazy fan the past few years.

7.I love fly fishing, but am still learning (aren't you always still learning?).

8. I find a sense common decency, integrity, humor, and self-awareness to be attractive qualities in people.

9. I listen to a lot of public radio, and have been thinking about a radio piece I want to produce for almost a year now, but haven't got it quite worked out in my head yet.

10. I share my birthday with Marcel Duchamp (though separated by 95 years) also with Jackie O., Beatrix Potter, and Sally Struthers, so clearly, I am headed for greatness.

Working on a business plan, and putting things in place to make it happen. Designing wallpaper and fabric patterns.

cooking, telling stories from my travels, making the best of a bad situation, staying clam under pressure.

usually they notice that I have paint on my face

This will expand in the future, but I'll put down what comes to mind for now.

Books:
City of Quartz -Mike Davis
all books by David Wojnarowicz
My Life in Paris -Julia Child
How We Are Hungry -Dave Eggers
The Selected Wroks of T.S. Spivet -Reif Larsen
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again -DFW
all of Flannery O'Connor's short stories
Beautiful Evidence -Edward Tufte

Movies/TV: (though I don't have a TV in my apartment)
Cry Baby, Buffalo '66, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Twin Peaks, Lawrence of Arabia, Blow Up, Respiro, Little Shop of Horrors, Talk to Her, most Herzog films, Buster Keaton.

Music:
Belle + Sebastian, Fugazi, ESG, Joanna Newsom, Os Mutantes, Ersen, Gillian Welch, Motown, soul, Bruce Springsteen, Black Angels, Portishead, Mazzy Star, The Gossip, the Zombies, Animal Collective, Roky Ericson, old Deerhoof. Microphones, Sparks, Bob Trimble, Klaus Nomi, Beach House, Black Sabbath, Bonnie Prince Billy, CAN, Mulatu, Ponytail, Stevie Wonder, The Stranglers, Arab on Radar, Lightning Bolt, Jefferson Airplane.

Food:
Sushi, bread, cheese, bahn mi, My grandmother's chocolate bread pudding, my other grandmother's breakfast of crepes and porridge, mushrooms, most fruits and all vegetables.

The ocean, family and friends, travel, literacy, a well equipped kitchen, pen + paper.

making popsicles
starting a business
an out of print Calvino essay that I can't remember the title of
why I am constantly dreaming of being in the woods
Venn Diagrams
how awesome dogs are
The Bedouin.

I had a professor tell me I was the most irreverent student she'd ever had in class. I got an A anyway.

There's nothing particularly private about that, but I think it's funny.

Also, I am willing to tell you that I was George Washington for Halloween two years in a row.

You happen to be Michael Showalter or Michael Ian Black, or you just have a good sense of humor, like to have fun and are a happy person.