Santa Fe Reporter, June 21, 2023

OPINION 5 NEWS

7 DAYS, CLAYTOONZ AND THIS MODERN WORLD 6

DISTRESS SIGNAL 8

Public safety communications radio and dispatch systems due for upgrade

HIGH-NEEDS HELP 10

SFPS board to consider $1.5 million contract for special ed headquartered at Aspen Community School

COVER STORY 12

PRIDE

This year’s bunch o’ queers celebrate trans porn, light candles for Kenneth Anger, embrace the enbyness of it all and much more

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU

The journalists at the Santa Fe Reporter strive to help our community stay connected. We publish this free print edition and daily web updates. Can you help support our journalism mission? Learn more at sfreporter.com/friends

Instagram: @sfreporter

SFR PICKS 19

We come bearing leather boots, warrior princesses and (drumroll please) tits. What? It’s Pride!

THE CALENDAR 20

3 QUESTIONS 24

With historian Timothy E. Nelson

FOOD 33

CAFÉ FINA, YOU SO FINE

Those ricotta pancakes really did blow our minds

A&C 35

FIVE NEW THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT VLADEM CONTEMPORARY

SFR puts on hard hats and peeks inside the almost(ish) finished museum

MOVIES 36

ELEMENTAL REVIEW

Stop this high concept animation train, Pixar—we’re ready to get off

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

JULIE ANN GRIMM

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

ROBYN DESJARDINS

ART DIRECTOR

ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

CULTURE EDITOR

ALEX DE VORE

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

JULIA GOLDBERG

STAFF WRITER

ANDY LYMAN

CALENDAR EDITOR

SIENA SOFIA BERGT

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

MOIRA CHARNOT

JACKS MCNAMARA

KENZI HALE

MICHAEL J WILSON

STEPHANIE SCOTTIE THOMPSON

EDITORIAL INTERN

NOAH HALE

DIGITAL SERVICES MANAGER

BRIANNA KIRKLAND

CIRCULATION MANAGER

ANDY BRAMBLE OWNERSHIP

CITY OF ROSES NEWSPAPER CO.

PRINTER

THE NEW MEXICAN

EDITORIAL DEPT: editor@sfreporter.com

CULTURE EVENTS: calendar@sfreporter.com

DISPLAY ADVERTISING: advertising@sfreporter.com

CLASSIFIEDS: advertising@sfreporter.com

Cover Illustration by Shelby Criswell shelbycriswell.com

Mail letters to PO Box 4910, Santa Fe, NM 87502; or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

COVER, JUNE 14: “UNSCRIPTED”

MARTIN

COMPLEX

Siena Sofia Bergt cites George R.R. Martin as an example of “the complexity of the situation,” saying he is an advocate of the strike “yet, not all productions of his work have ceased in solidarity.” Well into the next paragraph, the reader learns that certain productions are, in fact, able to move forward without violating WGA strike provisions—those with “locked scripts.” Is this the case with Martin’s project-in-progress? Without clarifying that point, this reader was left wondering if the implied slight to Martin in that paragraph was merited or inadvertent.

KATHLEEN DEXTER

SANTA FE

Editor’s note: The story explained that while productions of locked scripts may continue without violating contracts, they do so without on-set writers.

FILM AND FORTUNE

Thank you for bringing much-needed clarity to this complex bundle of issues; some

of us were slapping our foreheads when former Gov. Susana Martinez came in like the sorcerer’s apprentice to wreak havoc on what the Richardson administration had achieved—a pretty obviously positive and expanding cultural and economic sector in our state. Fortunately Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham picked up the wand of damage control, and it’s encouraging to read that the Above The Line and Below The Line unions are on the same page. People working in film are arts and culture workers without whose sweat and creativity our world would be a desolate place.

TAMARA LICHTENSTEIN VIA FACEBOOK

FORKETTE OVER

I miss the Knoife, the Spork and La Forkette. They didn’t have to fall back on four letter words to be emphatic or make column inches. Your sign-off implies you’re old, but you sound 12. BTW, “Forkette” is feminine, albeit made-up, therefore it uses La not Le. French words are gendered. Isn’t it time for another break, Fork?

JEANNE M. CUNNINGHAM SANTA FE

SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake: editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.

SANTA FE EAVESDROPPER

—Overheard from a man leaning out the window of an enormous RV on Paseo De Peralta to a person on the sidewalk

THE FORK, JUNE 8: “WE’RE BACK, BABY!”

“Can you tell me where to park?”

“Take this street here and keep going straight until you come to Texas.”

SANTA FE PRIDE HITS ITS 30TH YEAR

And it doesn’t look a day over 25.

CAR THEFTS ON THE RISE IN SANTA FE

We’d say we could all ride bikes, but those are getting stolen on the regular, too.

SOUTHEAST HEAT WAVE COULD HEAD THIS WAY

“But it’s a dry heat,” says that friend you hate.

WGA STRIKE CONTINUES

Thank goodness there was a Reservation Dogs season in the can.

SLOWED TRAFFIC EXPECTED DURING JUNE I-25 PROJECT

Honestly, we thought highway construction was just an allyear-round thing.

NEW MEXICANS SHOULD RECEIVE $500 TAX REBATE CHECKS SOON

Don’t just update your social media avatar with a rainbow,

STATE RELAUNCHES

TRADITION” LOGO

If a good logo doesn’t cheer you up, what will?

MUSIC IN MOTION

Catch the music video world premiere of Santa Fe musician Velvet Vision’s “Party at Sal’s.”

Get Your Athlete Ready for the Sports Season

At CHRISTUS St. Vincent, our expert providers will make sure your athletes are fit and ready to play throughout the season and all year long.

Call (505) 913-DOCS (3627) to schedule your sports physical at one of our five conveniently located primary care locations today.

Adult & Famlily Care 465 St. Michaels Drive, Suite 230 Santa Fe, NM 87505

Arroyo Chamiso Pediatrics 465 St. Michaels Drive, Suite 200 Santa Fe, NM 87505

Family Medicine Center 2025 Galisteo Street Santa Fe, NM 87505

Entrada Contenta Family Practice 5501 Herrera Drive Santa Fe, NM 87507

Pojoaque Primary Care 5 Petroglyph Circle Santa Fe, NM 87506

Santa Fe Reporter - 4.85” x 5.23”

Distress Signal

BY ANDY LYMAN andylyman@sfreporter.com

For more than a year, city department heads have complained behind the scenes about unreliable technology police officers and firefighters rely upon.

Those include radios linked by signals transmitted via equipment at the Regional Emergency Communications Center that enable them to communicate with each other, and Computer Aided Dispatch software that connects dispatchers with first responders.

Both have proven faulty.

Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye tells SFR his radio sometimes stops working, even right outside his office at police headquarters, “for no reason.”

“You’ll get the out-of-range tone, and then the radio will actually display that I’m out of range. But I haven’t moved,” Joye says. “I’m sitting in my car, in the parking lot of the station.”

Crashes to the CAD system mean officers lack a more complete picture of what they’re headed into when responding to emergencies. For example, the system tracks officer locations in real time and helps relay messages from officers to callers.

“These things are really closely related, and it’s important that both are functioning appropriately,” Joye says.

Both systems failed simultaneously last June while crews were fighting a large fire at a townhome near Jaguar Drive, City Fire Chief Brian Moya says.

“At that fire, we had no communications at all,” Moya tells SFR. “So, we were literally screaming at each other and using cell phones…That just can’t happen.”

City Information Technology and Telecommunications Director Manuel Gonzales tells SFR he has repeatedly warned county officials since the fall of 2021 about such a scenario.

“It was something I’ve been saying, ‘Guys, we’re going to get to a place where the radios aren’t working and CAD goes down,’” he says, calling fire last June “a perfect storm” that brought that warning to pass.

The fix has not taken place because of a complicated relationship between the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. City

Public safety communications radio and dispatch systems due for upgrade

officials say they want to tie into the state’s emergency radio network, but that will require a technology upgrade first at the RECC. The CAD system storage capacity also needs improvement.

Santa Fe County operates the RECC under a joint powers agreement with the City of Santa Fe and Town of Edgewood. RECC Director Roberto Lujan is a county employee and the county must provide for day-to-day operations including staff, while costs for capital projects such the system updates are divided among the three governments. A board composed of city, county and town staff, plus the coun ty sheriff and an at-large member, pro vides oversight and guidance.

City Manager John Blair, who sits on the board, says it’s been difficult to get the

to a system overloaded with data. Four months later, in February, the city forked over $82,094 toward the storage project and $64,210 toward the radio project. Edgewood also contributed its part for both projects. Yet, those improvements have not yet been made.

County leaders now expect both the CAD and radio project to be completed this summer.

“That’s about a four month period, give or take. I think that’s a reasonable amount of time from when we received it to having a system this complex to be fully utilized,” he says.

The county has also recently contracted with Motorola to switch over to the state’s radio system, with the work targeted for August.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, an independently elected official who relies on the county for budget approval, tells SFR his department has experienced the same problems the city reports. He says he is confident the county will get things straightened out. “Unfortunately, things don’t happen as fast or as smoothly

Blair says the county initially planned that the radio upgrade wouldn’t happen until mid-September, which he points out would have come after the biggest annual pressure on public safety each year: the Sept. 1 Burning of Zozobra at Fort Marcy.

“When we get an email saying, ‘Hey, it looks like we’re going to do the switchover on the system sometime between Sept. 5 to the 15th,’ that doesn’t work,” Blair says.

According to Blair, the RECC board agreed at its June 15 meeting to update the radio system before Zozobra.

As for last year’s Zozobra, Gonzales says his department borrowed about 120 radios from the state, and that firefighters and police officers have all been supplied with cell phones with a push-to-talk function as redundancy, should radio signals fail.

Officers can also use their “line of sight” radios to communicate with each other for backup, says Joye, but that’s not a permanent solution.

county to act on important chang es. Blair tells SFR when he took his current position in January 2022, Gonzales demanded the two discuss the communication weak point. Since that time, Blair says he’s been urging county leaders to address CAD outages and make the radio technology update.

The RECC board agreed last September to upgrade the CAD sys tem because of frequent crashes. At the time, Lujan attributed the failures

“We try to account for, and compensate for, the event that radios go down,” he says. “But I can say luck is not a strategy and we’ve been very lucky so far that we’ve been able to avoid se-

ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

Lu ck is not a strategy and we’ve been very lucky so far that we’ve been able to avoid serious issues.

-Paul Joye, Santa Fe Police Chief

DON’T HAVE TO LIVE WITH JOINT PAIN.

Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center provides orthopedic services, including open and arthroscopic treatments, total joint replacement for hip, knee and shoulder, and robotic surgery for knee and anterior hip replacement. We offer treatment for:

• Arthritis of knee, hip, and shoulder

• Carpal tunnel and trigger finger

• Foot and ankle conditions

• Fractures and broken bones

• Joint and sports injuries, including dislocations

• Wrist, forearm, and elbow conditions

Call 505-SantaFe (726-8233) for an appointment.

Santa Fe Medical Center 4801 Beckner Rd. phs.org/santafe

We welcome new patients.

Accepting most major insurance plans, including Presbyterian Health Plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, TRICARE and Aetna. Please consult with your health plan.

High-Needs Help

specific fields. That’s what led me to look at the SESI contract.”

The new program would take place at the Aspen Community School because of the building’s vast space, central location in the city and its recent renovations.

“It’s a phenomenal facility, and it’s very under-utilized, because at one point this year, it only had about 320 students,” Pinkerton says. “It has about 370-380 right now, including the programs that are there.”

Pinkerton says he expects the program to work well for students with behavioral issues because the company focuses on providing a pathway for students to return to general education classrooms. SESI’s program, he says, gives students more support than the average classroom does.

Plans call for four classrooms with a maximum capacity of eight students per classroom—32 in the entire program. Currently, SFPS has about 16 students who would qualify for the program in August, if the school board approves the contract. In a classroom of eight students, three adults would be in the room at all times.

board taking Sierra employee ratings into consideration?…Who is liable for students, Santa Fe Public Schools or Sierra?”

The case Anaya referenced at the meeting stems from a 2010 incident in which a Connecticut mother alleged her special-needs child was physically restrained by an SESI employee, resulting in the child being knocked unconscious from a blow to the right side of his head and having part of his ear torn off. The mother filed a lawsuit in 2013, and the case was ongoing as of 2015, but the final judgment in the case is not available to the public.

Pinkerton tells SFR he discussed the matter with SESI, who told him the incident occurred because an employee had not followed policy and that the employee was dismissed for their actions.

“I felt like they were upfront and genuine about their response to me,” Pinkerton said. “They said, ‘Look, we try our very best, because that kills our reputation, anything like that.’”

BY MOIRA CHARNOT author@sfreporter.com

Santa Fe Public Schools has been making plans to contract services for high-needs students from Special Education Services, Inc., also known as Sierra Schools. The move comes partly in response to a unfilled staff positions combined with rising behavioral issues among students following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeff Pinkerton, the school district’s executive director of Exceptional Student Service, tells SFR the nearly $1.5 million contract up for discussion at the June 22 board meeting aims to address his concerns about “really providing quality education for students with these escalating behaviors.”

“We looked at several companies. It’s very difficult to find people in the Santa Fe area that want to work with behavioral children,” he says.

SFPS has posted job openings for four behavioral health positions needed at the district’s elementary schools for two years and had no luck. Meanwhile, the district faces what educators around the nation have reported as an added challenge for many students struggling to reacclimate to life in the classroom following the long period of remote learning.

“I’ve not had a single person apply, not one,” Pinkerton says. “I’ve tried to talk people into switching positions, and it’s such a difficult thing. What we’re finding is people now need to be more highly trained in those

Pinkerton says the contract will provide resources for students the school district would otherwise be unable to provide, such as social workers and additional behavioral specialists.

Some teachers, however, have raised questions regarding the proposal. Deborah Anaya, a teacher from Aspen Community Magnet School, approached the school board during its May 10 meeting.

“Staff were told Sierra classrooms would be taking over most of the second-floor, middle-school classroom areas. They were also informed Sierra would be bringing in all of their own staff and ancillary providers,” Anaya said, noting she conducted “minimal research” on the company that “shows terrible ratings from employees; at least one lawsuit has been successfully litigated against them for physical abuse of a student. Is the

Pinkerton said the SESI contract calls for three full weeks of training on New Mexico and SFPS guidelines before the school year starts. Despite his excitement for the potential program, he says he understands why some teachers have initial reservations.

“Sometimes change is difficult, especially for educators. They’re used to it only being one way,” Pinkerton says. “The research behind all of this, they’re not used to it. They’ve never seen it before. This is the first program like this in New Mexico…The whole goal is to help the little ones understand why they’re feeling frustrated or angry, or whatever their issues are. It’s to get kids to identify and self-regulate.”

The contract was scheduled to be presented for approval at the school board’s June 8 meeting, but the meeting was canceled. The proposed contract is on the consent agenda for the Thursday meeting that begins at 5:30 pm.

A new program would use four classrooms at the Aspen Community School.

LEAH CANTOR

SFPS board to consider $1.5 million contract for special ed headquartered at Aspen Community School

Each year, as we plan our annual Pride issue, we gather a number of queer writers in the community and ask them to write about what’s important to them in this moment. Then, we tap longtime SFR pal Shelby Criswell to illustrate the whole thing. Someplace between the joyful art and the stirring words from our siblings in the queer community, we always learn

a little something about love and compassion. This year, our writers ask that you think of the trans youth (opposite page), remember queer filmmaker Kenneth Anger (page 14) and understand why safe queer spaces are vital to a city’s identity (page 16). Plus, they consider gender and nonbinary labels (page 17) and the changing nature of porn (page 15). Read on!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY SHELBY CRISWELL

More Than Rainbows

BY JACKS M C NAMARA @jacksmcnamara

After the umpteenth state banned gender-affirming care for minors this spring, I bought a T-shirt that reads “Protect Trans Youth” in the colors of the trans flag.

I think it’s pretty awesome, but no one ever comments on it, almost like I’m invisible when I wear the thing. Last year, after Florida banned teaching or talking about LGBTQ+ folks in public schools, I bought another shirt that declares “Say Gay’’ in rainbow letters. People comment on that shirt enthusiastically every single time I walk out the door. I’ve been trying to figure out what the difference is here. Do people feel personally connected to gay rights but, like, trans issues are too fringe? Is “gay” fun and “trans” scary? Maybe they don’t think they know anyone trans? Maybe. Except even my queer friends don’t comment, and I’m like, “What the fuck, people! We need to be talking about what’s happening and pro tecting trans youth!”

Are you reading the news? Do you know what the Republicans are up to across this country? How many trans people are losing access to health care and public bathrooms, missing opportunities to play sports and lacking the respect to even just be called by their correct names at school? In Texas, trans youths are even being threat ened with the loss of their families as draconian new laws and initiatives in the works would make it possible for parents to be arrested and lose custody of their kids if they help them access gender-affirming care. It’s absolutely terrifying.

Meanwhile, I keep seeing this tweet from queer playwright Claire Willett that reads, “For pride month this year can people focus less on love is love and more on queer and trans people are in danger?” This. Right here.

I belong to numerous Facebook groups for trans folks across the country to sup port each other, and I see loads of people in states such as Florida and Missouri

Protecting trans community during Pride Month and beyond

posting about how they’ve decided to pause transitioning and go back in the closet until they can afford to move. As someone currently finding great joy in the experience of my own mid-life gender transition, it breaks my heart to imagine what they’re going through—folks full of dread about going backwards, asking how quickly their bodies will de-transition now that they don’t have access to hormones; folks already starting to feel the increased risk of depression and suicide that arises when people are denied the ability to live as their true selves. There are parents splitting up their families so their trans teens can live in a safer area, selling their homes and moving everyone to Oregon or Rhode Island or New Mexico where their kids can receive care. And those are the people with the resources to make it work; many, many more feel completely trapped with no way out.

Here in New Mexico, we’re so lucky

to be in a state where trans rights have been codified by our lawmakers. We’re so lucky people spent years organizing to gain those protections.

We’ve got amazing local organizations like the Transgender Resource Center in Albuquerque and the youth-driven New Mexico Genders and Sexualities Alliance Network based out of the Mountain Center here in Santa Fe. In the public schools, we have some awesome queer

and trans folks working in and with the Office of Student Wellness to support our youth. Last month, I attended the Queer Family Picnic in Albuquerque, put on by Heal+NM, surrounded by all kinds of gender weirdos with their cute kids—it was seriously heartwarming and made me feel so glad to live here.

Amazing things are happening in other states. too. Along with all the danger to trans folks comes trans joy, trans resilience and trans organizing. Recently I’ve been made aware of projects like the Trans Resistance Network, which is growing community defense, mutual-aid and alternative systems of care for gender diverse people. People can sign up to offer everything from safe places to stay and event security to care teams and legal support. In Iowa, Safe Learning for Trans Kids in Iowa has begun setting up an in-person learning space for trans, queer and other marginalized kids who are being targeted by new, extreme anti-LGBTQ+ laws to homeschool together. In Virginia, the Transgender Assistance Program is working to get trans folks housed and cared for, and nationally, for trans people in emotional distress, the Trevor Project’s Trans Lifeline offers a free hotline with counseling by and for trans folks. This is just a tiny sampling of all the trans brilliance and heart-forward organizing taking place across the country to save trans lives.

While trans folks are taking care of our own, we need broader support too. If you’re wondering how you can be part of protecting trans youth, start by being a supportive adult. Studies show that having a single supportive adult in their life reduces a trans youth’s risk of suicide by 40%. Believe people about their identities and their realities. Use their pronouns and chosen names. Witness and celebrate trans joy. Help trans folks access health care and education. Advocate for laws that protect trans people. Donate your money to youth-led organizations building visions of queer and trans justice and community, like the GSA Network, and to national organizations fighting discrimination, like the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Talk about trans issues with people in your life, including when it’s not comfortable. We all have a role to play in this fight.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Writer and artist Jacks McNamara explores queer issues, liberatory politics, magical creatures and other relevant topics.

If you’re wondering how you can be part of protecting trans youth, start by being a supportive adult.

Anger Rising

BY SIENA SOFIA BERGT @blue_prose

I’m going to tell you a secret. I first encountered Kenneth Anger via Lana Del Rey.

A “leaked” fan video (although I maintain nobody but Lana could have poured such devotion into the project) for her unreleased track “Live or Die” flashed the iconic image from Anger’s Scorpio Rising of a stunning boy in a Nazi cap, cigarette barely clinging to his lips, over the lyrics “Are you gonna be my soldier/are we gonna be Bonnie and Clyde”— and this closeted queer Jew was instantly obsessed. So much so that now, over a decade later and with the fanvid seemingly long gone from the web, it still loops in exquisite resolution on a mental magic lantern every time I hear that song. But I had no idea what it was from.

Years later, I flipped to a still from the same scene in a film textbook and it felt like a miracle. I finally had the name of my teenage Neonazi image’s satanic father. I’m not using that word (entirely) flippantly: Kenneth Anger got “Lucifer” tattooed across his chest in Old English font. He was a flagrant gossip, having authored Hollywood Babylon, the book that launched rumors of James Dean sexually serving as Marlon Brando’s human ashtray. He was a political provocateur and a longtime devotee of occultist Aleister Crowley. And he was the undisputed pro-

genitor of queer video art.

But in the time since Anger’s Fireworks first lit up the screen in 1948 with images of sadomas ochistic sailors and roman candle crotches, the idea of queer video art has developed the academic mustiness of something left too long at the back of an intellec tual closet. When work like this spends decades in modern art museums and out of the scummy, cum-stained back rooms where it was born, it loses something vital. That’s not to say it doesn’t deserve its deification, but I think Anger was more in his element in the Lana collage video than my film textbook. The sacred black magic of queer video is a two-pronged affair—and neither of those points are part of its cultural reputation.

For one thing, queer video in general—and Anger in particular—has nothing to do with the floral and unrequited romances filling this month’s Pride carousels with content. Queerness, instead, lives in the cuts. Anger flashes glimpses of bare self through collection and assembly of reflecting fragments. And there are few things more queer than constructing a whole from scattered shards. More importantly, Anger’s work is a reminder that queer video gets to feel good Rather than the cold, academic formalism of its loudest champions, it’s full of taboo thrills

and uneasy beauty and morbid fascination. In a time when queer rapture was criminalized, Anger was shameless in his hedonism and used a camera to invite us all to the sabbath. Lucifer—an angel of light.

When Anger died last month at the age of 96, I’m sure he wanted us to picture him grinning back up from a sulfur pit. Instead, his ghost reanimates inside every dream sequence and music video, every David Lynch death scene and obscure internet fanvid. And, of course, in every new work of queer video. His loss is profoundly felt. But his presence is even more so.

In Anger’s own necromantic spirit, I want to make an offering. Fresh cut pleasures from

my favorite queer videos in the Kennethinspired canon—all viewable through the online version of this story, should you choose to partake. Consider this the altar.

Start with 27:44-28:16 of Anger’s Scorpio when the past half-hour of frenetic build-up climaxes as the gorgeous smoker’s face dissolves into a green sea of death’s heads and motorcycle crashes. Ecstatic.

After that intensity, you’re begging for a little relief, aren’t you? Andy Warhol’s Blowjob 4:465:00 holds still and tight on another ravishing face as—according to legend—someone lives out the film’s title just below the frame.

Now lean back. Breathe. With our famous white boys sated, it’s time for 0:26-1:00 of Marlon Riggs’ Anthem to ring out. Let the beat hit with roses and velvet. Pervert the language. It’s sacred.

Next, cut to 0:17-1:02 of Michelle

Handelman’s BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes and Sadomasochism (excerpt) as bluelit knife play drips in a chain-covered orgy of death drive highs that would have Anger reaching for his doo-wop hits.

But we’re not such cruel masters as Anger was. 27:08-27:40 of the Gay Girls Riding Club’s What Really Happened to Baby Jane arrives to break your built up tension with belly laughs in the face of Oscar-baiting cliff plunges, before—

Jose Rodriguez Soltero’s Lupe (excerpt) steps out of the shadows at 5:45-6:35 to beckon you into the dance. Hands overtake you. The ritual is complete.

* * *

Light a candle for Kenneth Anger and repeat.

A spell to conjure queer video’s departed dark angel

Search Your Heart Out

BY KENZI HALE @TheKenziHale

“I’m straight but I’m so attracted to you,” is tonight’s opening salvo uncaringly fired from a man whom I will never meet in real life. “Can I see your cock?”

He sends me $100 to masturbate via webcam for him. The act lasts for 10 minutes and is ultimately punctuated by an interaction that reveals this man’s deep need to be assured he is heterosexual. Still, he informs me he’s fantasized about being intimate with a trans woman ever since he saw that one picture of openly trans porn performer Bailey Jay a decade ago.

Four years ago, I made the decision to step into the adult entertainment world. I spent a good 20 years being a musician, touring—the whole thing. But struggling in underground music gets to be tiring as you get deeper into your 30s, so my life pivoted. To porn!

Talking about the preconceptions of sex work can be boring, but let me make it clear: I fucking love my job; and I love my job fucking. I get to do the things I want to do with my life, and while it has never been an easy climb to relevance, working in this industry is something I genuinely see myself doing until the day I die.

Anyway, this isn’t about the pain of having to hear this man ramble about my dick. I know this man is not telling me he’s straight for me. It’s all a part of the per formance for him, whether he knows it or not. The lyrics might change a bit, but the song remains the same.

Or at least that’s how it used to feel. People just like this man still exist in my chatroom, but they’re growing quieter lately. Sadly, the voices making up the “I’m straight!” chorus while engaging with a trans sex worker aren’t being replaced by customers who say all the right things, but the words are certainly evolving; I’ve seen these men becoming more neutral about their predilections.

“But Kenzi!” you might be thinking, “who cares? Maybe this change in how people engage with you is simply because you’re super-hot and have been doing porn long enough to gain an audience!”

To those of you who are thinking that, I say thank you. I am super hot! But also you’re wrong—here’s some correlative data coming at you right now!

For those who don’t know, porn megasite Pornhub has a nice little category feature on the side of its homepage, much like your Facebook does, only wildly horny. So every time you click “MILF” or “Big Boobs,” on the left, your click is recorded and added to a running tally of what categories are popular each year.

According to a recent report from Pornhub pertaining to 2022, transgender was the seventh most-viewed category on the site in the world, up five places from the year before. Additionally, transgender was the third most-searched subcategory in the US, outranking such evergreen favorites as mature, amateur and hentai. Six years prior, Phub, as the cool kids call it, released a study about the rising

popularity of the trans category, finding that “worldwide, transgender-related terms...represent 1.97% of all searches on Pornhub, so that’s well over a million searches each day.”

In other words, dum-dum TERFs (or trans-exclusionary radical feminists) and ‘phobes can say what they want about not being attracted to trans folks, but the numbers don’t lie and the numbers say more and more people are finding out trans women are in fact, super-fuckable. Six years sure did shift a lot for us trans girls, eh?

Perhaps the best part? The trend doesn’t just take place on the porn consumer side of the street. Well-known and respected content creators such as Summer Hart simply list cis/trans scenes as “lesbian” now. And while this might seem like a small or confusing step to those outside the adult content industry— or even just folks who aren’t trans—small changes in verbiage represent a growing shift inside the adult world that acknowledges trans women as—get this—women; you know, the thing we’ve been asking for this whole time.

The change is heartening. Genderfluid industry vet Sinn Sage, for example, has observed a massive shift over time. Sage’s body of work has been overtly queer and featured a range of cis and trans performers. When she first started, Sage tells SFR, trans porn would be relegated to “the bargain bin of the gas station DVDs.” But things started to shift around 2018, according to Sage. There is no one easily identifiable indicator or cause, but studios such as Trouble Films and Crash Pad started laying the groundwork for the modern era of trans porn in the 2000s, she says, coupled with increasingly accepting representation for trans women and a societal shift toward “actually giving

And maybe it’s as simple as that. Maybe it’s just people giving a shit; maybe it’s exposure to trans girls’ very existence— their right to be sexual in a non-fetishized manner. Or maybe us trans women are finally having our moment in the sun. The democratization of porn led by frustrated creators of all stripes has loosened the studios’ stranglehold on the industry. The tools available through sites like Pornhub and Onlyfans have finally reached the shores belonging to trans creators. Oh, and straight dudes? You’re no less straight for being attracted to trans women. We’re

Kenzi Hale is a marginally known sex haver and pro wrestling mark. She also likes her cat a lot.

Numbers don’t lie—people love trans porn

I know this man is not telling me he’s straight for me. It’s all a part of the performance for him, whether he knows it or not.

Santa Fe Needs Queer Spaces

BY MICHAEL J WILSON @wilsonmj

Acity without dedicated, permanent LGBTQ+ spaces cannot fully support the queer community. Queer bars, community centers, bookstores, programming and organizations are vital for a thriving LQBTQ+ community as well as a city itself. Queer people make a city more full. And a city should support that.

I know what you’re about to say—Santa Fe is a progressive, liberal, safe city for all people, isn’t everywhere here kinda gay?

Maybe this is too hard to explain. Maybe the nuance is lost on those who don’t experience constant bigotry or demonization in mainstream media. But no—everywhere in Santa Fe isn’t kinda queer. And that “liberal bubble” we all like to talk about is one of the main things that hides this fact.

In 2013, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal in the state. The US Supreme Court followed in 2015. And both followed a coordinated ef fort of queer people to be seen as equals in the eyes of the law.

I remember randomly crying off and on all day‚ the waterworks return ing whenever I remembered that the ruling had been delivered. A weight within me—that I hadn’t even no ticed—had subtly shifted, lightened. I felt relief, but not because I wanted to get married—I’m deeply ambivalent about marriage. I felt relief because I felt seen. It felt like others saw me as a real person and were acknowledging it publicly for the first time in my life.

Maybe more people are understanding this kind of thing in a post-Roe world. Maybe not. I don’t assume what cishet people understand about queerness outside of enjoying Drag Race and dance music. This might feel harsh, but I need you to understand why LGBTQ+ spaces are important— partly because these are spaces where we don’t have to explain ourselves.

Safe queer spaces aren’t about making walled-off gardens. These spaces are about camaraderie, community, place-making and being fully one’s self. These are places to hold each other when the world is just too much.

On the night of the Pulse shooting, I sobbed alone in my apartment. I needed to be emotionally held. Where could I go to be held? I needed to be IN community. I went to a bar and found no one talking about it—no one who could help me work through the complicated emotions behind my sudden racing heart and fear. I needed to sit with my people and feel together. I called a friend in New York and we cried quietly to each other. This happened again after the Club Q shooting. This happens over and over and over. This is what you

As an increasing number of states have taken measures to ban trans health care and drag performance, New Mexico remains a relatively safe haven for LGBTQ+ people. Within that safety, though, the need for community to come together without the eyes of others on them remains.

This isn’t a conspiracy—the queer agenda is living a long and happy life. I don’t want to exclude straight people completely, but I do want to let my guard down. I want to be unafraid in my queerness. I want that for every single queer person in Santa Fe and everywhere else.

Post-COVID, Santa Fe has begun to publicly re-find its queerness. Pop-up events at many venues all over town—including drag nights, queer dance parties and burlesque shows—show that the queers are DIYing it into existence.

But these events are happening at venues that are not specifically dedicated to LGBTQ+ programming or issues. We need dedicated spaces instead of impermanent events that are at the whims of friendly non-queer venues.

Years ago, a club downtown sometimes hosted queer nights with drag shows followed by dancing in the first half of the night. After a certain time, the entertainment and clientele would change without warning. The music shifted, lights lowered, smoke pumped into the room. A very mixed crowd would flood the space as a dance floor filled with queer people was quite literally plunged into darkness alongside people who may or may not have been OK with sharing the floor with a drag queen. It was unsafe and unfair to the queer people in the room—and the not-queer people coming in.

I don’t want to point a finger at venues currently hosting LGBTQ+ programming and say they are not doing enough. They are. They are here for the community, but a community isn’t nurtured on one night a week at some bar that is otherwise not queer. As Santa Fe rapidly grows, changes and evolves, it’s time to think about community in ALL the ways that it expresses itself. It’s time for a very real—very permanent— LGBTQ+ space. Hell—maybe even two. Give me money. I’ll run it.

Michael J. Wilson has been queer his whole life. His first novel is out in October from Stalking Horse Press.

I want to be unafraid in my queerness. I want that for every single queer person in Santa Fe and everywhere else.

This isn’t a conspiracy—the queer agenda is living a long and happy life

Nonstop Flight to Nonbinary City

Boy? Girl? Yes and yes

BY STEPHANIE SCOTTIE THOMPSON @texacco_station

When my dad first made the awkward attempt to ask me as a teen if I was gay, I wished the conversation was that simple. I had no difficulty coming to terms with being bisexual, but I struggled with my gender even then, and would continue struggling for another decade.

Being female and struggling with gender often gets swept into a tidy “tomboy” box and put back in the closet. Even then, with most recognizing the term universally as an inherently “girl” experience, boys are not afforded a similar catchall term by which to address any non-masculine leanings they might harbor. But this does beg the question: If these gender roles are so innate, as many would have us believe, why do so many buck them in the first place?

My own story is messy and inconvenient. I lived four years as a trans guy. This meant a haircut, chest binder, men’s clothes, lowering my voice and changing my gait. Being in Texas, concealing being trans was absolutely necessary to keep safe, so I made sure I was read as male, even if that meant being seen as five or six years younger than I actually was. This wasn’t the path I ultimately chose, and since I was underage, I didn’t make any permanent changes to my body.

Still, I went by “Scottie” and found freedom in the space I carved out. It still felt off. “Boy” encompassed a lot of me that “girl” didn’t make room for, but both of them felt slightly right and slightly wrong. I confessed my uncertainty to my then-partner, who was nonbinary. They said I sounded like them—a gender that was both, neither, in between. Internally, I felt they were right, yet I totally rejected the idea. It just didn’t seem like a real option. This was, frankly, a dick thing to say to your nonbinary partner.

My doubt about my gender grew, though, and in college, I did a 180, reusing my legal name and she/her pronouns. The desire to

admit I was nonbinary remained strong, but I bailed. Guilt and fear kept me silent as I jumped into womanhood, even as I felt silently jealous of every openly nonbinary person I encountered.

Eventually I made my way into the sex industry in the form of strip clubs, where I experienced a world of hyper-femininity that paralleled the hyper-masculinity I’d previously lived in as Scottie. In less than a decade’s span, I had experienced being called homophobic male slurs and whorephobic female ones; I wore both masks, saw both sides of the scramble for cis people to validate their own genders—which they, of course, do, too. A society with only two extreme options for gender roles lacks flexibility. Even those vocally against trans identities can turn on a dime to decry the dangers of strict, rigid gender expectations, and many pride themselves on not falling

into the fray—particularly women who are quick to condemn other women for clinging too steadfastly to femininity. Ironic that any freedom to shirk stereotypes should come with barriers for others. For those people, it seems, gender non-conformity comes with precise limits.

One can be proud of “not being like other girls” but that is usually as far as it goes. Even with non-conformity being seen almost like a badge of honor amongst women, prevailing rhetoric all but tells us the mold is biologically innate. That biological inflexibility dictates certain products are made for those with a vagina and not a penis; that biology somehow created pronouns; that biology is responsible for making girls wear heels and makeup. These are arbitrary social constructions we’ve been led to believe are somehow immutable—determined only by social agreement.

When I finally came out as nonbinary this year, I found myself. There is room for all of me, and I feel gender kinship with nonbinary people, regardless of their biology. I can be the me I have always waited to

Any time I read essays about how trans people are the fall of civilization, I wonder how we would view gender if the pressure was fully off, if we could only erase the myth of perfect, cis, ontologically opposite genders and leave the blueprint open. If nonbinary and trans identities were more widely validated, maybe it would give cis people the freedom to define their own relationships to their genders—to expand what woman means, what man means.

It would be prudent to give people back the dignity of choice. Even cis people must feel the exhaustion of adhering to unwritten societal roles, or the depression of falling short of some mythical ideal. Women could feel feminine and whole with their real selves; men masculine and whole with theirs. But then, it’s harder to sell face serum and dick pills if peoples’ goals become to self-actualize.

We could make gender opt-in. I am here because I want to be. What would it feel like, rather than battle to feel man enough or woman enough, to say these words:

I am a woman, because it is self-evident that I am.

I am a man, because it is self-evident that I am.

And for me, I am not, because it is self-evident that I am not.

Stephanie Scottie Thompson is a nonbinary artist and writer who defected to Santa Fe from Texas in 2013, and almost graduated from Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

When I finally came out as nonbinary this year, I found myself. There is room for all of me.

EVERYBODY SAY YEAH

It would have been enough to know the legendary Cyndi Lauper was behind the music of 2013 musical Kinky Boots, but throw multi-talented Harvey Fierstein into the mix as playwright, and, well...theater nerds are pretty into this one. In Santa Fe, the increasingly noteworthy Tri-M Productions tackles Kinky Boots this week with its cadre of local performers and musicians for a show early audiences are calling one of the company’s best. In short, Boots tells the tale of a young man thrust into his family’s on-the-skids shoe biz, and how a young woman’s search for hot boots teaches everyone a little something about life and love. Known for its choreography and absolute banger jams, it’s what we might call a mainstay. Sometimes theater is just plain fun. (Alex De Vore)

Kinky Boots: 7 pm Thursday, June 22-Saturday, June 24; 3 pm Sunday, June 25. $30-$40. Santa Fe High School, 2100 Yucca St., trimsantafe.org

EVENT FRI/23

ALALALALALALALALA!

Though the character of Xena (Lucy Lawless) was originally meant to appear only briefly in a 1995 three-episode arc on the Kevin Sorbo (ugh) show Hercules—and then die—producers were so thrilled with Lawless’ flawless performance that they took an already-planned Hercules spinoff and transformed it into a straight-up Xena thing. Xena: Warrior Princess was such a bizarre and enjoyable show that it garnered fans around the globe, catapulting Lawless to super-stardom. Beastly Books knows this well, and thus devotes a whole day to Xena, her sidekick Gabrielle and the power of beating mythological ass. Oh, sure, Femme Fatale Fridays focus on a number of badass ladies in popular media and will include Buffy and other treats, but for our money, this should just be called Xena Day. We’ll be waiting by the mailbox for our Xena Day cards, too. (ADV)

EVENTS MULTIPLE DATES

It’s Giving Life

Santa Fe Pride is about so much more than celebration

After 30 years of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance’s annual LGBTQIA+ festivities, it’s easy to forget our town’s queer celebration—appropriately for the City Different—has distinct roots from nationwide understandings of Pride.

ART THROUGH JULY 29

Femme Fatale Fridays: 11 am-7 pm Friday, June 23. Free Beastly Books, 418 Montezuma Ave., (505) 395-2628 TITS!

Albuquerque artist Amanda Banker’s forthcoming Kouri+Corrao Gallery show Tits rides a glorious wavelength propelled by classic animation and classic painting techniques, only she’s kind of giving both a run for their money. According to Banker, the combination of methods at work—including those culled from her freelance storyboarding days, and, maybe, a bit of love for animation companies like Fleischer—combine at the intersection of abstraction and realism. Dark humor has a role to play as well, and who doesn’t love a tonguein-cheek element to beautifully produced imagery? If you need broader strokes, think topless Olive Oyl, but look deeper for masterful works that would be at home anyplace from the pages of Juxtapoz to the walls of the finest museums. God, it’s thrilling when artists deconstruct the narrative that stuffy=good. (ADV)

Amanda Banker: Tits: Noon-5 pm

Wednesday, June 21-Saturday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 27; by appt. Sunday, June 25 and Monday, June 26. Free Kouri+Corrao Gallery, 3213 Calle Marie, (505) 820-1888

The larger movement around what used to be called Christopher Street Liberation Day honors the June 28, 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising led by queer and trans Black folks in New York City, an event which centered queer quality of life in its defense of a safe space for sharing un-closeted joy. Santa Fe’s HRA, on the other hand, was formed in 1993 with two primary goals: HIV activism and suicide prevention. It was, in other words, about protecting the very existence of queer life, in no small part through events like Pride to remind us that continuing to simply live our queer lives is worth the associated risks, pain and potential bodily harm.

Both are crucial missions and address different facets of queer experience. But as local Pride celebrations mark this 30th anniversary in the midst of rising homophobic and transphobic violence nationwide, it seems a particularly powerful time to remember that LGBTQIA+ communal pleasure is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. And this week offers an abundance of opportunities to collectively paint the town rainbow.

There’s Saturday’s headlining Pride on the Plaza , of course, which, in addition to the 10:30 am parade and a set from famed

songstress/DJ/’90s queen Ultra Naté, features a drag story time with beloved queen Brandi (take that, “Pride should be family-friendly” people!). But there’s also a free bowling night for queer teens and their families to bond over The Alley’s lanes on Thursday, a drag king revue at the Jean Cocteau on Saturday night, a Raashan Ahmad-DJed afterparty at Tumbleroot on Sunday and a whole slew of other lavender affairs discussed more extensively in this week’s culture calendar. So go forth gayly— doing so is both life-giving and life-saving.

(Siena Sofia Bergt)

QUEER TEEN AND FAMILY BOWLING NIGHT

6-9 pm Thursday, June 22. Free. The Alley 153 Paseo De Peralta, (505) 557-6789

SANTA FE PRIDE

10 am-4 pm Saturday, June 24. Free. Santa Fe Plaza, 100 Old Santa Fe Trail, hrasantafe.org.

KINGDOM SANTA FE DRAG KING SHOW

7 pm Saturday, June 24. $30-$70. Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

AFTER BURN: PRIDE30

CLOSING T-DANCE

1-5 pm Sunday, June 25. $15-$20

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery 2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 303-3808

COURTESY RENAISSANCE PICTURES

KOURI+CARRAO GALLERY

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

THE CALENDAR

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Second Street Brewery (Railyard)

Want to see your event listed here?

We’d love to hear from you

Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com. Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth. It helps us out greatly.

Submission doesn’t guarantee inclusion.

WED/21

BOOKS/LECTURES

JULIA FINE: MADDALENA AND THE DARK

Collected Works

Bookstore and Coffeehouse

202 Galisteo St., (505) 988-4226

The author joins bookseller

Courtney Knudson to discuss her 1717 Venice-set adult fairy tale.

6 pm, free

EVENTS

BINGO!

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Play gringo lotería while supporting the 6th Annual Madrid Film Festival. We hear there are prizes involved.

7-10 pm, free

CURRENTS NEW MEDIA

FESTIVAL

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road

currentsnewmedia.org

The solar-powered showcase of technological and artistic experimentation is your best option for keeping up with the latest creative uses of virtual reality, robotics, single channel video installation and more.

Noon-7 pm, free-$15

FREE KIDS' SINGALONG

Railyard Park

740 Cerrillos Road, (505) 316-3596

Sarah-Jane from Queen Bee Music Association leads music games and singalongs for toddlers and babies.

10:30-11:15 am, free

1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-3278

A trivia quiz incorporating audio and visual clues.

8-10 pm, free

HISTORY CHAT

35 Degrees North

60 E San Francisco St. (505) 629-3538

Walking tour guide Christian Saiia gathers locals to discuss local history and the effects of world geo-politics on westward colonization.

Noon-2 pm, free

LEISURELY BIKE RIDE

Fort Marcy Park

490 Washington Ave. (505) 955-2500

Thrice-weekly instructor-led bike rides through the city. Free for members of the City of Santa Fe recreation centers.

10-11 am, $5

LET’S TAKE A LOOK WITH CURATORS

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

710 Camino Lejo (505) 476-1269

Bring in family heirlooms for pro analysis from the museum curators every third Wednesday.

12-2 pm, free

OPEN MIC COMEDY

Chile Line Brewery

204 N Guadalupe St. (505) 982-8474

Wayward Comedy welcomes you to the stage weekly. Better make 'em laugh.

8 pm, free

OPEN MIC WEDNESDAYS

Tumbleroot Pottery Pub

135 W. Palace Ave. (505) 982-4711

Local talent, plus booze and abundant clay.

7-10 pm, free

RODEO DE SANTA FE

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road (505) 471-4300

Speaking of the Fairgrounds, the 74th annual Rodeo de Santa Fe is set to highlight the best cowboys, cowgirls and cow-theys in the ropin’ business—no g’s on your gerunds allowed!

5:30-9 pm, $10-$25

SOUND & GONG NIGHT

Iconik Coffee Roasters (Red)

1366 Cerillos Road (505) 428-0996

Expect gongs, singing bowls, drums and beyond, courtesy of Soundwellness. Hopefully you don’t need to be told to bring your own mat.

6:30-8 pm, $30

SUMMER FAMILY ART MAKING

New Mexico Museum of Art

107 W Palace Ave. (505) 476-5072

Creative time for kiddos in the courtyard, with supplies courtesy of the museum.

10 am-noon, free

SUMMER READING CLUB

Vista Grande Public Library

14 Avenida Torreon, Eldorado (505) 466-7323

Drop off the little ones (grades 3 and under) for a little supervised literary time.

1-3 pm, free

TRANSGENDER CULTURAL

FLUENCY TRAINING

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369

The Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico shares a free presentation breaking down common misconceptions and tips for better allyship. And if that's something you could benefit from, maybe attend this so you don't have to rely on the free labor of trans+ friends?

5:30 pm, free

VÁMONOS SANTA FE: WELLNESS WALK

Larragoite Park

1464 Avenida Cristobal Colon (505) 989-7019

Stroll along the Acequia trail from one park (Larragoite) to another (Ashbaugh).

5:30 pm, free

WEE WEDNESDAY

Santa Fe Children's Museum

1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 989-8359

As part of "Underwater Week," kiddos will imagine underwater creatures, practice holding their breath and explore aquatic picture books.

10:30 am, free

WRITER'S DEN

Beastly Books

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 395-2628

A weekly quiet, communal space to write to the sound of others' clicking keyboards.

5-6:30 pm, free

FILM

BOTTLE ROCKET

Violet Crown Cinema

1606 Alcaldesa St. (505) 216-5678

Get yourself ready for the upcoming Asteroid City by seeing how much less twee things used to be in the Wes Andersoniverse.

7:15 pm, $13-$15

ELEMENTAL: REIMAGINE

WILDFIRE (SCREENING AND Q&A)

Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234

A documentary exploration of the causes and context of today's increasingly wildfire-filled climate.  6 pm, $10-$15

FOOD

MAS CHILE POP-UP

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St. (505) 393-5135

A rare and precious opportunity to satisfy your chile cravings in what pretty much counts as the wee hours by Santa Fe standards.

4-10 pm, free

MUSIC

INSTRUMENTAL JAZZ JAM Club Legato

125 E Palace Ave. (505) 988-9232

Bring your own bassoon, oboe or upright bass to join the jazz professionals  in their expert improvisation.

6-9 pm, free

Speculative explorations of real brutality in Clarence Heyward’s “The Oracle,” from Unseen, opening this week at Turner Carroll Gallery.

MAKE MUSIC DAY SANTA FE

Santa Fe Railyard Plaza

1612 Alcaldesa St.

makemusicday.org/santafe

Music lovers and players from all levels of experience and every instrumental background take turns onstage. Presented by The Santa Fe Music Alliance, The Santa Fe Arts & Culture Department, The Candyman Strings & Things and more.

1-8 pm, free

SANDBOX MUSIC FESTIVAL

Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

Percussion-centric improvisation from Kenneth Cornell, Alan Zimmerman, Drew Gowran and Carlos Santistevan—with bass and electronic aural support.

7-9 pm, $18-$22

SUNNY AND CO. WITH

SPECIAL GUEST HOLY COYOTE

El Rey Court

1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931

Country classics and originals for vocals, guitar and upright bass.

8 pm, free

TROY BROWNE

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Dextrous Americana.

4-6 pm, free

THEATER

CONSIDER THIS...

Santa Fe Fashion Outlet Mall

8380 Cerrillos Road (505) 474-8400

Theater Grottesco previews its soon-to-be touring production exploring the prehistory of Western theater (from Commedia dell'Arte to modern Lecoq technique) on home turf with a performance followed by a talkback for members of the Theatre Lovers Club. Meet at Santa Fe Sweet at 5 pm for a pre-show conversation, or swing by the stage at 6 pm.  5 pm, free

WORKSHOP

AERIAL FABRIC WITH LISA

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road (505) 992-2588

Learn how to foot lock, drop and pose with the best of 'em.

5:30-7 pm, $23-$28

CERAMICS FOR RITUAL & CEREMONY

GEORGIA ELECTRA Studio Gallery

825 Early St. D, (505) 231-0354

Honor the longest day of the year with an all-levels ceramic workshop culminating in the creation of your own ceremonial vessel. All materials included.

10 am, 2 pm $125

SOLSTICE RE-WILDING

CHAKRA JOURNEY

Ojo Santa Fe Spa Resort

242 Los Pinos Road (877) 977-8212

Learn about your seven primary chakras and all the...energetic things they do.

4-6 pm, $95

YOGA WITH MAURA

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo (505) 471-9103

Twist yourself up to unwind among the foliage.

6:30 pm, $20-$25

THU/22

ART OPENINGS

OPEN HOUSE

Santa Fe Painting Workshops

341 East Alameda St. (505) 490-6232

Pam Trueblood and Andrea

Cermanski open up their studio and classroom space for visitors to peek at their landscape paintings in progress.

5-7 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES

CALIFORNIA CONVERSATIONS (ZOOM) bit.ly/3qM7NYh

Gallerist Charles Froelick discusses the work of the late Rick Bartow (Wiyot/Mad River Band) in conjunction with the Wheelwright Museum's ongoing California Stars exhibition.

2-3 pm, free

DANCE

ECSTATIC DANCE

Railyard Performance Center

1611 Paseo de Peralta

EmbodyDance hosts a weekly DJ'd free movement sesh. Email hello@EmbodyDanceSantaFe. com for more information.

6:30 pm, $15

EVENTS

CURRENTS NEW MEDIA

FESTIVAL

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road currentsnewmedia.org

Manipulate sound with hackeysacks, witness art rendered live from data points on your skeleton and more.

Noon-7 pm, free-$15

DISTILLERY TOUR

Santa Fe Spirits Distillery

7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892

Learn how whiskey is made— from grain to glass—then check out the barrel aging room before finishing with a tasting.

Reservations required.

5 pm, $20

FOREST THERAPY WALK

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo (505) 471-9103

Maura Finn leads a nature ramble designed to reconnect participants with their five senses.

9-11:30 am, $28-$35

FREE AURA HEALING CLINIC

Nancy Rodriguez

Community Center

1 Prairie Dog Loop (505) 992-9876

Drop by for a first come, first served energy tune-up.

5:30-6:30 pm, free

THE CALENDAR

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Social Kitchen & Bar

725 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-5952

Don't call it trivia.

7 pm, free

OFF THE RAILS:

BENEFIT AND CONCERT

SITE Santa Fe

1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199

Arguably Santa Fe's most financially accessible fancy gala, SITE Santa Fe's annual bash features the indie musical stylings of Helado Negro and Lido Pimienta in addition to the typical auction items and specialty cocktails.

6 pm, $20-$1,250

OPEN SPACE-TIME

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369

The closet at Rainbow Rainbow might not lead to another dimension, but it does have art supplies you can use on a first come, first served basis.  Noon, free

PRIDE DRAG BINGO!

Opuntia Café

1607 Alcaldesa St., Ste. 201 (505) 780-5796

Join the queens, kings and assorted royalty for a night of bingo hosted by the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance. While admission is free, cards are six for $20.

7-9 pm, free

QUEER TEEN AND FAMILY BOWLING NIGHT

The Alley

153 Paseo De Peralta (505) 557-6789

A safe space for queer friends and family, with pizza as well as lane and shoe rentals provided courtesy of the City of Santa Fe. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

6-9 pm, free

RODEO DE SANTA FE

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road (505) 471-4300

Ropin’ and ridin’.

5:30-9 pm, $10-$25

SEEDS & SPROUTS

Santa Fe Children's Museum

1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 989-8359

Little ones release ladybugs into the garden and play with the vermicular inhabitants of the worm bin.

10:30 am, free

FILM

GRATEFUL DEAD MEET-UP 2023

Violet Crown Cinema 1606 Alcaldesa St. (505) 216-5678

An anniversary screening of footage from the Dead's June 22, ‘91 performance in Soldier Field.

6:30 pm, $13-$15

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

2: FREDDY'S REVENGE

Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

If you don't already know why this is widely considered the gayest horror film ever made, your Pride plans are settled.

8:30 pm, $13-$26

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

Santa

Cody Old West Show & Auction

Vendor Show

100 Vendors - All price ranges!

SAT, JUNE 24: 9am - 4pm

SUN, JUNE 25: 9am - 3pm

$10 day General Admission

Under 12, over 75, & Active Military receive FREE general admission!

LIVE Auction

SAT, JUNE 24: 5pm Preview Fri 9-5 / Sat 9-4

Auction and Preview free and open to the public. Live, online, phone and absentee bidding available.

Both events held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center SAVE $5 off Show tickets w/ ad!

FOOD

FLIGHT NIGHT

Santa Fe Spirits

Downtown Tasting Room

308 Read St. (505) 780-5906

For those who prefer their tipsiness with less decision-making, every Thursday night offers the opportunity to sample four different mini cocktails instead of one large one.

3-10pm, free

SUSHI POP-UP

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St. (505) 393-5135

Brent Jung brings you seafood fresh off the plane while vinyl DJs spin.

5-8 pm, free

MUSIC

ALEX DUNN/DESERT PROSE

Second Street Brewery (Rufina Taproom)

2920 Rufina St. (505) 954-1068

Folk and Americana from a former commercial fisherman.

8 pm, free

ALEX MURZYN QUINTET

Club Legato

125 E Palace Ave. (505) 988-9232

Sax-centric jazz.

6-9 pm, free

BILL HEARNE

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Americana and honky-tonk.

4-6 pm, free

DON CURRY

Ahmyo Wine Garden & Patio

652 Canyon Road

(505) 428-0090

Acoustic classic rock.

2-5 pm, free

FOLK JAM

El Rey Court

1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931

You bring the instrument, Queen Bee Music Association will supply the song books.

7 pm, free

JOHN CAREY

Ahmyo Wine Garden & Patio

652 Canyon Road

(505) 428-0090

Blues, Americana and funk.

2-5 pm, free

MARIMACHA LOUNGE

Beastly Books

418 Montezuma Ave.

(505) 395-2628

A Pride edition of Nacha Mendez' Beastly collaboration, featuring beer and wine to accompany the Norteño tunes. 21+.

5-6 pm, free

MONTANA JOANNA AND MICHAEL MICUCCI

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Jazz and neo soul.

7 pm, free

PAT MALONE

TerraCotta Wine Bistro

304 Johnson St. (505) 989-1166

Solo acoustic guitar.

6-8 pm, free

SONGWRITER SERIES FEATURING

AARON LACOMBE

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 393-5135

Storytelling folk originals along with the occasional cover.

7 pm, free

UGLY MUSIC DAY

Reunity Resources

1829 San Ysidro Crossing (505) 393-1196

The nonprofit we.grow.eco hosts an all-ages music festival intended to uplift experimental modes of expression.

6-9:30 pm, $5-$15

THEATER

KINKY BOOTS

Santa Fe High School

2100 Yucca St., trimsantafe.org

The Cyndi Lauper/Harvey

Fierstein-penned, Tony-winning musical struts into town for Pride with 2.5 feet of irresistible, tubular sex. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

7 pm, $30-$40

MORNING SUN New Mexico Actors Lab

1213 Parkway Drive (505) 466-3533

Robert Benedetti and Kent Kirkpatrick co-direct Simon Stephens' (of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime) intimate tale.

7:30 pm, $15-$35

WORKSHOP

BEGINNER FABRIC WITH KRISTEN

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

If you've always dreamed of being airborne, the folks at Wise Fool will get you off your feet.

5:30-7 pm, $23-$28

HATHA YOGA

Four Seasons Rancho Encantado

198 NM-592, (505) 946-5700

Gentle yoga with a focus on breath work.

10:30-11:30 am, $18-$90

TRAPEZE AND LYRA WITH LISA

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

Float through the air with the greatest of ease.

5:30-7 pm, $23-$28

FRI/23

ART OPENINGS

AMANDA BANKER: TITS

Kouri + Corrao Gallery

3213 Calle Marie

(505) 820-1888

Playful, cartoon-influenced images of women push hyper bendable anatomy to the extreme.

(See SFR Picks, page 19) Noon-5 pm, Tues-Sat, free

BRIAN RUTENBERG: BANNERS OF THE COAST

LewAllen Galleries

1613 Paseo de Peralta

(505) 988-3250

Abstract oil paintings inspired by the natural world.

10-6 am, Mon-Fri; 10 am-5 pm, Sat, free

CLARENCE HEYWARD: UNSEEN (OPENING)

Turner Carroll Gallery

725 Canyon Road (505) 986-9800

An exhibit of pop-influenced portraits of Black American life, traveling from the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Heyward himself will give a walkthrough at 6:30 pm.

5-7 pm, free

NAOMI BROWN: WESTERN SKIES (OPENING)

The Signature Gallery

102 E Water St. (505) 983-1050

Locally inspired acrylic landscapes.

5-7:30 pm, free

SHELBY SHADWELL: VISCERAL (RECEPTION)

Strata Gallery

418 Cerrillos Road

(505) 780-5403

Large charcoal and pastel images of piled guts, space blankets and other unusual textures, with an artist talk at 6 pm.

5-7 pm, free

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: FRIDGEIR HELGASON AND PABLO SORIA

Gerald Peters Gallery

1005 Paseo de Peralta

(505) 954-5700

Northwest Argentinian and Southwest American landscapes captured on film.

10 am-5 pm, Tues-Sat, free

BOOKS/LECTURES

THE ANCIENT SCIENCE OF KRIYA YOGA MEDITATION

Globe Fine Art

727 Canyon Road (505) 989-3888

Learn about the breath-centric tradition from an authorized Yogacharya.

6-7:30 pm, free

DANCE

ENTREFLAMENCO SPRING SEASON

El Flamenco Cabaret

135 W Palace Ave. (505) 209-1302

Director Antonio Granjero's flamenco company performs alongside vocalist and guitarist Juan Jose Alba. Come early for pre-show dinner and drinks.

7:30 pm, $25-$45

EVENTS

ALL AGES CHESS

Vista Grande Public Library

14 Avenida Torreon, Eldorado (505) 466-7323

Go checkmate that king.  3-5 pm, free

ART WALKING TOUR

New Mexico Museum of Art

107 W Palace Ave., (505) 476-5072

Museum docents guide an art and architecture-centric tour of downtown (weather permitting).  10 am, $20

FINE ART FRIDAYS

Santa Fe Children's Museum

1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 989-8359

The New Mexico Military Museum teaches little ones proper flag etiquette (the things kids learn these days!) before facilitators lead a flag creation session.

1-4 pm, free

FRIDAY NIGHT WITH DOROTHY

La Fonda on the Plaza

100 E San Francisco St. (505) 982-5511

A special edition queer mixer, with admission by suggested donation to Casa Q.  5-7 pm, $10

LA MODA

La Casa Sena Cantina

125 E Palace Ave., (505) 988-9232

A pop-up fashion show (or "model walkabout," as producer Natasha Nargis describes it) on La Casa Sena's patio.

Noon-2:30 pm, free

LEISURELY BIKE RIDE

Fort Marcy Park 490 Washington Ave. (505) 955-2500

No wheels? No problem. You can borrow a bike from the Recreation Division if you don't have your own.

10-11 am, $5

MAKE YOUR OWN BOARD GAME

Santa Fe Public Library

Main Branch

145 Washington Ave. (505) 955-6780

Kids create their own playable games—with spinners, pieces and boards provided.

2-4 pm, free

AURA PHOTOS AND SOUND HEALING

Dragonfly Transformations

129 W San Francisco St., Ste. E (505) 652-7633

Human atmospheres like having their pictures taken, too. And while you're waiting for Annette Gates to snap that photo, check out the collection of paintings by Erin Fore and the group meditation healing at 6 pm.

5-7 pm, free

CRASH KARAOKE

Chile Line Brewery

204 N Guadalupe St. (505) 982-8474

It may be true that nothing good happens after midnight, but the karaoke probably sounds better when you're a little bit delirious. Plus, how many places in Santa Fe let you do anything this late?  9 pm-1 am, free

CURRENTS NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road

currentsnewmedia.org

Check out new and creative uses for Nintendo Switches, abandoned pianos and more.

Noon-7 pm, free-$15

DISTILLERY TOUR

Santa Fe Spirits Distillery 7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892

Get whisked along with your whiskey.

5 pm, $20

MAKE AND BELIEVE TIME

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369

Story time and art projects with librarian-selected books.  10 am, free

MINIATURES PAINTING

Beastly Books

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 395-2628

Gather weekly to customize table-top game figurines.  4-6:30 pm, free

NEW MEXICO WILDLIFE

ANIMAL ENCOUNTER

Four Seasons Rancho Encantado 198 NM-592 (505) 946-5700

Meet feathered, furred and scaled friends with experts from the New Mexico Wildlife Center.

2:30-3:30 pm, free

OPEN SPACE-TIME

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369

If someone was hogging art supplies you wanted last time, you’ve got another chance to use ‘em.  11:30 am, free

OPERA MAKES SENSE

Santa Fe Public Library Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive (505) 955-2820

Children ages 3-5 access opera through age-appropriate music and storytelling.

1-2 pm, free

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Come the way of all flesh with Zienna Brunsted Stewart’s “Three Pieces,” from Akin, on view this week at Keep Contemporary.

Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of Blackdom, New Mexico—an all-Black township founded by 13 men near Roswell in 1903—it’s not often taught in history classes, if at all. Still, with PhD historian and educator Timothy E. Nelson on the case through lectures, a forthcoming book and other media, the true stories of real-life figures such as early settlers Isaac W. Jones and Frank Boyer, as well as homesteader Mittie “Mattie” Moore Wilson, might soon become more wellknown for their contributions to the township’s short but impactful existence. This week, Nelson joins forces with producer and co-researcher Marissa R. Roybal to present a reading of his oneact play Finding Blackdom—Mittie of South Virginia Street at Teatro Paraguas (7 pm Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24; 2 pm Sunday, June 25. $10. 3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601). In the show, Nelson focuses on Wilson’s right-hand confidant Dixie, as well as a traveler named Maceo who appears in the township. Nelson will offer intermittent talkback moments throughout the reading—part of his ongoing mission of advocacy through artistry. We caught up with Nelson by phone this week to learn a little more ahead of the performances. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Alex De Vore)

Why do you think the history—or even the existence—of Blackdom is not more well-known?

It’s a complicated issue for New Mexico and New Mexicans, because of the tricultural narrative, which is the Indigenous, Hispanic and white framework of the state. And, this is firmly a new history given the state is only 100 years old. That narrative excludes Black folks. You’re talking about the takeover by the Ku Klux Klan; they took over the legal system. If they’re in change of the legal system, that affects the cultural system and Black folks are going to be left out. But people kept their own histories that go beyond culture

and [there are] deeper histories that are just now being discovered a hundred years later.

It’s not uncommon in New Mexico that Blackdom is left out. When I was introduced…my dissertation chair [at the University of Texas El Paso] Jeffrey Shepherd showed me and said, ‘Why don’t you look at Blackdom?’ I was in graduate school, and that’s when I found the Blackdom Oil Company; within 20 years [of founding Blackdom] they struck oil in the Permian Basin. So Black people strike oil, they name their company Blackdom Oil Company—that’s pretty significant for a state that’s only 100 years old. But you know, most people didn’t hear about Juneteenth until it was a national holiday.

You’re working on a book about Blackdom, but the upcoming event at Teatro Paraguas is a one-act play. Why is it important to tell this history across multiple media?

To state who you are, be who you are in a public square? In places like Florida, it’s a revolutionary act. I think they just bolstered the sodomy laws in Texas. It’s getting pretty weird right now, so for us to be putting out real history in this climate, we’re going to have to actually reach the people. And you’re not going to reach the people with a dissertation. I’m going to be honest, I’m not going to read my dissertation, it’s written for an academic audience. I’ve got to remix. That’s where Marissa came in. After 10 years in a doctoral program, I had no space to do things like that, and Marissa was able to conjure that up. We started doing public facilitations at [the Center for Contemporary Arts]. We hit hard with the academics in the academic world, and translate and transmit in the popular culture world. We have to be very conscious of that divide.

Is there anything about Blackdom you’ve learned that surprises you or that you’re particularly excited to relate to others? OK, so, I discovered the Blackdom Oil Company when no one else knew about it. But what was also interesting to me was who was involved in the Blackdom Oil Company, and that’s where this play begins—Mittie Moore was a Black woman, a madam, a bootlegger, a gunslinger, and this is on the record, not something I’m just saying or making up. After discovering her, I looked at Blackdom, and it turns out she was in Blackdom, too. She was a homesteader and oil baron. We’re talking the Roaring 20s—how good of a life does a bootlegger and homesteader have? And she’s running her body business? She was rich as fuck, and rich from both sides of the coin.

With Historian Timothy E. Nelson

ZAY GONZALES

PRIDE WOMEN'S DANCE

Scottish Rite Center

463 Paseo de Peralta

(505) 982-4414

Come early for the singles mingle or swing by at 7:30 pm to dance to Hillary Smith and her band.

7-11 pm, $15-$20

PUBLIC GARDEN TOUR

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo, (505) 471-9103

Check out the staff or docent tour leader’s floral faves.

10 am, $12

PUSHBACK CEREMONY

Fire Station 1

200 Murales Road, (505) 955-3110

Mayor Alan Webber, City Councilors, the Santa Fe Fire Department and the Kiwanis Club unveil the new fire engine design.

10 am, free

RODEO DE SANTA FE

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road, (505) 471-4300

Wonder how the cowpokes and new media folks will get along during the overlapping dates?

5:30-9 pm, $10-$25

SAM MORRIL

Lensic Performing Arts Center

211 W San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234

New York City standup.

7 pm, $45

VÁMONOS SANTA FE:

WALK WITH OUR ELDERS

Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center

1121 Alto St., (505) 814-6669

A gently paced collective mosey down the River Trail.

10 am, free

WALKING HISTORY TOUR

School for Advanced Research

660 Garcia St., (505) 954-7213

Check out the estate turned artist residency center. This spot was known as “El Delirio” (The Madness) back in the day!

10-11:30 am, $15

FILM

FEMME FATALE FRIDAYS

Beastly Books

418 Montezuma Ave.

(505) 395-2628

A full day devoted to the femme-centric fantasy of Xena, Buffy and beyond. (See SFR

Picks, page 19)

11 am-7 pm, free

LOVE & JUSTICE: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BEETHOVEN'S REBEL OPERA

Jean Cocteau Cinema 418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

A doc interweaving Beethoven's Fidelio with the modern story of a Chilean Butoh dancer.

7 pm, $15-$40

FOOD

MAS CHILE POP-UP

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 393-5135

Chile and chill.

4-10 pm, free

PLANTITA PIZZA NIGHT

Plantita Vegan Bakery

1704 Lena St., Unit B4 (505) 603-0897

Pineapple and green chile with red sauce and non-dairy "cheese?" Goodness gracious.

5-7 pm, free

MUSIC

CHARLES TICHENOR CABARET

Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant

31 Burro Alley, (505) 992-0304

Vocals and piano.

6 pm, free

DEAR DOCTOR

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Straightforward folk.

5 pm, free

DOSO DIRTBAGS

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Country with a folksy bent.

8 pm, free

FIRST ANNUAL RUNWAY

SAUNTER El Rey Court

1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931

A queer footrace event based on the D.C. High Heeled Drag Race, complete with raffle prizes, drink specials and a balloon arch.

6:45 pm, free

GARY GORENCE

Ahmyo Wine Garden & Patio

652 Canyon Road (505) 428-0090

Storytelling folk.

2-5 pm, free

GLASS HUMAN GHOST

2889 Trades West Road

Instagram @ghost_santafe

Denver art rock with support from Cinematica and Circle on Black.

7:30 pm, $10-$15 suggested

JAGUAR STEVENS WITH GENERICA

Second Street Brewery

(Rufina Taproom)

2920 Rufina St., (505) 954-1068

Garage rock with local support.

8 pm, free

JOHNNY LLOYD

Upper Crust Pizza

329 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 982-0000

Old school Americana.

6-8 pm, free

MEOW WOLF PRIDE:

JASMINE INFINITI

Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369

A danceable blend of ballroom, house, hip-hop and industrial.

10 pm, $30

ROBERT FOX JAZZ TRIO

Club Legato

125 E Palace Ave., (505) 988-9232

Rehearsed jazz followed by jazz jamming followed, occasionally, by special guest appearances.

6-9 pm, free

SHEMEKIA COPELAND WITH JJ AND THE HOOLIGANS

The Railyard Water Tower

332 Read St.

Expert blues vocals, presented by Lensic360.

7 pm, free

SUNSET SERENADE

Sky Railway 410 S Guadalupe St. (844) 743-3759

All rails and cocktails.

7:10 pm, $109-$129

THE STRANGE

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Local rock 'n' roll.

8-11 pm, free

TREVOR HALL WITH THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS

The Bridge Santa Fe Brewing Co.

37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182

Roots and folk with electronic touches, presented by Lensic360 and Meow Wolf.

6:30 pm, $42

TRIO MESON

First Presbyterian Church

208 Grant Ave., (505) 982-8544

Rcognizable Burt Bacharach tunes.

5:30 pm, free

THEATER

FINDING BLACKDOM: MITTIE OF SOUTH VIRGINIA STREET (READING)

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601

Local actors read Timothy Nelson's Afro-Frontierist one-act about New Mexico's early and under-discussed Black settlement. (See 3Qs, page 24)

7 pm, $10 suggested

KINKY BOOTS

Santa Fe High School

2100 Yucca St., trimsantafe.org

Red is the color of sex. Burgundy is the color of hot water bottles. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

7 pm, $30-$40

MORNING SUN

New Mexico Actors Lab

1213 Parkway Drive

(505) 466-3533

An intimate drama about the lives of a grandmother, mother and granddaughter living in New York City from the 1960s through the present.

7:30 pm, $15-$35

WORKSHOP

YOUTH AERIALS WITH KRISTEN

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

An opportunity for young folks curious about acrobatics to explore trapeze, lyra and more.

5-6 pm, $19-$24

SAT/24

ART OPENINGS

MOMENTS IN TIME: BONNIE TEITELBAUM (OPENING)

Calliope

2876 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 660-9169

Layered, intriguingly obscured acrylic and resin landscapes.

4-6 pm, free

RICK YOSHIMOTO AND JB BLUNK (OPENING)

Best Western

4328 Airport Road, Ste. B

Best Western (the DIY space, not the hotel chain) showcases wood, bronze and ceramic works from two carvers.

3-6 pm, free

THE PRINTERS PLANET

POP UP MARKET

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road

currentsnewmedia.org

An all-day flash sale of printed artwork in conjunction with the Currents New Media Festival.

12:15-7 pm, free

THE SANTA FE ARTISTS MARKET

Santa Fe Railyard

332 Read St.

An outdoor juried art market featuring pottery, jewelry, painting, photography, furniture, textiles and more.

9 am-2 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES

DONKEYS, DERVISHES, AND THE BORDERLINE: AN AMERICAN’S EXPERIENCE IN PRE-REVOLUTIONARY IRAN

Santa Fe Public Library Southside

6599 Jaguar Drive (505) 955-2820

Author Steve Horowitz shares stories of his time in Iran with the Peace Corps from 1968-71.

2 pm, free

TREKKING SAGARMATHA, NEPAL AND LAUGAVEGUR, ICELAND

Travel Bug Coffee Shop

839 Paseo de Peralta (505) 992-0418

William Maloney of Geofilmworks, LLC shares a slideshow presentation documenting his high altitude travels.

5 pm, free

DANCE

ENTREFLAMENCO SPRING SEASON

El Flamenco Cabaret 135 W Palace Ave. (505) 209-1302

Complex castanet clicking.

7:30 pm, $25-$45

EVENTS

ARTWALK SANTA FE AT MERCADO SOUTHSIDE

Fraternal Order of Police

3300 Calle Maria Luisa artwalksantafe.com

Check out the artisanal offerings of over 50 different Southside vendors.

2-6 pm, free

COMMUNITY PARKING LOT SALE

Ventana de Vida Apartments

1500 Pacheco St. Rummage through an entire complex's worth of secondhand offerings. No early birds, please.  9 am-1 pm, free

CURRENTS NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds 3229 Rodeo Road currentsnewmedia.org

There’s this one installation with robotically dancing river reeds that we just can’t stop thinking about, you guys.

Noon-11 pm, free-$15

DISTILLERY TOUR

Santa Fe Spirits Distillery 7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892

Trying to come up with more whiskey puns is starting to make us want a drink.

5 pm, $20

DRAG QUEEN STORYTIME WITH THE SANTA FE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Santa Fe Plaza

100 Old Santa Fe Trail Brandi shares picture books with little ones as part of the city's Pride festivities. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

1-2 pm, free

EL MUSEO CULTURAL MERCADO

El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe 555 Camino de la Familia (505) 992-0591

An eclectic collection of art and antiques.

9 am-4 pm, free FREE KIDS' SINGALONG

Audubon Center & Sanctuary 1800 Canyon Road (505) 983-4609

Get them humming (and stomping, clapping etc.) young.

10:30-11:15 am, free

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Santa Fe Wine Festival

GRAND OPENING

Nusenda Credit Union

5621 Herrera Drive

(505) 610-0419

Nusenda celebrates its new Southside branch with a ribbon cutting, Churro Bar treats (ooh!), live mariachi music, gift certificate giveaway and more.

10 am-noon, free

KARAOKE WITH CAKE

Cake’s Cafe

227 Galisteo St., (505) 303-4880

More Crash Karaoke—this time with additional pastry supplies.

7-11 pm, free

KINGDOM SANTA FE

DRAG KING SHOW

Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

NM Drag Kings, House of Steele Productions and Queerly Nutz Entertainment gather the state’s masc drag royalty—and they’re bringing cheeky presents for a few lucky attendees.

(See SFR Picks, page 19)

7-9 pm, $30-$70

LA TIENDA FLEA

La Tienda at Eldorado

7 Caliente Road

Essentially what you’d get if you took all the individual yard sales happening on a given weekend and combined them into a single space.

8 am, free

MARGARITA RAIL

Sky Railway

410 S Guadalupe St.

(844) 743-3759

Tequila and live tunes.

1:30 pm, $99

OPEN SPACE-TIME

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle

(505) 395-6369

One more opportunity to nab that particular paint you’ve been coveting.

Noon, free

PUBLIC GARDEN TOUR

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo (505) 471-9103

Personally, we think the weather is still entirely too cold for June, but the garden’s plants seem to disagree.

10 am, $12

ROCKY TUCKER'S BIRD WATCHING TOURS

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

334 Los Pinos Road

(505) 471-2261

Bring binoculars and a snack to check out the avian inhabitants of the Leonora Curtin Wetlands. Register in advance.

7:30 am, $5 suggested

RODEO DE SANTA FE

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road

(505) 471-4300

Hoopin’ and hollerin’.

5:30-9 pm, $10-$25

SAND PLAY SATURDAY

Railyard Park

740 Cerrillos Road

(505) 316-3596

Kids expand creative cognition through sand, water, toys and kitchen utensils.

10 am-noon, free

SANTA FE PRIDE

Santa Fe Plaza

100 Old Santa Fe Trail

The 30th annual Pride on the Plaza brings glorious fashion, expert DJing and queer communal joy. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

10 am-4 pm, free

SCIENCE SATURDAYS

Santa Fe Children's Museum

1050 Old Pecos Trail

(505) 989-8359

The Santa Fe Reptile & Bug Museum brings many-legged friends for a meet and greet.

2-4 pm, free

THE @WHERESLUPITA

WALKING TOUR

Warehouse 21

1614 Paseo de Peralta (505) 303-0892

Meet at the Guadalupe mural for a Lupe-centric tour of downtown (reservations required).

9:30 am, $25-$40

FILM

GRATEFUL DEAD MEET-UP 2023

Violet Crown Cinema

1606 Alcaldesa St., (505) 216-5678

Look back at past Dead shows while remembering the only time is now.

2 pm, $13-$15

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

2: FREDDY'S REVENGE

Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

Come on, guys. Freddy spends the whole movie trying to enter the body of a (very hot) young man. It’s undeniably queer.

2 pm, $13-$26

PRIDE MOVIE NIGHT WITH KARAOKE: GREASE

Railyard Park

Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe Street (505) 982-3373

A free opportunity to get down with the Pink Ladies? Tell us about it, stud.

7 pm, free

SATURDAY MORNING

CARTOONS

Beastly Books

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 395-2628

Nostalgic cartoons and cereal on tap. Pajamas encouraged.

1-7 pm, free

FOOD

MAS CHILE POP-UP

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery 2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 393-5135

Get down with that green.  4-10 pm, free

PLANTITA POP UP

Reunity Resources

1829 San Ysidro Crossing (505) 393-1196

Vegan bakery treats from cinnamon buns to bagels.

9 am-1 pm, free

SANTA FE FARMERS

SATURDAY MARKET

Farmers Market Pavilion

1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726

Freshly grown goodies from 150 local farmers and producers.

8 am-1 pm, free

MUSIC

BATTLE OF THE DECADES

Sky Railway 410 S Guadalupe St. (844) 743-3759

Pick an era—'60s or '80s—and dress accordingly to dance to decade-appropriate tunes.

7 pm, $114

BOB MAUS

Inn & Spa at Loretto

211 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 988-5531 Blues and soul.

6-9 pm, free

CHARLES TICHENOR CABARET

Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant

31 Burro Alley, (505) 992-0304

King Charles serenades diners.

6 pm, free

ELIANA O'BRIEN

Paxton's Taproom

109 N Guadalupe St. (505) 982-1290

Jazz standards and originals.

7-9 pm, free

FREDDIE SCHWARTZ

Ahmyo Wine Garden & Patio

652 Canyon Road (505) 428-0090

Classic rock.

2-5 pm, free

MONSOON Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Vocal and guitar trio.

1-3 pm, free

ONE MORE SILVER DOLLAR Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Allman Brothers tributes.

8 pm, free

PRIDE AFTER DARK

Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery

2791 Agua Fría St. (505) 303-3808

Move to the music of Ultra Naté. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

8:30 pm-1 am, $25-$35

PRIDE30 DIVERSITY ROCKS THE BLOCK! Burro Alley

hrasantafe.org

A block party for all those 21 and up—albeit with an emphasis on queer folks.

1-6 pm, free

ROBERT FOX JAZZ TRIO Club Legato

125 E Palace Ave., (505) 988-9232

All that jazz and then some.

6-9 pm, free

RON ROUGEAU

Pink Adobe

406 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 983-7712

'60s and '70s acoustic tunes.

5:30-7:30 pm, free

RYAN AND THE RESISTORS Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Country originals.

8-11 pm, free

SONGS FOR SUMMER:

BIRD THOMPSON

La Farge Library

1730 Llano St., (505) 820-0292

The singer-songwriter performs alongside poet John Knoll.  2 pm, free

SUMMER FUSION OF SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

New Mexico Museum of Art

107 W Palace Ave.

(505) 476-5072

Renaissance to modern choral pieces, performed by Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

3 pm, $20-$25

SUNSET SERENADE

Sky Railway 410 S Guadalupe St. (844) 743-3759

All rails and cocktails.

7 pm, $109-$129

THE CAT-ALYST 2023

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

2520 Camino Entrada (505) 473-1114

A metal mini-fest featuring the likes of Testify and Secret Earth, alongside a raffle supporting Project BC's upcoming tour.

1 pm, $10

THE JAKES

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid (505) 473-0743

Southern rock. Is that name is a reference to the Chinatown sequel?

3 pm, free

THEATER

A STEADY RAIN

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601

Jamie Wollrab directs Keith Huff's Chicago-set story of the lives of two police officers.

7 pm, $25-$30

AWA NINGYO JORURI

PERFORMANCE

Museum of International Folk Art

706 Camino Lejo, (505) 476-1204

Professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture share a traditional Japanese drama.

1:30 pm, free

FINDING BLACKDOM: MITTIE OF SOUTH VIRGINIA STREET

(READING)

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601

Playwright Timothy Nelson takes audience questions post-performance. (See 3Qs, page 24)

7-8:30 pm, $10 suggested

KINKY BOOTS

Santa Fe High School

2100 Yucca St., trimsantafe.org

Don’t mess with a woman’s lucky pottery shoes. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

7-9:30 pm, $30-$40

MORNING SUN

New Mexico Actors Lab

1213 Parkway Drive (505) 466-3533

Probing the bonds between grandmother, mother and granddaughter.

7:30 pm, $15-$35

WORKSHOP

POETRY WORKSHOP SERIES

Santa Fe Public Library Southside

6599 Jaguar Drive (505) 955-2820

Craft lines with Darryl Lorenzo Wellington in his final month as the city's poet laureate.

11 am, free

THE POWER OF CRYSTAL ENERGY

Prana Blessings

1925 Rosina St. (505) 772-0171

Learn the basics of stone-based healing to get some crystal clarity.

12-1:30 pm, $25

PRANAYAMA SHAKTI YOGA

Four Seasons Rancho Encantado

198 NM-592 (505) 946-5700

Engage in some elementallyfocused yoga to yield buff chakras. Swole chakras?

10:30-11:30 am, $18-$90

SUN/25

ART OPENINGS

RAILYARD ARTISAN MARKET

Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion

1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726

Buy fine art and crafts directly from local creators.

10 am-3 pm, free

BOOKS/LECTURES

POETRY NIGHT

Hecho Gallery

129 W Palace Ave. (505) 455-6882

Readings from Calixte Raifsnider, Dan Bohnhorst, Christopher J. Johnson and Kristian Macron.

5:30-7 pm, free

THE IMAGINATION

MADE WORD

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie

(505) 424-1601

Wordsmiths Kim Parko and Donald Levering read their latest poems aloud.

5-6:30 pm, free

EVENTS

CURRENTS NEW MEDIA

FESTIVAL

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds

3229 Rodeo Road

currentsnewmedia.org

Your last day to explore the latest innovations in tech-based art.

Noon-7 pm, free-$15

DRAG BRUNCH 505

La Posada de Santa Fe

330 E Palace Ave.

(505) 986-0000

Raise a Bloody Mary to the talents of Rusty Nutz, Coco Caliente, Brandi, Rocco Steele and more.

11 am-1 pm, $20-$50

EL MUSEO CULTURAL MERCADO

El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe

555 Camino de la Familia

(505) 992-0591

An eclectic collection of art and antiques.

10 am-4 pm, free

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery

112 W San Francisco St. (505) 983-0134

Trivia promising to range "from Hungary to The Hunger Games."

7-9 pm, free

NATIVE WOMEN'S BRUNCH

Santa Fe Indigenous Center

1420 Cerrillos Road (505) 660-4210

Indigenous ladies enjoy noshes, raffles, goodie bags and group discussion. Register in advance.

10 am-2 pm, free

OPEN MIC JAZZ

Chile Line Brewery

204 N Guadalupe St. (505) 982-8474

Jam with High City Jazz Quartet.

5-7 pm, free

OPEN SPACE-TIME

Rainbow Rainbow at Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369

We don’t know how frequently art supplies are replenished, so maybe arrive a little early?

Noon, free

PUBLIC GARDEN TOUR

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo, (505) 471-9103

A floral frolic.

10 am, $12

SUMMER SUNDAYS

HAPPY HOUR

Tumbleroot Pottery Pub

135 W. Palace Ave. (505) 982-4711

In addition to the typical drink discounts, expect price cuts on clay and live jazz from 1-3 pm.

11 am-4 pm, free

FILM

BOTTLE ROCKET

Violet Crown Cinema

1606 Alcaldesa St. (505) 216-5678

We don’t expect him to be as depressed as we are, but we don’t think your happiness is quite appropriate.

6:30 pm, $13-$15

DADDYING FILM FORUM

NDI NM Dance Barns

1140 Alto St., (505) 620-6643

A showcase of films by fathers and their offspring promoting positive paternal relationships, alongside discussions of media depictions of dads.

1-6 pm, free

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

2: FREDDY'S REVENGE

Jean Cocteau Cinema 418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

All joking aside, though, it’s a fascinating document of early AIDS epidemic anxiety.

5 pm, 7 pm, $13-$26

MUSIC

'SAL GOOD SUNDAYS

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 393-5135

End your weekend on the patio with DJs Dmonic and Dynamite Sol.

4-9 pm, free

AFTER BURN: PRIDE30

CLOSING T-DANCE

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery

2791 Agua Fria St., (505) 393-5135

DJ Raashan Ahmad closes out the last official event of Santa Fe's 30th Pride celebration. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

1-5 pm, $15-$20

CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

BY LAYLA ASHER

PLEASE, LET’S ALL STOP FAKING IT

Most of us have been there at least once or twice before: The big-O is nowhere in sight, and instead of just saying something—whether it be to spare our partner’s feelings, hope the power of suggestion takes over or to simply get it over with—we fake it. Sometimes we do the reverse and dishonestly claim something is wrong with us simply because it’s not happening with our partner, though we know full well that we can get there.

The common thread is that we are most likely faking orgasms so our partners don’t feel like something is wrong with them. The good news, though, is that we can chalk a lot of it up to misinformed messaging we received in our sexually formative years. Still, why, as whole ass adults, are we still doing this?

I don’t know how to stop faking orgasms during sex or how to start trying to have a real one. Please help!

IN RUT

-STUCK

As much as I would love to claim I am one of those über-cool, sex-positive bitches sporting the “No Fake Orgasms” T-shirt you might’ve seen on Instagram, I, too, have fallen into this rut. Once you start, it’s extremely difficult to not only stop, but to know where to begin. If you read my last column about mastering the art of masturbation (April 26), hopefully you’ll feel well-equipped to achieve an orgasm on your own. Now we want to take this knowledge into your sexual relationship(s).

You might wonder if you like/trust/ vibe with the person enough to be honest about what’s happening. Can you clearly ask for what you need without ruining the moment, making things awkward or adding even more pressure? Or maybe you just want them to hurry up because it’s not doing it for you, or they keep asking if you’re going to come soon and it’s stressing you out?

All of that is completely normal, but as much as faking it feels like a quick fix, it does everyone a disservice, especially yourself. I think stopping this behavior lies somewhere between leaning into our own vulnerability and getting comfortable with disappointing others. Try creating your own little “no fake orgasms” world wherein you feel secure enough to let your sexual partner in by telling them what

you need—and OK with telling them you didn’t come. Set yourself up for success by being intentional about who that partner is. Maybe you’re someone who likes the minimal pressure/maximum control quality that casual sex provides (quietly raising my own hand). Sometimes it really is easier to tell a stranger, “I need you to bite my nipples when you’re fucking me so I can come,” or whatever.

Practicing this might feel like relearning everything you thought you knew about sex, and you might experience uncomfortable feelings along the way to empowerment, but I promise it will be worth it.

Why don’t men just ask what women like in bed instead of assuming they can’t get off?

-IS IT MISCOMMUNICATION OR MISOGYNY

Before any of you “not all men!” me, keep reading, because this might feel genderexclusive, but I’m going to take a leap and assume you’re generalizing based on personal experience. I totally get that, but humor me for a moment while I take gender out of the equation.

If you are in a sexual relationship where your partner assumes you can’t get off just because you haven’t gotten off with them, that’s not cool. It’s also not cool, though, for you to not disclose that you can orgasm, just not with them. Sounds like it’s about time you ask yourself why you’re gatekeeping that info while you’re asking your partner(s) why they haven’t made an effort to learn more.

Whether you choose to stay with your current partner or wipe the slate clean with someone else, remember that when we hold out hope that people are going to show up in the ways we desire without mentioning what it is we want, we will most likely continue to be disappointed. Moving forward, try to bring to the table what you’d like to receive—open conversations, direct questions and clear delivery.

I could get into a whole thing about being a woman and how deeply programmed we are to let sex be about someone else’s needs, but I would like to bring things into balance by giving us all permission to have some space and freedom from that ideology. As incredibly difficult as that is to do, maybe we should fake it ‘til we make it?

Layla Asher is a local sex worker on a mission to spread radical self love to her community and the world. Have further questions about blowjobs after reading this? Want to ask your local sex worker their expert opinion on something? Let’s start a sex positive conversation that keeps respect and confidentiality at the forefront and judgment a thing of the past. Please submit your questions to thenakedlayla@gmail.com and include an alias that protects your anonymity.

DOUG MONTGOMERY

Rio Chama Steakhouse

414 Old Santa Fe Trail

(505) 955-0765

A pianist with a pedigree.

6 pm, free

JJ AND THE HOOLIGANS

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid

(505) 473-0743

Classic dance band jams.

3-7 pm, free

JAZZ BRUNCH

Bishop's Lodge

1297 Bishops Lodge Road

(888) 741-0480

Dine to the Pat Malone Trio.

11:30 am-2:30 pm, free

JIM ALMAND

Mine Shaft Tavern

2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid

(505) 473-0743

Guitar, harmonica and vocals.

1 pm, free

JOE WEST AND FRIENDS

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St.

(505) 982-2565

Melodic singer-songwriter.

12-3 pm, free

SUNSET SERENADE

Sky Railway

410 S Guadalupe St.

(844) 743-3759

Sip as the sun slips.

7 pm, $109-$129

THEATER

A STEADY RAIN

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601

Shaun Sipos and Lewis Pullman— both of Outer Range—star.

3 pm, $25-$30

AWA NINGYO JORURI

PERFORMANCE

Museum of International Folk Art

706 Camino Lejo, (505) 476-1204

A second rendition of "The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song.”

1:30 pm, free

FINDING BLACKDOM: MITTIE OF SOUTH VIRGINIA STREET

(READING)

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie, (505) 424-1601

Intimate stories from the long legacy of Black folks in New Mexico. (See 3Qs, page 24)

2-3:30 pm, $10

KINKY BOOTS

Santa Fe High School

2100 Yucca St. trimsantafe.org

We know the stage show and movie are different, but man did Chewetel Ejiofor kill it onscreen. (See SFR Picks, page 19)

3-5:30 pm, $30-$40

MORNING SUN

New Mexico Actors Lab

1213 Parkway Drive (505) 466-3533

50 years of family trauma and family joy.

2 pm, $15-$35

WORKSHOP

BELLYREENA BELLY DANCE

CLASSES

Move Studio

901 W San Mateo Road (505) 670-4386

Explore classic and fusion technique.

1-2 pm, $15

IMPROV CLASS

Santa Fe Improv 1202 Parkway Drive, Unit A santafeimprov.com

Santa Fe Improv and Stage Santa Fe join forces to teach the basics of longform comedic improv.

2-4 pm, free

JAPANESE PUPPET MAKING

Museum of International Folk Art

706 Camino Lejo (505) 476-1204

Those expert puppeteers from the Ningyo Joruri performance discuss the traditional art of puppet making before leading guests in the customization of a 3D printed puppet head. Register by emailing kemely.gomez@dca.nm.gov.

11 am-noon, free

KIDS' SOCIAL DANCE

Dance Station

947-B W Alameda St. (505) 989-9788

Ballroom, latin and swing for kids ages 7-11.

12:45-1:30 pm, $10

MAKE AND TAKE

Museum of International Folk Art

706 Camino Lejo (505) 476-1204

Join museum docents in making Uchiwa (Japanese hand fans). All ages welcome.

10 am-4 pm, free

SUNDAY YOGA IN THE PARK

Bicentennial Alto Park

1121 Alto St.

Build strength with Vinyasa yoga.  10 am, $15

SUNDAYS WITH GESHE LA

Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center

130 Rabbit Road, (505) 660-7056

Geshe Sherab discusses Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment

10 am, free

MON/26

BOOKS/LECTURES

INSTRUCTOR IMAGE

PRESENTATIONS

Santa Fe Prep Auditorium

1101 Camino de Cruz

Michael Rubin, Laurie Klein and Shelley Vandegrift present as part of the 33rd annual Santa Fe Workshops photography sessions. 8 pm, free

JAMES DAVID KILBY

Hotel Santa Fe

1501 Paseo de Peralta (505) 982-1200

The archaeologist discusses Bonfire Shelter—one of the world's oldest "bison jump" hunting sites. Presented by Southwest Seminars.

6 pm, $20

IPHONE AND IPAD

INFORMATION SESSION

Vista Grande Public Library

14 Avenida Torreon, Eldorado (505) 466-7323

Make the most of those ultraportable computing systems.  9 am, free

EVENTS

JULESWORKS FOLLIES END OF MONTHLY WARP UP #29 bit.ly/3PDWARW

From what we hear the monthly show may not be cyberspaceexclusive for much longer, so enjoy the virtual variety while you can.

5 pm, free

LEISURELY BIKE RIDE

Fort Marcy Park

490 Washington Ave. (505) 955-2500

Your third weekly opportunity to take on the town on two weels.

10-11 am, $5

OPEN MIC WITH CAKE

Cake’s Cafe

227 Galisteo St., (505) 303-4880

All mediums welcome.

5:30-8 pm, free

PRIDE BY THE POOL KARAOKE PARTY

El Rey Court

1862 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-1931

Enjoy poolside karaoke from 2-5pm with 10% off drinks for two hours on either side.

Noon-7 pm, $25

SUMMER STORY TIME

New Mexico Museum of Art

107 W Palace Ave., (505) 476-5072

Bonus book time to keep kids covered in the no-school months.  10-11 am, free

FILM

VIDEO LIBRARY CLUB

Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

Every Monday Lisa from Video Library picks a film—ranging from obscure cult flicks to blockbuster hits—to share on the big screen.

6:30 pm, free

MUSIC

DOUG MONTGOMERY

Rio Chama Steakhouse

414 Old Santa Fe Trail (505) 955-0765

More top notch ivory tickling.

6 pm, free

QUEER NIGHT

El Rey Court

1862 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-1931

A portion of sales from the nightly cocktail special go to the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico.

5-11 pm, free

ZAY SANTOS

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Homegrown blues-rock.

4-6 pm, free

WORKSHOP

PRANAYAMA SHAKTI YOGA

Four Seasons Rancho Encantado

198 NM-592, (505) 946-5700

Yoga designed to open and strengthen chakras.

5:30-6:30 pm, $18-$90

TEEN/TWEEN AERIALS WITH KRISTEN

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

Aspiring aerialists try their hands and feet at trapeze, lyra and more

5:15-6:15 pm, $19-$24

UNICYCLING AND JUGGLING

WITH INDI

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

Come on, we know you're curious about that unicycle.

6:30-8 pm, $18-$22

YOGA WITH MAURA

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

715 Camino Lejo, (505) 471-9103

Tree pose among the arbors.

8-9 am, $20-$25

TUE/27

BOOKS/LECTURES

AUTHOR NIGHT

Iconik Coffee Roasters (Original)

1600 Lena St., (505) 428-0996

Writers of all stripes are invited to share their words out loud.

6:30-8:30 pm, free

EVENTS

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Boese Brothers Brewpub

145 Central Park Square, Los Alamos (505) 500-8325

A British-style pub quiz.

8-10 pm, free

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Santa Fe Brewing Company

35 Fire Place, (505) 424-3333

Don't call it trivia.

7 pm, free

OPEN MIC POETRY AND MUSIC

Chile Line Brewery

204 N Guadalupe St. (505) 982-8474

Be a modern-day bard. (See SFR

Picks, page 19)

8 pm, free

SANTA FE'S STAND-UP COMEDY CONTEST

Jean Cocteau Cinema 418 Montezuma Ave. (505) 466-5528

No Bull Comedy's monthly audience-judged humorous standoff returns to the JCC.

6:30 pm, $10

FILM

FAMILY MOVIE MATINEE

Vista Grande Public Library

14 Avenida Torreon, Eldorado (505) 466-7323

A surprise screening from the library collection.  1 pm, free

FOOD

SANTA FE FARMERS TUESDAY MARKET

Farmers Market Pavilion

1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726

Radicchiolously fresh produce.  8 am-1 pm, free

MUSIC

JEREMIAH GLAUSER

Cowgirl

319 S Guadalupe St. (505) 982-2565

Taos-based folksy Americana.  4-6 pm, free

WORKSHOP

ARTS ALIVE!

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

710 Camino Lejo, (505) 476-1269

Explore the basics of weaving.  10 am-2 pm, free

HATHA YOGA

Four Seasons Rancho Encantado 198 NM-592, (505) 946-5700

Breath-centric stretching.  10:30-11:30 am, $18-$90

MODERN BUDDHISM: DEVELOPING INNER

STRENGTH & JOY

Santa Fe Woman's Club

1616 Old Pecos Trail (505) 983-9455

Find the joy in your meditation practice. 6 pm, $10

QUEER BURLESQUE WITH AUDREY

Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

Queer folks learn to create a burlesque persona, walk a stage, strip clothing items and more.  7:30-9:30 pm, $18-$22

SLACKLINE AND POI WITH ELI Wise Fool New Mexico

1131 Siler Road, (505) 992-2588

Fire spinning and rope walking.  5:30-7 pm, $23-$28

CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

Café Fina, You So Fine

BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com

Asojourn to Café Fina last weekend marked the third time I’ve found a killer meal along Old Las Vegas Highway in recent weeks. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on out there food-wise, but I’m not about to question it so much as I’m just gonna go ahead and trek out there as often as possible. Of course, there are likely those who live in the area reading this and smirking and saying things like, “Welcome to the party, loser,” under their breath. I’m glad to be here, I should say, and I could easily see making the triad of Harry’s Roadhouse, Jambo Bobcat Bite and Café Fina a regular rotating brunchtime/lunchtime occurrence for me and mine. Café Fina from owner/chef Murphy O’Brien hits the top of my list starting now, though. Frankly, it’s top-notch for anyplace, any highway.

Straight away, Café Fina’s bright and clean interior is among the most welcoming restaurants I’ve ever experienced, and the Kona coffee sourced through Santa Fe’s Aroma felt and tasted so good. I’ll surely return for the to-go-only dinner menu, but the seated brunch on a Saturday checked all my boxes and then some.

First things first: You’ll order at the counter should you visit Café Fina yourself, but be prepared so you don’t hold up the line. Café Fina’s prices are so affordable, so morethan-fair, that you might do a double take to make sure you aren’t reading a misprinted menu or something. You’re not, though, the prices really are just that fair, especially for the quality of food on offer.

ion and I were instantly drawn to the cloud cakes ($11.95), Café Fina’s take on pan cakes. I incorrectly assumed they would be those jiggly pancakes you see in food vid eos about Japan, and though they tragically were not, they ex ceeded my expectations. Even selecting that dish proved hard, however, with so many other items dancing on the menu enticingly. At a mere $11.95, the migas seemed like a steal, as did the Eldorado omelet ($12.95) with ham, mush rooms and asadero cheese. Secure in our flapjack order, we ultimately landed on the pesto omelet ($10.95) with organic eggs and mozzarella, plus the green chile cheeseburger ($12.95) for a lunchier taste as well a glimpse into how O’Brien and company handle a New Mexican classic. Did we also order a slice of the strawberry rhubarb pie ($5.50)? You bet your ass we did. Did we eat it before the rest of the meal? Yup.

Starting with the pie, my companion exclaimed, “This is the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’ve had in my entire life!” Like, she practically shouted that. I’m not even a huge fan (gimme that key lime any day), but her pronouncement was so emphatic that I dove in headlong to discover she was correct. Pre-made pie shells have been the bane of my sweet existence at Santa Fe’s lesser establishments, but never has a pie’s home-

made provenance been more apparent than with the flaky, crispy, flavorful crust at Café Fina. Is “best in town” too strong?

Before we knew it, our other items arrived, all looking gorgeous. I’d like to shout out our server, who announced the toast included with the pesto omelet looked a little overdone, so he’d fired off another order to make sure it was just right. That sounds small, but it suggests consideration—empathy, even. And when that other toast arrived, it was just right. Same goes for

the burger, a nicely-sized number cooked with precision to my requested medium and served with half fries/half salad (an extra 50 cents and so worth it). Not only did O’Brien’s version taste fresh and lovingly prepared, its chile contents were spot-on in volume and adhered to the bun with a small dollop of mayo. The fresh onion and tomato (sliced thin, which is brilliant) were of the highest quality, too, and the leafy salad with a bright oil-based dressing wowed. I love the split fries/salad idea because it allows the diner to have a couple fries like they actually want with enough salad to feel like they’re being good. Turns out I was so entranced by the burger that I failed to sample the pesto omelet before it was consumed, though I choose to take that as high praise. Stuffed already, we still had the cloud cakes to consider. Served with a not-too-sweet whipped cream, real maple syrup and fresh berries, we devoured them. This was more than worth the ate-too-much exhaustion that followed, and we practically crawled to the car.

Outside, the Kure Cannabis outpost next door felt like a genius display of synergy. The drive back to town came only with conversation about the food. Would it be weird to go back the next day? How soon could we return to Café Fina? Not soon enough.

CAFÉ FINA

624 Old Las Vegas Highway, (505) 466-3886

+ WELCOMING INTERIOR; SOME OF THE BEST FOOD I’VE HAD IN SANTA FE PERIOD - NO NOTES, NOT A SINGLE ONE

AFFORDABLE MEDIUM PRICEY EXTRAVAGANT

Cloud cakes, a pesto omelet and a green chile cheeseburger from Café Fina. Not pictured is the stawberry rhubarb pie eaten too quickly.

Five New Things We Know About Vladem Contemporary

educators like Alas de Agua getting paid to run workshops in a space like that. White also says there will be family workshop and project days, and that the classroom will not be limited to school kids.

4 The Residents

BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com

When the Vladem Contemporary wing of the New Mexico Museum of Art opens its doors for the first time in September, visitors will reap the fruits of years of preparation, community input and even controversy, followed by more than two years of construction on a huge new Railyard space. It’s been a long time coming. Philanthropists Ellen and Bob Vladem donated $4 million in 2018 for naming rights, which led to an astounding public/private fundraising initiative that ultimately brought in more than $16 million with which to build and party. As the building has changed shape and interior walls are complete, SFR staffers recently joined a hardhat tour with NMMA Executive Director Mark White. With that start date coming, now seemed like a great time to dive into some of the features of the new space on the corner of Montezuma and Guadalupe Streets. Let’s get into it.

1 What’s Old is New Again

By way of a brief history, the Vladem will be housed in the building formerly known as Halpin (it was a repository for state archives, stop asking questions), constructed in 1936 as a warehouse by/for the Charles Ilfeld Company, a mercantile concern started by a German Jewish immigrant named—get this—Charles Ilfeld. That’s why it’s right there by the tracks, you see, so workers could load or unload mercantile...stuff. Anyway, the Ilfeld Company left the building behind in 1959, according to White, after which it was renamed for New Mexico’s first Director of Records, Joseph F. Halpin, in 1960. So there’s this warehouse, right, and the archives and records are all moved out—and lo and behold, here’s all these beautiful exposed brick walls and cool industrial-looking metal support beams and stuff. When possible,

architects from the design team of DNCA + StudioGP have incorporated those original elements into the new space, even going so far as to extend that industrial motif throughout the museum. Oh, sure, the floors are polished concrete and look all pretty and new, and there have obviously been updates to walls and rooms and stairs to the second story and the basement, but there’s still this feeling that you’re in place with some history.

2 Climate Control is a Biggie

The original New Mexico Art Museum on Palace Avenue adjacent to the Plaza dates back to 1917, which means its designers, architects and contractors weren’t super thinking about how interior climate would affect art long-term. In a presentation with White prior to our tour, we learned the museum might have played a role in Santa Fe’s ongoing love affair with boxy brown buildings, but other than a very cool open door policy for artists adopted by the museum’s 1917 leadership—which eventually evolved into the bitchin’ Alcoves series that featured a rotating guest list of local artists—the future of how the museum would

show and store art wasn’t really part of the equation back in 1917. This is Santa Fe, man, where the dryness is so for real and where, despite the no-humidity thing, it gets kind of hot. And cold. At the Vladem, the design team took climate into account from the start. That means not only will the collection gets the star treatment, it will reportedly allow curators to widen their net in terms of the shows they can mount. In other words, when you can boast state-ofthe-art climate control, you can ask to borrow crazier pieces that might not hold up as well without it.

3 Educational Opportunities Abound

Though White can’t say exactly what the programs will look like just yet, the Vladem has at least one dedicated classroom on the side of the building facing Montezuma Street. That room has a number of storage closets for art supplies and the kinds of sinks artists like, plus enough space to fit a projector and tables and, White says, up to 70 people for lectures and such. Now, I’m just spit-ballin’ here, but it sure would be great to see local arts

Vladem Contemporary’s first year will also boast three artist residencies, only two of which we know about for now: Oswaldo Macía and Mokha Laget. Not wanting to to spoil the surprise, White has only provided scant details on each’s plans, with Macía reportedly embarking upon a sound sculpture based in natural audio for the building exterior (think birds, bats and bugs, but in audio form) and Laget...well, we don’t know just yet, but given her masterful use of color, geometry and space, it’ll likely turn some heads. White also notes that residents will have 24-hour access to the dedicated second-story studio space they’ll use while at Vladem, and while there are no plans to show the artists themselves like they’re on display, if they so choose to engage with visitors, they may. Oh, and it’s not part of the residency program, but a front-facing window box on Montezuma Street will display rotating local artists starting with Cristina Gonzales, and a light installation by artist Leo Villareal that will inhabit the ceiling of the museum’s exterior breezeway already looks gorgeous.

5 Space—The Final Frontier!

In addition to a new publicly-viewable bit of collection storage on the second floor of the Vladem, the entire basement becoming a storage space will up the museum’s collection capacity square footage to 4,100. That’s a lot of art and, like the climate control thing, should open doors for the future. The designers even repurposed a walk-in meat freezer as cold storage for color photographs, which is great news given how museum Curator of Photography Katherine Ware always puts together brilliant shows. And speaking of curators, White tells SFR the museum is still conducting interviews for the Vladem position. Its inaugural show Shadow and Light, which will feature works by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti), Angela Ellsworth, Erika Wanenmacher and freaking Yayoi Kusama among others, was curated by former Head of Curatorial Affairs Merry Scully just before she split for a museum director job in California. White says some elements of the final show changed from Scully’s initial vision, but with longtime Curator of 20th Century Art Christian Waguespack now heading up the curatorial staff at NMMA, he expects folks will be into it. We want to believe.

Bonus thing: Paying for admission at one of the New Mexico Museum of Art’s sites comes with access to the other, whether you start at the OG or at Vladem Contemporary (pictured).

ALEX DE VORE

With the Sept. 23 opening looming, learn a little more about the new wing of the New Mexico Museum of Art

FLAMIN’ HOT

Elemental Review:

Do we...keep liking Pixar movies?

BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com

Pixar’s newest movie Elemental isn’t doing too hot at the box office. It had, in fact, the animation studio’s worst-ever opening weekend with a measly $25.9 million against a $200 million budget (that’s not even mentioning the $100 million in promotional costs). ‘Twas not much better for 2022’s Strange World, either. How, though, has this once-proud outfit fallen so far? It might have something to do with the city thing.

See, most of Disney and/or Pixar’s releases over the last couple decades—and really, most folks assume all of those company’s fully-CGI films are made by the same people even if they aren’t—a pattern emerges: It’s a city, but for cars; a city, but for animals; a city, but for dead folks; a city, but for element people. That last one’s the basis of Elemental, a star-crossed lovers thing mixed with the vaguest statement on immigration. Let’s face it, the different-kind-of-city thing has become tedious, and there are only so many times we can get a joke about how things would just plum work differently for a dude made out of water than they would for a human person.

Elemental follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a young fire woman who falls for a water guy named Wade (Mamoudou Athie), in a metropolis called Element City also populated by earth and air people. Ember is

+ WE LIKE CHIPS; GARCIA IS PRETTY FUNNY - ROMANTICIZATION OF BUSINESS

Despite the Los Angeles Times reporting in 2021 that Pepsico/Frito-Lay janitor-turned-exec Richard Montañez did not actually invent the enduringly popular Flamin’ Hot Cheeto snack, actor-turned-filmmaker Eva Longoria sails full steam ahead in her first feature, Flamin’ Hot, a feel-good biopic that might actually feel alright if the ultimate premise weren’t that a dude helped a mega-corporation figure out how to market to Brown folks better and thus make way more money.

Oh, it’s not that Longoria’s adaptation of Montañez’s book, Flamin’ Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man’s Rise from Janitor to Top Executive isn’t fun enough or heartwarming enough or even sincerely funny once or twice, more like it suffers under the weight of its own inaccuracies and formulaic storytelling. One assumes a movie based on real events will take artistic license and pad the truth, that’s a given. But knowing ahead of time that the central plot point—namely, Montañez purportedly bucked convention and corporate nay-sayers by calling up then-Pepsico top boss Roger Enrico to pitch a spicy chip—never actually happened ultimately cheapens the emotional beats, leaving viewers feeling as burned as the snack on which it’s based.

In Hot, Longoria follows Montañez from clever child entrepreneur selling his mom’s burritos at his elementary school to the executive suite at the Rancho

second generation, with her father Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and mother Cinder (Shila Ommi) having relocated before her birth from a place called Fireland. Nobody pulled any brain muscles dreaming up the names of places or characters there, jeeze. Anyway, Ember’s family owns a shop that sells fire products for fire folks (they eat wood and drink lava, etc.), and it’s located smack-dab in a vaguely ethnic part of town where all the fire folks live. Is the fauxlture (a term I just invented for fictional cultures) Middle Eastern? Greek? Indian? Kind of all of the above, though not really any; and mostly the particulars are conveyed peripherally, through environmental storytelling. We know the dad worships a blue flame and the mom can literally smell love, we know they’ve had a hard road in building their lives and shop.

That’s why it stings so bad when Wade shows up in his role as city inspector. He might shut down the shop, but he agrees to help Ember deal with the red tape because he’s nice. What follows is a grab bag of

Cucamonga Frito-Lay plant in which he worked, making pit stops along the way at young parenthood, drug dealing and a complicated fatherly relationship. Oh, and he saves the chip factory and everyone’s jobs, too.

Jesse Garcia (Quinceñera) plays the adult version of Montañez, a wide-eyed optimist who turns a janitor job into a learning opportunity and, along the way, teaches the ’90s corporate drones what it means to make a spicy snack, thereby tapping into the Chicano market like no mainstream company had before. Garcia narrates the film, too, and represents the best it has to offer, even if Gentefied star Annie Gonzalez does provide context and levity as Montañez’s wife, Judy. She just doesn’t have enough to work with, which often relegates her to pseudo-emotional moments before we get back to Richie eating elote while a light bulb flashes above his head.

Elsewhere, screen vets like Dennis Haysbert and Tony Shalhoub deliver lines such as, “You can do it, Richie!” Of course this film needs folks like that, but Shalhoub’s turn as Enrico feels like he was told to bring Santa Claus energy to his scenes, which makes for a certain cheesy warmth that seems unlikely for a top business guy in the ’90s—it’s weird.

Even so, you’d have to be heartless to not get a little pumped for the movie version of Montañez as he shakes things up and gets those hot chips made. New Mexicans might be proud to know it was filmed here, too. Still, if you go looking into the story too deeply, those feelings dissipate easily. Whoever invented those chips, good on ‘em, maybe, just...are we really supposed to root for big business? Gross. (ADV) Hulu, Disney+, PG-13, 99 min.

tropes about believing in oneself, being open with your parents, taking a chance on love and...doing art, maybe? There’s also a water guy character that seems to be a nod to Rip Taylor, so it’s hard to keep track, really. Of course, there’s no real peril because these movies are so formulaic that even kids feel underestimated. In a world with those Spider-Verse movies— which seem borderline experimental compared to this—it might be time for Pixar to dig a little deeper and trust kids to grasp more complex themes than water+fire = probably not gonna work. For now, though, it seems like another tough blow for Good Dinosaur director Peter Sohn (that movie didn’t do so well, either), both economically and artistically. The idea, sadly, just isn’t very good.

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

8

+ STUNNING ANIMATION; SO FUN

- EXPOSITION IS CLUNKY; MAIN VILLAIN IS SO-SO

If we’re counting teen hero Miles Morales as a SpiderMan across both film and video games, that brings the tally of folks who’ve donned the Marvel hero’s mask in recent years to something like six performers since Sam Raimi’s inaugural 2001 live action Tobey Maguire movie. Given Marvel’s propensity for multiversal travel, too, perhaps no property better fits the concept of infinite realities (sorry, Dr. Strange). But whereas a titanic pop culture phenomenon like Rick & Morty takes the nihilistic route by positing that an infinite number of possibilities means nothing truly matters, filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Clone High) wager that even just one good soul can effect change when ennui sets in.

In Sony/Marvel’s newest animated entry, SpiderMan: Across the Spider-Verse—the sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse—our hero Miles (Shameik Moore) is still thinking about Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) from his last outing (it’s complicated, but she’s from another dimension; they met). That adventure, however, wound up destabilizing time ’n’ space, leading to a sort of unpredictable system of portals that throw folks from any conceivable universe into other ones. Since Miles got his powers from a radioactive spider not of his own dimension, he’s thrown things out of wack pretty much everywhere. Understand? Good!

After tangling with a villain called Spot (Jason Schwartzman) Miles learns there’s a sort of Hall o’

ELEMENTAL Directed by

Sohn

With Lewis, Athie, Del Carmen and Ommi Violet Crown, Regal, PG, 109 min.

Spider-People in the distant future of a neighboring dimension to his, and its leaders (Oscar Isaac and Issa Rae) spend their days making things right across the multi-verse. Miles, though, isn’t invited to the HQ for every conceivable Spider-Man/Woman/Enby/Child/ Horse, and learning why proves a total bummer for the lad; he’s just not like the others and they’re all trying to bring him down!

Across the Spider-Verse somehow ups the quality of presentation from its first most excellent iteration by merging so many types of animations, frame rates and design aesthetics. The stacked streets of a hybrid Mumbai/Manhattan in one universe are particularly gorgeous, and notable as well are the ’70s/clip art accoutrements belonging to Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), a character that simultaneously lambasts and pays respect to the anarchic leanings of the genre’s roots. Moore has really settled into the Miles role, too, phasing effortlessly between the confidence of superpowers and the challenges of teen-dom.

Thus, while the creators of Across the Spider-Verse aim squarely at kids, the adults who take them to the show or continue to live out their love affairs with comics-turned-movies, kids or no, will find lots to love. Still, we can only hear that family matters or love conquers all so many times before the law of diminishing returns sets in. Luckily, this one is so beautiful and fast-paced it’s often on to the next big thing before we have time to nitpick. Spidey swings, villains get bad and explosions flare in the distance—that’s pretty much all folks are looking for from movies like this. (ADV)

Violet Crown, Regal, PG, 140 min.

“Just Ir-ish”—oh, whatever.

by Matt Jones

SFR CLASSIFIEDS

Rob Brezsny Week of June 21st

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When I was still an up-andcoming horoscope columnist, before I got widely syndicated, I supplemented my income with many other jobs. During one stretch, I wrote fortunes for a line of designer fortune cookies that were covered with gourmet chocolate and sold at the luxury department store Bloomingdale’s. The salary I got paid was meager. Part of my compensation came in the form of hundreds of delicious but non-nutritious cookies. If you are offered a comparable deal in the coming weeks and months, Aries, my advice is to do what I didn’t do but should have done: Ask for what’s truly valuable to you instead of accepting a substitute of marginal worth.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): My mentor Ann Davies said that of all the signs of the zodiac, you Tauruses are most likely to develop finely honed intuition. At least potentially, you can tune in to the inner teacher better than the rest of us. The still, small voice rises up out of the silence and speaks to you clearly and crisply. Here’s even better news: I believe you are entering a phase when your relationship with this stellar faculty may ripen dramatically. Please take advantage of this subtly fabulous opportunity! Each day for the next 14 days, do a relaxing ritual in which you eagerly invite and welcome the guidance of your deepest inner source.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): New College in Oxford, UK has educated students since 1379. Among its old buildings is a dining hall that features beams made of thick oak trees. Unfortunately, most oak wood eventually attracts beetles that eat it and weaken it. Fortunately, the 14th-century founders of New College foresaw that problem. They planted an oak grove whose trees were specifically meant to be used to replace the oak beams at New College. Which they are to this day. I would love you to derive inspiration from this story, Gemini. What practical long-term plans might you be wise to formulate in the coming months?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the Northern Hemisphere, the astrological month of Cancer begins with the sun in its greatest glory. Our home star is at its highest altitude, shining with maximum brightness. So then why is the sign of the Crab ruled by the moon? Why do the longest days of the year coincide with the ascendancy of the mistress of the night? Ahhh. These are esoteric mysteries beyond the scope of this horoscope. But here’s a hint about what they signify for you personally. One of your assets can also be a liability: your innocent openness to the wonders of life. This quality is at the heart of your beauty but can also, on occasion, make you vulnerable to being overwhelmed. That’s why it’s so important that you master the art of setting boundaries, of honing your focus, of quaffing deeply from a few cups instead of sipping from many cups.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The coming weeks will be a delicate time for your spiritual unfoldment. You are primed to recover lost powers, rediscover key truths you have forgotten, and reunite with parts of your soul you got cut off from. Will these good possibilities come to pass in their fullness? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how brave you are in seeking your healing. You must ask for what’s hard to ask for. You’ve got to find a way to feel deserving of the beauty and blessings that are available. PS: You ARE deserving. I will be cheering you on, dear Leo.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Whether or not you have been enrolled in a learning institution during the past 12 months, I suspect you have been getting a rigorous education. Among the courses you have almost completed are lessons in intimacy, cooperation, collaboration, symbiosis, and togetherness. Have you mastered all the teachings? Probably not. There were too many of them, and they were too voluminous to grasp perfectly and completely. But that’s OK. You have done well. Now you’re ready to graduate, collect your diploma, and apply what you have learned.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): History has provided contradictory reports about Isabeau of Bavaria, who served as Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. Was she a corrupt, greedy, and indecisive fool who harmed France’s fortunes? Or was she a talented diplomat with great skill in court politics and an effective leader during the many times her husband, King Charles VI, was incapacitated by illness? I bring these facts to your attention, Libra, hoping they will inspire you to refine, adjust, and firm up your own reputation. You can’t totally control how people perceive you, but you do have some power to shape their perceptions—especially these days.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The next four weeks will be an excellent time to create and celebrate your own holidays. I recommend you dream up at least four new festivals, jubilees, anniversaries, and other excuses to party. Eight or more would be even better. They could be quirky and modest, like Do No Housework Day, Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day, or Write Bad Poetry Day. They could be more profound and impactful, like Forgive Your Parents for Everything Day, Walk on the Wild Side Day, or Stay Home from Work Because You’re Feeling So Good Day. In my astrological opinion, Scorpio, you should regard playful fun as a top priority. For more ideas, go here: tinyurl.com/CreateHolidays . . . tinyurl.com/ NouveauHolidays . . . tinyurl.com/InventHolidays

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a god who stole fire from his fellow gods and gave it to humans to help them build civilization. His divine colleagues were not pleased. Why? Maybe they feared that with the power of fire, people would become like gods themselves and have no further need for gods. Anyway, Sagittarius, I hope you’re in a fire-stealing mood. It’s a good time to raise your whole world up to a higher level—to track down and acquire prizes that will lead to major enhancements. And unlike what happened to Prometheus (the other gods punished him), I think you will get away with your gambits.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s discuss magical doorways. Each time you sleep, you slip through magical doorways called dreams. Whether or not you recall those adventures, they offer you interesting mysteries utterly unlike the events of your daily life. Here’s another example: A magical doorway opens when an ally or loved one shares intimate knowledge of their inner realms. Becoming absorbed in books, movies, or songs is also a way to glide through a magical doorway. Another is when you discover an aspect of yourself, a corner of your being, that you didn’t know was there. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Capricorn, because I suspect the coming weeks will present an extra inviting array of magical doorways.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Psychiatrist Myron Hofer specializes in the mother-infant relationship. Among his findings: The first emotion that a newborn experiences is anxiety. Struggling to get out of the womb can be taxing, and it’s shocking to be separated from the warm, nourishing realm that has been home for months. The bad news is that most of us still carry the imprint of this original unease. The good news, Aquarius, is that the coming months will be one of the best times ever for you to heal. For optimal results, place a high priority on getting an abundance of love, support, comfort, and physical touch.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Curious blends and intriguing juxtapositions are in the works—or at least they should be. Improbable alliances might be desirable because they’re curative. Formulas with seemingly mismatched ingredients might fix a glitch, even if they never succeeded before and won’t again. I encourage you to synergize work and play. Negotiate serious business in casual settings and make yourself at home in a wild frontier.

Homework: Is there any area of your life where you are not giving your best? How could you improve?

Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes . The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

© COPYRIGHT 2023 ROB BREZSNY

PSYCHICS

MIND BODY SPIRIT

YEYE OLOMO OSARA 505 810-3018

“HIGHLY RECOMMEND!”

Channeling the energy of water (Osara) I guide you to enliven your world

“I had a wonderful experience during our reading” New York

“If you need to work with someone you can trust that is accurate and in their integrity, I recommend her.” New Mexico

“I feel seen and I am growing as a human” New Mexico

“Yeye has such a beautiful spirit and is very comforting” Georgia

PSYCHIC/TAROT READINGS & SPIRITUAL COUNSELING

“We saw you around this time last year and you were so accurate. We were hoping to schedule another session” S. W. , Santa Fe. For more information call 505-982-8327 or visit www.alexofavalon.com.

ANNOUNCING

$10 Self-Empowerment Meditations every Saturday, from 10 to 11am at 1418 Luisa Street STE 5. And lookout for Dowsing Classes taught by Lee Markel coming soon! Call or text Patrick Singleton at 505-577-1436 or Lee at 505-221-3058 for any questions.

CHIMNEY SWEEPING

STATE OF NEW MEXICO

COUNTY OF SANTA FE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

Case No. D-101-PB-2023-00137

CASEY’S TOP HAT CHIMNEY SWEEP

Thank you Santa Fe for voting us BEST of Santa Fe 2022 and trusting us for 44 years and counting. We are like a fire department that puts out fires before they happen! Thank you for trusting us to protect what’s most important to you.

Be safe and warm!

Call today: 989-5775

Present this for $20.00 off your fireplace or wood stove cleaning in the month of June.

COMMUNITY

PARKING LOT SALE

Ventana De Vida, 1500 Pacheco St. (Between San Mateo & Alta Vista) Saturday, June 24th. 9:00 am - 1:00 pm. Parking across the street. PLEASE, no early birds.

DEVELOPING INNER STRENGTH & JOY

Modern Buddhist Meditation Series: Meditation calms our mind and makes it peaceful. It’s the main cause of inner peace, the source of true happiness. And yet we may find ourself lacking the motivation to meditate or engage in other beneficial activities. In this series we learn about the part of our mind that gives us this motivation, helps maintain it and ultimately assists us in fulfilling all our most profound and virtuous wishes. Then, we naturally feel joy, like a child at play, in the actions that lead us to real happiness. Gen Khyenwang, Resident Teacher at the Kadampa Meditation Center, NM is a close disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and has been practicing and teaching under his guidance for many years. Her teachings are clear, heartfelt and extremely practical for our modern lives. She is well known as an inspiring example of a contemporary Buddhist practitioner of Buddhas’s time-tested wisdom.

Tuesday evenings, 6 -7:30-pm 6/27Practicing with Joy

7/4 - NO CLASS

7/11 - Cultivating a Balanced Practice

Santa Fe Woman’s Club

Clean, Efficient & Knowledgeable Full Service Chimney Sweep/Dryer Vents. Appointments available. We will beat any price! 505.982.9308

Artschimneysweep.com

1616 Old Pecos Trail

$10

Meet like minded people of all ages and backgrounds!

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF IRENE ANN ORTIZ, DECEASED. NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION TO: UNKNOWN HEIRS OF IRENE ANN ORTIZ, DECEASED, AND ALL UNKNOWN PERSONS WHO HAVE OR CLAIM ANY INTEREST IN THE ESTATE OF IRENE ANN ORTIZ, DECEASED, OR IN THE MATTER BEING LITIGATED IN THE HEREINAFTER MENTIONED HEARING. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN of the following: 1. IRENE ANN ORTIZ, Deceased, died on October 25, 2022. 2. MICHAEL JOHN ORTIZ filed a Petition for Adjudication of Intestacy, Determination of Heirship, and Formal Appointment of Personal Representative in the above-styled and numbered matter on May 18, 2023, and a hearing on the abovereferenced Petition has been set for July 10, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. at the First Judicial District Courthouse before the Honorable Francis J. Mathew to be held in In-Person, Third Floor, First Judicial District Court, 225 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501. 3. Pursuant to Section 45-1-401 (A) (3), N.M.S.A., 1978, notice of the time and place of hearing on the abovereferenced Petition is hereby given to you by publication, once each week, for three consecutive weeks.

DATED this 6th day of June, 2023.

/s/ Kristi A. Wareham, Esq. KRISTI A. WAREHAM, P.C. Attorney for Petitioner 300 Paseo de Peralta, Ste. 103 Santa Fe, NM 87501 Telephone: (505) 820-0698 Fax: (505) 629-1298 Email: kristiwareham@icloud.com

FOR PRIDE: SANTA FE FILMMAKERS OFFER FREE STREAM OF RESTORED INDIE HIT, POUSSE CAFÉ

Celebrating PRIDE month, ShadowCatcher Entertainment

(Executive Producer of “Smoke Signals”) is offering free streaming of their recent release of director Susan Winter’s fest hit, Pousse Café. In a vault for 27 years, the film is a poignant father/son story that broke new ground in 1990’s LGBTQ+ film representation, and a dazzling arthouse homage to Old Hollywood comedies and classic cocktails. It’s observations on class, gender, and popular culture could have been written today. Catch last 10 days of free streaming: https://poussecafefilm.com

Promo code: 3PCGDFM9