Friday #9: July 29, 2016

There’s been a particular theme running through our household all week. Nobody can find their phone charger. Everybody is quietly taking everyone else’s when they’re not looking. Somebody has a charger cord but somebody else took their brick. There’s a cord for an iPhone 6 but not the Android. Somebody needs an old-style iPad cord. Somebody’s ex left their charger and needs it back. The transformer strip in the kitchen isn’t working and things that were supposed to be charging aren’t. Some people aren’t responding to their messages because their phone is dead, and some people’s mother is getting really mad about it.

By Friday afternoon it had reached something of a low-grade fever pitch, with the added insult of the wi-fi blinking in and out and compromising everybody’s ability to get their particular tasks done – and most importantly (for me), compromising Drew’s ability to finish his work on the computer so we could get started on our afternoon adventure.

But finally about 3:00, start we did. Fortunately, we didn’t have to go far to get completely away from the pressure of all this new-fangled technology breathing down our necks. Or at least to an older version of it.

Just up the street a couple miles is the “Creative Enterprise Zone,” the western-most section of St. Paul's University Avenue corridor that’s remaking its industrial past into something of a steam-punk future. From the post-Civil War years until the mid-1900s, this was one of American’s largest industrial and commercial freight areas, with a convergence of rail terminals servicing nine separate freight lines. Today there’s growing local interest in transforming this heavy industrial heritage into a lively mixed-use residential and business district, with a focus on becoming a place where people make a living by their often intensely old-school creative capacities.

One of the very best examples of this was in action today at a place called Studio On Fire, which was hosting a Grand Opening and Steam Roller Print Fair.

We Love St. Paul

Celebrating their recent move to Saint Paul, Studio on Fire is a young company that specializes in the aging art of pressure-based printing. Letterpress, foil stamping, engraving, all done to the highest standards of the craft for agencies and clients around the world. 

The place is filled with the smell of ink and metal, and the shiny black and chrome beauty of a dozen old Heidelberg presses from the 40s and 50s. 

\

We peer up close at gold ink getting ready to go on an embossing press, and I take a turn running off a hand-cranked sheet-fed poster to take home.

But the title draw was the steamroller printing happening outside. Large hand-carved wooden letters were laid out on the ground and inked with a giant squeegee. The letters were covered with a white sheet, then a layer of carpet padding, then a sheet of plywood. Along comes the steamroller, and VOILA!

\

The kids and young adults who participated in the process got a first-hand, larger-than-life lesson in how the printing process works at its most basic level. And it didn't require a USB port or charger.

Raymond Avenue Revival

Hungry for a late lunch, we wandered down the block to Raymond Avenue, where a cluster of sweet shops, restaurants, and local businesses perches on the far western edge of St. Paul.

 

Drew browses his latest favorite vinyl store, Barely Brothers Records, and I buy some new old table linens at the mid-century modern vintage shop Succotash. We settle on Foxy Falafel for lunch, which is cool and dimly quiet inside in contrast to the hot humid day outside.

 

After lunch we walk past the original Key’s family restaurant, past the hardware store that’s been there since 1920, past the neon-lit Sharrett’s Liquors, and up University Avenue a block to one of my favorite haunts, Twin Cities Reptile.

It’s the largest reptile specialty store in Minnesota, and I used to go there regularly to buy mice and later large rats for our Peruvian Rainbow Boa. It’s still fun to stop in occasionally and see the stock they have available. Today I had a nice chat with one of the employees, who was well acquainted with my friend Karl Hermann, a lifetime snake breeder and serious hobbyist who sadly passed away last year from cancer. It was sweet to reminisce about Karl while watching this hungry snake have his dinner, just as I’d done so many times with Karl himself.

And now for something completely different: Tarzan the Musical

Last but definitely not least, we capped off our day’s adventure by seeing my son Spencer perform in Tarzan the Musical with the Highland Park Community Theater. It was a beautiful night out at Como Pavilion, and he did a great job playing Tarzan’s father (briefly and tragically), plus rocked the ensemble with his interpretive plant dancing. 

Love that kid and his enjoyment of the performing arts. Even if he can’t keep his phone charged.