Santa Fe, NM
“Ok, I think the most interesting thing I’ve done was... trade… Ok, I used to work at a chocolate shop at Pike Place Market, and I’d traded chocolate to the band... well, stage manager person, for the opening band at a Ladytron show. So, I got to trade chocolate for Ladytron tickets! I’d absolutely do it again. I’ve traded chocolate for so many things. But I think, by far, Ladytron tickets was the icing on the cake.
Transilient: That’s really funny! I worked at a chocolate shop in Asheville, North Carolina. I’d trade chocolate for hamburgers, coffee, everything. You just take home stuff that's broken or needs to be disposed of.
Anastasio: Yeah! Like, in the market, everybody’s really well fed. So, every day in the market, I would get my smoke ready and a caramel apple and cut it up. We had caramel apples at the shop. And I would take that out into the market and see what I wanted to eat for lunch and see if they would take an apple for my lunch. I mean, that’s what everybody did. It was pretty nice.
Transilient: Everyone just loves chocolate! And, if you’re broke because your chocolate shop doesn’t pay well (because most don’t), you can give it as gifts. It’s everywhere and liked working with it. But yeah, that’s so awesome. I used to listen to Ladytron, do you like Ladytron a lot?
Anastasio: Oh, no, I *love* them! They were on my list of bands to see live for twelve years before I finally got to cross them off. That was also something I felt super accomplished over. Because growing up here in Santa Fe, there was little to no music or anything. The closest thing is Albuquerque. But even then, it’s a desert in some ways. It’s gotten a bit better since I’ve returned from Seattle. It’s much better. But it’s not a city. Right now, I am here selling art supplies to folks at Artisan - Art Supply Source of the Southwest, where I work. It’s an art store.
Transilient: Is that the one that Georgia O'Keefe used to go to?
Anastasio: Yeah, she used to go to our store.
Transilient: What do you see yourself doing at 40?
Anastasio: I hope I’m painting somewhere, still. I hope that if I’ve still not started on my PhD, that I would be thinking about it at that point. But I just want to be making art. I want to feel alive when I grow up, you know?
Transilient: What does that look like?
Anastasio: Um… blending in. Which happens occasionally - when I travel. It happens occasionally in town, maybe, when I go out at night. But I want it to happen more.”