November 17, 2021: Santa Fe Reporter

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NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021

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NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021

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NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021 | Volume 48, Issue 46

NEWS

BANKING BUILT FOR

OUR COMMUNITY.

OPINION 5 NEWS 7 DAYS, CLAYTOONZ AND THIS MODERN WORLD 6 DISMEMBERED REFORM 9 Black Santa Feans cut ties with city’s effort to reimagine policing after task force’s stifled beginning ALREADY ‘BAKED IN’ 10 New Mexico’s water challenges loom large on the political landscape COVER STORY 12 THE WHOLE TEACHER Amid historic burnout, Taos Municipal Schools is replacing some professional development days with teacher wellness retreats

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU The journalists at the Santa Fe Reporter are in overdrive to help our community stay connected. We plan to continue publishing a print edition and daily web updates. Can you help support our journalism mission? Learn more at sfreporter.com/friends

MAX MYERS, REGIONAL PRESIDENT NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

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CULTURE

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SFR PICKS 17 W21 then and now, queer business party, cats and cocktails and the return of Winter Indian Market THE CALENDAR 18

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and impactful for them and the community.

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SENIOR CORRESPONDENT JULIA GOLDBERG STAFF WRITERS BELLA DAVIS WILLIAM MELHADO

A&C 25 THE BOOKSHELF Author Rax King delves into the tackier side of things in new essay collection

CULTURE WRITER RILEY GARDNER CONTRIBUTING WRITER ANNABELLA FARMER

FOOD 27

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SO NICE WE WENT TWICE Marquez Deli’s new menu is so good it’s kind of insane

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financial lives in a way that’s both positive

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3 QUESTIONS 20 With painter Zienna Brunsted Stewart

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WE’RE ALL IN

FOR NEW MEXICO.

We are addressing the PRC hearing examiner’s merger concerns and appreciate the opportunity to respond. We take the input seriously. We are finding pathways to approval to ensure our merger is as beneficial as possible for our customers, the communities we serve, and the environment. We all live and work here – which is why we put New Mexico first. PNM and AVANGRID are committed to what’s best for New Mexico. Cleaner energy. Improved infrastructure. More economic investment. The numerous benefits of the merger include:

AN ESTIMATED $300 MILLION in economic impact $67 MILLION in customer bill credits over three years 10 MILLION for residential customer bill help

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Continued commitment to New Mexico nonprofits Additional standards for reliability and customer service Enhanced corporate governance and financial protections for customers

Learn more at PNM.com/future

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NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021

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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.

MORNING WORD, OCT. 26: “GOV. NET-ZERO EMISSIONS FOR NM BY 2050”

HYDROGEN IS A DEAD END Net-zero emissions is a laudable goal for New Mexico, but the governor and New Mexicans should know that hydrogen is a dead end, and heading down that path will ultimately be worse for our emissions. Hydrogen vehicles have been abandoned as a transitional path by the auto industry, and the only people still bullish about it as a “transition fuel” are natural gas producers. In addition, a recent peer-reviewed study in Energy Science & Engineering shows that so-called “blue” hydrogen (produced with natural gas) is worse for the climate than coal (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ full/10.1002/ese3.956). The governor needs to listen to New Mexicans who want a livable future, and not the oil and gas industry.

JOHNNEMANN NORDHAGEN SANTA FE

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ADVERTISING WARHEAD FACTORY Thank you for publishing the two-page spread detailing information about the secret plutonium warhead factory being built by LANL with no ability by residents to have any input in how resources are used. New Mexico and the world do not need these polluting death projects. The construction jobs expose workers and residents to radiation poisoning. We need to use financial and human resources to build affordable housing, create affordable childcare, and support social programs for unhoused people.

NANCY KING SANTA FE

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SANTA FE EAVESDROPPER “He wants to know where your carrot sticks are.”

Dr. Eric Anderson

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—Overheard from man on horse on the Santa Fe River Trail to woman petting horse

Tween to mom: “Can we not come back here until next year?”

CHRISTUS St. Vincent Urology Associates 465 St. Michael’s Drive, Suite 110 Santa Fe, NM 87505

Mom: “If you can live without those organic cookies you like.” —Overheard in Whole Foods

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S FREP ORTER.COM / FUN

EDGEWOOD WAL-MART FIRE BELIEVED TO BE ARSON But it still wasn’t as hot as these low, low prices!

BIDEN ENACTS TEMPORARY BAN FOR DRILLING ON PUBLIC LAND AROUND CHACO Because oil and ancient places don’t mix.

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? NEW MEXICO EXTENDS INDOOR MASK MANDATE THROUGH DEC. 10 It’s almost like we’ve been here before.

YOU’VE GOT ONE WEEK TIL THANKSGIVING Nothing says you’re taking rising pandemic numbers seriously like traveling across the country to hang out with your massive family in a mask-free, close quarters environment.

SPACEPORT WANTS $2 MILLION IN EXTRA FUNDING Why don’t you nerds land on the moon at least once before you’re holding out your hands like some kind of space-lovin’ Oliver Twist?

TURNS OUT BILL RICHARDSON WAS HELPING TO FREE AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST IN MYANMAR Huh. Well, OK, cool, but, like, he’s still a weirdo.

HALO INFINITE MULTIPLAYER SUITE GETS SURPRISE RELEASE TO COINCIDE WITH SERIES’ 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY That’s right—we put a thing about video games in here. What are you gonna do about it?

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W E A R E WAY M O R E TH A N W E D N E S DAY H E R E A R E A CO UP LE O F O N LI N E E XC LUS I V E S :

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RED HARING

Families of inmates who have died at Santa Fe County Jail say there’s a pattern of negligence.

Santa Fe’s SWAN Park is set to get a new fitness court, replete with a dang Keith Haring mural.

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“I suspect our town does not understand how fragile its institutions are, because we still have them on an everyday basis.”

media industry turned into a dinosaur. However, our Back Page A Letter from ad in the Reporter has helped Lisa Harris and keep us alive. Ongoing response to the ad has been, Video Library In A Streetcar Named Desire, well, responsive. People Blanche DuBois declaims, definitely peruse the back “I have always depended on cover. It has always been a the kindness of strangers.” weekly printout of the local Today, the Santa Fe Reporter pulse. That ad reminds movis depending on the kindness ie buffs that Video Library is of friends. Specifically with still here. Even in mid-2020, its Friends of the Reporter when the world was barriprogram. caded, our ad kept assuring You can donate cash, people that yes, the Vid abides. check, card, euros, rubles, whatKeeping your name out there is ever, and that generosity identifies everything. you as part of a larger community effort Basically, if your business or service to keep our town’s one and only indepenneeds some media exposure, there is nothdent weekly newspaper to remain solvent, ing more interactive than the Reporter’s publishing, and available everywhere, for Back Page. free. Oh, you say do you not have a local busiSanta Fe is so lucky. We revel in the ness, so why advertise? Fine. Just give the world-class aspects of a big city—symphoReporter some money! nies, museums, fine dining, opera, film, Consider: every art form imaginable—all without trafWhat if our blue skies vanished? fic, smog, and crowds (except for Paseo de What if we could no longer see the Peralta during Indian Market). mountains? The climate breeds local indie shops, What if there were no river? small, amazing, and service-driven. Music, Well, our local institutions invoke the books, and yes, even video. Indies all. Rare same response of disbelief. entities all. Just like the Santa Fe Reporter. Thus we implore you: Do not let the Sometimes, though, I suspect our town Santa Fe Reporter become another Beloved does not understand how fragile its instituMemory like La Tertulia, Nicolas Potter tions are, because we still have them on an Books, Yucca Drive-In—all gone, all still everyday basis. They have not disappeared, mourned. as in so many other Zip codes, now bereft of Ergo, do not let the Santa Fe Reporter go such amenities, be it due to economy, panthe way of locally focused papers like the Los demic, or plain old zeitgeist. Alamos Monitor, the Rocky Mountain News, You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone. and, indeed, the Village Voice, which the Video Library is not gone. Reporter most resembles. Now 40 years old, the Vid has been supIt has been our hometown weekly since ported by the Reporter a lot over the de1974. cades. Back in the 2000s, it was a thrill when Please: Help keep it that way. Reporter readers consistently voted it “Best of Santa Fe.” But as video stores closed one Lisa Harris by one, finally the Reporter could no lonowner/operator ger fill the three voting slots, as the home Video Library

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Black Santa Feans cut ties with city’s effort to reimagine policing after task force’s stifled beginning BY WILLIAM MELHADO w i l l i a m @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

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n May 2020, the world watched in horror as George Floyd died under the knee of a Minnesota police officer outside a convenience store. The ripples stretched as far as Santa Fe, where the City Council announced plans to examine whether the police brutality directed against Black Americans in other places had crept into the City Different. Mayor Alan Webber and Councilors Renee Villarreal and Chris Rivera sponsored a resolution creating a task force charged with digging into the thorny questions of race, policing and public safety as a whole—a move that mirrored similar efforts in cities across the nation that easily gained support from the full governing body. Sixteen months have passed since then, and the city’s Community Health and Safety Task Force has struggled to make progress. A mandated review of police policies and procedures has yet to materialize, and the council is expected to extend the task force’s initial expiration date of Dec. 31. Meanwhile, the group—charged to determine whether the city’s public safety departments harm communities of color— saw departures of the task force’s only three Black members, including its facilitator, in its first year. Naja Druva, a mental health therapist, signed on shortly after the group’s creation. She cites a recent commitment to social justice work as a contributing factor for her applying. Druva, who is Black, resigned in January, expressing a loss of faith in the government-led structure and what she calls a toxic environment. In her time with the task force she discovered “how damaging it is to hear your experience, your lived experience, debated.”

“When I left, they were still deciding how they would find out whether or not there is an issue in policing in Santa Fe,” Druva tells SFR of the six months she spent on the task force. She argues, based on her experience as a Black woman and mother, that the question should not be whether there is an issue, but how the city can work to address it. “We know that there’s an issue worldwide—absolutely in our nation, absolutely in our state and in our city—with policing,” says Druva. She adds that “the change won’t happen in a space that is designed to maintain the status quo.” The task force’s leaders, Villarreal and Rivera, say the group is taking its time to ensure it does the hard, necessary work. Both councilors are asking the governing body to extend the term of the group until December 2022, during which time the task force hopes to hear from citizens through a community outreach and engagement plan. The task force’s stated goal is to examine how Santa Fe’s community health and safety services can better work together to benefit residents. In the resolution establishing the group, the duties of the task force include assessing Santa Fe Police and Fire Departments’ internal policies and procedures and listening to the experiences of Santa Feans with public safety. The group was initially contracted to end in December 2021 and gave its first presentation to the governing body only last week; it’s clear the work is moving slower than anticipated. “What happened with police-sanctioned violence that was occurring around the country, I think activated peoples’, not just perceptions, but experiences

citizens to share, “is going to be somewhat shocking to the community, as it was to me.” Villarreal acknowledges that the task force’s socially fraught mission and its pandemic-forced forum for meetings—Zoom— has presented challenges. “We’re trying to build trust with community members that have never met each other in person,” she says. Villarreal explains that until January, the group was stifled from moving forward because it lacked a facilitator. The city hired Sunshine Muse, a health equity consultant who is Black; she resigned earlier in the year for personal reasons, according to Rivera. Also stalling the group’s progress was the public format of the meetings. Villarreal says amending the resolution to allow closed meetings for the group, which happened in March, took up time. “We’re working in a very hard structure. It’s government-led, it’s somewhat government-sanctioned, it’s funded partially -Naja Druva, former at the moment by the city,” task force member she says. Villarreal explains that other cities that have attempted government-led efforts to examine public safety reform have faced similar challenges. Alternatively, she adds, community-led approaches face different challenges. Recounting her exhausting experience while on the task force, which led to her resignation, Druva asks, “Why I resigned, to me, is less important a question than why has every Black person that was involved in this task force resigned?” Druva says she does not speak for the other, former members when pointing out this important fact. She explains that three of the initial 12 on the task force, including Muse, were Black. Neither Raashan Ahmad nor Muse could be reached for comment. The councilors confirm that none of the current members are Black. Villarreal notes that some of the former members have agreed to participate in focus groups. Druva soured on the task force ultimately because she found that the attempts at police reform could not come from the group. As she says, “We’re asking the fox how to make the hen house safer.”

happening locally,” Villarreal says of the impetus behind creating the task force. Hearing from his fellow task force members, Rivera admits, was an eye-opening experience. “As a Hispanic male in this community, I feel pretty safe,” says Rivera. He adds that many of the city’s police are also Hispanic, “but for other people in the community, things are different.” Rivera says the departure of Black Santa Feans from the task force stresses the need to hear from a range of voices: from immigrants and young people to police officers and the incarcerated. “And I think some of that transparency and some of that feeling,” Rivera tells SFR, explaining what he anticipates his fellow

We’re asking the fox how to make the hen house safer.

ANSON STEVENS-BOLLEN

Dismembered Reform

NEWS

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LAURA PASKUS

Already “Baked In”

New Mexico’s water challenges loom large on the political landscape

request of Lujan Grisham. He’d previously served as State Engineer from 2003 to 2011, appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson and remaining for almost a year under Gov. Susana Martinez. When Lujan Grisham’s transition team approached him in 2018, he was working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Asked at that time, why he would want to head the state agency again, especially given New Mexico’s water challenges, D’Antonio said he didn’t initially apply for the position. “But as I spoke to the transition team…and noting how much of a challenge we have as a state, I thought it was important to have someone coming back in that could pull a lot of things together,” he said. Even at the time of that interview, early in 2019, D’Antonio was worried about the agency’s budget. Then, roughly one-quarter of the staff positions were empty.

New leadership, new opportunities

Elephant Butte Reservoir, pictured here in March 2021, is currently about 6% full.

B Y L A U R A PA S K U S @LauraPaskus

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ew Mexico officials know that continued warming is drying out the state’s rivers, farmlands, forests and reservoirs. And while there are plans to address some of those challenges, state water experts say they lack resources to implement changes. This summer, more than 30 miles of the Middle Rio Grande dried. Farmers in that region, as well as further south, in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, received lower-than-normal water allocations. For the second year running, the Albuquerque Bernalillo Water Utility had to rely exclusively on groundwater pumping during the summer and fall. Statewide, streams, rivers and reservoirs are low. And the forecast for this winter is another warm one, and another dry one. The impacts of climate change are “baked in” with the amount of greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere, said Norman Gaume, former New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission director, in an interview early last week. “New Mexico is going to be much drier and much warmer and is going to have much less water,” he said. “Put that decline in our water on top of the fact that we’re already using more water than is sustainable in most areas of the state.” Addressing these problems boils down to “facing our problems,” Gaume said. But both the “public demand” and the “political appetite” for serious changes in water management have yet to occur, he said. 10

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Water policy and funding doesn’t appear high on the Legislature’s agenda, Gaume said. And while Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham published an “excellent water policy platform” during her election campaign in 2018, he said water hasn’t been a priority during her administration. “The best thing that could happen to us would be if she would turn her attention to that and actually see it implemented,” Gaume said. “It may not do everything we need to do, but it would be a wonderful start.” And clearly, New Mexico’s top water officials are feeling the crunch of inaction and inattention.

Water boss calls it quits

Last Wednesday, three of New Mexico’s top water officials announced their resignations to fellow staff. John D’Antonio, New Mexico’s state engineer, had submitted his resignation to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Oct. 31, saying he would stay in the job until the end of the year. As state engineer, D’Antonio also serves as secretary of the Interstate Stream Commission, Rio Grande Compact commissioner, Costilla Creek Compact commissioner, the governor’s representative on the Colorado River, Upper Colorado River Compact commissioner, and chairman of the Water Trust Board. In a list of discussion points, D’Antonio noted that “we’ve taken the agency as far as we can, given the current agency staffing level and funding resources.”

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Other issues he cited in his resignation memo include: • “For nearly three years we’ve been asking for additional staff and funding to protect the state’s water resources. We have been directed to submit a flat budget for FY 23 despite strong financial revenue projections.” • “Glaring non-response from the legislature on funding the 50-Yr Water Plan for the last three years with expectations that it be completed regardless of funding limitations.” • “67 fewer Full Time Equivalent (FTEs) than our agency had during the [Bill] Richardson administration.” • “Unfunded mandates on recent legislation such as the Cannabis Regulation Act further strains our limited staff.” •“Inability to retain highly experienced professional staff due to non-competitive pay structure.” D’Antonio’s resignation came along with that of Interstate Stream Commission General Counsel Arianne Singer and Office of the State Engineer General Counsel Greg Ridgley. The news reverberated throughout the New Mexico water community last week. Speaking on background, one high-level water attorney in the state said he was “terrified” about what it means for New Mexico’s water future. Known for an even disposition and the ability to get along with various agencies, commissions, and states, D’Antonio returned to state government in 2019, at the

“I will miss many of the folks who chose to leave,” said Rep. Nathan Small, D-Doña Ana. But he thinks there is now an opportunity to “move forward aggressively” on the state’s water challenges. He acknowledged the Legislature’s need to fund the water agency’s budget at a level commensurate with the challenges. But, he said, since 2019 the Legislature has increased the Office of the State Engineer’s budget by about 11%. And on average, he said, about 10% of the agency’s total budget, about $3.8 million, remained unused. Agencies can request that unused money—budgeted toward staffing positions that aren’t filled—be redirected toward other projects. When that request isn’t made, the money is returned to the state’s general fund. Small also noted the need for “new ideas for more comprehensive and innovative water management issues, [and] I rarely saw those originate within the Office of the State Engineer.” “As we look forward with strong budgetary capacity, with a clear and keen understanding of the stresses that the climate crisis places upon New Mexico’s core water infrastructure and the ways that our systems of water use have been set up, I am very hopeful for a strong, active and innovative partner,” Small said of the agency’s leadership: “One that is committed to using all of the funding capacity that the Legislature appropriates—which has not been the case for the last few years—and is a part of bringing forward new tools and stronger collaboration with regional stakeholders, be those acequias, irrigation districts or the myriad other stakeholders.” Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, “absolutely agrees” that the state’s water agencies

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is violating the Rio Grande Compact by allowing farmers to pump groundwater, and thereby draw water from the system that should be flowing downstream in the river. The state of Texas sued Colorado and New Mexico, filing No. 141, Original: Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, in 2013. The following year, the United States joined forces against New Mexico, saying the state’s actions have harmed its ability to deliver water under the Rio Grande Compact and the international treaty with Mexico. D’Antonio wrote that the first phase of the trial is complete, and “we are very optimistic that NM has greatly mitigated its liability exposure.” He added the state is moving into a “possible mediated settlement phase.” But Gaume said the Lower Rio Grande isn’t the only place New Mexico has to worry about lawsuits. “In the Middle Rio Grande, we’re on the verge of another Rio Grande Compact violation,” he said.

Under the Rio Grande Compact of 1938, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas share water based on how much is physically present in the river each year. Colorado’s water deliveries to New Mexico, for example, are based on flows past the Lobatos stream gage. And New Mexico’s deliveries to Texas are calculated by the sum of the measured flow below Elephant Butte Dam for the year and the change in storage within the reservoir. When states deliver additional water downstream, they accrue credits. When they don’t move the required water, debits. And right now, New Mexico owes Texas more water. “We’re behind, seriously behind, and our debit is going to get worse this year,” said Gaume, warning that Texas could sue New Mexico again, putting the issue behind closed-door litigation. “We must pay attention to that and not let control slip out of our hands because we have violated the limit of our debit.”

LAURA PASKUS

are underfunded—and said a subcommittee of the Water and Natural Resources Committee is looking into the agency’s budget and performance. Through those efforts and proposed legislation, as well as improving transparency and data, she’s optimistic. “I’m hopeful about continuing to modernize the system of water governance in the state, and what we can do to improve the process,” she said. “And, with new leadership, comes new opportunities.” In an email, the governor’s press secretary, Nora Meyers Sackett, wrote of gratitude for D’Antonio’s “critical work to protect New Mexico’s water resources” and said the office will continue that work and fill the State Engineer job as quickly as possible. “We are working expeditiously to address the state’s most pressing water challenges, including unprecedented drought, low reservoir levels and inequities around access to water in some New Mexico communities,” Meyers Sackett wrote. “A priority of this administration remains the completion and implementation [of ] the state’s 50-year water plan and an active, cross-agency planning process is underway. With the effects of climate change mounting, we must ensure we are prepared for and resilient to its effects, and water is of the utmost importance, especially in the American Southwest.” She added that New Mexico’s spending efforts will be augmented by hundreds of millions of federal dollars via the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Bill, which will “enable once-in-a-lifetime investments in our water planning and infrastructure.”

NM on the ‘verge’ of violation

In D’Antonio’s resignation memo, he noted his own optimism on the state’s position in the US Supreme Court lawsuit playing out on the Lower Rio Grande, where New Mexico is embroiled in a disagreement with Texas, and now, the federal government. The downstream state alleges that New Mexico

Farmers in southern New Mexico rely on flood irrigation from the Rio Grande and groundwater pumping for various crops and orchards.

NEWS

According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, New Mexico’s debit was about 91,000 acre-feet in 2020. That includes 38,000 acre-feet of water the state of New Mexico essentially borrowed from Texas that summer as part of an emergency release of water for farmers in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. By of the end of October 2021, New Mexico had accrued an additional 46,000 acre-feet of debit—although the Bureau of Reclamation anticipates the final debit for 2020 and 2021 will be closer to 100,000 acre-feet. That’s due to estimated daily river flows, as well as “prior and paramount” water that the six Middle Grande Pueblos did not use this year, water that Reclamation plans to move into Elephant Butte Reservoir by the end of December. With reservoirs already tapped out—and La Niña conditions forecast for the winter—it’s unclear, however, when or how New Mexico might catch up on deliveries to Texas. “We have to use less water in the Middle Rio Grande or deliver it downstream more effectively and efficiently with fewer losses. Those are the only two answers and we haven’t decided how to do that,” Gaume said. Whether it’s problems on the Rio Grande, or elsewhere across New Mexico, “We know what’s coming, we need to plan for what’s coming,” said Gaume. “We need to figure out what the best solutions are and then we need to implement those solutions, instead of putting them on the shelf and letting them go unattended. That’s where New Mexico has been on water issues for a long, long time.” He added, “We the people of New Mexico need to demand that our leaders face up to our water problems and help us deal with our future.” This story was published by New Mexico PBS and is reprinted with permission.

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Amid historic burnout, Taos Municipal Schools is replacing some professional development days with teacher wellness retreats

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BY WILLIAM MELHADO w i l l i a m @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

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AOS - On a sunny day in early November, teacher Trish Curran wasn’t corralling elementary phys ed students as she normally would be. Instead, she was educating her colleagues at Taos Municipal Schools on the benefits of walking. “If nothing else, we’re spending our work time just rejuvenating a little bit,” Curran tells SFR. The point of the walking session at the well-being retreat for school staff members was connection, she says. “Connecting your feet with the earth and your moment with the mountain or catching up with colleagues you work with but never see.” Despite a knee replacement a couple years ago, Curran walks briskly around the track outside Taos Middle School, which has a view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Taos Pueblo to the northeast. About 10 of her colleagues, forgoing jackets to bask in the fall sunshine, walk in groups of two or three at varying paces around the oval loop. Technically, it was a normal district-wide professional development day: one without students where school staff members are expected to come and learn something

new, refine existing skills or plan upcoming lessons. But with teachers and custodians walking the track together in one session and counselors and administrators learning about homeopathic remedies side by side in another, it was obvious that this had little in common with traditional professional development days. Instead, the event, “Reconnect and Reinvent,” was meant as a retreat, a chance for educators and other school staff to step away from their daily responsibilities and focus on themselves. It was the second of its kind, following one in August. Jennifer St.Clair, who works in Santa Fe Public Schools, didn’t attend the retreat. But she knows why such events exist. “This year is in a class of its own in terms of difficulty and low morale,” says St.Clair, a 29-year veteran teacher. Between asking students to wear their masks properly for the hundredth time and constantly worrying about close contacts with people who tested positive for COVID-19, the year has left teachers “hanging by a thread,” St.Clair adds. The well-being of educators everywhere has been stretched to its limits over the last year and a half, teachers and experts say. And continued high-stress working conditions

KELLI JOHANSEN FOR THE HECHINGER REPORT

Explaining how COVID-19 has limited people’s choices, Prisca Winslow said the mindfulness exercise she was leading helps people develop awareness of their body.

“Everyone from the school site to administration, you know, I’m worried about people,” O’Brien tells SFR. It’s “critical for us to take care of the adults who are working with and for our children and their families.” O’Brien says the district is focused on providing a number of options to support teachers’ well-being, including services provided by the employee assistance program. It is also working with community partners

to give staff more well-being support they can pursue as needed, she adds, though that project is still in the planning phase. Despite the efforts, some teachers say the unprecedented challenges of this year have not been addressed. St.Clair says, “There’s a huge disconnect between the administration who are acting like it’s a normal year and requiring the same things. Our teachers really feel like the

WILLIAM MELHADO

appear to be accelerating teacher turnover. Creative, systemic reforms are needed to support teachers as people, not just employees. Reimagining how school districts use professional development days could be one solution to an increasingly urgent problem. The focus of Taos’ professional development retreat is social-emotional learning, an educational practice that centers around self-awareness, relationships and decision making. In schools, the practice is typically used with students, but with swelling pressures on teachers this year, this well-being initiative targets adults. The need to improve teacher wellness supports is urgent. Right now, teachers experience symptoms of depression at almost three times the rate of the rest of the population, according to a study, “Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply,” published in June by the nonprofit Rand Corp. Virtual instruction, child care and health are among the pandemic-era issues that are likely responsible for an increase in teachers’ desires to leave their jobs, the study says. Prior to the pandemic, a national survey from the Learning Policy Institute found that roughly one-sixth of teachers left their jobs each year. When Rand surveyed teachers during the 2020-21 school year, nearly one in four said they were likely to leave. Among Black teachers, the proportion was almost half. “We found that teachers who were more likely to consider leaving their jobs were also more stressed about their own health and the health of their loved ones,” says Ashley Woo, an assistant policy researcher at Rand and co-author of the study with Elizabeth Steiner, a Rand policy researcher. Teachers who worked in schools with fewer COVID safety precautions were even more likely to express an interest in leaving. Woo says local districts should collect data to understand their educator population. Districts can then “use that information to collaboratively work with school leaders and teachers to develop well-being support that they would actually find useful in their particular community.” In Santa Fe, the district provides workers with an employee assistance program, a benefit that many other large employers offer. The district tailored its program to address additional stresses school employees face, offering services and supports that range from drop-in meditation breaks and tips to reduce Zoom exhaustion to shortterm counseling, says Sue O’Brien, the student wellness director at SFPS.

Jennifer St.Clair dismisses students on a recent Thursday afternoon outside Carlos Gilbert Elementary School.

administration is completely ignoring the crisis in our schools this year.” Experts say teachers who are taking care of themselves are better prepared to take care of students. If educators aren’t reflecting on their own well-being, “ultimately, there may actually be harm done to young people,” says Karen VanAusdal, a senior director of practice at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, a national nonprofit working to expand social-emotional learning in classrooms. “I think there is some individual responsibility to attend to our own well-being, but I think it’s not enough just to say that self care is the answer for teachers,” VanAusdal says. “I think it also needs to be built into the structures and systems around adults.” The past year has seen shifts in how some districts support their employees. Atlanta Public Schools has always had a focus on well-being, says Rose Prejean-Harris, the district’s director of social-emotional learning, but “once the pandemic hit, there was a heightened awareness that you have to continuously do more.” The Atlanta district ramped up programming, providing staff members the chance to speak to one of nine therapists in addition to the services already established in the district’s employee assistance program. District leaders are also hosting listening and healing circles to hear the staff’s concerns. Those conversations helped leaders tailor support to meet educators’ needs, Prejean-Harris says. A website listing well-being services provided by the Atlanta Public Schools is also available to staff. “It’s even more important that, individually...we can advocate for ourselves because that’s what those [social-emotional learning] skills help us to do,” Prejean-Harris CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021

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KELLI JOHANSEN FOR THE HECHINGER REPORT

an engineer, physicist and martial arts expert, to use movement to bring awareness to every aspect of living. “As humans, as animals...our brain is occupied with movements 24/7, whether it’s sleeping, rapid-eye movements, breathing, digestion,” Winslow tells SFR. She hopes the exercises give participants a heightened awareness of their “place of balance,” which she says can relate to emotional stability. After the session of mindful movement with Winslow, the participants move to the cafeteria where Nikki Cain, of Growing Community Now, a food education group, pairs kale and apple smoothies with a discussion on how gardens provide teachers and students a place for social-emotional learning.

KELLI JOHANSEN FOR THE HECHINGER REPORT

says. She adds that her district’s shift to promoting adult social-emotional learning has enabled staff members to engage in honest discussions with their supervisors, which helps them do a better job of talking to students. “Having those emotionally intelligent conversations and modeling those skills, really helps kids to then also manage their emotions,” says Prejean-Harris. Some districts took special measures to provide extra support during the pandemic. For example, the Los Angeles Unified School District offered full-time employees $500 in monthly child-care subsidies when schools reopened in April. But that program has ended, even though high-quality, affordable child care is still in drastically short supply. (Lack of child care was a frequent source of anxiety for educators, most of whom are women and many of whom are parents, according to the Rand study.) It’s unclear if school districts nationally will use the lessons learned during the pandemic to increase employee support. Back in Taos, a small group of school employees walks in circles on a squeaky, polished wooden gym floor at Enos Garcia Elementary School, avoiding eye contact with their colleagues. “Imagine you’re walking through a door,” Prisca Winslow, who’s leading the session, calls to the group. “And just beyond that door you’re going to have an uncomfortable conversation.” People begin to walk with an unwilling gait. Next, Winslow asks the group to imagine they’re walking through a door with someone who “loves and supports you” on the other side. The participants’ pace picks up. Winslow encourages the group to be aware of how slight changes in movement can reveal things about one’s emotions. She is a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, originally developed by Moshe Feldenkrais,

ABOVE: “I think it’s very amazing that our district—I mean we’re getting paid, we’re on the clock—but that our district has committed time for us in this way so this is the focus,” said Trish Curran. BELOW:In view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, teachers, cooks and custodians connected over fresh air and the simple act of walking.

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KELLI JOHANSEN FOR THE HECHINGER REPORT

It was all about creating groups of employees, and giving them a shared learning experience that they might first apply to their own life [and] somehow maybe to their family lives. -Mark Richert, Taos schools’ social-emotional learning coordinator

Mark Richert addresses a gathering of Taos Municipal School employees ahead of the second session of “Reconnect and Reinvent,” a teacher well-being retreat series hosted by the rural New Mexico district.

Richert doesn’t expect the staff retreats to be a universal cure for what ails his district. Taos lost 62 staff members last school year and has struggled to fill roughly 16 open positions. Those vacancies only reflect a teacher shortage. The district is also looking to bring on a number of educational assistants, substitute teachers, custodians and other staff to help schools run more efficiently. “Well-being is having enough adults to create a safe environment and few enough students in the class to do the same and an education system whose success is not dependent on unpaid teacher overtime,” reads one anonymous comment that Richert shared from the first teacher retreat he organized earlier in the year. “Until these types of systemic problems are addressed, no amount of essential oils, herbs, yoga, [or] improv medicine will really address the fundamental unwellness of any of our staff.”

Job-Related Stress and Symptoms of Depression of Depression Among Teachers and Among the General US Adult Population US Teachers

US Adults

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SOURCE: RAND CORP’S STUDY, JOB-RELATED STRESS THREATENS THE TEACHER SUPPLY.

Across town, Morgaine Witriol, the founder of Native Roots, a Taos-based school of ancestral folk and herbal medicine, invites attendees to learn about homeopathic remedies, like marigold and echinacea. Though the session lasts just under an hour, those who wish to continue learning with the organization can attend classes after school with their families for free. Mark Richert, social-emotional learning coordinator for Taos Municipal Schools, explains that he worked with a number of community organizations to plan the day’s retreat as part of a broader effort to strengthen the connections between the town and its schools. Staff members who want to continue taking advantage of the well-being services offered at the retreat will be able to do so free for the next five months. “It was all about creating groups of employees, and giving them a shared learning experience that they might first apply to their own life [and] somehow maybe to their family lives,” says Richert. He explains that while teachers might also apply some of this acquired social-emotional knowledge to working with their students, it was primarily for the teachers’ benefit. “That’s a real shift,” he says, “because traditionally it’s, ‘What can we do to help you help students?’” This isn’t the first time Taos educators have set aside time to incorporate social-emotional learning into their schools. For a decade the district has hosted an emotional intelligence retreat for all incoming ninth graders, led by 12th-graders, which seeks to bolster students’ mental and emotional health at the start of high school. For the teachers’ retreats, beyond using two days of paid professional development time, the district spent less than $12,000 for all the presenters and the additional 42 hours of free sessions employees can use after school. Richert says that by working with community organizations, he was able to minimize costs and include partners that reflected the interests of local staff. In an educational research brief published in October, Doris Santoro, of Bowdoin College, and Olga Acosta Price, of George Washington University, write that teachers’ involvement in the design of well-being support is key to getting them to buy in. “We’re talking about systemic, ongoing interventions that prioritize wellness and so it might be things like shifting school cultures,” says Santoro, a professor of education. She adds that schools need to strike a healthier work-life balance for staff. “It’s much easier to have some sort of one off, ‘this is what we’re going to do today.’ And it takes a long-term commitment to sustain the kinds of shifts that are required.”

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Richert agrees that systemic issues are the root cause of much of teachers’ unwellness. But, he said, something needs to be done for educators to address their mounting stress. “The challenge is, does the school system—whether it’s Taos, the state of New Mexico, the American education [system]— share that value?” Richert asks of the need to lessen stressful conditions in schools. “That’s sometimes hard for decision makers to stomach.” Until they do, educators and other school staff members will continue to do their best to make this school year, the third pandemic-affected year in a row, work for kids. Between sessions, in the hallways of Taos Middle School where Christine Autumn has taught art for over 20 years, her group is about to head to the final well-being presentation of the day. She, Curran and her peers will spend some time outside on the school track, lingering on the benefits of walking. While pleased that the presenters were thoughtful, Autumn tells SFR she would have liked to have a choice on whether to participate. “We’re short staffed, we’re filling in for absentee teachers and we’re all saying ‘yes’ because we know how hard it is,” says Autumn. “We know it isn’t fair on some level, but if we don’t do it, then who’s going to do it?” Helping other teachers through this chaotic time is reason enough to show up for an event meant to help improve well-being, says Curran, the phys ed teacher leading the track exercises. It’s not to please anyone in admin or even for the students exactly. Instead, Curran says, “We’re doing it for each other.” This story was co-produced with The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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Governor’s Awards for excellence in the arts 2021 Honorees

RICARDO CATÉ  SUSAN CONTRER AS  DAVE GRUSIN K ATHLEEN WALL  EDWARD “GUS” FOSTER  gallupARTS SPENCER THEATER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts, Robert D. Flaherty I Energylandscapes.net

saturday, november 20, 2021 7:00 pm (mt)  Streaming on Facebook Premiere Visit nmarts.org or scan the code aaaaa

Organized by New Mexico Arts and the New Mexico Museum of Art, divisions of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Sponsorship provided by the Rotary Club of Santa Fe. 16

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NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME Queer and do business stuff? Has the New Mexico OUT Business Alliance got an event for you! Join other LGBTQ+ business folk at a nighttime networking mixer along with Santa Fe HRA (the folks behind our fair city’s annual Pride festivities). Not only can you mingle with like-minded folks uniquely positioned to appreciate your work, you might just find your next collaborator, confidant or pal—all while enjoying fancy cocktails and feeling like the important, trend-setting community pillar you really are. Do we exaggerate? Maybe a little, but when it comes to doing biz in a small community like ours, can you ever have too many allies? (Alex De Vore) PRIDE Business After Hours: 5:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 18. Free. Agave Restaurant & Lounge 309 W San Francisco St., (505) 335-4530

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EVENT FRI/19 LAP THIS UP In existence for more than a decade, Santa Fe Spirits has been distilling the good stuff and partying with local events the entire time. Founder Colin Keegan’s a pretty cool guy, too, and if you’ve ever had a cocktail made with his locally crafted stuff, you know it’s the real deal. Even better, the folks behind the business appear to be animal lovers, too, and at the gloriously titled Whiskey for Whiskers event this weekend, they’ll help raise money for Felines & Friends New Mexico. Like most animal rescue operations, Felines & Friends counts on the generosity of kitty-loving fools such as yourself, and when a local powerhouse like Santa Fe Spirits sweetens the deal with special tastings, flights and snacks, well, you feel good and the cats feel good and everyone gets to do a little more than just send a check. (ADV) Whiskey for Whiskers: 4:30 pm Friday, Nov. 19. $25 Santa Fe Spirits Distillery, 7505 Mallard Way (505) 467-8892

ATAKRA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

EVENT SAT/20-SUN/21 ANOTHER CHANCE If you missed out on this year’s return to an in-person Indian Market for whatever reason (travel, tickets, time, temperature, etc.), you’ll have another chance to check out work from Indigenous artists in an admittedly more subdued but no less excellent fashion. The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Winter Indian Market returns to La Fonda on the Plaza with nearly 200 juried artists you might have caught at the big summer market (or not), a silent auction and more. Whether you’re adding to the collection, looking to catch the next big artist or simply love any massive gathering of intensely talented people, you’re bound to find something worth texting people about. It could be like, “OMG. Just saw most byoo-tee-full art of all time.” And then your friend will be like “K,” but you’ll know it was cool and that makes it worth it. (ADV) SWAIA Winter Indian Market: 9 am-5 pm Saturday, Nov. 20 and 10 am-3 pm Sunday, Nov. 21. $10-$15 La Fonda on the Plaza, 100 E San Francisco St. (505) 982-5511

S FR E P O RTE R .CO M /A RTS / S FR P I C KS PHOTO COURTESY OF ANA GALLEGOS Y REINHARDT.

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Where the Warehouse Never Wanes A two-part exhibit looking back at Warehouse 21 brings nostalgia front and center From 1996 to 2017, Warehouse 21 was the place for all things cool for Santa Fe youth. It was where the punk scene found new blood, performances were the regular thing and a DIY philosophy gave the youth a sense of control over what they wanted to do—and how they wanted to shape their community. Warehouse 21 may be a thing of the past, but its influence still ripples throughout the community. “I’ve collected 40 years of archival materials,” former executive director Ana Gallegos y Reinhardt tells SFR. “It means so much to me. [All of this] is a historical archive of youth culture in Santa Fe.” These decades of materials form a two-part show, kicking off with shoutout to nostalgia opening Nov. 19 at the Vital Spaces Midtown Annex (1600 St. Michael’s Drive, vitalspaces.org). The show’s curator and W21 alumnus Yvette Serrano is building a music-focused archival showcase for the first opening. The second show, Blast From the Past, A Tale of Two Warehouses, is curated by Gallegos y Reinhardt and various W21 alumni. It opens Dec. 10. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” Serrano says. “I grew up there, and my siblings and I had experiences through all the programs. The paths we’ve taken in life are really due to Warehouse 21.”

Both Serrano and Gallegos y Reinhardt sorted through thousands of items, which Reinhardt describes as anything and everything she could save during her tenure. “[There’s] a lot of photography, some published articles that are relevant about things that happened with us and the city,” Gallegos y Reinhardt explains. “We’ve got lost and found artworks, too; sometimes just things people left behind, even things I found in the trash. A lot of it stems from teen angst and depression and those kinds of things. I saved a lot of it.” shoutout to nostalgia leans heavily into the aesthetics: old flyers from shows Serrano helped promote, VHS tapes crammed with old concerts, a massive photo collection and more—all showcasing the importance of those days and how they churned out the leaders of artistic businesses and movements popular today. “I was really drawn to that side of things,” Serrano adds. “In a way, this is about letting go and moving on. The time feels right for that.” (Riley Gardner)

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SHOUTOUT TO NOSTALGIA 6-9 pm Friday, Nov. 19. Free Vital Spaces Midtown Annex 1600 St. Michael’s Drive warehouse21.org •

NOVEMBER 17-23, 2021

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ONGOING ART ANIMAL PORTRAITS: THE OTHER WORLD photo-eye Gallery 1300 Rufina Circle, Ste. A3 (505) 988-5152 x202 Images from artist Brad Wilson, who photographs animals with astonishing detail and makes Planet Earth look like they need to turn the focus lens up. All day, free EXPOSURE: NATIVE ART AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts 108 Cathedral Place (505) 983-8900 Artists showcasing how nuclear weapons affect Native populations. 10 am-4 pm, $5-$10 GO WEST SAID A SMALL VOICE New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave. (505) 476-5072 Gustave Baumann’s early 20th century paintings and marionettes. We can’t give a rating for how creepy the marionettes might be, but fair warning. 10 am-5 pm, $0-$12 ILONA PACHLER: UNRAVELED 5. Gallery 2351 Fox Road, Ste. 700 (505) 257-8417 A female interpretation of classical Greek mythologies. Noon-5, Thurs-Sat., free

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Omega by Thomas Christopher Haag, from the show No Shade For The Shadow at Kouri + Corrao Gallery.

IN SEARCH OF DOMÍNGUEZ AND ESCALANTE New Mexico History Museum 113 Lincoln Ave. (505) 476-5100 Did you know if you look out the window, you’ll see the same land from the 1770s? Yet there’s some key differences—check out what some traveling friars documented and compare it to today. 10 am-5 pm, $7-$12 INSPIRED BY THE LAND: PART II Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art 558 Canyon Road (505) 992-0711 Indigenous art inspired by nature and the concept of the great outdoors. All day, free KYLE MAIER: ELECTRIC POLAROID Historic Santa Fe Foundation 545 Canyon Road Ste. 2 (505) 983-2567 Kyle Maier's visual storytelling explores unique Polaroid captures from around the city. All day, free

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MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART EXHIBITION Museum of Encaustic Art 18 County Road 55A, Cerrillos (505) 424-6487 A showcase of over 100 of Encaustic Magazine’s featured work from the past decade of publication. All day, $10 NATIVE AMERICAN NACIMIENTOS Adobe Gallery 221 Canyon Road (505) 955-0550 Native American-made nativities ranging from decadesold to recent and from nowdeceased artists to the new generation of creators. All day, free PARALLEL TRAJECTORIES Currents 826 826 Canyon Road (505) 772-0953 Virtually constructed forms converted into inks on paper: here are organic patterns that evoke landscape, architecture and speculative weaving. All day, free

PAST PERFECT FUTURE form & concept 435 S Guadalupe St. (505) 216-1256 Erin Mickelson printed “forecasts“ from a language model she worked with, proving to have some unqiue, funny and even frightening results. See a year’s harvest of these prophecies and collective shiver at algorithms. All day, free POETIC JUSTICE New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave. (505) 476-5072 Exhibition that showcases the formal and thematic intersection between female artists who had a passion for social equality. All day, free REEMERGENCE 2021 Balzer Contemporary Edge Gallery at IAIA 83 Avan Nu Po Road (505) 424-2300 Student showcase spanning from deep questions of personal identity to the effects of COVID-19 still resonating. All day, free

RESURGENCE: MARK MAGGIORI PORTRAITS FROM E.I. COUSE’S PUEBLO PHOTOS Couse-Sharp Historic Site: Lunder Research Center 138 Kit Carson Road, Taos (575) 751-0369 A series based on historic photographs from Taos Pueblo. Noon-4 pm, Tues-Sat., free LAND CRAFT THEATRE SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 A combination of contemporary sculpture, adobe architecture and land-sourced practices. All day, free THE PLAYFUL SIDE OF LIFE Wild Hearts Gallery 221 B Highway 165, Placitas (505) 361-2710 Humorist and sculptor Roger Evans slides into town, presenting animal drawings he’s created from experience or from pure fantasy. He hopes you will find them worth a smile in recognition of your own animal stories. All day, free

THE SHAPE OF COLOR Pie Projects 924B Shoofly St. (505) 372-7681 A curated selection of Brian McPartlon's recent works. Here are intense colors grounded in a sense of place, where abstraction conveys optimism. And ya’ll need that. All day, free THERE'S NO OTHER LIKE YOUR MOTHER Foto Forum Santa Fe 1714 Paseo de Peralta (505) 470-2582 Artist Brandy Triguero examines the complexities of womanhood and the societal and familial constructs she sees in the world around us. All day, free THREE ON THE TREE | PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES Smoke the Moon 101 Marcy St., Ste. 23 Solo show by sculptor and painter Matthew Rosenquist and a group show about cool transportation imagery. All day, free

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UNTITLED ViVO Contemporary 725 Canyon Road (505) 982-1320 Yes, Untitled is called Untitled on purpose. Expect works in oils, acrylics, glass, sculpture and mixed media. You, dearest spectator, can come up with your own name for the show. All day, free WE WENT WILD IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts 108 Cathedral Place (505) 983-8900 Man, MoNCA really has so much good stuff coming out. Check out works from emerging student artists, whose pieces work like conduits for complex emotions. All day, $5-$10

WED/17 EVENTS DISTILLERY TOUR AND TASTING Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery 32 Bisbee Ct. (505) 393-5135 People who like big machines, chemistry and alcohol—come see the workings of beautiful production in action. 4:30 pm, $7 GEEKS WHO DRINK Second Street Brewery (Railyard) 1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-3278 Get some drinks and get delightfully competitive. Form or join a team and bring out that obscure fact you remember from your Wikipedia binge about the Transcontinental Railroad and Beanie Babies. 8-10 pm, free (but buy drinks) HOTLINE BINGO Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery 112 W San Francisco St., Ste. 307 (505) 983-0134 Ain’t feeling trivia but still want to smite the world in your competitive streak? Well, bingo like a madman here—with a new theme every other week! $2 buy-in per round. Fun prizes and cash jackpot. If you come in costume, you get a free round. 7 pm, $2-$10

WORKSHOP ART STEADY: CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR CREATORS Online bit.ly/3HhHxJ9 Check out this career development workshop series where you can demystify the business side of your creative work. All day, $175 WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP Alas De Agua Art Collective 1520 Center Drive, Ste. 2 alasdeagua.com As stated. Bring your favorite watercolor tools. 5:30-7 pm, free

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THU/18 BOOKS/LECTURES KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST: KATHERINE STANDEFER Online tinyurl.com/KStandefer A virtual evening with Kirkus Prize finalist and author of Lightning Flowers: My Journey To Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life. What if a lifesaving medical device causes loss of life along its supply chain? That’s the question Standefer finds herself asking one night after being suddenly shocked by her implanted cardiac defibrillator. Follow her global journey to mines and factories where the minerals in her device may have originated. 6 pm, free PSALMS AT THE PRESENT TIME Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse 202 Galisteo St. (505) 988-4226 Poet laureate, playwright, performance artist, essayist, journalist and SFR contributor (ayy whaddup) Darryl Lorenzo Wellington is a writer of many forms. In Psalms at the Present Time, here his poetry is at its eclectic best. 6 pm, free SOIL STORIES: ONLINE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SOIL HEALTH Online nmhealthysoil.org Mandy Ellerton and David LeZaks are co-authors of the newly released report The Regenerative Agriculture and Human Health Nexus: Insights from Field to Body. Here they’ll discuss key points from the paper and discuss the action necessary to strengthen the movement that will rebuild both human health and soil health (aka, the stuff that keeps you alive). 5:30 pm, free

DANCE TANGO PRACTICA Odd Fellows Hall 1125 Cerrillos Road Yes, you can reach your dream of performing the tango sequence from Moulin Rouge! if you come to practice night and dedicate yourself. 8 pm, $5

EVENTS A PATH TO SUCCESS: CHAMBER ORIENTATION Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce 1644 St. Michael’s Drive (505) 988-3279 Got a small business for which you’re eager to get tips? Join the Chamber of Commerce for a fast paced introduction to what they do, their programs and their benefits and advantages. 8-9 am, free

DISTILLERY TOUR AND TASTING Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery 32 Bisbee Ct. (505) 393-5135 Kind of like the crazy chemistry set in Frankenstein’s lab, except not as creepy and filled with joy rather than commentary about the direction of science. 4:30 pm, $7 PRIDE BUSINESS AFTER HOURS Agave Restaurant & Lounge 309 W San Francisco St. (505) 995-4530 Join the New Mexico Out Business Alliance for a networking mixer with the Human Rights Alliance of Santa Fe and other queer business owners. (see SFR picks, page 17) 5:30-7 pm, free WARM MEAL DISTRIBUTION DeVargas Park 302 W DeVargas St. whoiamfoundation.org Santa Fe's Who I Am Foundation will be distributing a warm meal to those in need— and volunteers are needed! Arrive at 4 pm if you can lend a hand. 4:30-6 pm, free

MUSIC 2-STEPPIN' THURSDAYS Tiny's Restaurant & Lounge 1005 S St. Francis Drive (505) 983-9817 Join the Half-Broke Horses for dining and dancing, where honky-tonk and Americana are never in short supply. 7-10 pm, free (no cover) AL ROGERS Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Piano and wine. It’s fancy time. 6:30-9:30 pm, free THE SENATORS La Reina at El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931 Here are folk musicians who are changing the genre as we know it. Call them "spacious Southwestern folk that blurs the line between honest acoustic sounds and synthesis." All ages, 21+ to drink, obvs. 8-10:30 pm, free (no cover) MARIACHI GRAN VICTORIA Café Castro 2811 Cerrillos Road (505) 473-5800 Add mariachi to your happy hour for an extra boost. 3:30-5 pm, free

THEATER THE THANKSGIVING PLAY Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 Check out this show about well-meaning adults trying to put on a politically correct Thanksgiving show for kids. Written by Larissa FastHorse’s (Sicangu Lakota Nation). 7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

JOSHUA HABERMANN | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

2021 F E S T I VA L

N OCH EBU ENA Generously Underwritten by Barry and Margaret Lyerly

DECEMBER 11 - 22, 2021 In its 2021 Winter Festival, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale builds on its long-standing commitment to music by Hispanic composers. The rich tapestry of our New Mexico heritage informs this seasonal celebration with new works as well as beloved carols from Spanish and Anglo traditions. With performances in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe, this is a holiday tradition not to be missed!

Nochebuena, also known as the Poinsettia, is a flower of pre-hispanic heritage and a popular symbol of the holidays, photo: Zina Jundi; Cathedral Basilica, photo: Rebecca Tobey

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

TICKETS from $22 to $100

More Information (505) 988-2282 or desertchorale.org

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DON’T MISS THE 2021 SANTA FE SKI SANTA FE SKI SWAP AT THE SANTA FE CONVENTION CENTER THE SANTA FE SKI TEAMʼS SOCIALLY DISTANCED 2021 ANNUAL SKI SWAP WILL BE HELD AT THE SANTA FE CONVENTION CENTER New Winter Sports Gear At Huge Discounts & Lots of Used Stuff, Too!

COURTESY ZIENNA BRUNSTED STEWART

With painter Zienna Brunsted Stewart

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH 12—4pm, Equipment Check-In, $2 Concession Per Used Item 6—9pm Friday Night Opening, Adults $20, Under 18 $10, Under 12 FREE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH 10am—9pm FREE Admission 7pm—9pm Equipment Pick-up

Note: The Santa Fe Ski Team requires all unsold items posted for sale at the swap be picked up on Saturday (11/20) 7—9pm Any items left uncollected will be considered a donation

20% of sales benefit the Santa Fe Ski Team

CONTACT US TO VOLUNTEER info@santafeskiteam.com

join the santa fe ski team | all ages welcome | register online WWW.SANTAFESKITEAM.COM

CONSUMPTION

Visit one of the first onsite THC consumption bars in America. Our bar features the most incredible edibles and THC infused drinks in the nation to boot! Please come and join us at the Canna Cafe´ in Santa Fe´for a one of a kind experience.

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NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 17-23, 17-23, 2021 2021 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

After being forced to cancel her first solo show last November due to the pandemic, oil painter Zienna Brunsted Stewart (ziennabstewart.com) is back with a new opening/body of nude works dubbed The Bedroom Pictures (5-8 pm Friday, Nov. 19. Free. KEEP Contemporary, 142 Lincoln Ave., (505) 557-9574). Stewart learned under painterly champions like Kristin Savage, Daniel Sprick and Marika Popovits, but ultimately devised her own style and practice; The Bedroom Pictures is based on smaller paper works she developed during the height of COVID-19, but taking the pieces into a larger milieu has proven both a challenge and a boon for the artist. We just thought they were gorgeous, so we caught up with Stewart to talk about her work, art in general and how/when inspiration comes. (Alex De Vore) Tell us about the new body of work. Does it represent anything in particular? Not in particular, no. There are [seven new works], all nudes, and none of them show the face, so they’re kind of anonymous. For some background, when COVID hit and everything shut down, I was working at a café that ended up closing and I had no way of making money. So I started making these little nudes on paper. They were on this oil paper, and they were small, and I started selling them on Instagram (@zienna_zienna), and they ended up being super-successful. I actually ended up doing three or four runs, and that pretty much got me through the pandemic—it covered my food, rent and expenses. [KEEP Contemporary owner] Jared [Antonio-Justo Trujillo] collected a couple himself, and he said, ‘You should use those as studies and make full, finished paintings.’ That’s where they came from, and they don’t have any special meaning—they were just fun. Do you believe it’s an artist’s responsibility to have a message? It’s sort of yes and no. On one hand, if you’re just painting some still lifes or landscapes or whatever, they can be so

beautiful, but at the end of the day, it’s a still life, a landscape, and unless you put something extra in it...Some pictures don’t say anything, which is fine, they’re decorative, but I think ultimately, that becomes pretty boring for the viewer and it can have no purpose. I think a painting should have some kind of meaning or something to say, but as far as I’m concerned, I have no idea what my paintings are saying. They’re saying a lot of things. Things I know. Things I don’t. For me, painting about things that are traumatic or violent are not my boat. I prefer to focus on the things that are joyful or illuminating or of that realm, but that’s also who I am in my life. I think it was Daniel Sprick who was telling me to self-censor. If radios or TVs are doing things that are making you depressed, block that shit out. Same goes with painting. You don’t always want to look at a painting of someone being tortured. I do think it’s important to have those paintings, but, for me, it’s not within my ability. With painting, though, there has to be all of it. Same goes for meaningful and non-meaningful. It often seems like the bad times spur inspiration like nothing else. Have the last nearly two years impacted your practice? Subject-wise? No. Maybe in practice, with time, it is affected because I have more time or less time. But that’s sort of tricky. I don’t know if you saw [painter] Michael Bergt about six months ago, had a show at Nüart Gallery that was based off everything that’s going on with COVID. All of a sudden he was so inspired and thinking of the transformation of the caterpillar to the butterfly and the changing of the world and he was on fire with everything going on around him seeming to affect his work and inspiration. For me, it’s so hard to say. I don’t really even know where my inspiration comes from. It just comes. It’s not so much in a subject as it is in an image. I would say, with COVID? No. It didn’t affect me as strongly as others, though. I don’t know anyone who died. I did lose my job, but I was fine and it didn’t feel detrimental to me. Maybe it would have affected me differently if that had been the case. I know a writer who’ll sit down from 8 til 3 every day and write whether they’re in the mood or not. For me, though, I definitely have to be in the mood to paint, otherwise I’m going to fuck it up. I’ll have to go back and fix it if I try otherwise. But when I’m in the mood, it’s not as extremely passionate like, ‘OHMYGOD! THE INSPIRATION HAS STRUCK!’ and there’s paint splashing everywhere and the wind is blowing. It’s somewhere in between.

EN T ER EV ENTS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

WORKSHOP THE HEALING CIRCLE SANTA FE Unitarian Universalist Congregation 107 W Barcelona Road (505) 982-9674 Feeling held back by perfectionism, people-pleasing and fear of letting people in? Same. Maybe you know it's time to get reconnected to your spiritual center and stop hiding your true self. Go talk about what’s hard in life, and help individuals in the group to work through their “stuff.” Laugh together, cry together. Meet in the Fellowship Hall. 6-8 pm, free

FRI/19 ART 2021 ABSTRACT INTERNATIONAL Nuart Gallery 670 Canyon Road (505) 988-3888 Featuring super awesome work by Beverly Kedzoir, Emilio Lobato, Joseph Ostraff, Willy Bo Richardson and Judy Woods. All day, free CORRUPTIVE COLLAGE Alberto Zalma Art Shop 407 S Guadalupe St. (505) 670-5179 Featuring San Warzoné, Peter Gardini and Alberto Zalma. A collective stance on politics, sexuality, religion and today's moral tactics in this world. Gardini and Warzoné, both Santa Fe residents, debut their work for the first time in this show. 5-9 pm, free HELEN PASHGIAN: PRESENCES SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 Pashgian, a key figure in the Light and Space art movement from the 1960s, brings sculpture and immersive installations that explore illusion, perception and light. All day, free IMBUING BEAUTY: PETRA CLASS Patina Gallery 131 W Palace Ave. (505) 986-3432 Explore Class’ handcrafted mosiac jewelry, detailed with curved seed pods and detailed origami folds. 5-7 pm, free MOUNTAINS & SKY TAI Modern 1601 Paseo de Peralta (505) 984-1387 This winter, TAI Modern pays homage to the high desert landscape with an exhibition featuring Japanese and American vessel makers, painters, and sculptors that evoke or are inspired by nature’s rhythms. All day, free

THE CALENDAR

NO SHADE FOR THE SHADOW Kouri + Corrao Gallery 3213 Calle Marie (505) 820-1888 Thomas Christopher Haag's ethereal symbolism and vibrant color palette examine the push and pull of the "shadow" on the human condition. All day, free PAUL CAPONIGRO : POLAROIDS 1960-1969 Obscura Gallery 1405 Paseo De Peralta (505) 577-6708 Vintage, one-of-a-kind Polaroid prints made during Caponigro’s tenure with the Polaroid Corporation in the 1960s. Perfect for you photo history geeks. 5-7 pm, free SHOUTOUT TO NOSTALGIA: A WAREHOUSE 21 RETROSPECTIVE Vital Spaces Midtown Annex SW Annex 1600 St. Michael’s Drive shoutout to nostalgia is the first part of an exhibition at the Vital Spaces Annex Gallery, highlighting youth culture and the teen spaces that helped shape them. This highlights a selection of flyers, VHS concert footage, photographs and memorabilia that span the 1990s-2000s. (see SFR picks, page 17) 6-9 pm, free THE BEDROOM PICTURES | THE SOURCE Keep Contemporary 142 Lincoln Ave. (505) 557-9574 Exhibitions featuring the work of Danish-American representational oil painter Zienna Brunsted Stewart and Bulgarian-born painter Simona Ruscheva. (see 3Q’s, page 20) All day, free THE RADIANT TAROT Alexandra Eldridge Studio Gallery 1802 Second St. alexandraeldridge.com Artist Alexandra Eldridge has spent the last 12 years painting tarot cards. We here at SFR like to call that "intense dedication" and we think you should, too. This show marks a celebration of the publication of The Radiant Tarot: Pathway to Creativity. All day, free

BOOKS/LECTURES SEASONS OF CEREMONIES: RITES AND RITUALS IN GUATEMALA AND MEXICO Peyton Wright Gallery 237 E Palace Ave. (505) 989-9888 In Mesoamerican villages and towns, a calendar of rites and rituals display what’s taking place throughout the year. This show celebrates the release of William Frej’s photography book of the same name, documenting these rituals. 5-7 pm, free

EVENTS WHISKEY FOR WHISKERS Santa Fe Spirits Distillery 7505 Mallard Way, Ste. 1 (505) 467-8892 A day benefitting Felines & Friends New Mexico. Enjoy a tasting flight or one cocktail and hors d'oeuvres. Over 4,000 cats and dogs have found loving homes through this org! Have a few drinks and save the cute little animals. (see SFR picks, page 17) 4:30-8:30 pm, $25

MUSIC AL ROGERS Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Rogers will take you on a musical journey, far away from it all, without even leaving your seat. Listen, but don’t touch. 6:30-9:30 pm, free SWING SOLEIL Second Street Brewery 1814 Second St. (505) 982-3030 The return of music at Second Street Brewery's original location. Hear diverse compositions ranging from 20th century jazz to swing standards. 6-9 pm, free TGIF CONCERT First Presbyterian Church 208 Grant Ave. (505) 982-8544 Come check out the Black Mesa Brass Ensemble playing Beethoven and Lough Lane. 5:30 pm, free (but donate) DJ TENNIS Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369 Euro-beats come to the Southwest, coming from a background of the Italian electronic music scene. 9 pm, $21.50

THEATER THE THANKSGIVING PLAY Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 Larissa FastHorse’s (Sicangu Lakota Nation) satirical comedy continues. 7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

WORKSHOP MODERN BUDDHIST MEDITATIONS: REMAINING CONFIDENT IN THE FACE OF CRITICISM Santa Fe Community Yoga Center 826 Camino de Monte Rey (505) 292-5293 All levels of experience and background are welcome. Yes we can use difficult, painful and frustrating situations to be become more compassionate and more confident. Grow spiritually with Buddha’s wisdom and meditation techniques. 10-11:30 am, $10

SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA Salsa Navidad tuesday, december 7 I 7:30 pm Lensic Performing Arts Center Presented through the generosity of Ann Murphy Daily and William W. Daily

There’s no easing you in with Spanish Harlem Orchestra —they come at you full force from start to finish. Led by pianist Oscar Hernández, this three-time Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz band sets the gold standard for excellence in authentic, New York-style, hard-core salsa.

tickets start at $35 performancesantafe.org I 505 984 8759

bringing the world to a stage near you The Lensic Performing Arts Center will require that all persons attending events at the theater provide proof of full vaccination or the results of a negative Covid test taken within the previous 72 hours to gain admittance.

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HANDEL THE LENSIC SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20 — 7 PM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21 — 4 PM

Gary Thor Wedow, Guest Conductor |

, Choral Director

MANY THANKS TO FULL CONCERT UNDERWRITERS THORNBURG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Face masks, photo ID, and proof of vaccination— or negative COVID test are required for entry. Visit santafesymphony.org/covid-19 for details.

The Symphony Box Office Mary-Hollis Hundle Soprano

Ann McMahon Quintero

Alex Richardson

Mezzo-Soprano

Evan Bravos

Tenor

Baritone

WORLD AIDS DAY

COMMEMORATION

Wednesday, December 1, 2021 5:30 pm SANTA FE RAILYARD PARK

Banking is a breeze® with Nusenda. The public is invited to a Candlelight Commemoration honoring the 33rd Annual World AIDS Day

No hidden fees*.

Easy mobile app.

Join us as people around the world unite to show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Warm cider, cookies and candles will be provided. more info: southwestcare.org

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nusenda.org/breeze | @NusendaCU

| 505-467-6000

*$5 monthly maintenance fee (waived if you are under 21) | Insured by NCUA

SAT/20 ART COMMUNITY ART CLOSET Vital Spaces Midtown Annex SW Annex 1600 St. Michael’s Drive ‘Cause we are living in a material world, and you are an art material girl/boy/nonbinary. Free art materials to anyone and everyone needing them, no matter your medium or your age. Masks required and material donations accepted! 11 am-3 pm, free MY LIFE IN ART: HELEN PASHGIAN SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 Pashgian talks with Michael Govan, the CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), in conjunction with her new exhibition Presences. 1:30 pm, $5-$10 WINTER INDIAN MARKET La Fonda on the Plaza 100 E San Francisco St. (505) 982-5511 Approximately 150 of the Southwest Association for Indian Arts’ juried Indigenous artists on display. Includes a silent auction to raise funds to support SWAIA's Indigenous art community. (see SFR picks, page 17) 9 am-5 pm, $10-$15

BOOKS/LECTURES BOOK SIGNING FOR ANIMAL PORTRAITS: THE OTHER WORLD photo-eye Gallery 1300 Rufina Circle, Ste. A3 (505) 988-5152 x202 Your copy of Brad Wilson's The Other World: Animal Portraits has the chance to increase its eBay vaule in future years. Just kidding, but what’s cooler than an author’s signature anyhow? 4-6 pm, free AWASH IN THE AIRLIGHT: THE LIGHT OF LA AND THE ART MOVEMENT IT HELPED TO SPAWN SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta (505) 989-1199 So what was it about Southern California (and Los Angeles in particular) that helped spawn the Light and Space movement? We don’t know, but maybe author and professor Lawrence Weschler knows. Come hear his thoughts on said spawning. 4-6 pm, free

EVENTS 2021 GOVERNOR’S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS Online nmarts.org Virtual ceremony honoring leaders in the state’s art community. Expect many virtual handshakes. 7 pm, free

CONTEMPORARY CLAY FAIR FALL SALE Santa Fe Women's Club 1616 Old Pecos Trail (505) 983-9455 Clay this, clay that. This juried event features over 20 exceptional clay artists celebrating a wide range of methods and materials. Enjoy shopping, meeting the artists, learn some secrets of the craft (maybe) at this unique event held at the Santa Fe Women's Club. 10 am-5 pm, free HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR Santa Fe County Fairgrounds 3229 Rodeo Road Dozens of crafters selling their crafts, if that shocks you. Perfect for those friends who are looking for more homestyle gifts this holiday season. Or heck, come and buy for yourself. 10 am-3 pm, free SANTA FE ARTISTS MARKET The West Casitas 1612 Alcaldesa St. (505) 310-8766 Where the magic of the cutest crafts can be found underneath the mysterious white tents. 9 am-2 pm, free SANTA FE FARMERS MARKET Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726 Get your flannels out and your decorative face masks. Come with your personally-weaved wicker basket and stock up on the autumnal goods. 8 am-1 pm, free SANTA FE ROCK, GEM & MINERAL SHOW Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino 20 Buffalo Thunder Trail (505) 455-5555 Sometimes you just gotta say goodbye to the world and escape to stare at some shiny rocks for a while. It’s the new form of therapy. 10 am-6 pm, free WINTER ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOW Eldorado Community Center 1 Hacienda Loop, Eldorado (505) 466-4248 It’s the holiday season and, like it or not, we’re drowning in locally produced crafts. What a town we live in where “which local crafts fair should I attend?“ is the main question. 10 am-4 pm, free

MUSIC BLUE RHAPSODY Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 A piano duo bringing you the usual Fenix bliss. 6:30-9:30 pm, free BRETT DENNEN New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave. (505) 476-5072 Folk artist Dennen is telling us to get out and see the world at a time when we need it more than ever. But, like, wear a mask while you do. 7:30 pm, $32-$144

COURTESY OF ALEXANDRA ELDRIDGE STUDIO GALLERY

E NTE R E V E N TS AT SFREPORTER.COM/CAL

SOMETHING WONDERFUL RIGHT AWAY! Santa Fe Improv 1202 Parkway Drive, Unit A santafeimprov.com Drop-in improv classes with Gail Trotter. No pressure to be funny or theatrically-oriented, just a chance to let your own natural creativity come out and play in a supportive atmosphere. 10 am-noon, $20

THANKSGIVING AND THANKS SHARING BODY 333 W Cordova Road (505) 986-0362 A portal into the healing power of thankfulness. A spiritual practice—bring a yoga mat, blanket or pillow. 6 pm, $20 suggested

SUN/21

DOUG MONTGOMERY Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Local hero Doug Montgomery, we stan you and your piano. Get yourself a calm, quiet and fine evening with the trilling keys reminding you that music, in fact, rocks. 6:30-9:30 pm, free THE SANTA FE SYMPHONY: HANDEL'S MESSIAH Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234 Get a handle on the Handel. 4 pm, free

ART WINTER INDIAN MARKET La Fonda on the Plaza 100 E San Francisco St. (505) 982-5511 There are 150 juried Indigenous artists on display, plus a a silent auction to raise funds to support the Indigenous art community. (see SFR picks, page 17) 10 am-3 pm, $10-$15

BOOKS/LECTURES

Knight of Pentacles Card by Alexandra Eldridge. Opens at Alexandra Eldridge Studio Gallery Nov. 19. ESTEREOMANCE & SOL DE LA NOCHE Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St. (505) 303-3808 An art pop trio puttin' down roots at the Root. That's cute, right? See what we did there? Also tip your artists, tip your bartenders and tip your waiters. All your talented friends are poor. 9-11 pm, $10 THE SANTA FE REVUE The Mineshaft Tavern and Cantina 2846 NM-14, Madrid (505) 473-0743 One of SF's premier cover bands—expect all the joys of classic tunes, plus some originals mixed in. Following the He-she Bang (yes, that is a band). 9 pm, free THE SANTA FE SYMPHONY: HANDEL'S MESSIAH Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St. (505) 988-1234 Handel’s Messiah, with its soaring arias, gives off a pretty good “vibe,” as the kids say. Led by guest conductor Gary Wedow, this annual performance is a musical rite of the holiday season. 7 pm, free

THE WIDDLER Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle (505) 395-6369 Mix sessions with reggae dubs, blues-ish atmospheres and awesome BUM-BUM-BUMs of the bass. 18+, exhibit open throughout the show so the haunting beats can follow you. 9 pm, $21

THEATER THE THANKSGIVING PLAY Santa Fe Playhouse 142 E De Vargas St. (505) 988-4262 We’re very excited for the Arbor Day sequel that’s certainly coming. 7:30-9 pm, $15-$25

WORKSHOP GRAND REVEAL: LIFE DRAWING AT CCA Center For Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail (505) 982-1338 Practice drawing the human form. All skill levels are invited. Bring along your own drawing and dry materials and vax card (proof of vaccination is required). 10 am-1 pm, $10

THE CALENDAR

FREETHINKERS FORUM: A HUMANIST DISCUSSION GROUP Online meetup.com/freethinkersforum/ V Nathan, a Junior at the United World College, shares her thoughts with us on breaking free from the male gaze. For more information, please call (505) 471-8018. 8:30 am, free THE SECULAR ALLIANCE OF SANTA FE Online meetup.com/freethinkersforum/ Mim Chapman helps participants explore open relationships (like, through discussion, not in practice): ethical, consensual nonmonogamy that may be a new concept for some folks. For more info, call (505) 989-1931. Noon, free

EVENTS CONTEMPORARY CLAY FAIR FALL SALE Santa Fe Women's Club 1616 Old Pecos Trail (505) 983-9455 It’s all about the clay. 10 am-5 pm, free GEEKS WHO DRINK Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery 112 W San Francisco St., Ste. 307 (505) 983-0134 If your head is bursting with factoids about computer parts, giraffes or the wind or whatever, come see if some questions can get you a few points. 7 pm, free SANTA FE ROCK, GEM & MINERAL SHOW Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino 20 Buffalo Thunder Trail (505) 455-5555 Go see why ancient kingdoms, rich people and your weird neighbor who uses crystals to heal her cough all like these shiny stones. 11 am-5 pm, free

MUSIC

WORKSHOP BELLYREENA BELLYDANCE Move Studio 901 W San Mateo Road (505) 660-8503 Those core muscles are just screaming to be used. 1-2 pm, $15

MON/22 DANCE SANTA FE SWING Odd Fellows Hall 1125 Cerrillos Road Lindy-hop till you drop. Classes start at 7 pm, open dance at 8 pm. Bring your CDC card as proof on your first visit. 7 pm, $3-$8

EVENTS QUEER NIGHT La Reina at El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road (505) 982-1931 Queer solidarity and drinks. 5-11 pm, $3-$8

MUSIC DOUG MONTGOMERY Fenix at Vanessie 427 W Water St. (505) 982-9966 Montgomery puts the “AH“ in pi-AH-no, because you might end up screaming about how good he is. 6:30-9:30 pm, free

TUE/23 FOOD SANTA FE FARMERS MARKET Farmers Market Pavilion 1607 Paseo de Peralta (505) 983-7726 Get your gourds, kids. 8 am-1 pm, free

SFREPORTER.COM •• NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 17-23, 17-23, 2021 2021 SFREPORTER.COM

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No #$@!% Overdraft Fees You said it. We did it.

Introducing No Overdraft Fees On Any Checking Account

NoSillyFees.org Federally Insured By NCUA

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S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / ARTS

The Bookshelf Rax King loves all things tacky and can seriously prove it B Y A N N A B E L L A FA R M E R @boeinbrief

W

NIKKI AUSTIN-GARLINGTON

hen hunting for this month’s literary pick I asked myself, “What book would complement my styro-faux Corinthian column and family of ghoulish porcelain-faced clown dolls?” The answer was Rax King’s new collection of essays, Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer (Penguin Random House). Released earlier this month, King’s book celebrates

Author Rax King leaves the dayjobs behind on the heels of her new book of essays.

all that is gaudy, gauche and glorious, inviting readers to give up the protective exoskeleton of irony and just enjoy things, goddammit. King is the Brooklyn-based co-host of the Low Culture Boil podcast and self-proclaimed writer-in-residence of the Cheesecake Factory. She grew up in the 2000s, an era few of us remember as a cultural belle epoque. For King, though, the zeitgeist gave rise to a personal philosophy of authentic enjoyment. The book opens with a recollection of her earliest encounters with the concept of tacky: “When [my mother] really wanted to cut my bubbe down to size, she’d bust out one particular insult. ‘Your grandi is just tacky-tacky-tacky!’” The cutting-down-to-size evidently didn’t work either on King’s bubbe or King herself, because to the budding author, tackiness became inextricable from the idea of inimitable cool. “Everything worth doing, it seemed to me, was tacky-tacky-tacky,” she writes. The word became a talisman of sorts, guiding King through the morass of becoming a person. Her essays seamlessly bind early-aught pop culture with the marrow of life—grief, growing up, sex, friendship—without feeling contrived or pandering. What shines through the joyful hodgepodge of schlock are the people and moments that shape experience. Recollections of Josie and the Pussycats blend with a meditation on perfection-vs-merit in art and in life while an ode to Bath and Body Works’ Warm Vanilla Sugar pairs with budding feminism. And while I never expected to cry reading an essay about MTV’s Jersey Shore, King writes with humor and tenderness about how watching the 2009 reality show together brought her closer to her father throughout a long illness. As might seem obvious, King’s writing draws from an eclectic milieu. She cites influences like comedian and writer Samantha Irby, whose blog bitches gotta eat has long been an inspiration. “It was super exciting for me in a fangirl way that [Irby] blurbed my book,” King tells me gleefully.

Also in her writer’s pantheon are Eve Babitz and Lisa Carver, also known as Lisa Suckdog, whose writing King “discovered in college when I was feeling really lonely and alienated—it made me feel like I had a friend, a fellow traveler of sorts.” Still, despite King’s commitment to the unabashed enjoyment of so-called “low culture,” her essays are also peppered with references to so-called “high culture” like Homer, Mozart and Kant. “The personal and the philosophical and the phenomenological, none of those things exist without the others,” King says. She credits her alma mater, St. John’s College (in Maryland), with making her conversant in these spheres, but disagrees with the college’s narrow curation of said culture. “So thank you St. John’s, and fuck you, St. John’s,” King tells SFR. “I keep joking that they should put me in the brochure because I know that I’ve been all over the internet, making them look like assholes since I graduated.” Meanwhile, King notes, she’s happy to be swept up in the whirlwind of publicity generated by her first book.

A&C

“I’m running for mayor of please buy my shit,” she says jokingly; it’s only been a year since she was able to ditch a series of day jobs and write full-time. “When I was still waiting tables, I had very little brain space left over at the end of the shift to get my little 500 words in,” King says, recalling the goal she used to set herself to stay focused on writing while juggling jobs. Being a full-time writer, she says, “is a lot of work, but when I look back on my years of waiting tables and stripping I’m like, oh no, I’m actually not working that hard—none of this is hard on my knees or my wrists.” Tacky’s consumer-glorification bent does sort of stick in the craw, though. Perhaps it’s better to dip into essays one by one than to devour the collection whole— they’re the literary equivalent of a mall filled with fluorescent lights, chemical scents and crowds, which, while it may delight a circa 2009 Rax, leaves me yearning for a solitary moment in the fresh air. But I can’t argue with the idea that it’s time to be honest about what we enjoy, and stop curating experience for the external eye. As King writes, “tackiness is joyfulness. To be proudly tacky, your aperture for all the too-much feelings—angst, desire, joy— must be all the way open.”

MORE NOVEMBER PICKS • Sacred City by Theodore van Alst; University of New Mexico Press, Nov. 1 • This is My Real Name: A Stripper’s Memoir by Cid V Brunet, Arsenal Pulp Press, Nov. 2 • The Sentence by Louise Erdrich; Harper Collins, Nov. 9 • Nazaré by JJ Amaworo Wilson; PM Press, Nov. 9 • New Moons: Contemporary Writing by North American Muslims edited by Kazim Ali; Red Hen Press, Nov. 16

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S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / FO O D

Marquez Deli’s new menu is so excellent it took two trips

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

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ather ‘round, ye children, and I’ll tell you the tale of the time I had the best French toast of my life. Having watched eagerly for weeks as Marquez Deli (Lunch Tuesday-Friday; brunch and lunch Saturday and Sunday; closed Monday; 513 Camino De Los Marquez, (505) 365-2113) teased a new menu online, and learning the new menu finally dropped last week, I popped by over the weekend with a dining companion to check out the brunch items. Unexpectedly, and as is rarer and rarer these days, I wound up stumped by what to order. Everything on the weekend-only brunch menu entices, from a Nova Scotia smoked salmon scramble ($14) to the classic Belgian waffle ($12) served with creme fraiche, seasonal berries and bananas—plus real maple syrup. The poor server had to return several times as we tortured ourselves over what we were willing to miss out on, but my confidence returned upon selecting and sticking with French toast made with creme brulée batter (also with creme fraiche, berries and syrup; $14). My companion settled on the Farmer’s Tan omelette with

roasted potatoes, green onion, bell peppers transcended omelettes as we know them...to memory if it’s done right; if there’s some hall and goat cheese ($12), and we’ve both been the point, in fact, that my words might sound of fame for doing sandwiches right, Hadidi’s haunted by the excellence ever since. flowery and hyperbolic—gushy, even—but I’m portrait should hang there. But first, the bagels. Oh, the bagels! Chef/ so in love with Hadidi’s food I honestly don’t My own sandwich was a revelation of owner Alex Hadidi has them brought in spe- care. textures and flavors with the saltiness of the cial from New York City’s Chabad Lubovitch Cut to three days later and I was desper- tapenade mingling with the mild yet tangy every four days, and someplace between the ately begging anyone who’d listen to join me goat cheese to create a taste not unlike feta, everything and sesame varieties we ordered, for lunch at Marquez Deli with promises of but still its own thing. The eggplant, which can I left my body and floated overhead begrudg- sandwich nirvana. In retrospect, even that wind up bitter or even just served too thick, ingly accepting every smug New Yorker’s feels like I’m selling the second meal short. was cut thin and fried to a satisfying exteri“They’re just better,” rhetoor crisp; the sweet pickle on the ric I’ve ever heard. Fresh and side added even more depth. My chewy doesn’t even begin companion’s sandwich was someto properly explain it, but if thing special as well, which made you can just accept they’re her remark something about how the most flavorful bagels I’ve she’d never had avocado on grilled found in Santa Fe bar none, cheese, but it tasted so good at you’ll already be taking a step Marquez Deli that it now feels in the right direction—and obvious, like when someone tells maybe you won’t mind that you something you should have they clock in at $4.50 with a known all along. Grilled on classic schmear of cream cheese, towhite bread, her sandwich stayed mato, onion and capers. soft throughout its center through When the French toast the whole meal, and the cheese and omelette came, we almost stayed gooey but never seemed thought we’d filled up on bagreasy or overwhelming as such gels, but even if that had been sandwiches sometimes can. the truest thing of all time, it “This is incredible,” we repeatdidn’t matter. Looking light edly told each other, even going and fluffy and delectable with so far as to cut little pieces off our the creme fraiche melting respective sandwiches for a tense down the sides, the enticing trade. Marquez Deli served up some of the best French toast, omelettes and mix of eggy vanilla goodness is “I was going to take half of this bagels we’ve ever had in Santa Fe. literally the best I’ve had anywith me,” I said, finishing the eggplace ever, and I make a mean plant outright, “but it just tastes French toast at home. With the accompany- Hadidi has excellent options for vegetarians too good.” ing maple syrup, a symphony of subtle and on his lunch menu, and I selected Ella’s fried Sated, but not overfull, we continued disnot-so-subtle flavors unveiled themselves eggplant parmesan sandwich ($13) with ba- cussing the meal all the way back to the office. in turn, making no two bites taste alike and sil, roasted peppers, olive tapenade and goat I’d bet you $50 she’s still thinking about it trouncing on the idea that thicker French cheese with no doubt in my mind whatsoever. now. toast is superior. Likewise, my companion’s My companion, meanwhile, chose Matthew’s And so we shall return. Probably even imomelette was a masterclass in eggs cooked grilled cheese—a house blend of cheeses mediately. Hadidi’s new menu isn’t massive, well, with the savory potatoes inside provid- with avocado and tomato ($8)—and said but there are numerous items I need to try. ing a sublime counterpoint to the bite of the something inexorably true about how a good In the meantime, I’ll need all of Santa Fe to onion and the creamy goat cheese. Served grilled cheese can conjure up youthful mem- get on this train immediately. Marquez Deli with an expertly crispy latke on the side, it ories but can also become its own new kind of deserves a place in our hearts forever. ALEX DE VORE

So Nice We Went Twice

FOOD

Join us for #GivingTuesday on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on Nov.30 and learn more about The Food Depot’s hunger-relief work and how you can help. Thank you for your continued support! NORTHERN NEW MEXICO’S FOOD BANK

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MOVIES

RATINGS

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BEST MOVIE EVER

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“If they can’t understand you, they aren’t listening.”

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We can call it now that a good chunk of the audience won’t go for Belfast. Kenneth Branagh’s newest is far too wholesome for those who like their cinema dark, an insufferably long monologue about universal life truths. For those very reasons, however, it will surely be adored in other circles. As The Troubles take off in Northern Ireland in 1969, young Buddy (Jude Hill) is far more interested in his school crush than he is in the increasinglyfrequent riots which, from the film’s get-go, go down in his neighborhood. The religious lines are drawn, and Buddy’s parents (a powerful Caitríona Balfe and a strong Jamie Dornan) debate whether to travel abroad to protect their family from the chaos, or to keep them in the world they know. Belfast comes with a number of irks. Its visual language isn’t coherent, there’s entirely too much reliance on late-1960s tunes to set the mood and the melodrama feels bloated. It scores in the deeper questions it raises, though, namely, how to raise a

PASSING

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++ +TIGHTLY+CRAFTED;+NEGGA+SOARS -+ -SUBTLETIES+WON’T+REACH+EVERYONE

Director Rebecca Hall’s first feature film is one told primarily through glances: Ruth Negga’s (Loving) quivering face and Tessa Thompson’s (Westworld) inability to keep her eyes steady. It would be hard to note anything lacking purpose here, honestly, which highlights the rarity of a first-time filmmaker entering the industry with plenty of confidence—and rightly so. Based on Nella Larson’s 1929 novel of the same name, Irene (Thompson) and her husband Brian (André Holland) are content in the Black upper-middle class of Harlem. They pretend to be, anyway, and Irene goes “passing” every now again, a phenomenon whereby a Black person’s skin is perceived as white and they briefly glimpse a life without discrimination. During one such experience, Irene stumbles across an old friend, Clare (Negga), who’s passing full-time. But Clare misses her old world, and as she returns and infiltrates her family, Irene grows paranoid. In its more unique aspects, Passing contrasts escapism with a desire for inclusion. Negga’s Clare leans on the uncertainty of her choices, her total disdain for—and yet dependence on—her secret identity. Irene, the psychological counterpoint to Clare, is more conventional in her choic-

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BY RILEY GARDNER r i l e y @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

++ PERSONAL+AND+ OFTEN+MOVING

-+ MID-POINT+

SAG;+MISGUIDED+CREATIVE+ CHOICES

morally upright family when everyone else is willing to blow someone’s head off—or at least considering that. Seeing civil unrest from a child’s perspective brings a different kind of richness to the experience, especially as Buddy relates to the violence through his only known source of the stuff—American Westerns. Sadly, that also means certain complexities get lost in the shuffle. For those who respond to more philosophic styles, Belfast will likely seem a deeply moving remembrance from one who was there. Even so, it is too limited in scope to be considered an epic, and far more a memoir from Branagh’s own childhood experiences as a Belfast native. This can make the storytelling feel a bit too dependent on Branagh’s

es, reflecting the unspecial middle-class life and a longing for something more; Thompson’s firm delivery questions whether one should hide from the world or embrace its pains. Who are we to tell her she’s wrong? Here, crisp black and white cinematography feels purposeful, and Passing represents its most effective use in recent memory. Shot in high contrast with only a slight exposure, a sharp yet murky picture emerges, both intoxicating and clear in its old world charms yet repulsive and fake in its sterility. If we saw the story in color, we’d lose the point entirely. At Passing’s heart are tough questions about human agency. Much of it feels overt, but the film’s true heart beats just beneath the surface. Hall’s film requires focus as well as knowledge on race and identity—but it’s up to the viewer to do the homework beforehand if they want the most out of the film. Passing wasn’t crafted to educate. It was crafted so we don’t forget. (RG) Netflix, NR, 99 min

THE+ELECTRICAL+LIFE+OF+LOUIS+WAIN

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++ THE+ART+AND+CATS;+PRETTY -+ FORCED+QUIRKINESS;+LONG+AS+HELL

Any cat fan worth their salt surely knows all about Victorian-era British artist Louis Wain and his work in normalizing felines as house

NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 17-23, 17-23, 2021 2021 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

recollections to fully dedicate itself to deeper concepts, thus Belfast lingers in a confused and confusing state between the sweet romanticism of the past and the realities of the historic epoch in which it’s embedded. No, Branagh’s opus might not rank amongst the cinema greats or contempo-classics, but it’s a shoo-in as the year’s tearjerking awards-contender and the kind of film that could unfurl more meaning upon further viewings. Still, the imperfect introduction gets the job done.

pets. What they might not know, however, is that an entirely too-precious biopic has arrived from Amazon Studios, and it doesn’t feel quite so charming as much as it does forced and faux-precious. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular Wain, the only man in a family of women who, in late 1800-something, is trapped within the social constructs of the day: Men do the work, women get married—nobody’s allowed to love anyone they actually love because of, like, society, man. In his youth, Wain illustrated for some prestigious London newspaper. He also met one Emily Richardson (here played by Claire Foy), a governess hired for his sisters for whom Wain fell hard and married. This was apparently unheard of at the time because Richardson was poor and 10 years Wain’s senior. Still, they fell in love, got married, moved outside of London and spent a bunch of happy years hanging out with their cat Peter (ownership of whom we also learn was apparently weird). Sad stuff happens later, but we don’t need to spoil it. Where writer and director Will Sharpe (Giri/Haji) succeeds in style, ambiance and tone, he falters in Electrical Life’s almost unbearable levels of quirk. Cumberbatch’s turn as the eccentric Wain particularly stupefies and succeeds only in consistently reminding us we’re watching an actor act.

BELFAST Directed by Branagh With Balfe, Dornan, Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds Violet Crown, NR, 97 min.

This guy’s a champ at playing dicks and serious dicks and powerful dicks and impatient dicks who learn to dick a little less. As Wain, he feels like an actor who read about weirdos and did a little fidgeting. Against Foy, who perhaps represents the only real charm in the film, the performance feels exhausting. Same goes for Andrea Riseborough as Wain’s sister Caroline, whose only role seems to be nay-saying and overly-enunciated whispering. Sharpe, it seems, wanted to illustrate a Louis-Wain-against-the-world sort of thing, but everything around him feels so utterly hopeless and lifeless (save the always brilliant Toby Jones as the newspaper magnate) that it’s very hard to care. Pepper in melodramatic speeches about solitude and sadness delivered in stilted fashion, some baffling surface level representations of mental illness and no shortage of cute, and there you have it. Oh, but it’s not all bad. Wain’s art was truly bizarre and hysterical, and one could hardly hate a film that so prominently casts such handsome cats. Still, Electrical Life is niche and tedious and ultimately becomes another funny-lite British period piece for anglophiles and any captive people in their lives. Shoutout to Utopia’s Adeel Akhtar and his small role, though. He rules. (Alex De Vore) Amazon, PG-13, 118 min.

SFR CLASSIFIEDS JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

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46 “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star Simu 1 Regular doofus 47 Suffix after potent or caliph 6 Spits some bars 50 Prescribe city-wide anxiety 10 Noun’s modifier (abbr.) medication? 13 “The Crown” crown 55 Dinosaur with large thumb 14 ___ Parker (fashion brand) spikes 15 1998 figure skating gold 56 Sidewinder, e.g. medalist Kulik 57 Attendee 16 Deodorant brand 58 Davidson of “SNL” 17 Contestant who may show 59 Word before workings up seemingly out of 60 ‘21 World Series champs nowhere 19 Facts and figures about a 61 River in World War I headlines flat paddleboat? 62 Megan Thee Stallion song 21 Noteworthy span about which Weird Al 22 Mississauga’s prov. tweeted: “Just listened to 23 “The Orville” creator this. Not a very faithful MacFarlane cover version, if you ask me.” 24 Prognosticator 26 “The Matrix Resurrections” DOWN star 30 French Polynesia’s capital 1 Lacking new ideas 2 Job offerer 33 1950s French president 3 Early earwig? Rene 4 Brendon of Panic! at the 34 Long stories about a Disco “M*A*S*H” character’s featured instrumental breaks? 5 One who doesn’t take defeat well 38 Quickly 6 Identify with 39 Sanctifies, in a way 40 Big name in violins and jet 7 Page-___ (calendar brand) 8 Falafel holders skis 9 Quest participant 43 “Strange” prefix 10 Ski resort near Salt Lake City 44 Physiques

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SFR CLASSIFIEDS MIND BODY SPIRIT PSCYHICS Rob Brezsny

Week of November 17th

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet and philosopher Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) had many ups and downs. He was one of Germany’s greatest poets and philosophers, but he also endured more emotional distress than most people. His biographer wrote, “Sometimes this genius goes dark and sinks down into the bitter well of his heart, but mostly his apocalyptic star glitters wondrously.” You may have been flirting with a milder version of a “bitter well of the heart,” Aries. But I foresee that you will soon return to a phase when your star glitters wondrously—and without the “apocalyptic” tinge that Hölderlin harbored.

that she asks more questions than she delivers answers. I encourage you to be like that during the coming weeks, Libra. According to my astrological estimation, you are scheduled to boost your intelligence and raise your curiosity. An excellent way to meet your appointments with destiny will be to have fun dreaming up interesting questions.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author David Foster Wallace felt sad about how little of our mind’s intense activity can be shared with others. So much of what goes on inside us seems impossible to express. Or if it is possible to express, few of our listeners are receptive to it or able to fully understand it. That’s the bad news, Taurus. But here’s the good news: In the coming weeks, I believe you will experience much less of this sad problem than usual. I’m guessing you’ll be especially skilled at articulating your lush truth and will have an extra receptive audience for it. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “I never resist temptation,” declared playwright George Bernard Shaw. Why did he dare to utter such an outlandish statement? “Because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me,” he said. I propose that you aspire to embody his attitude during the next eight weeks, Gemini. Make it your aspiration to cultivate a state of mind wherein you will only be tempted to engage with influences that are healthy and educational and inspiring. You can do it! I know you can!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Some people become so expert at reading between the lines they don’t read the lines,” wrote author Margaret Millar. That’s not a common problem for you Scorpios. You are an expert at reading between the lines, but that doesn’t cause you to miss the simple facts. Better than any other sign of the 2 3 obvious 4 zodiac, you are skilled at seeing 1 both secret and things. Given the astrological omens that will be active for you during the rest of 2021, I13 suspect this skill of yours will be a virtual superpower. And even more than usual, the people in your life will17 benefit from your skill at naming the truth.

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20Storyteller and 21 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): mythologist Michael Meade believes that each of us has an inner indigenous person—a part of our psyche 23 that 24 can love and learn from nature, that’s inclined to revere and commune with the ancestors, that seeks holiness in 27 28 the familiar delights of the earth. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to cultivate your relationship 33 What other experi34 with your inner indigenous person. ences might be available to you as you align your personal rhythms with the rhythms 36 of the earth? What joys might emerge as you strive to connect on deeper levels with animals and plants and natural forces? 42

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn novelist Haruki Murakami writes, “I was 45 always46 hungry 47for love. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like to get my CANCER (June 21-July 22): While still a teenager, fill of it—to be fed so much love 50 I couldn’t take any Cancerian cowboy Slim Pickens (1919–1983) competed 51 more. Just once.” Most of us feel that longing, although in the rodeo, a sporting event in which brave athletes you to place this desire tangle with aggressive broncos and bulls. When America few of us admit it. But I will urge54 55 entered World War II, Pickens went to a recruiting office in the front of your awareness during the next two to sign up for the military. When asked about his profes- weeks. I’ll encourage you to treat your yearning for maximum love as a sacred strength, 61 a virtue to nurture and sion, Pickens said “rodeo.” The clerk misheard and be proud of. I’ll even suggest you let people know that’s instead wrote “radio.” Pickens was assigned to work at 64result in a total satisan armed forces radio station in the American Midwest, what you want. Doing so may not faction of the longing, but who knows? Maybe it will. If where he spent the entire war. It was a safe and secure there will ever be a time when such fulfillment could place for him to be. I foresee a lucky mistake like that in 67 your near future, Cancerian. Maybe more than one lucky occur, it will be soon. mistake. Be alert. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): An article published in LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): To create your horoscope, I’ve the journal Scientific American declared, “Most people borrowed ideas from four famous Leos. They all address don’t know when to stop talking.” Conversations your current astrological needs. First, here’s Leo author P. between strangers and between friends typically go on L. Travers: “More and more I’ve become convinced that too long. A mere two percent of all dialogs finish when the great treasure to possess is the unknown.” Second, both parties want them to. That’s the bad news, here’s Leo author Sue Monk Kidd: “There is no place so Aquarius. The good news is that in the coming weeks, awake and alive as the edge of becoming.” Third, Leo your sensitivity about this issue will be more acute than poet Philip Larkin: “Originality is being different from usual. As a result, your talk will be extra concise and oneself, not others.” Finally, Leo author Susan Cheever: effective—more persuasive, more interesting, and more “There is no such thing as expecting too much.” influential. Take advantage of this subtle superpower! VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I encourage you to adopt the (Further info: tinyurl.com/WhenToStop) perspective expressed by spiritual author Ann Voskamp. She wrote, “I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Since 1996, Ira Glass has in the suffering, in the daily, the moments before I sleep.” produced the renowned radio series This American Life. I understand that taking this assignment seriously could In 2013, as a reward for his excellence, he was offered a be a challenging exercise. Most of us are quick to spot raise in his annual salary from $170,000 to $278,000. He flaws and awfulness, but few have been trained to be accepted it for one year, but then asked that it be lowered alert for elegance and splendor and wondrousness. Are to $146,000. He described the large increase in pay as you willing to try out this approach? Experiment with it. “unseemly.” What?! I appreciate his modesty, but I disapTreat it as an opportunity to reprogram your perceptual prove. I’m always rooting for Pisceans like Ira Glass to faculties. Three weeks from now, your eyes and ears embrace the fullness of their worth and to be aggressive could be attuned to marvels they had previously missed. about gathering all the rewards they’re offered. So I’m inclined, especially right now, to urge you NOT to be like LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran educator and anthro- Glass. Please swoop up all the kudos, benefits, and blesspologist Johnnetta Cole wrote, “The first sign of an edu- ings you deserve. cated person is that she asks more questions than she Homework: Tell how everyone in the world should be delivers answers.” I agree and would also say this: A prime attribute of an intelligent, eager-to-learn person is more like you. https://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. © CO P Y R I G H T 2 0 2 1 R O B B R E Z S N Y 30

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