A Conversation with sweet pea

I don’t actually remember the first time I met sweet pea. Bookseller. Community activist. Rabble rouser? We saw him behind the counter and onstage at King’s Books. We watched him drive a steamroller for Wayzgoose. He was on the board of First Night Tacoma. We’ve seen him walking the streets of our neighborhoods. We traded emails and talked about events that bring people together.

We know you from King’s Books and various community events, other than that, what’s keeping you busy?

Other than the bookstore? The First Night Board. Kung Fu … I’m in the emerging leaders project of the American Booksellers Association. Which is something that was started a couple years ago for young booksellers.

There’s this disconnect between booksellers that are over sixty and the whole population that’s under thirty-five. The organization is trying to push the national organization a little more. We’re trying to get more tech programming. We’re trying to get more emerging leaders programs. The goal is to get the bookstores to survive the next decade. I’m the Pacific Northwest Representative.

I heard somewhere that you came to Tacoma from Madison, Wisconsin. What were you doing in Madison?

Just living. I went to school in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which is an hour and a half north of Madison. After college, I was disillusioned about my work experience. I was the Director of the Women’s Resource Center and other things. I went to school for Natural Resources. On the first day I realized … it’s Wisconsin Natural Resources. It’s managing red pine plantations and white tail deer populations. It’s basically designed to get you a job at the DNR (Department of Natural Resources). I ended up doing more in International Studies and Women Studies. Then I realized there was nothing I could do with that … I miss the science a lot.

So I decided to move into a city and Madison was the easy choice. I knew it. I knew a lot of people there. I ended up living there for six years.

How did you get to Tacoma?

I moved to Tacoma in June, 2003. I was imported … Because of the bookstore. Pat and John worked together at Powell’s for ten years. Pat moved to Madison and had his bookstore for nine years. I worked at Pat’s bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin. John opened King’s Books and had it for 4 years before it moved here. So Pat decided to move the bookstore to Tacoma because the rent is less expensive and there’s more foot traffic than in Madison.

So he decided to move and he told me. I was totally ready to leave Madison.

He was like, “Yeah, we’re moving to Tacoma.”
And I was like, “Yeah, whatever.”
“You can think about it.”
“No. that’s fine.”

I had never been to the Northwest and knew nothing about Tacoma. But, whatever.

What did you think when you got here?

I liked the geography right away and the nature here. I particularly liked the nature and the diversity. That you can go to the ocean and that there’s all sorts of different types of the ocean. The Sound and the wild ocean. The nature is a big draw to me. There are so many different ecosystems within minutes of here.

The thing about Tacoma that I always say … I haven’t figured Tacoma out yet and I don’t think I ever will.

What little bits have you figured out?

I’ve been exploring South Tacoma Way a lot. Koreatown. I was just barcrawling in the 56th Avenue section. The 38th Street International District. There are all these pockets and not even just ethnic pockets. For example, the letterpress community before we started doing the Wayzgoose. There were all these people not necessarily connected to the bigger artistic community or the establishment and they’re doing all this wicked shit.

I’ve certainly figured out a few things, but there’s always something new to explore here. Somebody talks about the Ghanian restaurant and you’re like, whoa where’s that? I’m vegetarian so there are two things I can eat there. Or, maybe it was just one thing. It’s good, but it’s not someplace I will go regularly.

You’re vegetarian? Didn’t I see a message from you on Twitter recently about going out for fried chicken on South Tacoma Way?

It was my birthday and I’m like, we’re going to Hans’s Place. Fried Chicken To Go. Because I pass that place and I try to say Hanss’s’s’s’s place … place. I was joking. Well, I was joking about fried chicken. But we totally went to that place. I had hot cheese. And, It’s Hans’s Place. H – A – N – S, apostrophe S.

Did you even try the fried chicken?

No. It was taco night.

We pass that place on our way to Tacoma Szechuan.

Oh yeah. That’s one of my favorite places and it’s one of those places that most people don’t know about or can’t remember. Friends call me asking, “what is that place?” It’s such great food.

Were you an adventurous urban explorer and diner when you lived in Madison?

Well, no. I mean, yes. Madison had some pretty interesting restaurants, but it’s not like there’s pockets of communities. It’s not like you could go to the Indonesian section of town. So, it’s a little different. There are a couple restaurants I’d go to that weren’t even in the phone book. If it’s good, I’ll go. Then there are places like Hans’s Place. You’d drive past and think, what is that place. We’d stop.

Do you ever talk to the people in these restaurants? Do you find stories about these places?

No. I’ve thought about it.

Having me going into any bar is interesting. I’ve heard so much about South Tacoma Way. So many of the “troubled places,” or whatever, have closed down. People tend to give me a lot of looks and attitude. It would be a pretty interesting experience if I talked to more people … but I have the martial arts training so it’s all okay.

Oh. The bartender at Hans’s used the word persnickety. I decided that maybe I love her. Persnickity! It was for salsa or the mustard machine, “it’s been a little persnickety lately.” I love you! Persnickety is an awesome word.

What do you wish there was more of in Tacoma?

In a lot of ways I hope it doesn’t change too much. I really wish there was more exposure of those places that aren’t getting exposure. Not just geographically. Like the arts community … you see so much of the same people. There are a lot of people doing awesome work that aren’t part of the at-large community. I want to see a lot more exposure of people that are just doing their thing.

Like who?

I don’t know.

Since we’re trying to name names, how long have you been known as “sweet pea”?

18 years. I went to a catholic high school. I was the only vegetarian. I was the only thrift store shopping freak. It just fit.

“sweet pea” fit?

A lot of my name history is just, I don’t know. It’s the way it is.

I got the name in high school from this crazy girl that didn’t go to my high school . She started calling me sweat pea. In college it became my name. I legally changed it a few years ago.

So, like the TNT (The News Tribune) wouldn’t print my name at all because it they considered it a nickname. I was like, thank you for protecting us from the Bobs and Jens of the universe. Everybody’s name is a nickname. Very few people use their full legal name.

Watch out. Those people calling themselves Rich are really trying to pull something on the masses.

Changing topics. How did you become a roller derby mascot?

I’ve been waiting impatiently ever since reading about the roller derby resurgence that started in Austin. I’ve been waiting impatiently when I was in Madison and then in Tacoma for a roller derby team to come to a city that I was in.

When the Seattle one was forming, I was going to the early fundraisers. I was really excited when the Tacoma team formed. I was there watching in the beginning, but I wasn’t involved. Then, a couple people that were in rollerderby asked me to be the mascot for the Trampires. They said that I could be a vampire whore or a vampire pimp. A vampire whore would be something very easy for me to do. So I picked the vampire pimp to give me a challenge. I’m the Pimpire. I can’t do anything simply. I needed wine colored crushed velvet. I had to go to Seattle to get the crushed velvet. I wanted the real stuff. I made my own outfit.

What do you think of the upcoming season?

There’s some really great people. This year will have the potential for all the teams to come together. The teams that needed blockers, got blockers. The teams that needed jammers, got jammers. There’s so much potential for them to be good this year.

The first year of the Dockyard Derby Dames was a bit more theatrical. Now it’s all derby! There’s inherently the show, but now there’s actually athletes bouting it out. This year will be interesting because the Trampires lost its top two leading scorers, Paula Bunyon and Vorpal Bunny, so we have some new people. We’ll see what happens.

Trampires! Undefeated!