hi.

i'm not good at this part.

i've started this page four times. every time i got to the part where you're supposed to say something about yourself, i went back and fixed the spacing instead. so this time i'm just going to keep going.

my name is lena seo. i'm 27. i live in brooklyn and i'm a graphic designer, which mostly means i spend all day moving things two pixels to the left and then back again.

three typefaces i love

futura — it's all circles and triangles and it was designed in the 1920s but still looks like the future. it's on the plaque the astronauts left on the moon. i think about that a lot.

garamond — it's old and kind and a little bit tilted, like it's leaning in to hear you.

helvetica — it doesn't try to be anything. it just says the thing. i wish i could do that.

my cat

her name is dubu. it means tofu. she is white and soft and she sits on whatever piece of paper i'm looking at. she is not shy at all. i don't know where she gets it.

the subway at 6 a.m.

on saturdays i take the train early to help out at my parents' shop. at six in the morning the car is almost empty and everyone is still half asleep, so nobody looks at anybody. the light is gray and the windows rattle. it's the only time the city is quiet enough for me.

the shop

my mom and dad have a dry cleaning shop in bayside, queens. i did my homework behind the counter, under the long rows of shirts in plastic. my mom writes each customer's name on the paper ticket in pencil, very neat, very small. i think that's where i learned to love letters, honestly. watching her hands.

they still aren't totally sure what a graphic designer does. my dad tells the customers that i "make the letters." that's pretty close, actually.

one drawing

last winter i drew my mom's hands folding a shirt, from memory, in pencil. it took three weekends. it's the only thing i've made that i don't want to fix. it's on my refrigerator. i was going to scan it for this page but i'm not ready yet. maybe later.

okay. that's all, i think.

thank you for reading this far. if you want to say hello, you can write to me. i'm much better at writing than talking. i will write back.

— lena

you are visitor number 021221. (hi.)

[email protected]
last updated september 20, 1999
© 1999 lena seo