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DGO Magazine

STAFF

Volume 5 Number 4 Thursday, February 13, 2020

Editor

Cod at On the Hook? We’re ... hooked.

Angelica Leicht aleicht@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer

Sorry abou the terrible pun, and we’re gonna let you finish, but On the Hook has some of the best fish and chips a food truck in southwestern Colorado can fry up.

Nick Gonzales ngonzales@bcimedia.com Sales Chandler Sommerfeldt csommerfeldt@bcimedia.com 375-4553 Contributors Erin Brandt Megan Bianco

4

From the blog

5

Eat & Drink

Honey booze

Fish and chips food truck 6-7

5

8 Events

Mystery Science Theater 8

9 Travel

Get outta Town 9

10 Upcoming

Laraina Hailey

Design/layout Tracie Louck

19 Weed

Nick Gonzales/DGO Mag

Reader Services

Prepping for Snowdown 2021 10

375-4570

Reviews 19-20

20 Classifieds

Chief Executive Officer

19 Enhancing edibles for your trip to Bone Town

6 If you like fish and ships and all that pimp sh!@ (maybe go find this food truck)

Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising Jamie Opalenik

If you aren’t regularly smoking weed and bumpin’ uglies, well, our condolences for your wasted life. It’s time to get on that. Yes, we are judging you and feel sorry for your loins.

Durango has a wide variety of places to eat, but any time someone wants to add something new to the mix, we’re on board. That even goes for food trucks that serve up fish and chips, just like the one we reviewed this week.

/dgomag

A seemingly vacant lot on the west side of Alamogordo, New Mexico, is the site of a mass burial of extraterrestrials in the form of thousands of Atari 2600 video games.

Native American runway. What more can we say?

Got something on your mind? Have a joke or a story idea or just something that the world needs to know?

Send everything to editor@dgomag.com

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ON THE COVER

Tell us what you think!

DGO Magazine is published

by Ballantine Communications Inc., P.O. Drawer A, Durango, CO 81302

23 Puzzles/horoscopes

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9 Visit this sad Atari graveyard to get your filthy retro fix

DGO is a free biweekly publication distributed by Ballantine Communications Inc., and is available for one copy per person. Taking more than five copies of an edition from a distribution location is illegal and is punishable by law according to Colorado Revised Statute 18-9-314.

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@dg

dg

FROM THE BLOG

»» News from our site on the interwebs you may have missed Sandler confusion

month earlier because the acting contenders are bizarrely boring this year.

The peculiar case of Adam Sandler continues to fascinate movie lovers into the new decade.

Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger won Best Actor and Best Actress again for Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and Rupert Goold’s “Judy,” respectively. While Phoenix’s win could arguably be his “makeup” year for losing previously for performances in movies like Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” and James Mangold’s “Walk the Line,” it’s still unfortunate – I continue to not see the appeal of “Joker.”

This is a man who hasn’t bothered to hide how much success he has found by doing the bare minimum since at least the early 2000s. Yet, like most comedians, he will branch out with serious projects once in a while. Whether for a change of pace or to be considered more legitimate by his peers, Sandler’s been rather lucky with his dramatic choices, teaming up with such talents as Paul Thomas Anderson, James L. Brooks, Noah Baumbach and even old pal Judd Apatow.

Zellweger’s win is even more baffling because she already got an Oscar 17 years ago for Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain.” One would assume it would be a rare, weak year for female lead roles. But it’s not even that – Ana de Armas of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” and Lupita Nyong’o of Jordan Peele’s “Us” are still around. Better yet, give Best Actor and Best Actress to Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson for Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” which was just one giant tour-de-force of screen acting anyway.

But for whatever reason, Sandler seems only motivated to do these kinds of interesting features literally once a decade. Which is frustrating for fans because, maybe surprisingly, he has versatile range as an actor – yet chooses to make a living phoning it in with lame comedies. His most recent film, “Uncut Gems” released back during the holidays, is already one of his most interesting and memorable efforts.

Written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, who previously had a stellar indie breakthrough with “Good Time,” the film follows New York City jeweler Howard Ratner (Sandler), who lives off the adrenaline rush of betting constantly.

Everything from auctions to basketball games, to even gambling his personal interests – such as having a long-time affair with his employee Julia (Julia Fox) while raising a family with wife Dinah (Idina Menzel). Things come to a climax when Howard’s life comes to depend on selling a recently acquired gem to pay off all his debts.

Lakeith Stanfield, Judd Hirsch and basketball star Kevin Garnett appear as prominent figures in Howard’s life.

Between Sandler’s unexpected range as an actor, the Safdie Bros’ potential as filmmakers and the hit indie studio behind the movie, A24, “Uncut Gems” was expected to get a lot of Oscar hype. But it ultimately ended up one of the biggest snubs of the season.

hollow and ham-fisted as Jay Roach’s “Bombshell” gets three nominations is still perplexing.

While I personally preferred “Good Time” of the two recent popular Safdie movies, seeing something as frantic and relentless as “Uncut Gems” at the Oscars, SAGs, BAFTAs or Globes, would have been more intriguing than a lot of what we got.

remind us why they are still the smoothest-running televised awards show out there: no host and only a dozen categories within a two-hour runtime.

While I can appreciate that every person on a film’s production team is given the chance to be honored at the Oscars and Globes, the average viewer watches these events for the celebrities. The SAGs are perfect for this as it’s just the How did that happen? Rumors ranged people seen on screen. I’ve always felt — — Megan Bianco from snobbery from Academy members it’s a bit of a rip off that the TV catego– which wouldn’t be a surprise – to A24’s ries are separated by drama and comedy, usually good PR team getting an unfortuwhile film is just combined into one.

Bizarre, boring SAGs nate redo. Whatever the case, compared Besides that, it’s a pretty breezy viewing.

As the 2019/2020 Oscar season to how things were looking in December, Movie-wise, it’s a good thing events speeds along quicker than usual, this “Uncut Gems” having nothing at the this season are being held almost a month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards Oscars while something as incredibly

Brad Pitt and Laura Dern are also getting their “you’ve been around forever and haven’t won anything yet, so here’s your awards” moments as this season’s frontrunners for Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. Dern, while fine in “Marriage Story,” was still at her best in Joyce Chopra’s “Smooth Talk,” Martha Coolidge’s “Rambling Rose,” and Alexander Payne’s “Citizen Ruth,” and her hype and SAG win for “Marriage” feels a little belated. Pitt on the other hand, has had a steady career as a good actor both blessed and cursed with good looks, distracting his potential with range. He was my favorite of the two male leads in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but was anyone expecting him to keep winning over legends like Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”?

The night ended on the most interesting note, with Bong Joon-ho’s Korean satire “Parasite” winning Best Ensemble Cast. Beating out “Once Upon a Time” and “Irishman,” the Guild showed some love for not only a well-performed feature, but also a foreign film. While the winners look underwhelming so far, at least we’re losing three weeks worth of Hollywood politics and attention seeking.

—— Megan Bianco

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[drink]

Bees in the trap ... er, booze

»» Indulge your sugar and liquor-loving soul with the help of Honey House Distillery What pairs great with booze? If you’ve got a sweet tooth, might we suggest honey?

That’s the philosophy up at Honey House Distillery in Hermosa. The legally-distinctbut-part-of-the-family spirit-makers are part of the bee-spit-based enterprise up at Honeyville.

While everyone else was celebrating the end of World War I or fighting off the Spanish Flu back in 1918, Vern Culhane was building beehives, transferring bees he found on his land into them and then selling the resulting honey to locals on the Florida Mesa. His son and daughter-in-law, Danny and Sheree Culhane, carried on the family’s tradition — or beekeeping — and established Honeyville up north of Durango.

Just less than a century after the beekeeping began, Danny’s son, Kevin, teamed up with friend Adam Bergal to do what comes naturally for sweet things: fermentation.

Honey House Distillery was incorporated in 2012 with just two little tanks after the founders attended a bunch of distillery conferences, Kevin Culhane said.

»» All of the spirits Honey House distills on site pass through the custom hiveshaped still the company commissioned. Can you tell they like honeybees?

The first product they took a shot at — and the one that remains their flagship spirit — was Colorado Honey Whiskey, which infused bourbon from the heart of bourbon country in Kentucky with Honeyville honey. The product blends a six year old bourbon, a four year old bourbon, and wildflower honey to create a sweet and smoky concoction.

In addition to the honey bourbon, the distillery has five other products on its shelves at the moment: Cinnamon Honey Whiskey, Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur, Hex Vodka, Red Cliffs Spiced Rum, and Forgotten Barrel Honey Flavored Rum.

Nick Gonzales/ DGO

The cinnamon whiskey is pretty simple in concept — it’s the Colorado Honey Whiskey, but with cinnamon. (This writer may have used it in place of Fireball to enliven a cupcake recipe he shared in a recent article.) The coffee liqueur, on the other hand, combines cold brew coffee from Durango Joe’s Coffee Co.’s dark roast espresso beans with Honey House spirits, honey, and vanilla.

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Nick Gonzales/DGO

» The basic meal at the On the Line food truck includes three pieces of hand-dipped cod, beer-battered fries, tartar sauce, and sriracha mayo.

Is On the Hook’s fish and chips food truck worth the wait?

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spanning several western states

Back in early December, I saw on Facebook that an On the Hook fish and chips food truck was parking itself on the south end of Durango. My interest was piqued.

Sure, Durango has a wide variety of places to eat, but any time someone wants to add something new to the mix, I’m on board. Unfortunately, I got distracted — fish and chips isn’t such a draw that I’ll drop whatever I’m doing to get it — and missed the truck entirely. When it returned for the day on Jan. 29, though, I made time to try it.

On the Hook is actually a fleet of food trucks based in Laramie, Wyoming, but is covering a large chunk of the western U.S., including Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. If the last couple of months is the norm, they return to a city our size about once a month.

In Durango and Pagosa Springs, they set up shop in the parking lots of each town’s Tractor Supply Co. The menu is simple. A meal includes three pieces of hand-dipped cod, beer-battered fries, Heinz ketchup, tartar sauce, and Sriracha mayo. You can mess around with the quantities of each thing that they give you, but that’s all they’ve got.

According to the company’s website, the cod is wild and line-caught in Alaska before being headed, gutted, and flash frozen. The founders apparently came up with the idea for the business while studying at the University of Wyoming in 2016.

How was the food, you ask?

The fries, *ahem* ... chips were pretty decent. No complaints here. They were definitely better than an average fast-food fry, but they weren’t, like,

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[eat]

—— Nick Gonzales

Honey House hopes to have a couple more products available by this summer. Head Distiller Jaime

—— Nick Gonzales

2.15 TO 2.17 2.15

For more information about Honey House Distillery, visit honeyhousedistillery.com or call (970) 247-1474.

2.15

“Everything’s got honey in it in some form or another,” Culhane said.

For more information about Honey House Distillery, visit honeyhousedistillery.com or call (970) 247-1474.

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The vodka is the only product currently available that doesn’t have honey added after distillation, but it’s there in the beginning in the form of a honey mead or wine, which is then triple distilled into a non-sweet product with notes of wildflowers.

Everything distilled on the Honey House premises goes through a custom-made 250-gallon honeycomb-adorned still that the company commissioned from Vendome Copper & Brass Works in Kentucky. The distillery’s products are currently distributed throughout Colorado and into Wyoming, but it’s looking to expand, especially into New Mexico and Arizona.

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As an American from a landlocked state, I can’t say that fish and chips as a meal holds a special place in my heart, but I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for On the Hook’s return to the area.

The Forgotten Barrel rum is the only spirit the distillery makes in which the honey is added in the barrel. The spirit, which is aged for three years in an old bourbon barrel, is also a limited release, hitting shelves once every three years. It was available this past holiday season, so if it’s not there right now ... try again in 2022?

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2.21 TO 2.23

The house-made tartar sauce was a pretty basic tartar sauce. I only took about two bites of fish with it, mostly because the Sriracha mayo was much more appealing. While it was more mayo than Sriracha, it was a little bit spicy, and easily the best of the three dipping sauces provided. (I’m including the Heinz ketchup in that equation — after all, John Lennon smothered his in it.) I dipped my fries in the Sriracha mayo as well.

“It mixes really well,” he said.

Benage is working on a gin, and the distillery is getting ready to break open a straight bourbon in the very near future. At last count, the distillery was aging 71 barrels of bourbon, and the oldest was four years old.

The bourbon uses the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s Bow & Arrow Corn from Towaoc.

2.22

The fish, on the other hand, was surprisingly good. Keeping in mind that we’re talking about fish and chips, which is inherently a street food, it was quite satisfying. The batter was crispy, all-encompassing, and flavorful. Biting into it revealed flaky, juicy, white fish.

For what it is — fried fish and potatoes — the meal wasn’t as greasy as it could have been.

The spiced rum is a dryer spirit, with just a teeny bit of honey in it, Culhane says. It’s barrel aged for a short period — only about seven months — and then spiced with cinnamon. Around the holiday season, it makes an excellent hot buttered rum.

2. 22

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[sound]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 arrives at FLC’s Community Concert Hall

»» Tour is final chance to catch Joel Hodgson live In the not too distant future – next Thursday A.D. – Joel Hodgson and his robot friends are coming to FLC.

who created the cult hit TV show in 1988, will reprise his role of Joel Robinson for the final time ... at least as far as live tours are concerned.

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour lands at Durango’s Community Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13. Joel Hodgson,

“I’ve been on the last two tours, ... and I realized that I had enough juice and enthusiasm to do one more,” he said. “And

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»» At the Durango stop of the current MST3K tour, the cast of MST3k will be riffing on the 1986 martial arts film “No Retreat, No Surrender,”

then I want all the young people to take over and do it.”

The TV version of MST3K originated on Minneapolis’ KTMA before moving to the then-new Comedy Channel (which later became Comedy Central), where it ran for seven seasons. It then leapt over to the Sci-Fi channel for another three seasons, eventually getting canceled in 1999.

Hodgson left the show midway through the fifth season, but he was instrumental in reviving it on Netflix for two seasons from 2017 to 2018.

In theory, MST3K should be the easiest TV show to adapt to the stage. Most of it involves Joel and robot puppets Tom Servo and Crow wisecracking about a movie as they sit in theatre seats in front of the viewer in silhouette — broken up by short skits performed by Joel and the puppets.

The riffing portion of MST3K is the part that differs the most in the jump from one medium to the other. Much like his character in the show, Hodgson can’t control where the movies begin or end, so the show has to actively reshape itself around audience reactions.

“You’re hoping that the audience reacts and when they react, they react differently each night — so you have to kind of move the material around. Sometimes you have to kind of leave jokes out because they’re laughing over the setup for the next joke. So you’re doing a fair amount of editing while the show is going on,” he said.

As such, no two live riffs of the same movie are exactly the same.

When it comes to the skits for this

tour in particular, the creators decided to branch out from what the audience has seen on TV or in previous tours.

“We decided to sort of branch out from what we’re used to seeing, which is just our puppets stationed behind the desk or in a theater seat. We really had to think about how can we actually utilize the space on the stage and have them move around for a change and walk or fly or do some new things that we haven’t really gotten a chance to see them do before,” said writer and producer Matt McGinnis.

“For example, Crow jumps on a pogo stick and he walks around and he rides a unicycle, and Tom Servo flies and is autonomous and can move around the stage,” said Hodgson. “So we had to kind of spend a lot of time developing that in our workshop to get ready for the live tour.”

If you’re a long time viewer of the show and you’re weirded out by seeing Crow’s legs (it’s a bit like seeing Kermit the Frog walk), you’re not alone.

“It’s very unsettling,” said Hodgson.

At the Durango performance, the cast will be riffing on the 1986 martial arts film “No Retreat, No Surrender,” in which Kurt McKinney plays an American teenager who learns karate from the ghost of Bruce Lee and must protect his dojo from a villain played by Jean-Claude van Damme.

For more information or to buy tickets, contact the Community Concert Hall at (970) 247-7657 or durangoconcerts.com.

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[travel]

GET OUTTA TOWN:

Video game history slowly decomposes beneath the New Mexican desert

»» The burial of Atari games in Alamogordo launched an urban legend

Courtesy of Jason/flickr

»» In 2014, about 1,300 Atari video game cartridges were excavated from a landfill where they were buried in the 1980s. Hundreds of thousands more remain below Alamogordo, New Mexico.

A seemingly vacant lot on the west side of Alamogordo, New Mexico, is the site of a mass extraterrestrial burial.

Steven Spielberg’s E.T., to be specific, in the form of thousands of Atari 2600 video games. The site symbolizes a dark time in video game history and for many years was considered an urban legend.

Heading into 1982, the video game industry was riding high — Atari Inc. in particular. Its purchase by Warner Communications for $28 million in 1976 led Atari to grow to a net worth of $2 billion. By 1983, Atari’s high ride started to go south.

Atari’s moneymakers tended to fall into two categories: ports — or, in other words, conversions — of popular arcade games, such as Space Invaders, and tie-ins with successful films, such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As such, the company expected its 1982 port of the arcade game Pac-Man to be wildly popular, and in turn manufactured 12 million cartridges, despite having only

sold 10 million consoles to play them with. Atari hoped the success of its ported Pac-Man would create consumer demand for an additional 2 million game consoles. Unfortunately, the game sucked. Atari’s port of Pac-Man barely resembled the arcade version and lacked everything charming about the original. Initially, the game was a commercial success and sold 7 million copies, but ultimately the company was stuck with 5 million unsold cartridges along with the ones buyers while demanding refunds.

At the same time, Atari bought rights to license a game based on Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” for an estimated $20-25 million. The company had difficulty with licensing issues, though, leaving the game’s programmer, Howard Scott Warshaw, with just weeks to complete the port before holiday sales.

The objective of the E.T. game was to allow E.T. to “phone home” and revolved around collecting three pieces of a

telephone that were scattered randomly throughout several holes that players searched while evading FBI agents and scientists. The game was incredibly monotonous and is often cited as one of the worst video games ever made. Of the 5 million E.T. game cartridges manufactured, only 1.5 million were sold.

Atari quickly amassed a huge inventory of game cartridges it couldn’t sell.

When the entire video game market crashed in 1983 after market saturation and the declining interest in game consoles grew in lieu of personal computers, the company decided to dump all of its unsold inventory. Literally.

Atari downsized in 1983, firing 1,700 members of its staff and moving its manufacturing overseas, and its El Paso, Texas plant and warehouses were emptied and closed. According to an old New York Times story, in September of 1983, the company drove 14 truckContinued on Page 23

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This year, the people who put on Snowdown began the festival the Sunday before the rest of the fest with an opening ceremony at Purgatory Resort.

In addition to a skier parade and the ceremonial lighting of a barbecue grill, the organizers of the event announced next year’s theme, “A Magical Mystical Snowdown: We Put a Spell on You,” The Durango Herald reported.

Dawn James-Staten, vice president of the Snowdown board of directors, told the Herald, “Think of Harry Potter, Gandalf, witches, good witches and evil witches, and fairies.”

Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Wizard of Oz are all well and good, but a bit obvious. Here are some suggestions for other wizards, mages, and sorcerers you can spend the next year getting ready to dress up as:

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What’s the first thing you do when you’re done rocking out at this year’s Snowdown? Peel yourself off the floor, take an ibuprofen, and begin preparing for the next one.

Doctor Strange The Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe is probably one of the most

fun superheroes to dress up as. You get to say things like “by the Hoary Host of Hoggoth,” wear the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto, and wave your hands around while making fun gestures as you cast spells. The second Doctor Strange movie, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” currently has a release date of May 7, 2021, which means you can hold onto your costume and wear it a second time (assuming you haven’t already done so for Halloween).

The Child For all intents and purposes, Jedi are wizards. And “the child” from the Mandalorian is, like, a baby Jedi.

Yeah, sure, “Star Wars” is set in space, but it’s totally a fantasy series. Midichlorians, schmidiclorians ... the “Force” is magic. The Jedi “Knights” even fight with swords (albeit glowing ones) for goodness’ sake. Both the Jedi and the Sith are basically wizards — and one of the most legendary among them is Yoda.

But why dress up as venerable old Yoda, when you can be the cute “Baby Yoda” from The Mandalorian. To complete the meme, you can even include a cup of tea (or whatever you want — *wink, wink*) to keep you warm during Snowdown.

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»» For all intents and purposes, Jedi are wizards. And “the child” from the Mandalorian is, like, a baby Jedi.

In tune with the Pine River Valley

Willow There’s nothing that says vampire slaying isn’t a mystical and/or magcal hobby. Especialwhen it involves sorcery.

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Not the titular character from the 1988 Ron Howard movie — though that’s fantastic too, if you can pull it off. We’re thinking Buffy’s spell-casting friend from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Courtesy photo Especially after she »» There’s nothing that says vampire slaying isn’t a mystical turns evil and gets all and/or magical hobby. Especially when it involves sorcery. dark and veiny toward the end of season six. that hard to assemble either. For bonus Oh, did we just spoil something from 18 points, carry along a killer rabbit. years ago? Get over it. Slap on a little bit of face paint and get your closest blonde friend to carry around a wooden Zatanna stake.

Zatanna Zatarra is a perfect costume for Tim the Enchanter “There are some who call me ... ‘Tim.’” Merlin and Morgan le Fay are the predictable wizards of Arthurian legend, as far as costumes go. But we prefer this John Cleese character from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” It’s actually really easy to find fake ram horns for your head online — there are even some people selling crocheted caps, which seem perfect for January — and the rest of the costume shouldn’t be

both of you who miss the bows and tuxedo jackets of the 2018 Snowdown theme.

Like top hats and fishnets? Those are perfect if you want to dress up as the Justice League’s resident magic user.

A stage magician, actual magician, and friend of Batman, she casts spells just by saying words backwards. “Gnirb em a Nwodwons reeb,” for instance. Pair her with a John Constantine for a perfect comic book couples costume.

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»» In addition to inspiring her mother to create Orenda Tribe, Lily Yeung models much of its clothing. This piece is a collaboration between Orenda Tribe and native American artist Jaque Fragua.

Courtesy of Pierre Manning/Orenda Tribe

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INDIGENOUS COUTURE

»» Four Southwestern designers combining fashion and Native American cultures

By Nick Gonzales

DGO Staff Writer olonzo Goldtooth graduated college straight into the Great Recession of 2007-2009, and his degree in behavioral psychology wasn’t getting him anywhere fast. So, like many a Millennial, he moved back to his family’s ranch, located about 30 minutes south of Farmington. As soon as his grandmother caught him lounging around, though, she put a some fabric in front of him and asked him to make her a dress.

J

Goldtooth’s business, JG Indie, is just one of several indigenous-owned fashion brands creating designs rooted in the cultures of the Southwest and presenting them to the wider world.

ACONAV — Acoma Pueblo and Navajo design Loren Aragon fell into fashion design by accident.

“I actually was an engineer for 13 years before becoming a fashion designer. I did mechanical engineering for a long time and had art in my background, but always did art on the side,” Aragon said.

After moving through several of the fine arts, including illustration, jewelry making, and sculpture, Aragon landed in fashion design. His mother and aunt were seamstresses for most of their lives, but despite growing up around it, he never thought about pursuing fashion design, though he felt a need to preserve his culture in some way.

“That was always my grandfather’s challenge to me: how to preserve our culture into modern things, modern ideas,” he said.

After starting out making some traditional garments, Aragon created an entire collection in 2014 and attended Phoenix Fashion Week that same year.

Two years later, the fashion festival named him Couture Designer of the Year. He quickly left engineering behind and took on fashion design full time.

His brand, ACONAV, was a product of his illustration days when Aragon collaborated with his wife, Valentina,

to create hand-made greeting cards.

The name itself is a joining of his tribe, Acoma Pueblo, with hers, Navajo.

Since entering the fashion business, however, Aragon said ACONAV has evolved into “a couture fashion brand that celebrates the strength and empowerment of women through positive ideas that are expressed in fashion and tie culture to modern style.”

Feminist ideals, he said, are built into his culture.

“Where I’m from, the Acoma Pueblo, we’re known mostly for our pottery art culture but beyond that, we really believe heavily in a matrilineal system. And it’s these female leadership ideas that we believe in that I instill into every garment that I make. ... These positive ideas, these things that we believe in — the strength of women — are all ideas that are told through the designs that are placed into our garments, and I really just want everybody to feel that and to embrace that feeling of empowerment once the garment is worn,” he said.

Visually speaking, Aragon’s designs combine the geometrical patterns of the Acoma Pueblo with his own contemporary and modern ideas.

“I like to say that my designs are timeless, just like our pottery,” he said.

“It always seems to me that our pottery, no matter its age, is so modern with its geometries and shapes.”

Aragon’s most recent collection focuses on the rain cycle.

“We’re a culture that is really heavily dependent on rain and we believe in

Courtesy of Justin Villalobos/ACONAV

»» Model Rebecca Jo Acero wears one of ACONAV’s recent creations. Her accessories are provided by Dotlizhi, styling by Niya DeGroat Henry, and hair and makeup by Gilbert Tellez.

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»» Models show off an array of Jared Yazzie’s OXDX creations.

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it, we pray for it, and there are a lot of things that we fear or respect from it.

And I wanted to express that,” he said.

On a broader scale, the goal of ACONAV is to express Aragon’s ideas on a more generalized platform outside of Native communities to add to the cultural diversity, he said, and to combat cultural appropriation and misrepresentation by the rest of the industry.

“I feel we have a right to belong on the same stages and runways as Dior and Gucci and all these other high-end brands ... we have every right to represent ourselves and honor our own people,” he said. “With a lot of what I do, I really try to educate people along the way as to why things might be wrong, or why you just can’t take an article that’s a part of a culture and use it.”

and stuff like that, and I asked if a few of them wanted to do pre-orders for my first shirt,” he said. “I had thirty people agree to pre-orders at thirty dollars apiece and that gave me nine hundred dollars to start up my company.”

Yazzie was able to fulfill that first order and invest the profit into his next design. This cycle continued until he eventually had full lines in the fall of 2009, and from there, OXDX was born.

OXDX — streetwear fashion

The company’s name pays tribute to Yazzie’s musical influences. It’s an abbreviation for “overdose,” borrowed from Lupe Fiasco’s spoken word poem “Baba said Cool for Thought,” which talks about being careful and not incorporating too much of a certain thing into your life because you don’t want to overdose on it. The abbreviation also tips its hat to MxPx, a Christian punk band Yazzie grew up listening to.

Jared Yazzie found his passion for design while attending the University of Arizona.

Yazzie said that his designs stem from two sources: his background with music and his Navajo heritage.

“I was always interested in fashion and streetwear, and I didn’t really find any representation in any of those areas, so I felt that I had to create it myself. My fashion sense really came from a longing to feel represented in that area,” he said. “So I started creating stuff that I would like to wear, and a lot of people connected with it, and it just seemed like an easy transition.”

For instance, one of his first designs, “Mis-Rep,” combines the Cleveland Indians logo with the Misfits’ skull logo.

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As soon as people began noticing his clothes, a business soon emerged in Yazzie’s dorm room.

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“It started off as hand-painted and specialty one-off pieces ... for my friends

“In general, I think punk rock and anarchism kind of fit with how native people should feel about the world, and I feel like our grandparents were punk rockers before it even existed,” he said. “They did it better and bigger than today’s anarchists because they actually defied the government and tried to live under their own rules.”

On another level, Yazzie finds inspiration in the setting in which he grew up.

Patterns from Navajo weavings and pot-

tery feature into his designs and bring traditional art into his creations.

The designer, based in Tempe, Arizona, said a goal of his art is to increase awareness of indigenous issues and to show the beauty of Native culture, but OXDX can’t do that on its own.

“What makes OXDX a brand is the community involved with it, the people that bring it together and wear it are like-minded and have common ideas.

People are what makes this brand strong, and that’s what will make any movement strong,” he said.

Orenda Tribe — sustainable fashion with a community purpose For over 30 years, Amy Yeung designed for activewear companies such as Puma and Reebok, and other fast fashion brands where the clothes she made would wind up in landfills almost immediately. Then, in 2009, she realized that this was an inauthentic way to live as she taught her daughter, Lily, to be a sustainable human in the world.

Yeung spent the next few years distancing herself from corporate work and creating her own brand, Orenda Tribe, which she now focuses on fulltime. She describes it as “a small batch clothing brand for upcycled, reimagined vintage and artisan products.”

The brand allows her to practice what she preaches.

“I do everything off of goods that are already here on the earth, whether that’s surplus or vintage or ancestral cloth. But we take things that are already here, and then we make them relevant to the time by reimagining them,

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adding a new color and deconstructing them — all sorts of processes,” she said.

One of the main pieces Orenda Tribe is selling this year is upcycled flight suits. The suits from the 1970s and ’80s are stripped of color before a vivid rainbow of shades is introduced. Yeung said she likes working with old military garments because they are very functional and utilitarian, making them great base canvases to color and embellish.

“It’s been such a joy to produce these designs, since the women and the men that have bought them have just felt really empowered by wearing this suit,” she said.

“My experience is anything you have that is soulfully made with passion and love and joy ... there’s a different energy to it.”

At her atelier studio in Albuquerque, Yeung sells goods from other indigenous peoples alongside her own creations.

“We do tons with the artisan goods of Native Americans from my tribe, as well as those from other indigenous peoples around the world that we’ve met through our travels. So it’s sort of a mercantile of just really beautiful old textiles and simply-made clothes,” she said.

Yeung said her intention is not to grow the brand, but rather to grow the work it does. To that end, she has put her business background to good use by starting the non-profit K’é Foundation, which is dedicated to bettering the prospects of indigenous youth. She has been working with Navajo children for the last year, a goal that resonates with her ancestry — her grandfather had a church near Farmington and spent his life translating the Bible into Navajo and ministering to the area.

“For me, the future of my tribe is its children,” Yeung said while discussing the lack of funding and attention they receive. “It’s just a huge inequity to the way my child was brought up, and I just feel

AV, celebrates the strength and empowerment of women.

these kids deserve the same education and opportunities as public school kids.”

In addition to establishing a children’s food bank at the Tohaali Community School, west of Newcomb, New Mexico, one of Yeung’s next big projects is building a “native skate garden” — a skate park surrounded by an ancestral garden — in the same area.

“It addresses a lack of resources for kids to stay busy after school. A skate park is something they can always do to be physically engaged and to work out their day on a skateboard. We want to bring together the community by surrounding the skate park with an ancestral garden so that parents, grandparents, and little kids can participate in this community space.” she said. “If we can get this one up and running, we’d like to roll this out to all the remote areas in the Farmington region.”

Yeung hopes that she can bring her understanding of how to build wealth, branding, and outreach not only to Orenda Tribe, but to the Navajo Nation as a whole.

As for Lily, that daughter that inspired Yeung to seek out a new path?

She is now a model and can be seen wearing many Orenda Tribe styles on the brand’s website and Instagram page.

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As someone who reintegrated into the tribe later in life, Yeung is struck by the lack of basic resources on the reservation. “One-third of the reservation has no running water or electricity in 2020.

And that’s just a shocking thing to say because this is the United States. My question to everyone is why? Why is it like this? Why has this not been fixed?”

Courtesy of ACONAV

»» Loren Aragon’s fashion brand, ACON-

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Around the same time she began her split from fast fashion, Yeung, who was adopted and raised in Indiana, rediscovered her indigenous heritage. She reconnected with her birth mother and started traveling to the Navajo Nation, finally moving to New Mexico in July of 2019. She said her journey brought “a huge amount of joy, but there’s also sorrow and trauma.”

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The name of Jolonzo Goldtooth’s brand refers to one of his core values: independence. He has adopted a mindset of making everything his own and growing as an artist without outside interference. His slogan is: “An independent mind for an independent brand.”

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Even if it wasn’t his primary interest growing up, Goldtooth’s upbringing fully prepared him for design. His grandmother and aunts were seamstresses and practiced traditional arts, including weaving their own textiles. He was particularly influenced by his great aunt, who lived in Durango and worked for colorful sportswear companies Bula and Bomber Gear.

She was able to bring home material scraps the companies weren’t using — that’s how Goldtooth learned to value upcycling and to cast off any fear he might have had about using engaging colors, one of the hallmarks of his brand.

When his grandmother asked him to make her a dress instead of watching TV, Goldtooth caught the design bug.

His grandmother enjoyed the dress he made and wore it to church as her Sunday best. Her friends complimented her and asked if they could place orders for jackets and other items. Soon, Goldtooth was addicted. He put his designs on social media and they were noticed by a New York Fashion Week runway show director. From there, Goldtooth’s career snowballed, and now he’s international, but he has chosen to stay in Farmington, New Mexico, to be near his family.

“I feel like if I were to move to a huge

»» Jolonzo Gold-

metropolis, I’d kind of lose sight of my purpose, my vision. I’m a very humble person, and so my family definitely keeps me grounded,” he said.

tooth prepares models for a photo shoot near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Goldtooth also supports his community and brings his team with him when he travels. He includes local Native American models in his shows so they can get a taste of the larger fashion industry. This also gives him the chance to show the world that Native Americans are distinct and not extinct. In places like Australia and France, Goldtooth regularly hears from young people who think his people were moved to Oklahoma and subsequently wiped out. These misconceptions allow him to teach people of other cultures about Native Americans and to explain to members of the fashion industry why it’s inappropriate to have, say, dancers in Plains Indian headdresses.

Courtesy of Shady Bear Photography/JG Indie

“I definitely like to be an advocate by telling people who I am, where I come from, about our culture and sharing with them our beauty and our artistry,” he said.

In addition to his Milan show this fall, Goldtooth will travel to Australia for a benefit show of Native American and Aboriginal designs to raise funds for people affected by the recent bushfires.

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[weed]

1906 LOVE chocolates are the only kind of mood enhancers you need this V-day Your journey to Bone Town will be enhanced by THC-filled edibles, even if it’s a solo trip Weed and sex go together like, well … they go together better than just about anything, and I refuse to make comparisons because there ain’t nothin’ like it. Stoned sex is the best sex. If you aren’t regularly smoking weed and bumpin’ uglies, well, my condolences for your wasted life. It’s time to get on that. Yes, I am judging you and you deserve it. I feel sorry for your loins.

If you’re not in the habit of incorporating cannabis into your naughty time, you can remedy that issue with the help of 1906 LOVE chocolates, which are high-end edibles meant to help enhance your sex life. These tiny chocolate gems are filled with THC and a bunch of other botanical aphrodisiacs, including muira puama, which is known as the Viagra of the Amazon and helps to uh, unleash the trouser beast, if you get my drift.

Here’s what happened. I picked up a 3-pack of these boner-pill-in-chocolate-form from Prohibition Herb — they come in the 3-pack or a box with one chocolate 10 milligram heart — and popped one in my mouth as soon as I got home. There was no hint of weed taste with these bad boys. So, if your valentine is grossed out by edibles, these are a feasible option.

After I popped it, I sat and waited to hit the proverbial weed wall. Edibles always knock me on my ass — if you were at last year’s Cannabis Crawl you may have come in contact with a stoned, drooling zombie who ate just one cake ball; that was me — so I just kept expecting my arms to be on fire rather than my junk.

Spoiler alert: it never happened.

What DID happen, though, was pretty badass.

You know all that edible energy that normally pulses through my arms and legs to glue me to the chair?

Yeah, homies. It was redirected to my crotch. You’re welcome for the visual.

It happened pretty quickly, too. These chocolates are supposed to work within about 15 to 30 minutes, and I definitely started to feel its magic in that time frame. I’m not sure how long it was, to be honest — I was a little distracted — but I know it didn’t take very long to kick in.

The weird thing was, though, that I didn’t feel high.

Not in the way I normally do, anyway. I felt like gettin’

one of them. Just warn your partner first so they aren’t confused as to why you want to head to Bone Town at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. Or, even better, SHARE the damn things instead. I’m sure they’ll find some way to repay you for your kindness. down and dirty, but I didn’t feel high. No cottonmouth, no munchies — nothin’. Well, nothing like THAT, anyway.

Other stuff was definitely going on.

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And that’s pretty much how it stayed for the next couple of hours or so. At no point did the LOVE chocolates make me feel like Flat Stanley or a cheap cement statue. I just felt good. High in my nether regions. Not in my head or my limbs.

I will spare you the rest of the details, but I will tell you what the budtender told me: these things work.

I don’t know how they get all the blood to rush to your pubic enemy, but something in these dark chocolate gems does it. Is it the muira puama, or the THC, or the theobromine, or one of the other junk-focused botanicals? Who knows! And who effin’ cares!

Ultimately, all that matters is these chocolates are crotch-oriented magic bombs full of energy and you will not regret popping

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Three Springs Blvd

How do I know this, you ask? Well, I tried out these mood-enhancing chocolates in anticipation of Valentine’s Day and let me tell you ... the budtender, who told us the tale of their magical junk-tingling magic, was not wrong. Not wrong at all.

Where to find 1906 LOVE Chocolates: Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino del Rio, prohibitionherb. com

East Owen Road

And before you start arguing with me in your head about how edibles mess you up too bad to be able to bone, well, you should know these chocolates are low dose at 5 milligrams each. You will not be too stoned to bone — and as a bonus, they work quickly so you can get down to business with the quickness. Couch lock can’t even set in that quickly. It’s a scientific fact.

Details

AJ’s Geenhouse Nursery

Southwest Appliance

160

Davidson Creek Road

160

Oh-Hi 4 Pack for

25

$

Now offering online order for pickup on

Weed love to help you!

All Items Include Tax · 8am-8pm, Seven Days A Week (970)759-8683 · 83 Davidson Creek Road Durango, CO

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[weed]

Dankey King will steal the princess — and your weed-lovin’ heart Have you ever felt super human, like you could use your mind to toss giant wooden barrels at annoying 8-bit humans who are trying to steal the princess back that you rightfully stole?

If your answer is no, then you obviously have not smoked any Dankey Kong, the indica hybrid strain we’re reviewing this week for The Green House Durango.

And if you have not smoked Dankey Kong, well, I feel sorry for you. You don’t know what you’re missing.

But don’t worry — I’m going to tell you what you’re missing so you feel that dreaded FOMO in your weed-ocampus.

(Yes, I’m writing this while stoned. It’s been a long week.) So, when I went by The Green House to pick up this week’s strain, the folks behind the counter were torn between recommending a different strain or Dankey Kong. I’d like both, they said, but ultimately Dankey Kong won for reasons I couldn’t tell you.

It just did.

And I, my friends, am very lucky it did, because I got to smoke it and learn of its mystical, leg-tingling, mind-barrel-throwing powers.

I smoked a bowl of Dankey Kong, which is a cross between Bio-Diesel and Kong, while alone on the road for work.

The long green buds smelled and tasted a little like green Fruit Loops, which was a surprising but welcome change of pace. I kind of expected that I’d need to smoke more than one bowl to feel high, especially given how inoffensive the strain smelled and tasted, but I definitely did not. One bowl was plenty.

And by that I choked like I’d been sitting in the middle of a campfire. I, like everyone else in the country, have been dealing with some weird plague, and while I’m on the tail end of it, I still have a cough. So one hit of this stuff and it sounded like I had just taken a huge bong hit. It was attractive. Trust me.

Oh, bu it didn’t just make me choke.

It also made my legs turn into wobbly rubber snakes — snakes that refused to support my frame so I could get up and get more snacks. That feeling quickly creeped in and made my arms become uncooperative noodles. I was stuck. No snacks. I couldn’t move.

But I wasn’t rendered completely useless, oddly enough. Usually when

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Where to find Dankey Kong: The Green House, 730 S. Camino del Rio, thegreenhousecolorado.com/ that happens my brain turns into a giant bowl of mush, but while Dankey Kong played puppetmaster with my legs, mind was clear and ready to roll.

I was thinking of all sorts of clever quips, putting two and two together on plot lines I didn’t even know existed in my head. I solved everything, rewrote movie plots, and also figured out the answer to some question that had been plaguing me for the last week or so. (I just wish I could remember what it was.)

Also, it turns out I was lucky that I smoked alone because while I was mind-hurling barrels at plot holes left and right, I wouldn’t have been able to move my mouth to communicate them to another person. The words were locked in my head, which was firing on all fuckin’ cylinders. What a shame. Still, I was enough of an audience all on my own, and I felt smart and fully armed with ideas I’d never thought of. I was very amused with myself.

FIND YOUR PERFECT JOB CANDIDATE AT THIS EVENT Meet and interview job seekers looking for full-time, part-time and seasonal employment.

Contact Us TODAY ABBY FELDMAN 970-375-4599 afeldman@bcimedia.com

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DURANGO CARES

We are a community.

We are connected.

You are not alone.

Honestly, I didn’t just feel smart. I felt impenetrable, like the only thing I couldn’t do with my brain in that moment was summon food, which was a bummer since I was freaking STARVING after a bit. It was a huge fail on my part not to be prepared with chips.

Still, I have a feeling if I keep smoking Dankey Kong I may be able to make that food summoning stuff happen, too. After all, his stuff helped me amuse myself while alone in a strange town, and that, my friends, is no small feat.

—— DGO Pufnstuf

The Durango Regional Job fair is presented by

If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally and thinking of suicide, reach out.

There is help. durangocares.com Brought to you by your friends at

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Help Wanted/Full Time

Ballantine Communications, Inc. is hiring! Reporter (Durango, CO) - The Durango Herald, Southwest Colorado’s awardwinning newspaper, is hiring a reporter to cover some of the Southwest’s biggest issues: immigration, health care, energy, water and land use, and education. Required: Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications, or similar degree and 4+ years proven experience as a reporter.

To apply, go to: https://ballantinecommunicationsinc.com/ careers BCI offers a comprehensive benefit plan with medical, dental, and vision coverage. Employees also have an opportunity to participate in a 401(k) plan. BCI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Customer Service Representative (Durango, CO): BCI is hiring a full-time Customer Service Re presentative!

Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday.

Requirements: Excellent customer services skills, and 1+ year(s) experience in an office setting. Please apply at: https:// ballantinecommunicationsinc. com/careers Heating & A/C company looking for experienced Service Technicians immediately. Min 5 years exp.Pay is DOE. Send resume to info@heatdurango.com or call 970-259-5522, 970-884-7600.

Help Wanted/Full Time

Inventory Administrator (Hesperus). GCC Energy King II coal mine has an immediate opening for an experienced Inventory Administrator. Provide a high level of service to support mine operations for our internal and external customers by maintaining an accurate inventory of spare parts, materials, and shipping and receiving tasks using SAP and other systems. Minimum three years of inventory control, warehouse or similar experience. Competitive salary depending on experience + bonus program. Full benefits 1st of the month following date of hire.

Online application can be found at www.GCC.com click on careers, then current openings and you will see the link to apply posting under the CO drop down box.

Outside Digital Sales Representative: BCI is hiring!

The likely candidate will have a solid understanding of all our digital-marketing products or services offered by the company and how these services meet the client’s needs. Responsibilities will be focused on outside sales approximately 90% of the time. If you are self-driven, able to work independently, and have proven ability to sell digital media products and services—we’re looking for someone like you to join the BCI team! Required: Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field, and 3+ years proven ability in digital sales. Apply at: https:// ballantinecommunicationsinc. com/careers

A SAVVY MAGAZINE FOR A SAVVY CUSTOMER.

Help Wanted/Full Time

Sales Administrative Assistant (Durango, CO): Ballantine Communications Inc. is seeking a Sales Administrative Assistant who is a self-starter, organized, and proven ability to work in a fast paced environment. This position will act as the point of contact for sales representatives, creative teams, and finance teams. Required: HS Diploma; AA in Business preferred and 1+ year(s) experience in an administrative role. Apply at: https:// ballantinecommunicationsinc. com/careers We offer a comprehensive benefit plan. BCI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Furniture & HH Goods Durango Furniture Clearance Center Matt Sets Used $89; Rebuilt $169.

Chest Used $79; New $169.

Sofas Used $79; New $349 Dinette used $99.

Mon thru Sat, 10am-5pm, closed Sun. 1474 Main Ave 970-259-1135

Miscellaneous for Sale

New Year Special!

8x12 starting at $1850 • 10x12 starting at $2400. All sheds built on site to fit your needs!! No tax or delivery fee. 970-317-4999 ironwoodoutbuildings.com Hurry and beat the snow!

Call 375-4570 or email info@dgomag.com

CARRY DGO IN YOUR BUSINESS

Four Wheel Drive Vehicles

GUARANTEED Credit Approval!

4x4 Auto Sales 970-385-7940 21698 Hwy 160 West

Rentals Various offices/retail at various locations. 120 sf - 4700 sf from $325/ mo - $4400/mo. Ample parking. Call for more info 970-259-2034.

Various rentals available.

Action Property Management (970) 382-0134 durangorealestate rentals.com Sell it here - Find it here DGO Classifieds Personals Valentine Missed Connections School Lessons Help Wanted/Full Time Help Wanted/Part Time Gigs Bicycles & Skates Sporting Goods Miscellaneous for Free Miscellaneous for Sale Musical Instruments Automobiles for Sale Apartments/Furnished Apartments Unfurnished Houses Unfurnished Houses Furnished Rentals Rentals Wanted Roommate Wanted Rooms for Rent Call 970-247-3504 for more information

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[love and sex]

Dear February 14th: It’s not you; it’s us.

Let’s see other people ... er, days.

Dear February 14th,

foliage, a plain, a rock, hard and unoccupied:

You are the day where we throw little hearts in the air and pressure us to express our love all at once. You ask us to perform perfection with an emotion.

You give us one day to express all the little and big things we feel. You tell us to buy roses by the dozen, reserve dinners, present chocolates — all to express our love. You are a day dreaded by those of us who are single. You are dreaded by those of us in relationships. You are an excuse for other days to not be full of joyous celebrations of love. You are a weight. You expect too much.

we wanted to build a strong nest. with our own hands, without hurt or harm or speech, but love was not like that: love was a lunatic city with crowds of people blanching on their porches.

In all honesty, it’s not really you. It’s us. We can’t go on this way. We need to start seeing other days for love.

To truly and deeply love others, the first person we should wake loving is ourselves. Every day we should love ourselves deeply, intently, and gracefully. A ritual that feeds our souls. A practice of self celebration. A series of goals that promote us, the individual. The world we live in tells us in thousands of ways that we are imperfect and undeserving of love unless we tweak this, change that, be this other better version of ourselves. When we love ourselves and fill ourselves with this love, we become the ambassadors of love. We find it easier to be kind, patient, and understanding of others.

Sincerely, Lovers Everywhere When we choose to be connected to other humans through friendship, romance, and/or sex we often forget that it is a job. We have to show up, put energy in, communicate, and often create something — a life together, memories, a child, shared values, maybe even a legacy. This doesn’t mean that a single celebratory day doesn’t have value but I support small, daily celebrations. Acts of simple kindness, fully listening, small gestures or words to let the ones we love know that every day we celebrate our connection.

Love is often mistaken with symbols of affection or painted stories that promise ease of living if we just have that perfect day, perfect ceremony, perfect perfection. Truthfully, love is vulnerability. Love is stripping down and sharing every flaw of ourselves with others and not expecting anything in return. To be truly vulnerable we have to accept responsibility for our moral failings and work every day to be a human that values other humans.

The mess of love is my favorite part. It is embracing the imperfections and still feeling deeply for other humans. Love is not the great days or the best memories. it sets its roots, watered with tears, Love is the hard shit. Love is the broken and no one—no one—can escape the dreams, the grief in loss, the mistakes, heart’s progress the struggle for forgiveness. as it runs, silent and carnivorous.

LXXI - Pablo Neruda Love crosses its islands, from grief to grief,

You and I searched for a wide valley, for another planet

Mateus Campos Felipe/Unsplash

where the salt wouldn’t touch your hair, where sorrows couldn’t grow because of anything I did, where bread could live and not grow old.

A planet entwined with vistas and

So on this one day stop and ask yourself if you are vulnerable in your love.

Do you show up in your relationships with more than roses? Do you love yourself first? Do you embrace love in the dark moments of living?

Erin Brandt (she/her/hers) has been a sexologist for 15 years. When she’s not spreading sexual knowledge, Erin can be found learning from her child, hiking with her partner, cuddling with her pitbull, knitting with her cat, dancing with friends, and searching for the nearest hammock and ocean breeze.

Want more? Visit www.positivesexed.com

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19)

What a happy coincidence that this year Valentine’s Day happens to be a lovely day to receive gifts, goodies and favors from others! It’s also a romantic couple of weeks. Party on!

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) This is a lovely couple of weeks to enjoy with your main squeeze. All relations with partners, close friends and members of the public will be upbeat and positive. Lucky you!

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20)

vitations to party and socialize with others.

Romance is blessed. Enjoy playful activities with kids, as well as sports events.

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) A group gathering at home or a chance to entertain at home will please you during this time. Family discussions also will go well. Good food and drink for everyone!

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) The power of positive thinking is a fact.

These next couple of weeks you will have a positive outlook on life, which is why your interactions with others are upbeat and happy. Enjoy good times!

From Page 9

loads of game cartridges and video game equipment 90 miles north to Alamogordo, New Mexico’s then-new city landfill.

“Guards kept reporters and spectators away from the area yesterday as workers poured concrete over the dumped merchandise,” the Times reported. The concrete was added to keep kids from looting the dump site, but somehow they got in anyway.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) Right now, the Moon is in your sign dancing with lucky Jupiter. This promotes good feelings with old friends and establishes strong emotional ties with others.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) You might choose to be low-key and private right now. Nevertheless, you’re in a happy mood and will enjoy quiet times with others, especially children.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) This is a lovely day to socialize with others — friends or groups. Share your hopes and dreams with someone to see what he or she thinks about your ideas.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) You look positive in the eyes of others right now, especially bosses, parents and teachers! This is an excellent time to

work on a project with others or join in a group activity.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Travel of any kind will appeal to you right now because you want to broaden your horizons. This is also an excellent time to study and enjoy talking to people from other cultures and different lands.

BORN DURING THESE TWO WEEKS You are a great communicator and an excellent problem-solver. You are witty, compassionate and loyal. This will be a more relaxed year for you. Because your interactions with others will be important, do your best to cooperate with others. Look for ways to be kind and helpful. Be open to engaging with others, because business and personal relationships will benefit you. (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Bizarro

Relations with co-workers are positive these next couple of weeks. This is also an excellent time for work-related travel.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Meanwhile, support from others will Business and commerce are favored come your way during this time. right now, which is why this is an excelCANCER (June 21 to July 22) lent time to pursue financial negotiations. If shopping, you might go overThis is a fun-filled, playful time! Accept in-

board, so save your receipts.

Over time, the story of the massive burial grew until the urban legend described the burial as containing all 3.5 million unsold E.T. cartridges.

It also became a cautionary tale warning about hubris and poor business practices. As time passed and sand covered the site, some began to doubt that the burial had ever happened.

Over three decades later, a Canadian entertainment company got permission to excavate the burial site while filming a documentary, “Atari: Game Over.” On April 26, 2014, excavation began with an event that was open to the public and was attended by the E.T. game programmer, Warshaw; “Ready Player One” author Ernest Cline; Armando Ortega, an Alamogordo city official who was one of the kids who looted the dump in the ’80s; and a team of archaeologists.

Of an estimated 700,000 game cartridges buried in the New Mexico desert, 1,300 were recovered by the excavation. Some were given

to Alamogordo’s New Mexico Museum of Space History for display and the city sold off many of the others. One E.T. cartridge was donated to the Smithsonian Institution because it represents “the ongoing challenge of making a good film to video game adaptation, the decline of Atari, the end of an era for video game manufacturing, and the video game cartridge life cycle.”

Alamogordo has since moved its municipal landfill to another location, but the old landfill with the rest of the Atari stash is still located on the south side of First Street, just west of White Sands Boulevard. The city of Alamogordo was, at one point, considering making the old site a tourist attraction, but it is unclear what happened to those plans.

—— Nick Gonzales

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