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WHAT IS INDIGIPOP X? dgomag.com

Inside the evolution of the Indigenous Comic Con

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What’s inside

DGO Magazine

STAFF

Volume 5 Number 5 Thursday, February 27, 2020

Editor

Clear your calendars cause it’s almost time for Cannabis Crawl !

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

If that photo on the left is making you nostalgic for that time of the year when the weed is cheap, the crawlin’ is good, and the free tickets are a’flowin’, then we have good news: Cannabis Crawl 2020 will soon be upon us. Praise the sticky gods.

ngonzales@durangoherald.com Sales Chandler Sommerfeldt csommerfeldt@bcimedia.com 375-4553 Contributors Erin Brandt Megan Bianco Laraina Hailey Design/layout Tracie Louck Reader Services 375-4570 Chief Executive Officer

From the Blog

5

Eat & Drink

T’s Smokehouse 5

6 Film

Indie Film Fest 6

7

Crawl 2020

Cannabis Crawl Preview 7

8

Beer & Weed

9 Travel

Get Outta Town 9

Peachypeaks 10-11

16 Weed

Reviews 16-17

19 Film

Movie review 19

20 Classifieds

7 The most wonderful, green, sticky time of the year

5 Eating “dinosaur” at T’s Steakhouse

Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising Jamie Opalenik

As we sat, waiting for our alligator po’ boy with a side of baked beans, we imagined what the prehistoric beast was going to taste like and sipped on a hurricane.

It’s the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year ­— for potheads and weed fanatics, anyway. Get ready to mark your calendars for Cannabis Crawl 2020, friends!

10 Naked fourteeners and semi-nude hikes

FOOD ZOMB , FILM, I B ES, &

By Nic

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hen the Indi launched genous Com ic dard mod in 2016, it follo Con first wed a pret Fans were el for a comic with artis ty stan book There were ts, writers, illus able to gather conventio n. vendors panels and trators, and and converse other perform could sell though, their geek ances and creatives. was temporar that the conv y wares. The places where y entio diffe Nati n renc ve nerd 1,100 peop culture. centered arou e, le nd conIt was a Over the attended. hit, next and few year ly spaw around ning s, the Now, like others like it in convention expa Denv a nded Poke reached , eventualmon, the er and Melb its March next stage of Indigenous Com ourne, Australia 25 evolu . indigenou through 29 in Albu tion: Indig ic Con has ipop nous equi s version of a querque. If the X, happenin comi g valent of old South by c con, the new event was the Southwes one is the Expand indiget. ing the After the spotlig ers bega first year of ht the n Native repr to add more eclec Indigenous Com featured esentation. For tic events whil ic Con, organize still both a wres insta sees the tling even nce, last year spotlighting retur performan n of the fashi t and a fashi ’s convention on show on ce, . This year “It gives and sections show, the addi on indig tion us a chan ce to welc enous futur of a dance ism ome in more peop and food. le and reall y » The

Tell us what you think!

12 | Thur

AB YODAY

» What

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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

23 Puzzles/horoscopes

/dgomag

k DGO STAF Gon zal es F WRIT ER

DGO Magazine is published

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

22 Sex & love

/dgomag

It’s a difficult metric to measure, but when it comes to butts, Peachypeaks probably has one of the most famous rears in Colorado. She’s also a serious mountaineer, even if she climbs things in the nude.

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.

BUBBLES’ BARGAINS

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at Albuq uerque’ s Indigi pop X fes tival

Child, aka Baby Yoda subject of multi ple pane , from the TV Courtesy including of Kimbe show The ls and ones on beading workshops at this Mandaloria rly Robertson the chara years Indig n, is the cter. ipop X conve ntion,

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ON THE COVER The cover says it all: What is Indigipop X? We’re here to answer that question.

Tracie Louck for DGO

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@dg

dg

FROM THE BLOG

»» News from our site on the interwebs you may have missed I’m a 31-year-old cis bisexual woman.

I’m hetero-romantic and in a monogamish relationship with a man. We play with other people together. I’ve never liked giving blowjobs because I was taught that girls who give blowjobs are “sluts.” Phrases that are meant to be insulting like “You suck,” “Suck it,” “Go suck a dick,” etc. created a strong association in my mind between blowjobs and men degrading women. (Men take what they want, and women get used and called sluts.) As such, I never sucked much dick — and if I did, it was only briefly and never to completion.

I also find spit and come kind of gross.

Even when I get really wet during sex, it’s a bit of a turnoff, and I hate that it makes me feel gross and wish I could change my thinking around it. Early in our relationship, my husband noticed the lack of blowjobs and confronted me, saying they were really important to him. At first I felt a little insecure about being inadequate in this area, but then I decided to do some research, because I honestly thought it wasn’t just me and most women don’t like giving blowjobs. (Because how could they? It’s so demeaning!) But I learned lots of my female friends enjoy giving blowjobs — they like being in control, giving a partner pleasure, etc. — so I googled ways to start liking blowjobs and I’ve started to get into them! It’s great! Except I still don’t like when he comes in my mouth or if a blowjob gets super spitty. But my husband loves sloppy blowjobs; he says the lubrication feels good and he enjoys the “dirtiness” of it. If I know he’s getting close to coming or if it gets super wet and I have spit all over my face, my gag reflex activates and it’s hard to continue. I feel like I’m at an impasse.

I want to give him the blowjobs he wants, but I don’t know how to get around (or hopefully start enjoying!) the super-sloppy-through-to-completion blowjobs he likes. Do you have any advice?

Sloppy Oral Always Keeps Erections Drenched You play with other people together, SOAKED, but have you tried observing — by which I mean actively observing, by which I mean actually participating — while your husband gets a sloppy blowjob from someone who really enjoys

giving them? If someone else was blowing your husband while you made out with him or sat on his face or played with his tits or whatever might enhance the experience for him... and you watched another woman choke that dick down... you might come to appreciate what’s in it for the person giving the sloppy blowjob.

Most people who were taught that girls who give blowjobs are sluts were also taught that open relationships are wrong and women who have sex with other women are going to hell. You got over what you were taught about monogamish relationships and being bisexual years ago, SOAKED, and recently got over what you were taught about women who enjoy sucking cock. While some people have physical limitations they can’t overcome — some gag reflexes are unconquerable — watching someone enjoy something you don’t can make you want to experience it yourself.

But even if your observations don’t trigger a desire to get down there and get sloppy and swallow his load yourself, your husband would be getting the kind of blowjobs he enjoys most and you would be an intrinsic part of them. If you set up the date, you’d be making them happen, even if you weren’t doing them.

And if you were into the scenario and/ or the other woman — if the whole thing got you off, not just off the hook — then there would be something in it for you, too.

And take it from me, SOAKED, to be kissed with both passion and gratitude by, say, a husband (ahem) who’s really enjoying something someone else is doing for/to him — whether or not that something is something you also enjoy doing for/to him from time to time — is really fucking hot. So even if you never come around — even if sloppy blowjobs are something you have to outsource permanently — you and your husband can enjoy years of sloppy blowjobs together, with the assistance of a series of very special (and very slutty) guest stars.

And you can get always get those blowjobs started — the non-sloppy, non-spitty initial phase — before passing the baton off to your guest star.

Married 40-year-old gay guy here. I hate beards—the look, the feel, the smell—and I miss the good old days when the only beards gay dudes had were metaphorical. When I got back

from a long business trip, my hot, sexy, previously smooth husband of many years was sporting a beard. Unsurprisingly, I hate it and find it to be a complete turnoff. However, he says this is controlling behavior on my part, it’s his body and his choice, and he’s hurt that I’m rejecting him. He also says I’ll get used to it and he doesn’t plan to keep it forever. I agree that it’s his body and his choice, but I think he should still take me into consideration, and that it’s actually him who’s rejecting me, by choosing the beard over me. What’s your take?

Spouse’s Hairiness Averts Virile Erection I’m with you, SHAVE, but I’m also with him. It is his body, and growing a beard is something he can choose to do with the face section of his body. But that my body/my choice stuff cuts both ways: Your body is yours, and what you do with your body is your choice. And you can choose not to press your body against his — or press your face against his — while he’s got a beard. If long business trips are a regular part of your life, maybe he could grow his beard out in your absence and shave when you get home.

(Full disclosure: I have a pronounced anti-beard bias, which means I’m not exactly impartial.)

I’m a 30-year-old queer cis woman and a late bloomer. My first relationship — with a hetero cis man — began when I was 28. He was my first sexual partner. I fell in love hard, but he broke up with me after almost two years. Months later, I know I’m not ready to fall in love again, but I have a high sex drive. I masturbate frequently, but when I think about playful/ romantic sex, the only memories I have are with the ex, which makes me sad. So I watch rough porn, which keeps me from

thinking about the ex. But watching bondage videos alone isn’t the sex life I want. Should I Tinder or Lex up some rough casual sex? Get drunk and get some more memories in the mix? (I don’t think I could get out of my head enough to do this sober.) Assuming I minimize the risks of pregnancy and STIs and partners that are bad at consent, what’s the risk of going for it? How does it compare to the risk of getting stuck in this nowhere land and never finding a new love/sex buddy? Or maybe I need to get drunk and jerk off alone without the porn and just feel all my feelings and avoid any risk of crying on some poor stranger?

I Need A Plan Today Do it all, INAPT. Masturbate to kink porn and feel dirty, masturbate to your memories and feel sad, and put yourself out there on Tinder and Lex and see if there isn’t someone who intrigues you.

But stop telling yourself you can’t find romance with a partner you first met up with for rough sex. I know lots of people who first met up with someone for rough sex, clicked on a deeper level, started dating, and have since enjoyed years of sex that’s both rough and loving. Finally, booze has a way of intensifying feelings of sadness — so if you don’t want to wind up sobbing on the shoulder of some poor stranger, don’t get drunk before that hookup.

—— Dan Savage

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[eat]

A quest to eat something dinosaur-ish leads to T’s Smokehouse » The flavor of alligator tastes surprisingly commonplace I was recently rereading Micheal Crichton’s classic novel, “Jurassic Park.” At the beginning of the book, a girl is attacked by a small dinosaur called procompsognathus, which the author describes as being about the size of and moving like a chicken.

This got me to thinking: What would a dinosaur taste like?

Current evolutionary theory suggests most dinosaurs died off entirely in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event – probably an asteroid impact – 66 million years ago. By that time, however, a group of smaller, carnivorous dinosaurs had branched off and started evolving into their descendants we still see around today: birds.

I wasn’t going to eat a bird in my quest to taste a dinosaur, though. I eat birds on a regular basis; it would be boring. Back to the drawing board.

Pivoting, I decided to taste something vaguely dinosaur-ish instead.

Tracing the evolutionary tree backwards, it turns out that dinosaurs belong to a group of animals called archosaurs. That group has a second, non-dinosaur/bird branch that ends in a number of species that exist today, in the form of crocodilia.

Crocodilians came to exist around the same time as dinosaurs and lived alongside them for as long as dinosaurs roamed the earth. They’re different in a bunch of ways – for instance dinosaurs, like modern birds, were likely warm-blooded, whereas crocodilians are cold-blooded reptiles.

Still ... look at an American alligator, the most local crocodilian to here, and tell me it’s not a dinosaur. (In reality, Alligators first appeared on this planet during the Oligocene epoch, about 37 million years ago.)

I’ve seen alligator on a couple Durango menus – Highway 3 Roadhouse and T’s Smokehouse come to mind, and I chose the latter.

As I sat, waiting for my alligator po’ boy with a side of baked beans, I imagined what the prehistoric beast was going to taste like and sipped on a hurricane. (Pro tip: The blended cock-

Nick Gonzales/DGO

» A small alligator po’ boy with baked beans and the half-drunk remains of a hurricane at T’s Smokehouse.

tails at T’s taste, and feel, a bit boozier than average. And occasionally, somebody will drop by your table to top them off.)

When the food finally came, I lifted it to my mouth, bit in ... and was treated to one of the most anticlimactic revelations in my life as a meat-eater.

It sounds like a joke, but alligator tastes like chicken and has a similar texture. Like, eerily so. Had you handed me the same sandwich and told me it was turkey, I would have corrected you, “No, this is chicken.” The alligator meat in the sandwich came in little chunks, breaded and fried, almost exactly like popcorn chicken.

As soon as I got over the fact that one of the scariest apex predators in North America is indistinguishable in my mouth from the meekest farm ani-

mal, I realized that it was still a pretty decent sandwich, especially with the brown mustard that complemented the chicken-esque gator. Paired with the smokehouse’s slightly spicy and not-too-sweet baked beans, it was a good meal — just not as exotic of one as I had thought it would be.

I later did some research and found out that while an alligator’s tail tastes like chicken, if you can get your teeth on an alligator leg, it tastes like and has the texture of pork or turtle.

Based on the fact that chickens are descended from dinosaurs and alligators, which evolved from the ancestors of dinosaurs, taste like chicken, I’m concluding that if I ever got the chance to eat a Tyrannosaurus rex, it would taste like a 140-ton chicken.

—— Nick Gonzales

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[film]

Durango Independent Film Festival heaping on the filmmakers in 2020

»» Event is a good time to find out what goes on behind the scenes Want to meet the people who work behind the scenes making movies in Hollywood and elsewhere, but you’re not willing to leave town? No problem.

The Durango Independent Film Festival is bringing a bunch of them to you.

The festival, which runs March 5 through 8, typically features both filmmakers who work in front of the camera and those who work behind it, but this year’s festival will lean a bit more heavily than normal on the latter, DIFF Executive Director Joanie Leonard said.

There will be a variety of ways in which festival attendees can interact with the people making the movies.

Each day Thursday through Sunday opens with a coffee talk, with filmmakers at R Space from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. There will be coffee, tea, and snacks at the events, but not much space. These are open to the public,

even if you don’t have a pass to the film festival.

The festival features five parties, two of which anyone can attend (the others are reserved for top-tier pass-purchasers) – both of which are great for hobnobbing with (indie) film industry insiders. The first is a Native Cinema Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 5 at Sorrel Sky Gallery. The other is a Meet the Filmmakers Party from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 6 at the Irish Embassy Pub Underground. Both will have hors d’oeuvres and experts to quiz about film-making.

The most structured places to interact with filmmakers are the festival’s panels and workshops, which are open to the public and located at the Irish Embassy Underground.

One, at 11 a.m. on March 7, features writer/producers Michael

Courtesy of Durango Independent Film Festival

»» An audience watches the trailer for the 2019 Durango Independent Film Festival during a screening at Animas City Theatre.

Jamin and Liz Tuccillo talking about the business and craft of writing for the screen. Jamin worked on Beavis & Butthead, king of the Hill, Just Shoot Me, and Wilfred among a bunch of other credits. Tuccillo wrote for Sex and the City, co-au»» Jamin thored the book “He’s Just Not That Into You,” and was the show-runner and executive producer of the HBO show Divorce.

Another, at 1 p.m. the same day, features talent agent Carissa Mitchell, casting director Marin McMaster, and actor and coach Vic Browder discussing what it takes to actually get cast in movies.

Finally, at 11 a.m. on March 8, Jamin and Tuccillo are conducting a hands-on workshop on turning ideas into screenplays.

“Since we (Durango Film) took over the Four Corners Film Office, I’ve been getting calls from people who say, ‘I’ve got this book and I don’t know how to turn it into a screenplay,’” Leonard said. “So we decided it was a good time to focus on that.”

There will also be Q&A sessions

at many of the movie screenings throughout the festival, where you can ask questions of the people who made the movies right after you watch them. (For instance, “What did I just watch?” ... these are indie movies, after all, and they can get a »» Tuccillo bit arthouse-y.)

The festival will be showing over 110 films, including the short film “The Neighbors’ Window,” which just won an Academy Award. Leonard is also excited for local filmmaker Hunter Sykes’ documentary “The Hunter Legacy,” the adventure documentary “The Weight of Water” about blind athlete Erik Weihenmayer, and the German feature film “The Silent Revolution.”

The free movie night, which at one point just applied to the films at the Gaslight Theatre, has been expanded to the Animas Theater as well on March 4.

When he isn’t writing for DGO Magazine, Nick Gonzales also volunteers as a member of the staff of the Durango Independent Film Festival.

—— Nick Gonzales

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[weed]

SHOWTIMES GOOD FRI. 2/28THUR. 3/5

Awww yeah! It’s almost time for Cannabis Crawl 2020!

$9.50 SHOWTIMES BEFORE 4:00 *NO DISCOUNT PASSES

GIFT CARDS NOW AVAILABLE AT EVERY ALLEN THEATRES LOCATION & ONLINE!

Get all the details on the sticky annual crawl here

COMING TO SELECT THEATRES FRI. 3/6:

ONWARD

*CALL OF THE WILD (PG) (1:30) 4:00 6:30 9:00 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (PG) (1:15) 3:45 6:20 8:45 It’s the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year ­— for potheads and weed fanatics, anyway. (Don’t worry. We’re right there with you. We love the sticky icky, too.)

If you’re wondering what we’re singing about, we’ll put you out of your misery and just tell you: It’s almost time for Cannabis Crawl 2020! That’s right; the day-long crawl from dispensary to dispensary that’s filled with all those sweet ass deals — cheap vapes, discounted flower, and giveaways, among a ton of other stuff — is creeping right up on us again.

If you’re new to the crawl, please allow us to give you a quick overview of what it is. The Cannabis Crawl is an annual event that DGO Mag throws where you “crawl” from dispensary to dispensary for deals, demonstrations, and a ton of other interesting events.

You’ll get your map stamped at each dispensary and then you can enter it in the drawing to win a sweet ass prize at the afterparty. But even if you don’t win, you’re still a winner because, well, cheap weed and other awesome deals.

Oh, and did we mention swag? That’s right. If you come hang out with us at the Crawl, we’ve been known to give away some awesome swag, including Cannabis Crawl bags stuffed full o’ stuff, just for participating.

Sound fun? Of course it does. If you want to join, here are the details: The Cannabis Crawl 2020 will be held on Saturday, April 4 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the afterparty will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The event is free of charge — as it always is — and you can expect a ton of deals, goodies, educational events, and

giveaways to happen as you crawl from dispensary to dispensary. You have to be 21 and up to participate, and you’ll need to show ID at each dispensary, so don’t forget to throw that in yo’ bag before you leave home.

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FOR MOVIE INFO, TRAILERS, SHOWTIMES & MORE VISIT US AT www.allentheatresinc.com

We’ll be bringing you a ton more info over the next couple of issues on dispensary deals, afterparty deets, and more, but before we close this here story on the Cannabis Crawl, we do want to throw in one more crucial bit of info about this year’s event. Last year we gave away some sweet tickets to 420 Eve on the rocks featuring 311, Method Man and Red Man.

D O M I N AT E DIGITAL

This year’s giveaway is going to be another set of four tickets, but it ain’t to M-E-T-H-O-D MAN. It’s to ...

Drum roll please ...

The Dead & Co. IN BOULDER. Yeah, you’re welcome. We love you THAT MUCH. So, if you’re a Deadhead or a cannabis fanatic, or if you just want to have a metric eff ton of fun with us at the best event of the year, we suggest that you block off the weekend of April 4 to come hang with us.

Oh, and keep an eye on our Facebook page and website. We’ll be updating it with tons more info on the Crawl.

You don’t want to miss out on that biz.

Promise.

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*NO DISCOUNT PASSES

( ) MATINEES SAT-SUN ONLY

GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE ONLINE NOW!

OPENING FRI. 3/6:

ONWARD, THE WAY BACK

GASLIGHT THEATRE 102 East 5th St.

THE GENTLEMEN (R) 1:45 4:45 7:45 1917 (R) 1:30 4:30 7:30

DURANGO NINE 900 Translux Dr.

*THE INVISIBLE MAN (R) (11:45) 3:10 6:10 9:00 IMPRACTICAL JOKERS: THE MOVIE (PG13) (12:05) 2:20 4:45 7:10 9:25 *CALL OF THE WILD (PG) (11:30) 2:05 4:40 7:05 9:25 *BRAHMS: THE BOY 2 (PG13) (12:10) 2:15 4:30 6:45 9:05 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (PG) (11:40) 2:10 4:35 7:00 9:20 FANTASY ISLAND (PG13) (12:15) 3:15 6:20 8:55 BIRDS OF PREY (R) (11:50) 3:45 6:40 9:20 DOLITTLE (PG) (11:35) 2:00 4:25 6:50 9:15 JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL (PG13) (12:00) 3:00 6:05 9:00 A SAVVY MAGAZINE FOR A SAVVY CUSTOMER.

CARRY DGO IN YOUR BUSINESS

See you guys in April.

—— Angelica Leicht

SHOW TIMES GOOD 2/28 - 3/5

bcimedia.com 970.247.3504

Call 375-4570 or email info@dgomag.com

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thursday, February 27, 2020 | 7

[beer]

New Colorado program uses beer brewing to grow weed and prevent climate change One program, the Carbon Dioxide Here at DGO, we’re rather fond of Reuse Pilot Project, captures carbon both beer and weed. And now, the dioxide produced two recreational intoxicants are We hope both pilot programs by the brewing process and releasworking together work out and are able to be es it in cannabis to save the Earth, rolled out across the beer greenhouses. If something else and cannabis industries, you remember to which we’ve back to elementahelping sustain the only plangrown rather et we know of that produces ry school, plants attached. (such as cannabis) either.

Late last use carbon dioxide, month, Colorado water, and light to Gov. Jared Polis photosynthesize, unveiled two pilot programs designed creating glucose and breathable oxto reduce emissions that contribute to ygen as a byproduct – a much better climate change, the Denver Business use for the CO2 than letting it escape Journal reported. into the atmosphere, where it will only help hasten our eventual demise.

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The Alternative Resource

S H A RO N H E R M ES

970-375-4511 Sharon@durangoherald.com

A B BY F E L D M A N

970-375-4599 afeldman@bcimedia.com

The two companies involved in the pilot project are Denver Beer Co., the 7th-largest craft brewery in the state, and The Clinic, a Denver-based cannabis company. The project is being overseen by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and it is using technology developed by Earthly Labs in Austin, Texas.

The other program is called the Colorado Cultivators Energy Management Program and involves electric cooperatives and municipal utilities providing cannabis growers with no-cost technical energy use assessments, so they can better understand what parts of the cannabis-cultivation business drive energy usage.

That latter program is equally good, but nowhere near as interesting – on a basic level – as the first one. Nonetheless, we hope both pilot programs work out and are able to be rolled out across the beer and cannabis industries, helping sustain the only planet we know of that produces either.

—— Nick Gonzales

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[travel]

GET OUTTA TOWN:

Iosepa, Utah’s Hawaiian oasis that failed »» Ghost town was once the home of dozens

of Polynesian Mormons

Courtesy of Ikeosaurus/Wikimedia Commons

»» The town of iosepa, Utah – a colony for Mormon hawaiians – was abandoned by 1917, but is still the site of a luau every memorial day weekend.

Courtesy of Ikeosaurus/Wikimedia Commons

»» All that remains of Iosepa are the foundations to a few houses, fire hydrants, and the cemetary.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is currently one of the most active practitioners of missionary work, and things weren’t much different in the second half of the 19th century. One area where the church found success in converting people back then was Polynesia – to the point where, by 1889, about 75 Native Hawaiians had immigrated to Salt Lake City to join the main body of the church.

Unfortunately for them, it was still the 19th century, and the area they had come to – if not the whole country – was wildly racist. The Hawaiians were prohibited from staying at white-owned hotels or eating at whiteowned restaurants. Seeing that the situation was untenable, the church stepped in and set out to set up a new place for the Polynesians to live.

Most of the land in the immediate

vicinity of Salt Lake City had been claimed by that point, so a team of three Hawaiians and three missionaries were given the task of finding another location for the enclave. The landed on an 1,920-acre site about 75 miles southwest of the city. The named the town “Iosepa,” after the Hawaiian form of the name “Joseph,” in honor of Joseph F. Smith, the nephew of the founder of the church and one of the first Mormon missionaries to Hawaii. The first 46 settlers arrived on August 28, 1889.

Despite the obvious differences between Utah and their homeland, the residents of Iosepa put their hearts into colonizing the area, buying a sawmill and building a church, a school, a store, and homes. They constructed a small reservoir and an irrigation system to water their fields, lawns, and flowerbeds – the town became known for the yellow roses that lined its streets and won a prize for the “best kept and most progressive city in the state of Utah” in 1911. In addition to raising pigs, carp, and trout, the Io-

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[travel]

Peachypeaks talks the naked truth about nudist mountaineering in Colorado

»» Baring it all on fourteeners on Instagram has amassed this user a steep following It’s a difficult metric to measure, but when it comes to butts, Peachypeaks probably has one of the most famous rears in Colorado. She’s also a serious mountaineer.

The Denver-based woman’s main Instagram account (@peachypeaks, naturally) features, at the time of this publication, around 250 photos almost entirely of her backside – usually parked on top of a mountain or with some other scenic vista in the background. And over 131,000 people are following it, some fans going so far as to send her paintings or illustrations recreating her posterior-based portraits. Occasionally her friends, partner, and dog join her. (To preserve her anonymity, she never reveals her face or her name, which is why we’re referring to her by her social media handle.)

The derrière depictions started as means of lightening the mood during outdoor adventures.

“I was doing a lot of hikes and stuff outside and sometimes kind of dangerous climbs, and it kind of started more to bring levity to situations,” Peachypeaks said. “It started out with my partner, who was like, ‘Yeah, just, you know, pull your pants down and we’ll take a butt photo,’ and then it kind of became more of a lifestyle over time.”

The turn toward nudism was not without precedent, though.

“I’ve always been really comfortable with nudity,” she said. “I was a swimmer and I don’t know if that made me comfortable, but I’ve always been kind of

Courtesy of Peachypeaks Courtesy of Peachypeaks

»» Peachypeaks poses near Lake City.

»» Peachypeaks poses atop a mountain in the Crestones in the Sangre De Cristo range. She has scaled 48 of Colorado’s 58 fourteeners.

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Courtesy of Peachypeaks

»» Peachypeaks looks down upon Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins. The nudist’s Courtesy of Peachypeaks

»» Peachy peaks pauses along the descent from Sunshine Peak and Redcloud Peak, northeast of Silverton.

like a little bit of a wild child. It was only a few years ago that I really was like, ‘Oh, this is like something fun that I really want to be part of my life and normal.’”

The process she goes through to get the ‘Gram often doesn’t involve being naked throughout.

“Most of the time, I’m not able to

dedication to being naked in nature takes her outside in all seasons.

hike the full hike nude because most of the time I’m in places where there are people. There’s certain times when I’m in National Forest land where it’s protected – you can actually be nude – but most of the time, I’m not a place where nudity is acceptable,” she said.

That said, Peachypeaks occasionally finds areas where she can hike naked for long periods of time ... including in our own backyard. While hiking the 17mile Purgatory Creek Approach to the

Chicago Basin, she only saw a handful of people over the four days she spent in the area, and was able to stay nude for miles at a time.

Why does she do it?

“I’m not a very spiritual person,” she said. “But I guess that’s where I feel like I’m most spiritual, in a sense – when I’m naked nature. You get to know your body more and also just

14

Mar

27 HEAD FOR THE HILLS

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FOOD, FILM, ZOMBIES, &

BABY YODA

»» What to expect at Albuquerque’s Indigipop X festival

By Nick Gonzales DGO STAFF WRITER

W

hen the Indigenous Comic Con first launched in 2016, it followed a pretty standard model for a comic book convention.

Fans were able to gather and converse with artists, writers, illustrators, and other creatives.

There were panels and performances and places where vendors could sell their geeky wares. The difference, though, was that the convention centered around contemporary Native nerd culture. It was a hit, and around 1,100 people attended.

Over the next few years, the convention expanded, eventually spawning others like it in Denver and Melbourne, Australia.

Now, like a Pokemon, the Indigenous Comic Con has reached its next stage of evolution: Indigipop X, happening March 25 through 29 in Albuquerque. If the old event was the indigenous version of a comic con, the new one is the indigenous equivalent of South by Southwest.

Expanding the spotlight

Courtesy of A Tribe Called Geek

»» Johnnie Jae, founder of A Tribe Called Geek, says discussing the end of the world is a good way to sneak discussion of mental health into indigenous communities.

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After the first year of the Indigenous Comic Con, organizers began to add more eclectic events while still spotlighting Native representation. For instance, last year’s convention featured both a wrestling event and a fashion show. This year sees the return of the fashion show, the addition of a dance performance, and sections on indigenous futurism and food.

“It gives us a chance to welcome in more people and really Continued on Page 14

Courtesy of Kimberly Robertson

»» The Child, aka Baby Yoda, from the TV show The Mandalorian, is the subject of multiple panels and workshops at this years Indigipop X convention, including ones on beading the character.

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From Page 13

explore a number of other areas where Native and indigenous people aren’t quite represented in mainstream pop culture,” Lee Francis, whose company, Native Realities, produces the event, said.

When it comes to food, the organizers partnered with Three Sisters Kitchen, a non-profit community food space in Albuquerque, to host three nights of cooking by Native chefs, including Brian Yazzie, who cooks indigenous foods on his YouTube channel.

“They’re going to showcase what they’ve got, they’re going to tell stories.

We’re going to tape it, and we’re going to post it online,” Francis said. “Part of that is wanting to, again, not only showcase that there’s Native chefs that are doing really cool native chef stuff – because we know that there’s a ton of Native chefs that are out there, doing incredible cuisine locally, nationally, internationally – but that part of breaking through the pop culture is that we want to start building.”

While that part of the convention caters to attendees’ senses of taste and smell, most others work with sight and sound, including the festival’s film elements, which will showcase the work of indigenous youth, Francis said. It’s not all super-serious, though. Navajo comedy duo James & Ernie will also be doing their own Mystery Science Theater 3000-esque riff on a film.

“I guess it’s ‘Native Science Theater 1492,’” Francis said.

A gaming alley will feature games of both the tabletop and video varieties, and Twitch streamers The Baker Twins will also be on hand to talk about what they do.

Northern exposure One of Indigipop X’s biggest guests this year is Tahmoh Penikett, whose credits include Supernatural and Altered Carbon, but who is probably best known for playing Karl “Helo” Agathon on the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica.

Penikett belongs to the White River First Nation in Canada’s Yukon Territory and Alaska, and he credits his Dené heritage with pushing him towards his career as an actor and filmmaker.

He says he was surrounded by fantastic storytellers growing up, especially his grandmother, who was a wellknown matriarch, elder, teacher, and storyteller, and was celebrated at the Yukon International Storytelling Festi-

Courtesy photo

»» Actor Tahmoh Penikett, of Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, and Altered Carbon, will be attending this year’s Indigipop X festival.

Courtesy of Native Realities

»» Past Indigenous Comic Cons have drawn crowds of over 1,000 people. This year, founder Lee Francis expects closer to 2,000.

val in Whitehorse. That territory in the northwestern part of North America is so harsh and isolated that Penikett’s people didn’t have much contact with Europeans until as recently as 100 years ago. As a result, his grandmother spoke only broken English but could tell stories in the many other languages she knew.

“She always held the attention of the crowd in a captivating way. She was funny, she was focused, she was proud and strong – and growing up with people like that around, it definitely encouraged me to try and continue that tradition in whatever capacity I could,” he said. “Movies and film is something I’ve always been fascinated by as a small-town Northern boy, and I always imagined that I could be on the on the big screen one day.”

Penikett acknowledges that indigenous representation in the film and television industry is getting better, even if it’s far from where it should be, citing recent events such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and

Sciences giving Wes Studi an honorary Oscar last year.

“What I want to see and what I’m trying to do myself is just more indigenous made stories ... at all levels – indigenous storytellers, indigenous creators, indigenous filmmakers at every level,” he said.

Penikett’s mother, Lulla Sierra Johns, is a residential school survivor, and he is currently focusing is adapting a short story that she wrote about the experience into a feature length film.

He also has a few movies coming out in the near future, including “The Devil has a Name,” directed by and staring Edward James Olmos (aka Commander William Adama, BSG fans).

Indigenous Futurisms At past Indigenous Comic Cons, there has been only a panel or two devoted to indigenous futurism. This year, there are two days.

What is indigenous futurism? As Lee

Francis describes it, “It’s really about our past, present, and future existence – and when I say the future existence, it’s because within our philosophies, we’re not bound by time. Time is cyclical; time is repeating; time is, you know, it’s always omnipresent. We exist in all times.”

In practical terms, the indigenous futurisms section of the convention provides indigenous people an outlet in which to speculate about what their future will look like. On the dystopian side, Francis said, this can look like a world in which everybody is dead except for the Native folks, who have survived because they’ve been figuring out how to survive throughout their entire history. On the brighter, more classic science fiction side, this can also look like a world in which indigenous ingenuity has elevated everybody else by passing along secrets they’ve held onto.

Indigenous futurism isn’t just about race, though.

“A central component of settler colonialism has been has been the forced imposition of this hetero patriarchy on our communities, and part of enforcing that patriarchy means that Native women have been the targets of violence, and queer, two spirited, non-gender-conforming Native peoples are the target of violence as well – anything that defies or challenges hetero-patriarchal norms,” said Kimberly Robertson, a women’s, gender, and sexuality studies professor from California State University, who will be a guest at the convention.

“I think particularly for indige-

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Courtesy of Native Realities

»» Actor Jonathan Joss, of Parks & Rec and King of the Hill, will be attending this year’s Indigipop X convention alongside a number of other indigenous celebrities.

nous women and queer, non-binary, two-spirited indigenous folks, this is a very important space for us to re-empower and to sort of rewrite these narratives that erase us and exclude us. ... I think certainly when we’re imagining an indigenous future, we are imagining a future that outside of the hetero patriarchy,” Robertson said.

Not all the futuristic hypotheticals at Indigipop X are of a serious nature ... at least at surface level. One of the most popular discussions every year since the first Indigenous Comic Con has been “Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse,” led by Johnnie Jae, founder of A Tribe Called Geek, a website and podcast dedicated to acknowledging and advancing the visibility of indigenous contributions to pop culture and STEM fields.

“It kind of serves as a two for one special,” Jae says. “It allows us to talk about indigenous survival and resiliency through a medium that people are very familiar with, which is a zombie apocalypse. They see people’s entire lives being destroyed and then what they have to do to survive and come back from that, and the struggles that it presents. ... I also use it as a way to as a metaphor for mental health advocacy because in a lot of Native communities, they don’t want you to say words like suicide or depression or mention these things because they believe by speaking it, you speak it into existence.

And so it’s kind of a way for me to talk about survival, mental health advocacy

and communication.”

The Year of Baby Yoda Unless you’ve somehow avoided the internet entirely since mid-November, you’re likely aware how much of a sensation The Child, colloquially referred to as Baby Yoda, has become. The character from Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian has invaded social media, showing up in countless memes.

The Mandalorian, with its Western-like storytelling and thoughtful portrayal of indigenous groups within the Star Wars universe, has been a hit among real-life indigenous peoples.

But a number of Native American fans see their cultures reflected in the diminutive Force-user.

Robertson, a women’s, gender, and sexuality studies professor from California State University will be co-hosting (with Jenell Navarro) a couple workshops titled “For the Love of Baby Yoda: Native Bead Artists Making Kin with The Child,” in which participants will have the chance to create beadwork representations of the it. She is also putting together a zine collecting some of the ways in which indigenous artists and communities have embraced Baby Yoda.

“There’s already a longer history of Native folks sort of thinking through Star Wars as a place where we can express indigeneity. ... at the very basic level, I mean, it’s a story about resisting imperialism and colonialism,” she said. “In The Mandalorian, Baby Yoda is being hunted by multiple bounty

Courtesy of Native Realities

»» The Indigipop X festival, which grew out of the Indigenous Comic Cons, takes place March 25 to 29. The new version of the festival builds upon the previous conventions, adding fashion, music, food, and other topics.

hunters that are trying to capture him, kidnap him, exploit his knowledge, et cetera – and this is a very familiar story to Native people. Our children are very central to indigenous communities, but they have been targeted under colonialism, whether it was the boarding school era or whether it was the forced adoptions and the forced removal of indigenous children from their homes. ... We have a long history of children being targeted and forcibly removed from Native cultures in an effort to aid in the erasure and the genocide of native peoples.”

Jae will also be conducting a panel called “The Good, The Bad, and the Baby Yoda: Indigenous Representation within the Star Wars Universe,” adds that The Child’s plight mirrors current events.

“Even now in modern times, we’re still having to fight for the Indian Child Welfare Act, which is there to protect our children from being taken from our community,” she said. “So there’s

a lot of parts of his story that really resonate.”

Who can go?

One thing about Indigipop X and its predecessors that Lee Francis wants to note is that the convention is for everyone.

“A lot of people get this misconception that – because everybody’s really woke these days – whenever ‘indigenous’ comes in the front, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m allowed to attend,’” he said. “That’s not the point.

The point is to showcase native and indigenous creatives, so everyone is welcome to come on down and see all the cool stuff that we’re doing.”

Indigipop X takes place from March 25 through March 29 at several venues in downtown Albuquerque. The first two days are the Indigenous Futurisms days, while the second three reprise the Indigenous Comic Cons of previous years. For more information and for tickets, visit indigipopx.com.

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[weed]

Papaya Punch is a dangerous, delicious indica strain (and we highly recommend it) Well, you guys — I leveled up. This week I smoked some weed that caused me to write some of the most unintelligible notes I’ve ever seen. Stoner level complete, I guess.

I’m not kidding, by the way. These notes are an impressive mess of nonsense, but I clearly felt the need to jot them down as my mind delved into the cobwebbed spaces that are rarely accessed. What was the strain that made into a weird brainiac? Well, it’s called Papaya Punch, and it is a real beast.

And by that I mean it was really fun. Papaya Punch is an indica strain created by crossing Purple Punch F and Papaya F. The batch we smoked tested at 29.57% THC, which is an absurd amount for freaking flower. This stuff smells so good, but is so, so dangerous.

Well, only dangerous if you need to use your notes for a review, anyway. It’s hardly dangerous in the traditional sense. In fact, it’s a hell of a lot of fun, and the antics that led up to the nonsense notes are proof.

Here’s what happened. I picked up some of this Papaya Punch from Prohibition Herb, which currently has this strain on the floor for your smoking pleasure. I had Details planned on smoking it alone, but a friend of mine — you Where to find Papaya Punch: Prohibition Herb, 1185 Camino del Rio, prohibitionherb.com may recognize the name Blaze Ridcully from some of the reviews we’ve written — texted me in a mood be-

cause they were dumped (via text) and wanted to come visit. Being the friend that I am, I decided to wait until Blaze got into town to smoke this batch of weed. What better than to smoke out a friend who’d just gotten dumped? Weed heals everything, right?

Right. So, Blaze arrived at my house all ass hurt over the breakup and I whipped out the batch of Papaya Punch as a way to get them to stop whining. Blaze immediately stuck their nose in it, commented on how fruity it smelled, and then we lit up a bowl. One hit in we were both choking like crazy. Two hits in I was laughing like a hyena while coughing, and then laughing even harder as Blaze coughed up a lung, too.

This giggle weed then caused Blaze to start laughing, which was a lot nicer than hearing them whine about being dumped, to be honest. Thank the Papaya Punch gods for that! We spent what felt like an eternity laughing at nothing but the fact that we were coughing and then attempted to catch up.

As you may imagine, catching up went awry, because holy mother of god is this stuff strong. We were both high, high (yah both high) and were having a hard time conversing without taking 20 second pauses between words. Blaze attempted to tell me a story but nothing was coming

Continued on Page 18

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[weed]

Blue Dream: a bandaid for a crappy day This strain is a necessary item for your adult medicine cabinet “You need to calm down.”

If you hear that phrase often — and NOT because you’re friends with someone who won’t stop singing Taylor Swift songs (if you do have friends like that, well, RIP to your sanity) — then you’re probably in need of some Blue Dream, a strain we’re reviewing this week for the Green House Durango.

You may be familiar with Blue Dream, as it’s one of the most sought after strains around, and stoners whisper of it from the mountaintops due to its killer effects, which are known to chill people riiiiight the eff out after a bowl or two and lift up their spirits. This strain sits on the GOAT throne among a few of other West Coast marijuana legends for a number of reasons, not the least of which is related to the serene happiness it offers to those who imbibe on its blue nugs.

Given its popularity, you will not be surprised to hear that its hard as hell to find, but the Green House has it right now so you’re in luck.

We were also in luck, as we got to smoke it and bring this review to you, and let me tell you, it was not an underrated high. I picked up a gram of this thicc blue baby from the dispensary over the weekend, and I popped the lid off right away. Unsurprisingly, the nugs were blue-tinged (hence the name), chunky, and a bit frosty. It smelled like heaven, too, if heaven is made of slightly skunky blueberries (fingers crossed), so I was stoked to light this one up.

One bowl in and all of my troubles, of which there were many because I always wait until the last minute to write, melted away. I am not even kidding, y’all. I could seriously almost feel the self-prescribed drama from waiting til deadline to do my work slide off my body. My face relaxed, my body relaxed, and a smile was plastered across my face shortly after.

And because I have no chill, I lit up a second bowl just for fun. It only compounded on that zen feeling, and I was quickly at the point where I didn’t care about deadlines. My brain felt like it had lightened by a thousand tons. I zoned out, relaxed, and plopped myself in front of the TV to turn off even further.

Details

Where to find Blue Dream: The Green House, 730 S. Camino del Rio, thegreenhousecolorado.com/ It was a good idea, not gonna lie, because that combination led me down a path to enlightenment. Well, not enlightenment, but refreshment, I guess.

I’d been stressing the hell out about getting all of the things done that I’d put off, but Blue Dream let me turn my brain off enough that it recharged while I sat around and just let myself relax.

Once I’d sobered up, I felt recharged and ready to write.

The nice part about it, though, was that while I didn’t feel like writing while I was stoned, I definitely could have. Blue Dream gave me a moderate high, one that felt functional, but I opted out of that part and let myself hang out and be lazy instead.

And that’s precisely what Blue Dream is ... for me, anyway. Every time I smoke this strain it leads to a really chill but functional high, one that lets me opt into working or opt out ­— my call. It’s a great strain to pull out when work is pissing you off (not that I’m advocating for working while stoned unless you sit in front of a computer and write, mind you) or life is just getting too heavy. Kinda like a band-aid for a shitty day.

—— DGO Pufnstuf

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U S

F O R

From Page 9

out. I tried to be patient, but this weed made time go by so slowly that it felt like every word was dragged out to infinity and I stopped listening.

T H E

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their own seaweed (at 4,400 feet in elevation) and developed a flour and cornstarch substitute for poi.

Want to know what it was? OK, here goes. My notes say, verbatim:

mines to make a living – but the town

“What if we all have meters that log our time limits on earth, like a battery.

Some of us choose to live full throttle and achieve early. We end up wearing our battery down really young. Others live their lives in a small town and their battery lives can last longer but it’s glitchy.

population of 228 and had welcomed

What. In. The. Actual. Hell.

AWA R D S C E R E M O N Y & M A G A Z I N E U N V E I L I N G

speans experimented with growing

And that, my friends, is when my brain started to wander and I started to take notes. I knew I had to get the thoughts down quickly, because the high was seeping into my limbs and I knew it was only a matter of time before I couldn’t use them anymore.

So, as Blaze draaaaagggggged out each word, I wrote. I just knew what I had to say was so important — so deep — that it had to be jotted down.

Oh, and the people who end too early just slipped past quality control.

Their battery life malfunctions and the factory sends a replacement with a do-over.”

20 20 J O I N

From Page 16

A few years in, though, Iosepa started to get hit by one calamity after another. The town had deaths from diptheria, pneumonia, and smallpox, and in 1896, several residents contracted leprosy (a house was built on the edge of town to isolate the lepers).

After several crop failures, many of the men began working at nearby grew nevertheless. By 1915, it had a Maori, Portuguese, Samoan, Scottish, and English immigrants. The goal for most of them continued to be to eke out a living somewhere relatively close to center of the LDS Church.

In 1915, though, Smith – by then the president of the church – announced that a temple was to be constructed in La’ie, Hawaii. The church asked the denizens of Iosepa to remain where they were, but also offered to pay for passage back to Hawaii for anyone

I’m a little horrified, you guys. What in the actual shit was I talking about?

But I guess Blaze should be equally horrified, because when I lifted my head from my notes to see what they were doing, I caught them shoving Mott’s Fruit Snacks in their mouth and muttering about how good they were.

Again, I’ll take that over breakup whining any day.

who needed it. Most of the residents

So, if you’re looking for a strain that will kick your ass into next year and make you think your body has an invisible battery meter that clocks your time on earth, Papaya Punch is it. Or, if your friend won’t stop whining about heartache and whatever, you may also want to invest in this strain. It’s a baddie, this one, and it turned a night that could have been depressing into one weird, trippy ride.

scendants of the Iosepans, gather at

—— DGO Pufnstuf

took the church up on the offer and returned from whence they came. By 1917, the town was empty.

Today, only the foundations of the houses, the cemetery, and the fire hydrants of Iosepa remain. On Memorial Day weekend, however, hundreds of Polynesians, including some dethe site for an elaborate luau. Visitors are welcome and camping is encouraged. The governing body of the LDS Church has dedicated a monument of a Polynesian warrior at the cemetery and added a pavilion and restrooms for the yearly festival. The ghost town is located on Utah State Route 196, wets of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80.

—— Nick Gonzales

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[film]

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When the trailer for Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala’s “The Lodge” first dropped last year, my main takeaway was how spot on the casting of Riley Keough and Alicia Silverstone was. The two actresses could easily pass for relatives in a film – which is what I was hoping for in this feature.

While this turned out to not be the case with the new horror movie “The Lodge,” the casting of these two was definitely intentional and still fitting for the story. Neon Films has been somewhat gaining traction as a possible rival to A24’s own stellar rep for releasing quality independent films, and here we see the former almost challenge the latter.

The beginning of “The Lodge” feels like a knockoff of Ari Aster’s “Hereditary,” which was one of the best horror films of the past decade. There’s a traumatic death in the family, visual metaphors using a miniature dollhouse, a main character’s past association with a cult, and of course, an eerie and ominous music score. But by the mid-point, it starts to feel like its own thing.

Keough’s Grace is a lone survivor of a notorious religious cult from her childhood and becomes involved with recently divorced family man named Richard (Richard Armitage).

His kids, Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia (Lia McHugh) resent Grace for not being their mother, Laura (Silverstone). When Grace, Aiden, and Mia are stuck in the family’s lodge for an extended weekend, things begin to get strange and surreal.

Ironically, the most interesting moments of “The Lodge” are in the first half, when it’s toggling between inspiration and plagiarism of “Hereditary.” I think Franz & Fiala could have had a lot of potential here, especially with their previous horror film, “Goodnight Mommy,” being a hit with critics. Unfortunately, what should be an effective slow burn in “The Lodge” runs out of steam by the third act. There’s a plot twist that is revealed like an afterthought with hardly any effect, and by the end, the characters aren’t likable enough for us to care about the outcome.

The cast, especially Keough and Martell, are impressive throughout the feature, and the atmosphere is creepy, though a bit redundant.

But plot-wise, there are better films already out there with similar themes you can already enjoy.

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Thursday, March 12th, from 12pm to 3pm at La Plata County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall CONNECTING EMPLOYERS WITH EMPLOYEES

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More information at FourCornersExpos.com/durango-regional-job-fair 20 | Thursday, February 27, 2020 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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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.

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[love and sex]

There is space in our culture for sexual downtime We just have to acknowledge and accept it How can someone be a sexual being without engaging in sex? In my recent work to debunk myths about heterosexual, cisgender men and their relationship to sex, one of the larger perpetuated myths is that men are “always” sex ready and here’s a pill if that’s not working.

My response was nope. Nope. Nope! A man’s worth is not defined by their sexual prowess and there should be space in our culture for sexual downtime.

• Survivor of abuse and/or rape The purpose of this list is to create understanding of what may be any number of reasons why a person identifies one way or another. This doesn’t mean this list is complete or comprehensive and it is a place to start for awareness. It is much harder to judge someone’s identity or choice for celibacy when you learn they might have a reason. Reminder: Folks who identify as asexual or who folks who choose to be celibate DO NOT need a reason or excuse.

This led me to asexuality and celibacy. An exploration of living with limited sexual activity or without any sexual activity at all. Yes, both of these concepts are victim to negative views and derision. This, of course, is the space I like to spend time in because shining a light with knowledge is the best tool to combat negativity!

Much of our culture is driven by sex.

Sexy images. Penetrative sex. Phallic dominance. Be beautiful to have sex with other beautiful people. Take a pill to stay sexually active — this only applies to penis owners, I’m afraid. It is easy to see where the derision for a person identifying as asexual or choosing to be celibate is fostered.

Sexual desire is not a static state of being and for many folks it ebbs and flows throughout their lives. Some folks engage in a robust sexual life for years but before that they were celibate. Some folks identify as asexual after years of being in a sexual relationship. The point here is that there is no right or wrong way to be a sexual being and you alone know what works best for you.

Time for definitions Asexuality is never, occasionally, or only with a specific person engaging in sexual behaviors. Asexuality is a continuum of behaviors much like other sexualities and the individual gets to determine where they land on that continuum. We are seeing more acceptance for asexuality because current generations don’t really give a fuck about other people’s sex lives. Celibacy is a conscious choice that a person makes to not engage in sexual activity in any way. Very often celibacy is rooted in a religious choice, however, there are many people who choose celibacy for non-religious reasons. Celibacy can be any length of time, decided by the individual and the choice to re-engage in sexual behavior may occur at any point during the committed time of celibacy.

Making a change

Gentle07/Pixabay

It is not as if asexuality is brand new because millennials believe in it. We just had different names for it: Prude.

Frigid.

Goody-goody.

Old maid.

Prig.

Spinster.

Recluse.

Impotent.

(Please recognize that these names are derogatory and include a gender bias towards women again excluding men and certainly not inclusive of non-binary folks. Yes, I would like derogatory terms to be gender neutral.)

And celibacy, we know, has been practiced within religious communities for centuries with a much more positive outlook and supportive environment.

It is only recently when non-religious persons choose celibacy that we see a mocking or disrespect for the practice.

There is so much emphasis placed on being a sexual being with so few safe spaces to talk about sex that it is not surprising people self-label and huddle together in their sameness. I’m not advocating that you stand on a street corner with a sign around your neck declaring your sexual preferences. Instead I want us to stop judging other people. When someone says that they are asexual and romantically attracted to trans womxn or they are practicing celibacy for the next year, the only respectful answer is

- “Thank you for sharing with me.” If you don’t have any clue what they are talking about, LEARN. Do your own research.

Read some books. Find resources (I’m waving my hand in the air and shouting, “I’m a resource!”) and get answers to your questions. Learning is a beautiful gift to give yourself. So often we put the onus on groups that we are not a part of, to teach us. This is lazy and rude.

What happens to the body if it is not engaging in sexual behaviors? Well, I can tell you that the genitals do not atrophied and the body doesn’t become broken or unable to achieve orgasm. So the saying, “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” is bullshit.

How do you tell current lovers that you are asexual or wanting to be celibate? Be honest and come prepared to answer questions. In this instance you are changing a current sexual state that directly affects your lovers and it is appropriate for you to be able to clarify with them what asexuality is or your choice for celibacy. This does not have to be the end of relationships. All people involved will have to communicate regularly about their needs and how they will be met. Asexuality does not mean that someone is no longer romantically attracted or connected to others. Also, asexuality is a continuum and for some, asexuality isn’t the complete cessation of sexual behavior. In that same vein, celibacy may be chosen for any amount of time, thirty days to thirty years. It is these nuances that lovers work out through communication.

I do encourage folks to keep in mind that sexual and romantic relationships do There does not need to be a reason not have to live in a narrow box dictator excuse for someone’s asexuality or ed by a cultural norm -- two people in a choice to be celibate, and there are reamonogamous relationship until they die. sons why someone may change how they Instead relationships can be anything we identify or make a choice to be celibate: can imagine and more. It takes consent, • Illness acceptance, respect, communication, • Loss of a loved one honesty, and continued work to foster a relationship outside the cultural norm.

• You learn about asexuality and it clicks for you Don’t miss my free workshop, Con• Financial stress • Depression • Because you want to • Physical trauma • You learn about celibacy and it is something you want to try • Safety • Emotional trauma • Homelessness • Self-exploration

sent: A tool for pleasure, on Tuesday, April 7th at the Durango Public Library from 6:30-8pm.

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

Try to take everything in stride these next couple of weeks, because it’s easy to become obsessed about something.

Guard against compulsive behavior. (You know who you are.)

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Something going on behind the scenes will really grip you during this time. Because of this, you are truly distracted and cannot focus on what is really important. Relax.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) These next two weeks you are focused on a friend or a member of a group. You might suddenly develop a crush on this person or feel obsessed with them for some reason.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) You have a choice. You can use your influence or the influence of someone close to

you to help others. Or you can use this same very passionate. influence to manipulate someone. Take the SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) high road.

An encounter with a work colleague is inLEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) tense during this time. In fact, a work-related romance might develop. AlternaAvoid heated arguments about politics tively, you might see a way to improve and religion during this time because your health. they will get out of hand. Logic will be out the window. Intense passion will rule SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) everything.

Romance is passionate and intense these next few weeks. You might develop a crush VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) on someone — even a stranger. Sports You might be jealous about the wealth of events also will stir up strong feelings! someone else because they have something that you covet. This is a waste of an CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) emotion because, let’s face it, there’s no You have very definite ideas about end to better. improvements that you want to make at LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) Relations are passionate these next couple of weeks, no question. Not only are personal relationships intense, you also might attract someone to you who is

From Page 11

become comfortable with the way it is. I think our society puts people in a box ... but being comfortable in your own body is a huge way to get past that.”

Speaking of comfort, Peachypeaks doesn’t limit herself to certain seasons – many of her photos feature her baring it all on snowy landscapes in the dead of winter.

To a certain extent, this is part of her learning to be comfortable outside. She’s read “What Doesn’t Kill Us” by Scott Carney, in which a journalist uses Dutch athlete Wim Hof’s methods for enduring extreme cold to test the endurance of his body, and keeps up on developments in the science of resisting cold. But a lot of those chilly cheek-showing shots are just being momentarily silly.

She mostly saves the extended nudity for the summer.

For anyone who is interested in experimenting with nude mountaineering, she recommends first learning how to be a good and safe person outdoors – being respectful of nature and knowing what the Ten Essentials are.

As for the nudity: “It’s pretty simple,” she said. “ You just kind of take your clothes off.”

There’s also a degree of social awareness that a nude mountaineer must master, though, and Peachypeaks suggests

want and you intend to get it. Furthermore, you’re ready to ask for it.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) If shopping these next couple of weeks, you might feel compelled to buy something. “I have to have it!” This is not the best frame of mind to buy anything. Be smart and save your receipts and the box.

BORN DURING THESE TWO WEEKS

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18)

You are sensitive to the feelings of those around you and very sympathetic. Because this is a year of teaching and learning, you will learn something that sets you in a new direction, which could be crucial to your success next year. Why not explore meditation, yoga or any discipline that will help you get a better understanding of who you are?

Explore something new.

You will express yourself very clearly at this point because you know what you

(c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.

home. If others are wise, they will let you have your way.

Bizarro

ARIES (March 21 to April 19)

perhaps heading to a few naturist places to do so, where there are boundaries and norms to follow when it comes to being naked, but where one also has the option of keeping their clothes on. One of her favorite places to disrobe is Valley View Hot Springs, near Moffat. She is partial to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, though she said her favorite range is the San Juans.

Peachypeaks’ current goals include ice climbing in Ouray and completing all of Colorado’s fourteeners. After doing 48, she only has 10 left (two in the San Juans – she’s saving Uncompahgre Peak for last).

So far her favorite has been Pyramid Peak, near Aspen, and the picturesque Maroon Bells.

—— Nick Gonzales

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