35 minute read
events
VIRTUAL EVENTS If your organization is planning an event of any kind, please email Caitlin at crockett@boulderweekly.com.
BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF
FREE RANGE DAIRY: ZOOMING WITH STORIES ON STAGE.
7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, thedairy.org/events/zooming-with-storieson-stage-2
Stories on Stage creates funny, moving, thought-provoking live stage performances of all types of literature, centered on the shared experience of hearing great stories. In this second virtual iteration, Stories on Stage favorites Erin Rollman and John Jurcheck present a motley series of stories about wild (and not-so-wild) animals, and question what it really means to be human. There will be a chat with the actors after the performance. For registered attendees, your Zoom Webinar invitation is scheduled to arrive in your email from the “Dairy Box Office” on May 14 at 6:15 p.m. Online registration will close at 6 p.m. on May 14, but if you’re still interested in attending, please email office@thedairy.org. Please consider making a donation to help Stories on Stage and The Dairy Arts Center continue to bring you great programming.
11:30 a.m. Thursdays through June 30, 3rdlaw.org/dance-techniqueclasses/#parkinsons
3rd Law Dance/Theater is offering free online classes for people with mobility challenges. These classes are for anyone dealing with a chronic illness, Parkinson’s, challenges with aging or for anyone who needs a gentle movement experience with a community. If you are interested but are not familiar with Zoom (the video software), 3rd Law can help. Contact Lisa Johnston: danceforpd@3rdlaw.org, 303-506-3568.
TEEN VIRTUAL VARIETY HOUR.
3:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 (and Fridays through June 26), longmontcolorado.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/37385
Fridays, 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Webex, join teen librarians Claire and David for a fun break from the world. New activities and topics each week: Charades, book discussions, escape rooms and scavenger hunts are all on the menu, ideas for future programs are welcome. For sixth through 12th graders only. Register at the link above to receive an email with more details.
PIONEER MOTHER — LIVESTREAM FROM THE GOLD HILL INN.
7 p.m. Saturday, May 16, facebook.com/events/689679151863528
Hailing from Nederland, Pioneer Mother features poignant songwriting inspired by nomadic living and driven by three-part harmonies for a soulful
experience. The band’s first full-length studio album is set to release in the summer of 2020 and will be available on all major streaming platforms, pioneermother.com.
POPCORN AND WINE WEDNESDAYS WITH BOULDER BALLET: CINDERELLA.
3 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, thedairy.org
Grab a snack and settle in for a family friendly production of Cinderella by Boulder Ballet. Donate $5, $10 or $20 to benefit Boulder Ballet and the Dairy Arts Center and receive a virtual ticket with the video link to this pre-recorded fan favorite.
THE ART OF CHEESE’S SEVEN DAY CHEESE CHALLENGE — LIVE, VIRTUAL, INTERACTIVE SESSIONS VIA ZOOM.
Noon, Monday, May 18 (Additional dates: May 19, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, and May 24), theartofcheese.com
Challenge yourself to learn how to make one cheese per day over the course of one week with an experienced guide to lead you through the process. Don’t worry if you can’t attend the sessions when they begin live streaming at noon: recorded session will be available. You’ll learn: mascarpone, paneer, chevre/fromage blanc, quark, cottage cheese, feta and Italian hard cheese. Once you register, you’ll receive an email with links to the first session, recipes and a list of equipment and ingredients needed (and where to source them). At the end of each day you’ll receive a link to the next day’s session. Cost is $89.
RECIPES FOR CHANGE: ONLINE GALLERY EXHIBIT BY YOUNG WOMEN’S VOICES FOR CLIMATE.
May 19-June 15, speak.world/recipes-for-change
How can the arts reverse global warming? Where can I get some yummy plant-based recipes? How do I use the arts to act up for climate? Young Women’s Voices for Change (a group of nine Boulder middle and high school women who use arts-based methods for climate action), along with SPEAK (speak.world) co-founders and CU students, created the art exhibition Recipes for Change to raise awareness and act on climate change. These aren’t recipes in the traditional sense, although some do incorporate actual food. All “recipes” share a common goal: to nourish and heal the planet.
ART
One by one the singing birds come back by Caitlin Rockett
From her birthplace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to her home in Niwot for the past 25 years, Ana María Hernando has always found inspiration for her art in nature, especially in the mountains.
Mountains hold a spiritual place for many cultures across the globe. Growing up in Argentina, Hernando was deeply familiar with the mythologies of the Quechua people of the Peruvian Andes who believed in male (Apus) and female (Ñustas) spirits that resided in the mountains and protected people, plants and animals. Some of her artistic work has revolved around celebrating and amplifying this feminine mountain energy.
Hernando is currently in the Alps Maritimes as an artist-in-residence at Château de la Napoule in the south of France, the first woman
to receive the Prix Henry Clews. The biannual award brings distinguished sculptors to the château to live and work for a year, showcasing their creations several times throughout the residency at the château’s museum.
Arriving at the château in mid-January, Hernando began a project called ‘Écoutons,’ the French word for “let’s listen.” It began as a “collaborative performance,” as she calls it, hiking with groups of visitors from the château up San Peyre mountain to listen to the sounds of nature while embroidering – no experience in needle point necessary.
But when the pandemic stopped the world in its tracks, there was no way to create art with guests on hikes. And yet nature was louder than ever. Without humanity to compete with, nature seemed to sing from the diaphragm: loud, full, robust.
“Last year I read a research paper that found, between 1970 and now, there are onefourth less birds in North America,” Hernando says over a recent phone call from the château. “So thinking about that loss I wanted to record in some ways what we are hearing today and bring it as a gift to the mountain. And then also, as a society, we are so much about the listen to me and not the listening that I wanted this piece (the embroidery) in between us to make it about listening.”
Hernando is now asking for people from all over the world to send her recordings of birds, which she will create an embroidery for as part of ‘Écoutons’ — no professional recording equipment necessary.
“I don’t want to make it too complicated, so people feel they can do it easily,” she says. “In that I wanted to open the possibility for people to be in that attentive space, listening to the birds, and maybe if we are lucky and the world reopens, I hope we reopen with a little bit of another attitude, maybe that attitude of listening might stay. On the other hand, I feel this is kind of a community performance and I want people to feel part of a piece that will be a gift to mother nature. All of us together make a bigger thing.”
To see more of Ana María Hernando’s work visit, anamariahernando.com. Send her an audio clip of birds singing from wherever you are to ana@anamariahernando.com.
Alfred Hitchcock may not have invented the moving image, but he defined what it was capable of.
The son of a London grocer, Hitchcock’s career began in the silent era, at Germany’s famed UFA studios, before returning to England as a jack-of-all-trades assistant and designer. There he crossed paths with writer/producer/editor Alma Reville, his future wife and closest collaborator, graduated to the director’s chair, made two dozen pictures — including the first British sound film (‘Blackmail’) — and put the British film industry on the map. Then Hollywood called and the Hitchcocks answered, relocating to sunny Southern California where they continued to make movies from 1940 to 1976 — with a dozen or so masterworks along the way.
Few filmmakers have created a visual language the way Hitchcock did, and it permeated cinematic storytelling for future generations. And not just for popular set-pieces and inventive murders — though those play a role — but with a deep distrust for things as they seem. For five decades, Hitchcock refined his dominant themes of the wrong man, the cool blond, the controlling mother and the disconnect between exterior appearances and interior desires. His movies center on Freudian psychology and the transmission of guilt; they recoil at the threat of domesticity and relish a macabre sense of humor. They connected with audiences then, and they connect with audiences now, especially on the other side of the camera, where Hitchcock’s influence still HOME VIEWING ALFRED HITCHCOCK by Michael J. Casey
looms large. Take ‘Blow the Man Down’ (reviewed on page 26), a perfect example of how ingrained the Master of Suspense’s influence is. Curious to discover the roots? Below are four of Hitch’s best. Happy viewing. ‘THE 39 STEPS’ Made in England 1935, ‘The 39 Steps’ isn’t the first Hitchcock film constructed around “the wrong man” conceit, but it’s one where he found his touch. Robert Donat stars as the hapless man fingered for murder, Madeleine Carroll plays the whip-smart blond he falls for, and Charles Bennett loads the script with one-liners and clever setpieces. Hitchcock would later refine this simple story into ‘North by Northwest,’ arguably one of the most enjoyable commercial films ever made. Streaming on Amazon Prime, The Criterion Channel and Hoopla.
‘SHADOW OF A DOUBT’ There’s something rotten in smalltown, U.S.A., and Hitchcock chose Santa Rosa, California —one of the most picturesque cities in the nation — to set his tale of a modern-day wolf in sheep’s clothing. Joseph Cotten plays dapper dresser Uncle Charlie, the prodigal son of the family and the favorite uncle of his namesake niece, played by Teresa Wright. Hitchcock called on ‘Our Town’ scribe Thornton Wilder to work on the script, and the result is an allegory of Nazism hiding in plain sight. It’s also charming, enchanting and funny — particularly the scenes between Hume Cronyn and Henry Travers, two crime fiction fans trying to pen the perfect murder. Streaming on DirecTV and Starz Amazon.
‘ROPE’ A full 70 years before ‘1917,’ Hitchcock tried to make a feature film look like it was filmed in one continuous take. It works surprisingly well, given the technological restraints at the time, but it also helps to have a story this good: Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger) have just killed a man and hidden his body in a trunk. Their dinner guests will arrive any minute, including a former teacher, played by Jimmy Stewart. The guests arrive, and dinner is served. And, as things go, the conversation turns to murder and Nietzschean ideas of superiority. Hitchcock manages to keep everything light and humorous, but not without taking a couple of shots at a callous society actively choosing not to hear what they don’t like. Streaming on DirecTV and Starz Amazon.
‘FRENZY’ Hitchcock’s most graphic film is also his most unsettling. Made in 1972, when the strictures of nudity and violence were loosened significantly compared to the ’40s and ’50s, ‘Frenzy’ is the story of a serial killer (Barry Foster) and the police officer (Alec McCowen) tracking him down. Pay attention to how often the topic of murder comes up at dinner, and you’ll find both hypocrisy and a direct link to ‘Blow the Man Down.’ Hitch was no vegetarian, but he must have taken great delight knowing that in homes across the country, respectable people sat down to dinner, drew knife and fork, and mercilessly hacked away at a corpse. Streaming on DirecTV and Starz Amazon.
film film film film
books
BOULDER BOOK STORE curbside pickup is available again from noon-4:30 p.m. everyday on orders placed on the website or by phone. Shop online at boulderbookstore.com or call 303-447-2074.
Boulder Book Store is still offering mystery bags, now available in three price tiers. Tell the staff what you love to read, pick a price point — $25, $50 or $100 bags — and they’ll pick a selection of on-sale and high-quality used books to ensure you get the most books for your buck. Mystery bags are also available for kids and teens too.
And check out the Boulder Book Store care packages: n Boulder Book Store Care Package ($50) Consists of: Boulder Book Store T-shirt (put size and whether you prefer a neutral or colored shirt in the comment field when you place your order); Boulder Book Store mug; and two paperbacks in the genre of choice (specify in the comment field when you place your order). n Boulder Book Store Self-Care Package ($50) Consists of: luxurious soap or bath product like a bath bomb, lip balm, gourmet chocolate or blank journal; and a book selected to help calm your mind. n Boulder Book Store Kids Idle Hands Package ($54) Consists of: kid’s coloring book, colored pencils, kid’s jigsaw puzzle, sticker book and activity book. n Boulder Book Store Adult Idle Hands Package ($50) Consists of: adult coloring book, colored pencils, crossword puzzle book, origami book and deck of playing cards. n Boulder Book Store Reach Out Care Package ($45) Consists of: address book, pen(s), assortment of greeting cards (need occasion cards? Humorous? Blank? Postcards? Let the staff know in the notes) and a pack of decorative sticky notes.
Local author new release:
n ‘Why Bother? Discover the Desire
for What’s Next’ (Page Two Books, April 21, 2020)
After Boulder resident Jennifer Louden lost her father, a close friend and a marriage, she found herself spiraling into existential despair. “Why bother?” she found herself thinking. But eventually she wondered what would happen if she actually tried to answer the question. The answers took her on a journey chronicled in her new book, Why Bother? Discover the Desire for What’s Next. The book challenges readers to open their minds, hearts and lives by following where a traditionally apathetic question leads. Louden demonstrates how to care when it feels impossible. She shows why we must prioritize what’s calling us at any time in life, and how tapping into our deepest desires can give us the energy to move forward — even when the world seems in dire straits.
MUSIC
n WORLD BACH COMPETITION 2020 — HOSTED BY BOULDER BACH FESTIVAL.
Applications open now through July 11, boulderbachfestival.org/world-bach-competition
THE BOULDER BACH Festival (BBF) has launched an online Solo World Bach Competition, open to musicians in multiple age categories, including high school and university students, professionals, and community musicians — with no upper age limit. All instruments and voice types are encouraged to apply, performing solo Bach: percussion, brass, woodwinds, strings, keyboard instruments, plucked instruments, non-traditional instruments, non-classical instruments, non-Western instruments, acoustic and electric instruments and singers. Transcriptions of J.S. Bach’s works are welcome. No multitracking — all entries must be performed live in the video, with the exception of vocal accompaniment in observance of social distancing. First prize in each of the 12 categories is $500. Applications cost $60, which supports the Boulder Bach Festival (a 501c3 nonprofit), including administrative costs, adjudication, PR, future planning and educational programs. Prizes are underwritten by a generous BBF donor. Visit the website for more information on categories, submissions, rules and prizes: boulderbachfestival.org/worldbach-competition.
n NICK FORSTER’S ‘TEACH ME ONE THING.’
Available on eTown’s YouTube and social media channels and via podcast each Tuesday, etown.org/teach-me-one-thing.
IN A SERIES OF
video chats, eTown co-founder and Hot Rize bassist Nick Forster calls on his pals to teach him something new. Guitar great Bill Brisell explains the beauty of the “G” chord; Steve Martin demonstrates how to perfectly shuffle a deck of cards.
“The funny thing about teaching, especially if you don’t do it all the time, is that it makes each of us think about what we know and what we’re good at,” Forster said in a statement about the new series. “Most of the time it also reveals things we wish we were better at, and that’s the whole deal with any artist’s journey, always working to get better.”
Teach Me One Thing launched on Tuesday, May 12 with Forster chatting with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, to be followed by Steve Martin on May 19 and Billy Strings on May 26. A new episode will be released every Tuesday. Viewers can find Teach Me One Thing by visiting eTown.org, eTown’s YouTube Channel, or by following eTown_Radio on Instagram, and eTownRadio on Facebook and Twitter. The episodes will also be available to listeners via podcast streaming services and the eTown app. ANIMATION BY JOHN GRIGSBY
A slight case of accidental murder Two sisters and a town full of secrets in ‘Blow the Man Down’ by Michael J. Casey
The rocky, seaside village of Easter Cove, Maine, does not look like the kind of place you’d want to spend a winter. The snow piles up in great heaps, and the wind coming off the water will send an icicle right through your spine. Most of the people here either fish or sell fish, but back in the day, it used to be a rowdy port of harbor, the kind where sailors would drop anchor and run rampant for a lost weekend. You can still drink yourself silly here, most do, and there are other activities to partake in, you just got to know the right person to ask.
Easter Cove has a history, and it’s written on the faces of the women who live here. Susie Gallagher (June Squibb) is squat and rumpled, but even at 90 years old, she’s not someone you’d want to cross. She spends most of her time with Doreen (Marceline Hugot) and Gail (Annette O’Toole), and the three of them remember the old days of Easter Cove all too well. Their gender was not treated fairly back then. But somewhere along the way, the younger generation showed up, and women like Enid (Margo Martindale) and Mary Margaret started running things.
That was then, this is now, and Mary Margaret died before the curtain even had a chance to rise. Left are her two daughters: Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor), who will inherit the house, the fishmonger shop and a pile of debt. Enid could step in and help out, but Susie and the others won’t let her — the cost is too high. Surprisingly, they won’t need to. It takes a little time for the nerves to steady, but once they do, Priscilla and Mary Beth prove more than capable of looking out for themselves. Women like Enid aren’t born overnight. And, as the last shot of the movie suggests, neither are women like Susie.
Written and directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, Blow the Man Down is an accomplished debut blending a Hitchcockian macabre sense of humor with a clockwork plot (for more on the works of Alfred Hitchcock, see page 25). The movie opens with a rousing montage of bearded and grizzled fishermen singing the titular sea shanty while hoisting nets, hacking off fish heads and gutting their catch. They function primarily as a chorus, one Cole and Krudy return to whenever the story requires a jolt of jaunty singing.
But back to those fish heads: They’re not the only thing slaughtered, gutted and hacked up in this movie. At one point, Priscilla’s skills with a fillet knife come in handy. Mary Beth lacks the knife, but she does have a harpoon. It gets the job done. Both are grisly moments, but Cole and Krudy go for humor rather than horror.
Blow the Man Down premiered at 2019’s Tribeca Film Festival and was promptly acquired by Amazon Studios for distribution. Amazon Studios is one of the few internet platforms that commits to theatrical distribution before streaming to Prime subscribers. But in COVID times, Blow the Man Down skipped the big screen altogether and landed on the service. A pity considering how well the movie is composed and shot. Cinematographer Todd Banhazl uses the unflattering light of winter, while production designer Jasmine Ballou Jones creates interiors well past their expiration date. Both work wonders. There is no gloss to this town, no glamour to these women. The men are harmless bumpkins or creeps waiting to get theirs. When Mary Beth rouses one of them at a bar to bum a cigarette, he awakes from an alcohol-induced fog so thick the simple act of opening his eyes is akin to a Claritin allergy pill commercial where a fuzzy brown film is peeled back to reveal bright blues and greens.
He’s got a story in him, though it’s not one Cole and Krudy are interested in exploring. Their focus is on the women of Easter Cove and how extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. There’s a dark underbelly to every American town, some you have to look harder to find. Easter Cove is a little bit more middle-of-the-road: It’s there, and everyone sees it, but most try to ignore it. Ignore it too long, and it’ll get out of hand. Then it’s time for someone to step in and right the ship. For three generations, women have been running the show on Easter Cove. They probably will for three more.
For movie reviews and more, listen to Metro Arts on KGNU, Fridays at 3 p.m. (88.5 FM, 1390 AM and online at kgnu.org).
Dear Dan: It’s taken a lot to do this but here goes. I am a 38-year-old gay male. I have been dating this guy for one year and 10 months. It’s been a lot of work. He cheated on me numerous times, and he lives with me and doesn’t work, and I’ve been taking care of him for seven months now. He always accuses me of cheating or finds something to blame me for. What I am angry about now is how for the past four months he has been accusing me of playing games by conspiring with people to make him hear voices. If I look up at the ceiling or look around he said I am communicating with “them.” I keep telling him I do not hear or see anything but he insists that I am lying. He also says I put a curse on him. One day I got up and he packs his bags and said he had enough and walked out. He said I was not being loyal. This is a man who has been doing coke since the age of 14 and he is now 43 years old. He does meth and whatever else. He said until I come clean about hearing the voices too and admit I cast some sort a spell on him he won’t talk to me or see me. Mental illness runs in his family and one sibling already committed suicide. He didn’t want professional help because, he says, “I am too smart for that.” I’m hurt and angry and want some advice. ANY ADVICE. Please. —Desperate For Answers Dear DFA: I don’t see the problem.
A delusional and potentially dangerous drug addict with mental health issues who refuses to get help packed his bags and walked out of your life. Yahtzee, DFA, you win. It was his presence in your life (and your apartment) that was the problem and your boyfriend — your ex-boyfriend — just solved it for you. Block his number, change your locks and pray he forgets your address.
You might wanna seek some professional help yourself. You need to get to the bottom of why you wasted nearly two years on this asshole. Being alone can’t be worse than being with someone who cheats on you and then accuses you of cheating — to say nothing of someone who abuses drugs, hears voices, and makes other irrational/delusional accusations. He wasn’t just a danger to himself, DFA, he was a danger to you. He’s out of your apartment — now you need to get him out of your head.
Dear Dan: About a month ago I broke up with my boyfriend after I found out he was cheating on me. Long before we broke up I freaked out about a rash and looking back I think it was probably herpes all along. I found out for sure three days ago and I’m honestly thinking about not telling him. He doesn’t show any symptoms and he’s the type of guy who will call me a slut if I tell him. He’ll blame me for his wrongdoing and just keep going and going. I honestly don’t know if I should tell him, since he’s asymptomatic. This is going to cause a huge problem between us. He has a lot of anger issues and he could use this as blackmail. I’m legitimately scared. —Her Ex Reacts Personally
Dear HERP: Letting a former sex partner know you may have exposed them to an STI — or that they may have exposed you to an STI — is the decent, responsible, courteous and kind thing to do. Not just for their health and safety, HERP, but for the health and safety of their future sex partners. But people who are unkind, scary and violent have no one but themselves to blame when a former sex partner/girlfriend/boyfriend/enbyfriend is too afraid for their own safety to make that discloser. Provided your fears are legitimate, HERP, and you’re not inflating them to avoid an awkward or unpleasant conversation, you don’t owe your ex a call.
Dear Dan: I’m a bi guy, living alone. At the start of the year, this new guy moved into the house where I live — we share communal areas but have private rooms — and he’s a bit of a slacker but holy shit is he hot. I’ve had regular fantasies about him. And now with the quarantine, those fantasies have increased along with the number of times I see him in a day. I’ve been feeling the urge to ask him if he’s interested in anything but my friends have advised me to “not shit where I eat.” But due to the quarantine, the only other option I have is masturbating and that’s not doing the trick. Should I take the plunge and ask him? —Household Entirely Lacks Pleasure
Dear HELP: Health authorities have advised us to shit where we eat for the BY DAN SAVAGE
ROMAN ROBINSON
time being. The New York City Health Department recommends masturbation, HELP, because you are and always have been your safest sex partner. But your next safest partner during this pandemic is someone with whom you live. NYC Health has advised us all to “avoid close contact — including sex — with anyone outside your household.” That doesn’t mean everyone inside your household is fair game, of course; some people are quarantining with their parents. But if there was ever a time when you could approach a non-related adult with whom you live to see if they might wanna fuck around, now’s the time. Apologize to the hot slacker in advance for potentially making things awkward and invite him to say no. (“If you’re not interested, please say no and I promise not to bring it up again.”) But if the answer is yes, HELP, send video.
Dear Dan: I’m a gay bondage bottom. My boyfriend of four years is 100% vanilla and we solved the “problem” of my need to get tied up — and it’s a real need — by outsourcing it. (Can you tell we’re longtime readers and listeners?) I was seeing two regular FWBs/bondage buddies but that’s obviously on hold right now. (I’ve reached out to both my FWBs to let them both know I’m thinking about them and that I care about them, Dan, like you’ve been urging people to do on your show.) The issue is I still really need to get tied up and my boyfriend is willing but he’s so bad at it that I don’t want to bother. He knows how much I need it and he’s hurt that I’d rather go without than let him put me in bondage that isn’t really bondage because I can easily get out. We used to fight because I wanted him to tie me up and he didn’t want to do it and now we’re fighting because he wants to tie me up and I won’t let him do it. Any advice for a fan? —This Isn’t Exactly Desirable
Dear TIED: If people can teach yoga, give concerts and conduct first dates via online streaming services, then one of your bondage buddies can — if they’re into the idea — give your boyfriend a few bondage tutorials online. I’m glad to hear you already reached out to your bondage buddies, TIED, since now you’ll be asking them to do you and your boyfriend a favor. But I imagine it’s a favor they’ll enjoy doing.
Adam Sloat Broker/Owner Your Boulder Real Estate Expert and Music Guy
HELP MY OFFER GET ACCEPTED!
Question:
Adam, I put in an offer on a property, it was rejected… then another and I was outbid. I’m over it. Any advice?
Answer:
Yes, but it takes more time/ space than we have here. There are ways to strengthen your offer and it starts with a real estate agent like myself who calls the listing agent. There’s a LOT to discuss and rapport to establish before the offer is even presented. It’s also not a bad idea to get fully pre-approved for a mortgage (if not an allcash buyer). I’ve helped clients beat better offers by communicating with the listing agent and showing their seller my buyer clients were serious, good people, easy to work with, had a legit mortgage pre-approved, and that I would also do my part for a smooth transaction.
The Savage Lovecast, every Tuesday. This week, with Marc Maron! savagelovecast.com
Send emails to mail@savagelove. net, follow Dan on Twitter @ FakeDanSavage, and visit ITMFA.org.
ARIES MARCH 21-APRIL 19: During a pandemic, is it possible to spread the news about your talents and offerings? Yes! That’s why I suggest you make sure that everyone who should know about you does indeed know about you. To mobilize your efforts and stimulate your imagination, I came up with colorful titles for you to use to describe yourself on your résumé or in promotional materials or during conversations with potential helpers. 1) Fire-Maker 2) Seed-Sower 3) Brisk Instigator 4) Hope Fiend 5) Gap Leaper 6) Fertility Aficionado 7) Gleam Finder 8) Launch Catalyst 9) Chief Improviser 10) Change Artist.
TAURUS APRIL 20-MAY 20: Of all the signs, Tauruses are among the least likely to be egomaniacs. Most of you aren’t inclined to indulge in fits of braggadocio or outbreaks of narcissism. (I just heard one of my favorite virtuoso Taurus singers say she wasn’t a very good singer!) That’s why one of my secret agendas is to tell you how gorgeous you are, to nudge you to cultivate the confi- dence and pride you deserve to have. Are you ready to leap to a higher octave of self-love? I think so. In the coming weeks, please use Taurus artist Salvador Dali’s boast as your motto: “There comes a moment in every person’s life when they realize they adore me.”
GEMINI MAY 21-JUNE 20: When I was young, I had a fun-filled fling with a smart Gemini woman who years later became a highly praised author and the authorized biographer of a Nobel Prize-winning writer. Do I regret our break-up? Am I sorry I never got to enjoy her remarkable success up close? No. As amazing as she was and is, we wouldn’t have been right for each other long-term. I am content with the brief magic we created together, and have always kept her in my fond thoughts with gratitude and the wish for her to thrive. Now I invite you to do something comparable to what I just did, Gemini: Make peace with your past. Send blessings to the people who helped make you who you are. Celebrate what has actually happened in your life, and graduate forever from what might have happened but didn’t.
CANCER JUNE 21-JULY 22: “You have two ways to live your life, from memory or from inspiration,” writes teacher Joe Vitale. Many of you Cancerians favor memory over inspiration to provide their primary motivation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, although it can be a problem if you become so obsessed with memory that you distract yourself from creating new developments in your life story. But in accordance with astrological potentials and the exigencies of our Global Healing Crisis, I urge you, in the coming weeks, to mobilize yourself through a balance of memory and inspiration. I suspect you’ll be getting rich opportunities to both rework the past and dream up a future full of interesting novelty. In fact, those two imperatives will serve each other well.
LEO JULY 23-AUG. 22: Author Anne Lamott has some crucial advice for you to heed in the coming weeks. “Even when we’re most sure that love can’t conquer all,” she says, “it seems to anyway. It goes down into the rat hole with us, in the guise of our friends, and there it swells and comforts. It gives us second winds, third winds, hundredth winds.” I hope you’ll wield this truth as your secret magic in the coming weeks, Leo. Regard love not just as a sweet emotion that makes you feel good, but as a superpower that can accomplish practi- cal miracles.
VIRGO AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: Theologian St. Catherine of Siena observed, “To a brave person, good and bad luck are like her left and right hand. She uses both.” The funny thing is, Virgo, that in the past you have some- times been more adept and proactive in using your bad luck, and less skillful at capitalizing on your good luck.
LIBRA SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: “I’m curious about everything, except what people have to say about me,” says actor Sarah Jessica Parker. I think that’s an excellent strat- egy for you to adopt in the coming weeks. On the one hand, the whole world will be exceptionally interesting, and your ability to learn valuable lessons and acquire useful information will be at peak. On the other hand, one of the keys to getting the most out of the wealth of catalytic influences will be to cultivate nonchalance about people’s opinions of you.
SCORPIO OCT. 23-NOV. 21: On the kids’ TV show Sesame Street, there’s a muppet character named Count von Count. He’s a friendly vampire who loves to count things. He is 6,523,730 years old and his favorite number is 34,969 — the square root of 187. The Count was “born” on November 13, 1972, when he made his first appearance on the show, which means he’s a Scorpio. I propose we make him your patron saint for the next four weeks. It’s an excellent time to transform any threatening qualities you might seem to have into harmless and cordial forms of expression. It’s also a favorable phase for you to count your blessings and make plans that will contribute to your longevity.
SAGITTARIUS NOV. 22-DEC. 21: “No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool,” writes novelist Erica Jong. “Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the pos- sibility of being great,” says singer Cher. “He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom,” declared art critic James Huneker. “Almost all new ideas have a certain aspect of foolishness when they are first produced,” observed philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. According to my analysis of astro- logical omens, you’re primed to prove these theories, Sagittarius. Congratulations!
CAPRICORN DEC. 22-JAN. 19: “Few people have a treasure,” writes Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro. She’s speaking metaphorically, of course — not referring to a strongbox full of gold and jewels. But I’m happy to inform you that if you don’t have a treasure, the coming months will be a favorable time to find or create it. So I’m putting you on a High Alert for Treasure. I urge you to be receptive to and hungry for it. And if you are one of those rare lucky ones who already has a treasure, I’m happy to say that you now have the power and motivation to appreciate it even more and learn how to make even better use of it. Whether you do or don’t yet have the treasure, heed these further words from Alice Munro: “You must hang onto it. You must not let your- self be waylaid, and have it taken from you.”
AQUARIUS JAN. 20-FEB. 18: At this moment, there are 50 trillion cells in your body, and each of them is a sentient being in its own right. They act together as a community, consecrating you with their astonishing collaboration. It’s like magic! Here’s an amazing fact: Just as you communicate with dogs and cats and other animals, you can engage in dialogs with your cells. The coming weeks will be a ripe time to explore this phenomenon. Is there anything you’d like to say to the tiny creatures living in your stomach or lungs? Any information you’d love to receive from your heart or your sex organs? If you have trouble believing this is a real possibility, imagine and pretend. And have fun!
PISCES FEB. 19-MARCH 20: “A myriad of modest delights consti- tute happiness,” wrote poet Charles Baudelaire. I think that definition will serve you well in the coming weeks, Pisces. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, there won’t be spectacular breakthroughs barging into your life; I expect no sublime epiphanies or radiant transformations. On the other hand, there’ll be a steady stream of small marvels if you’re receptive to such a possibility. Here’s key advice: Don’t miss the small wonders because you’re expecting and wishing for bigger splashes.
‘FOREST SCENE (PATH FROM MAS JOLIE TO CHÂTEAU NOIR)’ BY PAUL CÉZANNE COURTESY GOOGLE ART PROJECT
Stressed Out?
Think Massage! Call 720.253.4710
All credit cards accepted No text messages
We are all about
LIFESTYLE
Available Now!
970-531-7670 Chillrentalwinterparkcolorado.com Chillwinterparkcolorado@gmail.com Apartments at Winter Park Base with Village access. Available units: studio, two bedroom, two bedroom plus den. $1500 - $3500
A Real Estate by Jethro McClellan
I live in a borough called Beauty, at the end of a street called Strife, and I walk through a glade called Gladness down a long lonely lane called Life.
Born in Boston, Jethro McClellan spent a few of his early years in Taos. In 1981, he relocated to Boulder and began creative writing; in 1991, via both Naropa and Penny Lane, he became part of the Boulder poetry scene. In 2018, he took one or two tentative steps toward being a real poet.
Boulder Weekly accepts poetry and flash fiction submissions of 450 words/35 lines or fewer and accompanied by a one-sentence bio of the author.
Send to: poetry@boulderweekly.com
COSTILLAS,
$14.95. Efrain’s, 1630 63rd St., Boulder, and 101 E. Cleveland St., Lafayette, efrainsrestaurant.com
TRY THIS WEEK: Costillas @ Efrain’s
WITH A CRISPY, charred bark, the deeply savory, tender, fallapart St. Louis ribs in Efrain’s costillas plate are pure satisfaction. They’re smothered in a very spicy pork green chile and served alongside crispy country potatoes, refried beans and cheese. Fork it all onto a crispy, fajita-length flour tortilla for a handheld treat. We wish we could enjoy the plate in Efrain’s homey Boulder digs or in its open Lafayette dining room, alongside a house margarita, but getting the whole kit and caboodle to-go isn’t so bad.
1
n Drink this: Primitive Beer’s So Last Season
PRIMITIVE BEER’S BOTTLE-conditioned offerings are a thing of beauty, and So Last Season is no exception. It’s a 2-year-old, spontaneously fermented beer, refermented on an absurd amount of Montmorency cherries for six months — which dye the beer a deep magenta and tinge the head pink. The nose sparkles, and the mouth explodes with flavors of sweet cherry pie, chewy marzipan, and just enough farmhouse funk underneath to keep things interesting. And with plenty of tight carbonation and tart acidity, So Last Season is simultaneously rustic and refined. It’s only 5.6% ABV — the perfect amount for a couple of glasses paired alongside fruit tarts and banana fritters.
2
n Boulder Food Rescue delivers
BOULDER FOOD RESCUE (BFR), the local nonprofit that takes wouldbe-wasted food from grocery stores and other food establishments and delivers it to those in need, is now bringing good food to those who live in affordable housing. BFR is picking up from grocery stores and taking surplus from the local school district food hand-outs and dropping off at 20 affordable housing sites, through no-contact deliveries. The need is great, and likely to continue — about 1,600 people receive food at no cost. “We were dropping off food to a resident with kids when we were stopped by another resident asking about the food. We are taking some food for her and her family tomorrow. We drop off on the porch. No contact,” says Wendi Calder, a BFR grocery program coordinator.
