Boulder Weekly 5.12.2022 by Boulder Weekly

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Learn to sew in SoBo, p. 15

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As fentanyl deaths rise, the war on drugs is alive and well in Colorado

This hemp bill has got to go, p. 30

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2022

news:

As fentanyl deaths surge, the war on drugs is alive and well in Colorado by Will Brendza

10 15

feature:

SewBo brings fresh fabrics and sewing education to South Boulder by Emma Athena

buzz:

Poised for breakout, Boulder-born Pink Fuzz focuses on forging its own path by Adam Perry

art & culture:

Studio Project reminds visitors animal rights are ‘No Joke’ by Matt Maenpaa

weed between the lines:

How a vigilant hemp advocacy organization rallied against a special interest group’s bastardized hemp regulation bill by Will Brendza

departments

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The Anderson Files: Forced pregnancy & rise in fascism City Beat: Council contends with even-year elections and COVID infections Art & Culture: After decades as a curator, Ana Weir opens Pearl Street gallery to showcase Black artists Events: What to do when there’s nothing to do Film: Past tense, present tension in ‘Happening’ Astrology: By Rob Brezsny Nibbles: How a chef and grower are bringing fine homegrown fare to Boulder organic farm stand Drink: A brewery from another world Cuisine: Scratch-made doughnuts Savage Love: Real worries

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MAY 12, 2022

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Publisher, Fran Zankowski Circulation Manager, Cal Winn EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, Caitlin Rockett Senior Editor, Emma Athena News Editor, Will Brendza Food Editor, John Lehndorff Contributing Writers: Dave Anderson, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Shay Castle, Angela K. Evans, Mark Fearer, Jodi Hausen, Karlie Huckels, Dave Kirby, Matt Maenpaa, Sara McCrea, Rico Moore, Adam Perry, Katie Rhodes, Dan Savage, Alan Sculley, Tom Winter SALES AND MARKETING Market Development Manager, Kellie Robinson Account Executives, Matthew Fischer, Carter Ferryman Mrs. Boulder Weekly, Mari Nevar PRODUCTION Art Director, Susan France Senior Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman CIRCULATION TEAM Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer BUSINESS OFFICE Bookkeeper, Regina Campanella Founder/CEO, Stewart Sallo Editor-at-Large, Joel Dyer May 12, 2022 Volume XXIX, Number 36

As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism, and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2022 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@ boulderweekly.com) or the comments section of our website at www.boulderweekly.com. Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

Forced pregnancy and rises in authoritarianism by Dave Anderson

bortion is a unique issue in American politics. For many years, a majority of people have opposed overturning Roe v. Wade. However, many have ambivalences and take contradictory positions. This is partly the result of issue framing and questions asked. Isn’t everyone “pro-life”? Sociologist Tricia Bruce says many people she surveyed on the topic were uncomfortable discussing it for fear of being judged. Abortion is more widespread than it seems. According to the Guttmacher Institute, one in four women will have an abortion by age 45. The Centers for Disease Control says six in 10 women who have an abortion are already mothers. Pregnancy is a complex biological process. There are countless ways it can go awry. Writing in Scientific Amer-

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ican, Maternal-fetal medicine physician Cara C. Heuser says: Most people don’t realize that carrying a pregnancy to term is 14 times more dangerous than an early legal abortion. While we should work to reduce the maternal mortality rate, especially among women of color, the fact is that being pregnant (or being forced to seek an unsafe or illegal abortion) is always going to be riskier than a safely performed abortion.

She cites multiple studies, which found that “being denied an abortion results in worse financial, health and family outcomes.” She notes: acaca

Dogmatic laws presume a certainty that rarely exists in the realities of clinical medicine. They fail to account for the

see THE ANDERSON FILES Page 6

MAY 12, 2022

THE ANDERSON FILES from Page 5 range of prognoses that characterize many conditions, as well as how the complexities of psychosocial circumstances, mental health and disparities in access to care affect a person’s health outcomes. Lawmakers cannot possibly legislate every circumstance or exception that must exist to prevent sometimes significant harm and/or suffering. Biology constantly surprises us.”

However, the dogmatic anti-abortion laws are an answer for many who feel cultural anxiety about rapid social change involving gender roles and sexuality. Authoritarian movements wipe away ambiguity and nuance. Republicans are saying if they win in national elections this fall, they will pass a bill outlawing abortion everywhere in this country. What does this mean? New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg says, “If your aim is a near-total abortion ban in a rapidly secularizing country with a younger generation that largely despises the right, democracy isn’t your friend.” Meanwhile, the U.K. media outlet openDemocracy reported last year that “the ‘dark money’ global empire of the U.S. Christian right” spent at least $28 million in recent years on efforts to roll back the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people worldwide. They are exporting their legal strategy, army of lawyers, and resources overseas to undermine international progress on abortion access. New York Times reporter Max Fisher writes: “Recent shifts on access to abortion suggest democracy and women’s rights go hand in hand— and that the inverse might be true as well.” Since 2000, 31 countries have expanded access to abortion. Only three have gone backwards: Poland, Nicaragua and the U.S. Ximena Casas, the women’s rights

researcher at Human Rights Watch, writes about a “Green Wave” in Latin America of mass popular protests, legal action and legislative demands “that center broadly on women’s autonomy and rights, especially protecting women against violence.” But there has been pushback. In Honduras, Congress has made it almost impossible to legalize abortion. In El Salvador, the president blocked any change in abortion laws. Women in that nation have been sentenced for up to 40 years in prison for violating the law, many after miscarriages or stillbirths. The U.S. Supreme Court’s draft ruling on abortion has alarmed many around the world. Araceli Lopez Nava is the Latin America regional managing director for MSI Reproductive Choices, an organization which provides contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries. She told Ms. Magazine:

WHEN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT FIRST LEGALIZED ABORTION IN 1973 , the country was

one of the leaders on reproductive rights.

It has been a long fight for our right to choose, but just as my home country of Mexico celebrates a turning point in abortion rights, it is devastating to see our neighbors in the U.S. poised to take a huge step backwards. When the U.S. Supreme Court first legalized abortion in 1973, the country was one of the leaders on reproductive rights. Today, it is moving against the ‘Green Wave’ sweeping Latin America, and the once-unthinkable prospect of U.S. women crossing the border to access safe, legal reproductive healthcare in Mexico, could soon become a reality.”

The elections this year and in 2024 are more crucial than ever.

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly. MAY 12, 2022

Council contends with even year elections and COVID infections by Shay Castle

ocal elections may move to even years, but how and when is TBD. Assuming voters give it a green light, Boulderites could soon be electing their local officials alongside governors, senators and presidents. How soon? It’s too soon to tell. In a bid to increase turnout, a majority of City Council backed a plan to move council elections from odd years to even, a shift that in other cities has resulted in way, way more people casting ballots—even in small, local races. Boulder already sees huge gaps in even vs. odd-year elections: Nearly 30,000 more people voted in 2020 compared to 2021. Even without a presidential race driving turnout, more people consistently show up for even-year elections, as evidenced by the 2018 vs. 2019 participation rates (57,377 and 34,971, respectively—a gap of 22,406). Local measures don’t appear to suffer from crowded even-year ballots, as critics contend. An analysis of turnout over the past decade found that 17,239 more votes were cast for local issues, on average, in even years vs. odd ones, despite more crowded ballots. “There’s no evidence that voters are going to get overwhelmed with l

the national stuff,” council member Matt Benjamin said Tuesday night, in a passionate speech advocating for reform. (Benjamin previously served on the city’s election and campaign finance working group.) “We know where the voters are; we go to them in space” with drop boxes and mail-in ballots, Benjamin said. “We also need to go to them in time. It’s odd we still hold on to that system (when) we have 20,000 more people who participate in our local elections in even years.” Opponents made a quantity vs. quality argument. “We’ve made voting very, very easy,” said council member Bob Yates. “Some people choose not to vote in City Council elections—they’re not interested in City Council, they don’t care, they don’t want to inform themselves, they can’t be bothered. I’m not sure those people will become more informed if we move to even-year elections. Maybe there’s a laziness factor there. “We will undoubtedly have more people voting, but it’s not necessarily going to improve the quality of the election.” Yates was joined by Mark Wallach in voting against moving to even-year elections for City Council, a change see CITY BEAT Page 8

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that will require voter approval this fall. Implementation will be tricky. Because state law makes it illegal to shorten the term of an elected official, terms must instead be lengthened by one year, or an extra election must be added to fill those gap-year seats between the end of odd-year terms (in 2023 and 2025) and the next evenyear election (2024 or 2026). Extra elections cost money and may result in voter fatigue. Too, Boulderites might not be too keen on an extra year for elected officials—a questionable power grab despite the noble cause of expanding democracy—nor may the elected officials themselves. “There is certainly a prohibition against involuntary servitude,” council member Wallach joked. “If this were to apply to me, I’d have some comments of a very strong nature.” Complicating matters is the pending direct election of Boulder’s mayor via ranked choice voting, slated to start in 2023 per the will of the people. Boulder’s first democratically elected mayor will either have a one-year or three-year term to accommodate the shift, rather than the customary two. Ranked choice voting is also a big lift for election officials. The county clerk asked that the start of even-year voting not coincide with the 2024 presidential election, council’s obvious preference. Staff promised to check in with the county clerk and pick the discussion up in time to put the question to voters this fall. l

“We will come back to you with additional options,” said City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. One other City Council change (again, pending voter approval): Newly elected members will be sworn into office in December rather than mid-November—after election results are certified. SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY? Next week was supposed to be the return of public attendance to council chambers. But after just two in-person meetings, Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett, council member Matt Benjamin and an unknown number of others caught COVID. A city spokesperson did not have more information; the city’s website hosting signups to participate in council meetings still declares the public will be welcomed back May 17. Rivera-Vandermyde told the Daily Camera that public attendance is being reconsidered, but that strategies such as masking or spacing out seats could be options as well. There was no masking requirement for the council- and staff-only meetings this past month. Wastewater monitoring and test positivity rates indicate significant spread of COVID-19, likely fueled by the latest variant. The number of hospitalizations for coronavirus doubled this past week in Boulder County, though total numbers are still low (10 individuals). This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

COVERING A CRISIS OF SHELTER Mark Fearer’s reporting on rent control in Boulder Weekly has been informative and is appreciated. Banning rent control laws only hurts a working class that’s already borderline desperate in this economy that increasingly serves only the rich. The lack of affordable housing has become a massive problem for the younger generation especially, in part due to corporations such as Blackrock buying off masses of real estate to rent out. This situation is the primary fuel for the fire of our shameful homelessness problem in the U.S. Rent control is badly needed. Here’s an idea: If the governor refuses to support rent control due to his free-market-glorifying philosophy, someone should put it on the ballot as an initiative next election cycle, run a populist campaign of education on the subject, and see if it gets 55%. Any takers? Adam Hurter/Eire

organize a serious demonstration. I bring up this story because, as with university tuition hike announcements, timing is everything when it comes to earth-shattering news from our Supreme Court... Chief Justice John Roberts, knowing how most Judges were going to vote on Roe V. Wade, planned to hold off any public announcement until June—a time when students and the general population scatter for fun and frolic at the beach, the mountains or the desert. Whether it is a university, a government or a private business, timing of an announcement on

critical matters is essential. It is key to keeping things operating as smoothly as possible and to minimize heartburn that may occur from students, constituents or stockholders. That is why our Chief Justice is so upset, not by what is contained in the announcement, but by the “unfortunate” timing, when word of this pending decision became public knowledge. Now, the ball is in our court. Pete Simon/Arvada GRATITUDE FROM A YOGI I’ve had a Google alert for Kundalini in Boulder for 2 years, hoping

that news of more in-person Kundalini classes would come soon. I really appreciate Boulder Weekly writing this (see Altered States, “Conscious cleansing,” April 21, 2022) and I’ve marked my calendar for a future Sunday to attend Julia Dunbar’s Kundalini class. I did my teacher’s training in Kundalini last year... 220 hours, all virtually, and I’ve been craving some in-person studio time. You did a beautiful job laying out all the benefits of Kundalini. I hope many people read this and try it! Bethany O’Connor/Boulder Send letters to letters@boulderweekly.com

THE SUPREME COURT LEAK: IN TIME FOR STUDENTS TO SCATTER While attending the University of Delaware (UD) in the 1970s, it was considered “normal” to expect tuition hikes (one about every 18 months). For me, it wasn’t as much the raise in tuition as the TIMING OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT. Such announcements usually (if not always) came in June. The administration could justify the timing of such announcements as end of fiscal year “housekeeping.” But I always saw the timing as: Wait until the students scatter after spring semester... so we won’t have trouble on campus. The one time the UD Administration announced a tuition hike in the middle of a semester, everything came to a stop for one glorious day of protest. Students and faculty staged a massive demonstration from the steps of Memorial Hall (the University wanted to charge additional money, per credit hour, beyond a 15-credit-hour limit per semester). The math of that proposal was met with justifiable scorn and satire. (In one memorable speech by a tenured professor, he said: “All of you can now obtain a Ph.D. by simply paying the piper under the new University ‘installment plan.’”) The only students left on campus in June were those of us taking summer classes (less than 15% of the 19,000-strong student body). With those numbers, it was impossible to BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

COURTESY CAROLE BUKOVICH

The iron law of prohibition As fentanyl deaths surge, the war on drugs is alive and well in Colorado

by Will Brendza

ake Bukovich was home alone when he took the pill. It was a Tuesday night in Boulder. The 21-year-old University of Colorado student had just finished his summer internship and had the night off to relax with his new puppy. He had the house to himself—and he had a small bag of oxycodone M30 pills he’d bought for just such an occasion. He took one to settle in for what should have been an uneventful evening. The next day, however, in Eagle, Colorado, Jake’s mother, Carole, answered the door to a pair of grim looking police officers. They greeted her, confirmed she was Jake Bukovich’s mother, and informed her that her son was dead. His roommate had found him around 10 a.m. when he’d returned home to the puppy barking from behind Jake’s closed door. “It was completely shocking,” Carole recalls, her voice cracking. Jake was a star athlete at Battle Mountain High School and he had a lot of friends at CU, where he was entering his senior year as a computer science

MAY 12, 2022

major. Carole never had a reason to expect that awful moment. Jake’s autopsy wouldn’t come back for days. But the police and coroner knew almost immediately what had happened, she says; they’d seen enough fentanyl deaths in Boulder to recognize the signs. The cause of death on his death certificate was listed as “accidental overdose.” “I can’t even tell you how angry that makes me,” Carole says. “Jake took one pill. One pill is not an overdose.” That was in 2021. And like the majority of the 800-plus Coloradans that died from fentanyl that year (or the 40,000 others across the country), Jake had no idea he was even in possession of fentanyl, let alone that he was taking a pill that would take his life. Mitchell Gomez, an executive with DanceSafe, a drug-testing advocacy and education organization, agrees that deaths from counterfeit pills like Jake’s shouldn’t be considered “overdose deaths” in the classic sense. “They’re ‘overdoses’ in the medi-

cal, technical DETAILS: Jake Bukovich was a CU sense,” Gomez student, athlete, and says, “but the admired friend who vast majorlost his life to fentanyl ity of these in 2021. The single deaths are pill he took was a people who counterfeit oxycodone are really becut with the deadly ing poisoned.” synthetic opioid. Aiming to address this crisis, Colorado’s HB22 1326, or the Fentanyl Accountability and Prevention Bill, moved to Gov. Polis’ desk on May 11, 2022, for its final signature before becoming law. The bill, one of the state’s most controversial and closely followed polcies of the year, would make simple possession of fentanyl—or any drug cut with it—a felony offense instead of a misdemeanor. During its third reading on May 6, Colorado’s Democrat-controlled state Senate voted to make it even more punitive by taking out an important guardrail that protected users like Jake, unknowingly in possession of fentanyl. The House Appropriations Committee approved HB22 1326 on an

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8-3 vote; Gov. Polis now has 30 days to sign it into law. “I know people don’t think this is a perfect bill,” Rep. Alec Garnett (D-Denver), House speaker and sponsor of the bill, in a statement said, adding a “perfect bill” isn’t possible. Among Garnett’s co-sponsors for HB22 1326 are Sen. Brittany Pettersen (D-Lakewood) and Rep. Leslie Herod (D-Denver), who was also behind the similarly controversial HB21 1317 Regulating Marijuana Concentrates Bill (see Weed Between the Lines, “Concentrated regulation,” July 1, 2021). In 2019, Colorado passed HB19 1263, reclassifying quantities under 4 grams of nearly all Schedule I or II substances as a misdemeanor rather than a felony offense (see News, “High-country defelonization,” Sept. 9, 2019). It was widely regarded as a progressive step toward ending the drug war in this state, reducing criminal penalties that often target users instead of distributors. According to the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition’s (CCJRC) recent “Fentanyl in Colorado” report, “between January 2020 and January 2022, more than 31,000 drug cases in Colorado were filed against low-income individuals. Of those cases, 75% were for simple drug possession or for sharing drugs for personal use. Only 9% were for low-level dealing, 9% for mid-level dealing, and 6% for high-level dealing.” “The best way to treat drug addiction is not with a felony conviction but rather to connect the person with treatment,” Boulder’s District Attorney Michael Dougherty told Boulder Weekly in a 2019 interview about HB19 1263. This new bill, HB22 1326, would largely undo what HB21 1263 accomplished. It would reclassify possession of just 1 gram of any substance laced with even trace amounts of fentanyl as a felony. Prior to its third reading in the state Senate, the bill included an important provision to ensure the bill wouldn’t target users who’d unwittingly been sold fentanyl. It would have required prosecutors to prove that someone “knew or had reasonable cause

to believe” that they were in possession of fentanyl-laced substances. If they were unaware that fentanyl was present, the possession charges could have been dropped to a misdemeanor. But on May 6, less than a week before the legislative session ended and during the bill’s third reading, the state Senate voted 18-17 to remove the “knowingly” provision. Meaning any user unwittingly caught with between 1 and 4 grams of fentanyl-laced cocaine, MDMA, heroin, pills or any other substance automatically gets a felony charge. If convicted, that will haunt their record for years or decades. The House Appropriations Committee approved this change when it passed bill on Wednesday. There are some positive aspects of HB 1326. The bill requires some felony offenders to be placed in a residential treatment facility for addiction treatment; it expands the entities eligible to receive opiate antagonists (like naloxone); it requires jails to provide opiate antagonists and prescribe medication for opiate use disorders when certain individuals are released; and permits schools to acquire and maintain opiate detection tests on-premise. The bill would also provide $20 million for the Antagonist-Naloxone Bulk Purchase Fund, appropriate $6 million to fund to the Harm Reduction Grant Program Cash Fund, and allocate $300,000 to supply opiate detection kits to eligible entities. Proponents of the bill, like Garnett and Denver Police Chief Paul

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Pazan, argue that this “tough-oncrime” approach is the most effective way to mitigate the fentanyl crisis spiraling out of control in Colorado. However, drug reform advocates like Gomez are adamant that legislation like HB 1326 will only make things worse. “As you increase drug enforcement [penalties], what that does, inevitably, is encourage people who are doing drug transportation to switch to more potent analogs,” he says. “It’s called the ‘iron law of prohibition.’” Coined by former NORML director Richard Cowan in 1986, the “iron law of prohibition” suggests that when law enforcement intensifies, the potency of prohibited substances increases—or, as Cowan put it: “The harder the enforcement, the harder the drugs.” Gomez likens the situation to alcohol prohibition: It was nearly impossible to find beer and wine between 1920 and 1933. Bootleggers were risking their freedom and there was far more value in running gin, moonshine and whiskey instead of lower ABV beverages. “The reason fentanyl became so prevalent is because it’s easier to smuggle,” Gomez says. “When border enforcement goes up, dose per smuggled shoebox becomes the primary metric of concern [for smugglers].” Fentanyl is part of the third wave of America’s opioid crisis. The first wave began in the late 1990s: As opioid prescriptions began increasing MAY 12, 2022

with the rise of “pill mill” pharmacies, opioid overdose deaths began rising too. The second wave began in 2010: As many states started restricting access and addicted users became unable to get prescriptions, they started switching to heroin as a result. This third wave began in 2013: As more potent synthetic analogs began hitting the scene, fentanyl started spilling over and into other street drugs. Black market suppliers realized massive economic opportunities were opening, and so they started cutting synthetic opioids across the U.S. drug supply. Overdose deaths began exploding across the continent, along with the drug suppliers’ revenue-per-smuggled kilogram. According to Statista.com, as of 2017, “the price of 1 kg of pure fentanyl for a drug trafficking organization (DTO) was about 4,150 U.S. dollars. ... The revenue generated from 1 kg of fentanyl by a DTO is estimated to equal about 1.6 million U.S. dollars.” Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than street heroin, explains the CCJRC’s “Fentanyl in Colorado” report. Its onset is extremely rapid and the effects last for only 30-60 minutes. Just two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose (one kilogram is enough to kill 500,000 people) and the Drug Enforcement Agency claims that about 42% of the black market pills they test contain at least two milligrams of fentanyl, and up to five. The very same day that Jake Bukovich was discovered in Boulder after taking one fentanyl-laced pill, the Gore Range Narcotics Interdiction Team (GRANITE) stopped a vehicle on I-70 just outside of Eagle where Jake grew up, confiscating 70 pounds of counterfeit oxycodone M30 pills laced with fentanyl (a haul of over 30 million pills), just like the one that Jake took. Those smugglers were going to prison no matter what, with or without HB22 1326—but under the bill’s current language, Jake would have been subject to felony charges too. Even though he only had a few fentanyl-laced pills and no idea see FENTANYL Page 12 11

FENTANYL from Page 11

what was actually in them. “I go back and forth on criminalization,” Jake’s mother Carole says. “I do think that if you’re distributing fentanyl in any way, shape or form, that you should be held accountable ... but the police can’t be chasing every user ... it needs to be the distributor or the manufacturer ... if you just have fentanyl and you get caught with it, and then suddenly you’re a criminal, that’s not going to change anything.” Terri Hurst, the policy coordinator for CCJRC, agrees with that sentiment. You can’t arrest your way out of a tainted drug supply, she says. Especially when policy makers are ignoring evidence and acting on outdated myths about drug regulation. “Our focus was to really try to dispel some of those myths that are out there and try to provide pragmatic approaches for how to deal with the overdose crisis, and fentanyl in particular,” Hurst says of the CCJRC’s recent “Fentanyl in Colorado” report. “A lot of what’s in this report is really focused on what we believe works to save people’s lives.” For the report, CCJRC used data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on state overdoses, comparing overdose rates by state. The first question they look at in the report: Do states that classify drug possession as a misdemeanor have higher rates of overdose deaths than those that classify it as a felony? “There is no correlation between drug overdose deaths and the severity of penalties for simple possession,” the report reads, accompanied by a graph and table showing the data. “Overdose death rates have risen throughout the country in recent years, including in states where simple possession is a felony.” The report also asks if increasing criminal penalties for fentanyl distribution reduces the supply of fentanyl in a community. Again, the study found the answer was no. “Incarcerating drug dealers has little or no impact on disrupting drug supplies because the drug market is dynamic,” the report reads. “It responds to the demand for drugs by replacing imprisoned sellers with either new recruits or increased drug selling by existing dealers, which is known as the ‘replacement effect.’” The CCJRC has a number of suggestions on how to mitigate the issue. Its report starts by recommending a 12

MAY 12, 2022

drastic increase in access to naloxone, the life-saving nasal spray that can treat a narcotic overdose in emergency situations. Every Coloradan has a prescription for naloxone (brand name Narcan) and can purchase it at Walgreens—or, go search for a national organization like Naloxone for All and find a distribution point where you can pick it up for free. CCJRC also recommends dramatically expanding the number and types of entities eligible to access these medications, and even installing naloxone vending machines where high-risk populations might gather. Carole Bukovcich has also become an ardent advocate for naloxone in the months since Jake’s death. She took a training in Narcan administration, and is looking into how she can help distribute it to others. She’s also started speaking alongside Maggie Seldeen with High Rockies Harm Reduction, helping to spread awareness and educate Colorado’s mountain communities about the fentanyl crisis. Seldeen says Naloxone should be as commonplace as automated external defibrillators (AEDs) or fire extinguishers. “Narcan should be everywhere,” she says. “It should be in every dorm, in every college. It should be in every college house. It should be at bars, it should be at restaurants, it should be at Red Rocks,” her list continues. “It should be a tool people can use and it should be that common.” The CCJRC report also recommends focusing federal stimulus dollars toward drug prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services; expanding the Good Samaritan law to include the crime of “drug sharing”; increasing the number of harm-reduction organizations; making fentanyl testing strips and other drug-checking resources free or cheap and easily attainable; advocating for realistic and evidence-based education programs; allowing overdose prevention sites for communities that want and need them; and enacting “safe supply” programs that would provide prescribed medications as an alternative to the toxic illegal drug supply. Some progressive drug policy advocates say broad drug decriminalization bills, similar to the “Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative” that Oregon passed in 2020, are one of the best ways to address the problem. But

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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Gomez, with DanceSafe, would go even a step further. He points out that simple decriminalization still leaves the production of drugs in the hands of black market suppliers. “Decriminalization is not enough,” he says. “I think what we’re talking about here, very explicitly, as the only way to end fentanyl deaths is legal drug supply.” Drug overdoses are inarguably a public health crisis in the U.S., accounting for over 100,000 deaths in 2021. Gun deaths (20,726), traffic deaths (31,720), and suicides (1,859) combined hardly equate to half of that. Arrests and felony charges aren’t going to stop demand for or use of these substances, Gomez aruges, as evidenced by more than 50 years of failed drug policy. Nor is fentanyl going to extract itself from the black market drug supply now. It will only be replaced by other, even more potent analogs like carfentanil or nitazenes. “The only choice society really has is: How do we want to control the distribution and use of these drugs?” Gomez asks. “And for some reason, the United States has decided that all of the control [for this health crisis] should belong to criminal gangs.” Real solutions are on the table, Gomez says. Legal regulation is a real possibility—it just requires a cultural shift and the right kind of political will to accomplish. “Fentanyl deaths are a choice that we’re making as a society,” he says “We’ve decided to allow these deaths in a very real sense ... in order to continue the policies of prohibition, which have very demonstrably failed.”

Until that societal change is realized and the political will mustered, advocacy organizations and activists will continue their fight. DanceSafe will continue offering volunteer-run drug-testing services at music events, selling testing strips, and running education campaigns around the U.S., promoting safe and responsible drug usage. CCJRC will continue to advocate for more progressive drug policies in Colorado, fighting for criminal justice reform and advocating for more progressive drug policies. And Carole Bukovich says she’s going to continue telling Jake’s story and sharing her truth, in the hopes that it could save even one life. Jake didn’t have to die, she says; and others don’t either. If he’d known not to take that pill while he was home alone—if a roommate had been with him and had naloxone— if he’d had the right kind of testing strips readily available—or even if she’d known how to have an honest, realistic conversation about the life and death risks of using street drugs in the age of fentanyl with her son—maybe things would be different. But, she says, she can’t think about what if ’s. “I think it really begins with education and conversation,” Carole says. “This isn’t someone who’s addicted to and overusing drugs. This is your neighbor. This is your kid. It’s your kid’s friend.” Contact the author with comments or questions at wbrendza@boulderweekly.com

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

The secret secret is out

SewBo brings fresh fabrics and sewing education to South Boulder

by Emma Athena

knock at the Martin Acres house, and Jordan Martindell opens the screen, welcoming me in. Behind her is the kitchen, which blends openly with the living room, and across the countertop reaching into the space like a pier, she’s arranged and folded fabrics in a buffet of colors, patterns, shapes and textures. On the kitchen table is a sewing machine, and she motions for me to set mine there, an older machine I’d bought off Facebook Marketplace during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns, when I contributed to the 850% surge in U.S. Google searches for the term “sewing machines near me.” I wasn’t alone here: Colorado ranked sixth among states with the most searches for that phrase, behind Oregon and Louisiana in the top positions. “I feel like there’s a resurgence in making in general,” Martindell tells me about 30 minutes into our sewing lesson; we’re bending over my machine, watching me thread the sharp-needle contraption on my own for the first time. “We were so starved for entertainment, we had to create entertainment inside of our house.” But Martindell went a step beyond, creating an entertainment studio/lab inside her family’s South Boulder home—by the beginning of 2022, she was ready to launch SewBo, an educational sewing space and boutique fabric shop she now runs from the kitchen table, though a brick and mortar store capitalizes next year’s plans. For now, the living room as a business and classroom space is fitting. “The pandemic really blessed society in that way. It helped us reconnect with home in a different way,” she says. “The domestic sphere—we have a different relationship with it now.” Martindell is a pattern person at heart; she grew up in the South Bay of Los Angeles with a costume designer mom and a community college professor dad. When she left home, she was an aspiring actress headed to New York City; she got a job at Anthropologie to help pay the bills and it was there, tending to intricate retail displays, that she fell in love with fabrics. She was a natural, too—for 10 years, she floated up the company ranks before quitting the big city life and embarking on a mountain-focused journey that landed her in Boulder with her husband and two young children. Now, with SewBo, she plans to serve Boulder fresh fabrics. She understands her competition in Boulder is JoAnn Fabric and Crafts, but still differentiates that chain as a “need-based store,” as she strives to create an BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

“inspiration-based store” where people not only stop for supplies, but also ideas, encouragement, insights and the spark of creativity. Other sewing and fabric shops in the county, like Lyons Quilting, Studio Bernina and Elfriede’s Fine Fabrics, cater the sewing population with bulk and high-end offerings, and Martindell sees an opportunity to fill in the market with fabrics more resonant with modern projects. Her other competition, of course, is the internet—an online beast “I can’t compete with,” she admits—but she can, indeed, offer something it can’t: tangibility—the burst of understanding

Clare Hunter, author of Threads of Life: a History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle, considers sewing’s “social, emotional and political significance.” The calming effects of sewing can help people express and heal themselves, she writes in an article for The Guardian, describing how women in World War II prisoner-of-war camps, “sewed privately, reclaiming solitude and individual expression among the overcrowded and claustrophobic atmosphere of a camp where they were registered as a number. Through their embroidery they made time for themselves and through their sewn autographs they asserted their identity.” Hunter highlights studies exalting the relationship “between creativity and well-being: [especially] the benefits, particularly for those suffering from mental illness, of the mesmeric imCOURTESY SEWBO mersion in crafts as a relief from inner turmoil.” In one example, she cites World War I doctors who got “shell-shocked soldiers to embroider as a way of healing mental scars and it proved a surprisingly effective way of steadying their hands and settling their minds.” Martindell has seen these effects play out before her eyes. “Sewing is a calming antidote—it’s the same for children,” she says. “When they do something like this, their brains aren’t overly stimulated. It’s very simple and so rewarding.” SewBo’s themed summer camps are for children aged 7 and up. Watching them grow “proud of themselves and feel a sense of accomplishment” is rewarding in itself, Martindell says; DETAILS: SewBo that physical contact or proximity helps she’s watched kids transform over the weekly classes and release. course of one class—arriving quiet and camps, June-AuI’d tried guiding myself through shy, leaving in smiles with new friends. gust, Martin Acres, YouTube tutorials on how to use my “Sports gives kids that opportunity. But South Boulder, machine, but I’d never been able to does it give that to them on an individu310-710-4393, get the stitches right, nor was I able to al basis for anyone to feel that way?” sewboco.com understand the whys of what went where. Martindell teaches adults like me, Within 20 minutes at Martindell’s table, too, and I have to agree: “Anybody it was evident the hours of fidgeting I’d can learn to sew,” she confesses. “It’s done on my own could be reclassified a waste. the secret secret: sewing is the easiest thing on the She breaks down steps into bite-sized pieces, planet.” motions for me to repeat things over again. I fumAt the end of our lesson, I’m holding a reble my way through some parts, and she answers versible cloth bag with a crisply boxed bottom— my questions with a smile or a funny story. When perfect for dressing a potted plant or to use as we get to lining up the fabric to slip under the neea cute catch-all for the electronic cords typidle, she says, in response to my doubts that I’d cut cally bunched on my floor. I text a photo of my wholly symmetrical pieces: “If they’re not perfectly handiwork to a friend in another time zone who exact, it’s totally fine. What is perfection anyway?” also picked up sewing during the pandemic and she laughs at herself—knowing exactly who she’s when she alights it with hearts, I feel what Claire kidding: “I’m raising a perfectionist. I am a perfecHunter writes, too, how “in our social media age, tionist. My mom is the worst, no wonder. When as we become more physically distanced from I’m sewing, I’m like, that’s fine—she’s like, we have each other, sewing is a safeguard to isolation, a to rip it out and start over.” And, true to form, way to stay in touch with each other: hand and Martindell only encouraged me to rip out one of my mind working in harmony to convey what lies in seams, when the fabric bunched up and went crooked. our hearts. For me and others, it sustains not just We laughed it out, and it was easy to redo. Sewing, a sense of self but of belonging.” she says, has brought layers of joy to her life—she’s excited to spread its benefits far and wide. Contact the author at eathena@boulderweekly.com l

MAY 12, 2022

JUST ANNOUNCED

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AN EVENING WITH BRUCE COCKBURN FRI. MAY 20 AEG PRESENTS

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MON. MAY 23

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

PINK FUZZ/HANNAH THURSTON

Hands on the wheel

Poised for breakout, Boulder-born Pink Fuzz focuses on forging its own path

by Adam Perry

or all its energy and immediacy, Pink Fuzz’s 2021 release Live at Silo Sound is the product of more than a decade of hard work by the Boulder-born

After meeting as students at Foothills Elementary and forming a band as teenagers, Pink Fuzz has cut its teeth in the Colorado music scene, releasing one searing full-length studio album, along with Live at Silo Sound national scene, like one of Kerouac’s “fabulous roman Charismatic bassist and singer LuLu Demitro eruption of Live at Silo Sound is the result of she and her brother, John, putting in countless hours—along with phenom drummer Forrest Raup—at the height of the

but loose—especially with all-star mellow acoustic releases certainly reveal the band’s range and depth, but Live at Silo reveals a mature, polished group that almost sounds like its members sold their souls to the devil at the crossroads in the years since it was an underage baby-faced crew jamming at now-defunct Boulder pubs like

hours a day, and he doesn’t

of Pink Fuzz have been playing together for nearly a decade, even though they’re all still 20-some-

“For us, it feels like the more we practice the closer we

in addition to their passionate practicing and touring, but are “all, in some capacity or another, connected to

“A lot of our fans have said, ‘We’re so happy we can

Pink Fuzz has taken giant steps musically, develop-

they’re really beautiful, and it lends itself well to our mu-

group is being very careful, because handing the proverbial wheel to the wrong people could result in Pink Fuzz she stresses, “because we’ve been doing this ourselves John, one year older than LuLu and thus lovingly talked to people in the past about what building our team would look like, and you really want to choose the right people that obviously have your best interest at heart,

with his sister in Pink Fuzz, which she estimates has Speed Demon

FUZZ with Wet

“A lot of the reason that we practice so hard is that we’re constantly trying to bridge the gap of what you

Fuzz forward musically, as well as the rampant touring it

were teenagers, more recently released Fading Away, a two-song EP of surprisingly mellow, heartfelt tunes driven

ON THE BILL: PINK

motorcycle cap have made him instantly recognizable when he’s out and about in the Colorado music scene, or just working on his car on a sunny Boulder day, but it’s his rapidly increasing guitar skills that are really making

we believe in and how we want to put our art out into the

the lyrics and we took the acoustic version, because it to some conglomerate with some big idea of what they vision for what we want our career to be and where we Live at Silo Sound presents one hell of a strong seeing him become the guitarist he is, the voicing through

only thing that’s different is that there’s a lot more energy

double-whammy of fast and loud, but unlike some of the bands that inspired the Demitros, their music is anything BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Email comments or questions to editorial@boulderweekly.com l

MAY 12, 2022

Studio Project reminds visitors animals rights are ‘No Joke’ by Matt Maenpaa

MATT MAENPAA

multi-colored snake twists up the stairwell of the Firehouse Art Center, some sections of its body exposed revealing a spine and heart, its fangs bared. A combination of prints and stencil work, the project is the result of a collaboration between the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) and the Firehouse Art Center called the Studio Project, aimed at helping student artists tackle social issues under the tutelage of professional artist mentors. Past iterations of the Studio Project have addressed the environmental impact of fashion and showed gratitude to essential workers in the pandemic, among other topics over the past several years. “I want (the students) to talk about the issues and how it affects them and their peers,” says Elaine Waterman, executive director of the Firehouse Art Center. “So whatever they’re passionate about, that’s the direction we end up going.” According to Waterman, engaging students in issues that matter to them is a key part of the project. This time around, the high school students kept circling back to animal rights, food insecurity and ethical husbandry. Once the subject matter is locked in, students are tasked they’ve chosen. Students this semester chose Denver artist Max Coleman, who combines classic Audubon-style illustrations with more modern street art aesthetics to address environmental issues, social justice and animal rights. Ian Giles, a junior at Stanford Online High School, was looking for local opportunities for art after moving to Boulder from New York. The biggest appeal, Giles says, is getting to collaborate with a working artist and learn from their experience and not just a school curriculum. 18

INFO BOX: We’re People

Too: No Joke, a Studio Project exhibition, debuts at BMoCA June 5-8, with a reception on June 8. The exhibition moves to the South Gallery of the Firehouse Art Center on ing of the mural.

“I think there’s a disconnect between academia and industry or working artists. I think both are valuable, but I think this program does a good job of teaching us things from a practical perspective,” Giles says. Coleman himself is a joyful and spirited individual. Even just a brief moment, as he demonstrates brush technique for a mural in the stairwell of the Firehouse Art Center, radiates enthusiasm for the teens he’s working with. His enthusiasm for his own work seems boundless, gladly digging into the inspirations through a stack of sketchbooks His work juxtaposes beautiful landscapes or wildlife with darker subjects, much of which surrounded by Jewish culture and religious iconography. Judaism teaches that we should aspire to “leave the world better for your life having been in it,” Coleman says. “To me, that always meant being kind to the things that, for some reason, people and plants,” he explains. Using murals, paintings and detailed illustrations as a call to action helps Coleman guide his work and create with intention, he says. The goal is to have the MAY 12, 2022

work shift people’s perspective, even just a little bit. The Studio Project is an opportunity for Coleman to share his thoughts on art, and his practical experience with the business side of art, with an eager audience. The experience has been incredibly rewarding, he says, particularly as his first time in a teaching role. “He has a really open way of sharing that works really well with the program, because he wants to impart all of the things in his mind to these kids,” Waterman says. Waterman says that the students are already talented artists, but the Studio Project encourages them to explore and develop their own parameters and deadlines for the project as well. More than just the practical experience of learning project management as artists, Waterman wants the students to consider the what and why of creating as they step into the world beyond high school. Lily Gutierez, a sophomore at Boulder High School, says the independence and collaboration has been challenging in the best way. The experience has helped her reflect on her art and what it can be outside of classroom assignments when she’s not being told what to do. “It’s been fun to practice with that, especially with all these different artists,” she says. “It’s been fun. I like seeing everyone’s art. I really like (Coleman); he’s good at teaching us in an interesting way.” Both Giles and Gutierez hope the art can make a stronger impact than just words alone, that the mural can inspire considerations and conversations to anyone who passes by. the We’re People Too: No Joke exhibition is unveiled at the Firehouse. Prior to that, BMoCA will host some of the Studio Project work June 5-8, with a reception the evening of June 8. Email the author at mattmaenpaa@gmail.com BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

UPCOMING CONCERTS and EVENTS at ALT 90s NIGHT

Other brilliant minds

“BAD COMPANY TRIBUTE”

After decades of work as a curator and broker, Ana Weir opens a gallery off Pearl Street to showcase Black artists

by Matt Maenpaa

“REM TRIBUTE” “90S ROCK”

“CLASSIC HORN-DRIVEN ROCK”

LED ZEPPELIN TRIBUTE”

“CLASSICAL STRINGS THAT ROCK”

“HAVE FUN, BE LOUD, & PARTY”

“RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE TRIBUTE”

MATT MAENPAA

ibrant, almost abstract illustrations hang next to bold landscapes in oil on canvas. Wooden masks hang next to playful surrealist paintings. Located at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Spruce Street, Ana’s Art Gallery may have only opened its doors a few weeks ago, but it’s a culmination of owner Ana Weir’s decades of work as a curator and broker for international artists. Deeply familiar with each artist’s story, DETAILS: Ana’s Weir was ready to establish a permanent home in Boulder to Art Gallery, 1100 showcase their work. Spruce St., “I’ve been bringing in the art and showing it around for a Boulder, anasartlong time, but I couldn’t do that in the pandemic,” Weir says. gallery.com “Like everyone else, I was at a standstill.” With an established catalog and a location mere steps from the Pearl Street Mall, Weir’s gallery makes for a bold and diverse addition to the Front Range art scene. Her collection—with artists hailing from Africa and Europe to the Caribbean—bridges numerous mediums and styles. All the works are original, she explains, including the masks—there are no antiquities to be found in this gallery—and all were created by Black artists. “It’s showing this community, any community, that there are other brilliant minds out there,” Weir says. “The artists are showing what happens in my culture, the way I think, the way I embrace things. It’s a very positive feeling.” Bringing this bright and eclectic collection to Boulder is a joy for Weir, which is evident in how she speaks about each artist, subject or style. The warmth of the welcome, along with her intimate knowledge of the collection, enhances the charm of the space. The gallery makes the most of the space, but Weir hasn’t put the whole collection on display just yet. If the rest of the works waiting in the wings are just as compelling, one can only hope the art sells quickly to open up new wall space.

“THE SPIRIT OF EARTH, WIND, & FIRE”

live entertainment, special events, great food and drinks

Nissi’s Entertainment Venue & Event Center 1455 Coal Creek Drive Unit T • Lafayette Get your tickets @ www.nissis.com

Email the author at mattmaenpaa@gmail.com BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

E VENTS

EVENTS

If your organization is planning an event, please email the editor at crockett@boulderweekly.com

Jon Bassoff—‘Beneath Cruel Waters’

6:30 p.m. Friday, May 13, Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder. Tickets: $5, boulderbookstore.net In Longmont-local Jon Bassoff’s new novel, Beneath Cruel Waters, Holt Davidson, a Kansas

Fun on the Farm: How Does Your Garden Grow?

9:45-10:30 a.m. Friday, May 13 and Friday, May 27, Agricultural Heritage Center, 8348 Ute Highway 66, Longmont, bouldercountyopenspace.org Children ages 3-6 are invited to the farm at the Agricultural Heritage Center to learn about animals, plants, and agricultural life. Programs include a short story time, hands-on activities and a takehome craft. Afterwards, explore the farm. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Contact Jim Drew (jdrew@bouldercounty.org) for more information.

Boulder Ballet presents Masterworks

of generational trauma. Davidson hasn’t been back to his hometown of Thompsonville, Colorado, for more than two decades. When he learns that his estranged mother has taken her own life, he returns for the funeral, hoping to make peace with her memory. He spends the night at his childhood home, rummaging through each room, exploring the past. But instead of nostalgic souvenirs, he discovers a gun, a love letter and a Polaroid photograph of a man lying in his own blood. As his own traumatic memories begin to resurface, Holt begins an investigation into his mother’s and sister’s pasts—as well as his own.

Palestinian Cultural Day at the Museum of Boulder

Noon-5 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder. Tickets: $10, museumofboulder.org Head to the Museum of Boulder for a fun afternoon of live music, refreshments and education. Live music will be performed by: Catrene Malshy, a Lebanese born Palestinian who sings Arabic vocals and teaches debke dancing, and Thauma, a Palestinian band. Enjoy an artifact display area with books, art, and cultural

May 19-22, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Tickets: $25-$35, thedairy.org Masterworks will showcase the evolution of ballet. The evening will start with two classical excerpts from Swan Lake, featuring choreography after the original by Petipa set to Tchaikovsky’s magical score. The contemporary ballet The Devil Ties My Tongue, by Amy Seiwert, explores the complexity of communication, connections, and classic, Paul Taylor’s Airs, a Boulder Ballet favorite, set to uplifting music by Handel.

The Fractal Society presents the Second Annual Cirque de Mense: A Menstruation Celebration 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21, Boulder Circus Center, 4747 26th St., Boulder. Tickets: $25-$45, thefractalsociety.com/cirque-de-menses

The second volume of Cirque de Menses will feature circus arts performances by The Fractal Africa, and show that menstruators have a wide range of unique experiences, all of which are interpretations and heavier personal experiences to honor the magic and misery of menstruation. Cirque de Menses is a PG-13 performance presented through awe-inspiring performances including aerialists dancers, acrobats, and more. Seventy-

Palestine.

Harland Williams

8 p.m. Friday, May 13, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. Tickets: $20-$25, z2ent.com Comedian and actor Harland Williams is known for his hilarious Dumb and Dumber, Something about Mary, Half Baked, Rocketman, Sorority Boys, Down Periscope and more. His stand up comedy routines have been seen on Letterman, The Tonight Show, Conan, HBO, Comedy Central and everywhere else.

MAY 12, 2022

that produces biodegradable, eco-friendly and affordable menstrual pads for women and girls in rural Cameroon. The PridePads team also provides menstrual health education in schools in Cameroon, ensuring that girls stay in school and don’t miss out on their education during their periods.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

EVENTS

CONCERTS AUGUSTUS

Friday, May 13

SVDDEN DEATH. 6 p.m. 1STBANK Center, 11450 Bound For Peaches: Tribute to The Allman Brothers and Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Saturday, May 14

BillEby Brothers (Billy Shaddox & Eben Grace). 6 p.m. Jocelyn Medina Quintet.

CHRIS KOZA

Call 720.253.4710 The Grass Project. 7 p.m.

All credit cards accepted No text messages

Tuesday, May 17

Smooth Money Gesture. 7 p.m.

Nilüfer Yanya with Tasha, Ada Lea.

Thursday, May 19

An Evening with Bruce Cockburn. Start Making Sense.

Augustus.

Friday, May 20

Paul McCandless with Charged Particles.

Sunday, May 15

Chris Koza. 5 p.m. G

Strangebyrds “Highway Islands” Album Release Party. t.,

Twang is Dead Featuring Dave Watts (The Motet) and Ross James (Phil Lesh/Terrapin Family Band). Room, High Lonesome.

David Bromberg. Son Lux with Nappy Nina.

For more event listings, go online at boulderweekly.com/events

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

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The scarlet letter

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The Natural Funeral transforms first Coloradoans into compost soil. On March 20th, 2022, Seth and Chris of The Natural Funeral returned the first transformed human remains to the Colorado earth at a historic ceremony at The Colorado Burial Preserve in Florence, CO. (TNF’s Seth and Chris with Chrysalis composting vessels.) Call or email Karen, or chat with any of our staff about Body Composting or our other green and holistic services: Water cremation (eco cremation) Green burial and Reverent Body Care® (an honoring of the physical body using pure essential oils). Flame cremation is also available. Contact Karen van Vuuren or any of our staff to find out how to minimize your final footprint.

720-515-2344 info@thenaturalfuneral.com TheNaturalFuneral.com Live and Die Your Values 22

MAY 12, 2022

Past tense, present tension in ‘Happening’

by Michael J. Casey

rance, 1963. Three young women enter the club. ON THE BILL: Inside, they’re having a party, dancing to the music. Happening opens The Cokes are in the icebox; rock ’n’ roll on the in wide release on radio. The place is packed with students, the current May 13. occupation of the three women who lead us in. They are Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), Hélène (Luàna Bajrami) and Brigette (Louise Orry-Diquéro). They are close, but slowly the camera separates Anne from the trio and settles on her. She is the focus of Happening’s misfortune, and that misfortune is that Anne is pregnant. Strike that: Anne’s misfortune is not that she is pregnant, but that she isn’t ready to be a mother, and abortion won’t be legal in France for another 12 years. In 1963, no one even wants to speak the word. They know if Anne is caught trying to get one, she’ll be sent to prison. They also fear—and not without valid concern—that they, too, will be locked up for assisting in such things. Even suggesting a name to ask for or a number to call scares them. As one doctor, one of the more understanding characters in the story, bluntly puts it: Anne has no choice in the matter. Adapting Annie Ernaux’s 2000 memoir, writer/director Audrey Diwan brings Happening to the big screen when the debate over a woman’s right to choose has hit a new low. Happening depict the labyrinthine realities and horrifying possibilities of a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy—be it self-induced or in back allies—in the absence of state-sanctioned health care. Prohibition laws seldom change behavior; they just make it easier for bad actors to impose their morality. Vartolomei excels as Anne. The movie rests almost entirely on her shoulders and all the words she doesn’t say. Once she learns of her pregnancy, she closes herself off to her friends and her mother (Sandrine Bonnaire) as she searches for a solution. Only day, but not instead of a life. I could hate the kid for it. I may never be able to love it.” She just wants agency, after all. Agency over her hopes and dreams, agency over her desires and urges, agency over her own body. Instead, she gets none. Diwan and cinematographer Laurent Tangy relentlessly pursue Anne as she searches for a way out. Even the frame around Anne, 1:37 Mouglalis) who can perform the abortion, Diwan and Tangy refuse to turn the camera away or cut. If Anne must undertake this, then so shall we. It seems only fair. The story of Happening is what happens in secret when the right to choose is eliminated. The how of Happening is that none of this should be secret. Email questions or comments to editorial@boulderweekly.com l

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Boulder’s Local Music Shop Since 1971 Shop online at hbwoodsongs.com for no contact pickup or free local delivery (on purchases over $20).

by Rob Brezsny ARIES

MARCH 21-APRIL 19: “The only way to the truth is through

blasphemy,” declared Aries author Flannery O’Connor. I appreciate the cheeky sentiment, but I don’t believe that all truth requires blasphemy. In many cases, rebellion, irreverence, and skepticism may be enough to pry loose hidden and buried information. Outright blasphemy isn’t necessary. What does this have to do with you? Well, I’m hoping you will be feisty and audacious in your quest for interesting truths. As you dig, I invite you to be less than perfectly polite. Don’t be rude or unkind, of course. Just be charmingly bold.

TAURUS

APRIL 20-MAY 20: “I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep

when they see me,” declares comedian Margaret Cho. I would love for you to summon her level of self-esteem and bravado in the coming weeks. According to my interpretation of the astrological omens, you now have the right and duty to boost your self-worth. All of creation is conspiring with you to develop more faith in yourself. And if you do the work to deepen your confidence and self-esteem, there will be an added bonus: a health breakthrough. As spiritual author Caroline Myss says, “Belief in oneself is required for healing.” My prediction: You will rouse an enhanced power to get the soul medicine you need.

GEMINI

MAY 21-JUNE 20: According to the blogger Artemisiasea,

“The grandeur of life is the attempt, not the solution. It’s about behaving as beautifully as one can under completely impossible circumstances; making room for what breathes in the presence of the attempt—in the coming-to-be.” I invite you to embrace that wisdom in the coming weeks, Gemini. You won’t be dealing with impossible circumstances, but you may have to navigate your way through fascinating brainteasers and heart riddles. Whatever your destination might turn out to be, enjoy the ride with all the verve you can summon. At least for now, put aside your longing for particular results and instead simply live your life as if it were a magnificent work of art.

CANCER

JUNE 21-JULY 22: It will be in your interest to change more than

usual in the coming weeks. I suppose you could wait around passively and scramble to adjust as life flings challenges your way. But the better approach would be to make conscious decisions about how you want to transform. Identify the situations that would most benefit from modification and then initiate the transitions. Rather than depending on fate to provide you with random wake-up calls, choose constructive wake-up calls that are fun and invigorating.

LIBRA

SEPT. 23-OCT. 22: “The world is a very puzzling place. If you’re not willing to be puzzled, you just become a replica of someone else’s mind.” Author Noam Chomsky said that. It’s useful counsel for you right now. I’ll go even further. I will advise you to relish the healthy pleasures of being both mysterious and mystified. Seek out fertile enigmas and be a fertile enigma yourself. Explore the rejuvenating wisdom of being indefinable and uncategorizable. Exult in the quizzical joys of Eternal Paradox.

SCORPIO

OCT. 23-NOV. 21: Have you ever contemplated the beauty of

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Reviewer Jill Murphy:

NOV. 22-DEC. 21: Sagittarian author Madeleine L’Engle told us, “The discoveries don’t come when you’re looking for them. They come when for some reason you’ve let go conscious control.” That approach isn’t absolutely true, but it may be useful for you to deploy in the coming weeks. I invite you to relinquish at least a modicum of your conscious control. And if zesty discoveries start flowing in, consider relinquishing even a bit more conscious control.

CAPRICORN

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Boulder Book Store

DEC. 22-JAN. 19: Is it a legend or a true story? Scholars

disagree about whether Capricorn scientist Isaac Newton really was spurred to formulate the theory of gravity when an apple fell from the tree he was sitting beneath. This much is certain: Newton lived in the home near the famous apple tree. And that tree is alive today, 380 years after his birth. Ripe apples still fall from it. Is there an equivalent landmark or keystone from your own past, Capricorn— where an important insight arose or pivotal event happened? The coming weeks would be a good time to revisit that power spot, at least in your imagination, in quest of fresh inspiration.

AQUARIUS

JAN. 20-FEB. 18: Aquarian poet Jack Gilbert devoted himself

VIRGO

PISCES

Reinhold Messner? The man is a marvel, and not just because he’s a passionate environmental activist. He was the first mountaineer to reach the top of Mt. Everest alone, as well as the first to ascend Everest without supplemental oxygen. No one before him had ever climbed all 14 of the world’s peaks higher than 26,000 feet. He has transited Greenland and Antarctica without the aid of dog sleds or snowmobiles. He also completed a solo trip across the Gobi Desert. I propose we make Messner your inspirational role model for the next four weeks. You may not achieve history-making triumphs like him, but you could surpass what you assumed were your limits. I trust that you will break at least one of your personal records.

me that if you were to consume the amount of food equivalent to what a hummingbird eats, you would eat 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages per day. To match the amount of exercise a hummingbird gets while burning all those calories, you’d have to do approximately 37 bazillion jumping jacks. You will never do this, of course. But in the coming weeks, you may be more metaphorically hungry than usual. I predict you will be voracious for new information and novel experiences and fresh ideas. Not 300 hamburgers or 7,800 cabbages’ worth—but still, a lot. My advice: Have fun being insatiably curious and greedy for stimulation.

AUG. 23-SEPT. 22: Have you heard of Virgo adventurer

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SAGITTARIUS

you aren’t saying much,” declared politician Donna Brazile. I suspect you will disprove her theory in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will have a lot to say; your communications will be even more interesting than usual. And yet, I also expect you will receive extra respect and appreciation from others. While you may articulate ideas that are challenging to some, you will do so with enough charisma to disarm agitated reactions. A winning combination: expressiveness and approval.

JULY 23-AUG. 22: “If everyone likes you, it probably means

Mon.-Fri. 10am - 6pm, Sat. 10am - 5pm, Sun. 12pm-4pm

the people and animals you care for and thought, “I would love to give them the strongest blessings I have to give, the smartest love I can express, and the best listening I’m able to provide.” If so, Scorpio, the coming days will be an excellent time to do that. You will have an extra capacity to offer exceptional gifts that are useful and inspirational. You will be at the peak of your ability to home in on what your beloveds need.

to soulful beauty. I swooned when I first read his line, “We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars.” I cried for joy when he said, “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” On the other hand, I suspect Jack may have been overly consumed with his pursuit of lyrical moments. His girlfriend Linda Gregg said, “All Jack ever wanted to know was that he was awake—that the trees in bloom were almond trees—and to walk down the road to get breakfast. He never cared if he was poor or had to sleep on a park bench.” I bring this up, dear Aquarius, hoping you will avoid Gilbert’s lack of attention to practical matters. In the coming weeks, I invite you to be your extravagant, idiosyncratic, interesting self to the max. But also be sure to eat healthy food, engage in pleasurable exercise, and get plenty of rejuvenating sleep—preferably in a comfortable bed rather than on a park bench.

LEO

Open to customers or for pick-up with these hours of operations:

FEB. 19-MARCH 20: The Uberfacts Twitter account informs

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

JOHN LEHNDORFF

The Cure for retirement

How a chef and a grower are bringing fine homegrown fare to a Boulder organic farm stand

by John Lehndorff JIM SMAILER AND ANNE CURE (with Katelynn Regan behind them) at the Cure Organic Farm roadside stand (Valmont Road and 75th Street).

im Smailer is a true restaurant legend. As the longest-serving chef in recent Boulder history, he cooked for an unheard-of four decades at the Boulder Cork. Diners appreciated his devotion to sourcing fresh produce and seafood, exploring Southwestern cuisine, and serving the juiciest prime rib. Smailer recently retired, and one afternoon this spring, he stopped to visit with an old friend, farmer Anne Cure. “I’ve known Anne for years. I got a lot of my produce from her and I just live up the street,” he says. “Jim walked over to me and said, ‘Hi,’” Cure recalls. “I said, ‘Do you want to work at the stand?’” On the day we meet, the duo talks near the Cure Organic Farm stand, at the corner of Valmont Road and 75th Street. Bees hum around a row of hives. Jerry the goat frees himself from his pen and wanders over as customers peruse garden plant starts, chicken and duck eggs, greens, overwintered carrots and turnips and various grass-fed beef cuts The position Smailer accepted comes with responsibilities to work at the stand and produce ready-to-eat food using the produce, meats and other ingredients available from Cure and other farms and ranches. “I thought about it for a couple of days, and said, ‘Yup.’ It sounded like fun,” he says. That was before he had looked at the kitchen space that the farm rents in Boulder.

MAY 12, 2022

said, ‘Oh, boy, we’re starting from scratch.’ There’s no pantry to work out of. I’ve got three induction burners and a small oven. There’s not much storage space,” Smailer says. One recent week he made smoked brisket, as well as carne asada in red chili sauce. For another Saturday market, he composed a hearty soup using local pinto beans, smoked ham hocks, carrots and chilies. His red and green chili and cheese vegetarian enchiladas sold out almost immediately. To fuel passing bicyclists, a longtime baker contributes goodies such as chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cupcakes (using Cure’s sweet carrots), lemon focaccia using Smailer’s recipe, and Caribbean corn bread made from Aspen Moon Farm heirloom cornmeal, jack cheese and pineapple. Smailer had been serving farm-to-table fare at the Boulder Cork decades before the term popped up on restaurant menus, but he’s not a fan of the term. JOHN LEHNDORFF

ingredients wherever they came from. This is real farm-to-table food,” he says. He’s always been an avid farmers’ market shopper and noted for his big restaurant garden, which he still maintains despite retirement. and staffed kitchen, the chef has been forced to adjust to a new reality. BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Jim Smailer was serving farm-totable fare at the Boulder Cork decades before the term appeared on restaurant menus, but he’s not a fan of the term. “This (Cure Organic Farm stand) is real farm-to-table food,” he says.

Hello Boulder!

“Working by yourself in a small kitchen is hard. It takes time cleaning up. You have to wash the pots. It takes time to pack everything up and haul it because there’s no space to leave it there. Making 84 enchiladas takes a lot more time there than at the Cork,” Smailer says. But the customers who have discovered that Smailer is on hand on Saturdays are highly enthusiastic and grateful for his continued labor at the sink, cutting board, stove and oven. “Your pork adobo—Oh, my God! It’s so good,” one customer says. Another asks: “Are you going to do ribs again soon?” When you have a chef at the cash register, instant and enthusiastic advice is available on how to prepare those turnips or beans or meat cuts. Smailer notes that one of his favorite parts of being a chef was coming out of the kitchen and talking to guests about the food. In watching Smailer talking to customers, Cure smiles. “He lights up when he talks

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The coming week’s menus will evolve as the farm catches up from a cool, windy and dry spring and starts producing a bevy of organic vegetables. “The tomatoes are coming!” Smailer says, along with fava beans, snap peas and okra. “This has been interesting in a life-changing way, dealing with a new and different challenge. It’s something I’ll stick with,” he says. That day, Smailer took home green garlic, green onions, spinach and eggs from the farm stand. He made fresh ravioli for dinner with his wife, served with a green salad and a bottle of red wine.

Local Food News

National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is May 14. Leave non-perishable food in a bag by your mailbox to be delivered to local food banks. … Westminster’s new Crestone Bakery offers a full range of 100% gluten-free goodies including soft pretzels and cinnamon rolls. … Good Eats Grill has closed in Longmont after almost eight years in business. … Coming attractions: Kuper Wine Bar, 600 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont; Lucile’s Creole Cafe, 554 Briggs St., Erie; Chicken Jack’s, 1125 Local in the former Murphy’s North space in North Boulder.

Words to Chew On

“No reasonable consumer would see the entire product label, reading the words ‘Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts’ next to a picture of a toaster pastry coated in frosting, and reasonably expect that fresh strawberries would be the sole ingredient in the Product.” —From a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter

Downtown Boulder - 2660 Broadway St. East Boulder - 7464 Arapahoe Rd. Denver - 4030 N. Colorado Blvd.

John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles Thursdays on KGNU. Listen to podcasts at news.kgnu.org. Email with questions or comments to nibbles@boulderweekly.com.

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

GROW YOUR FUTURE WITH ESCOFFIER www.escoffier.edu

MAY 12, 2022

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

A brewery from another world by Matt Maenpaa

ust across the Weld County line there is an outpost. It’s a little bit of Mos Eisley Cantina and a little bit of David Lynch’s Arrakis in a brewery you might

before space travelers move on to their next destination, but after sampling Outworld Brewing’s Belgian beers, visitors will need an interstellar rideshare.

Outworld family didn’t let that slow them down. Instead, they continued to tinker with

DETAILS:

Cosplay for a Cause: A Fandom

until the world was ready for the sort of social space they envisioned at the beginning. Inspired by European beer halls where everyone

and Fundraiser. midnight. Outworld

Longmont and some classic funk and soul plays over the

MATT MAENPAA

his family want Outworld to become a sort of space where everyone winds up friends at the interior design of the brewpub pays homage to classic booths and steel Gone are the days where geeks and nerds are stereotyped as soda swillers who never leave the house.

Longmont

less of who they came in with. cocktail. Brewed with ginger and lemon, the pale ale is aged two months in bourbon barrels, with a result that is tart and bright with just a hint of spice while still maintaining a

sive experience,” Fuller says. “Our idea was to have someone dressed as a Klingon walk by and spill someone’s beer with a grunt, where everyone goes, ‘Woah,’ and have people enjoy the time here.” also offers a beer list that strikes a balance between

culture, the geek revival is more present than ever. Brian Brewing alongside his brother, sister and nephew, says the connection between brewery and nerd culture is easy to make.

fantasy isn’t limited to decor or beer names. Outworld Brewing hosts regular Pokemon Go meetings and movie nights, as well as offering space for tabletop players to meet up for Dungeons & Dragons. Gray Havens Philosophy hosts meetings regularly, and Outworld has become one of the homes for the Front

is light and easy to drink, with an appealing yeast bread world Brewing than the upcoming Cosplay for a Cause

people go for a drink in almost every one,” he explains. “Wherever people congregate, meet, talk or do deals, there are libations and some sort of cabin space.” Fuller was emphatic that the whole concept, from the

Outworld calls the Galactic Bandidos an Archetype beer—brewed true to style without much variation if

have food and a variety of activities throughout the ages, along with panels, trivia and a costume contest.

this writer sampled, they hit the mark. For brews that up around its interstellar outpost, is a group effort. After introduced a whole new set of complications, but the

Locally owned & operated since 2020

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

Email the author at mattmaenpaa@gmail.com

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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

JOHN LEHNDORFF

by John Lehndorff

Scratch-made doughnuts

e all have tasted a lot of chocolate-glazed doughnuts, varying from good to barely worth dunking. The chocolate-glazed cake doughnuts at Nok’s Donuts are a step above with soft cake and a great glaze that actually tastes like chocolate. Virtually all the doughnuts you pick up at shops and supermarkets are made from mixes, and the glazes come in white plastic buckets. This recently opened Lafayette shop is one of the few that makes doughnuts completely from scratch, including the icings. The family-run business even takes corn syrup or GMOs. That focus on sustainability carries over to compostable coffee cups, lids, stir sticks, straws and even the labels and glue. Nok’s even crafts their own aluminum-free baking powder The result for pastry lovers is joy. Nok’s doughnut with maple glaze is made the vanilla glaze includes whole Madagascar vanilla beans; and the espresso icing is made with beans roasted next door at the Otis Craft Collective. Nok’s hippest variety has to be the doughnut topped with bright-green matcha tea icing and freshly grated young coconut. This much quality and thoughtfulness in a doughnut means it’s not inexpenit more than worth it. Look for the huge “D” on the front of The District building in Lafayette: The shop is inside a small atrium with shops and seating.

Boulder Recipe Flashback: Curried Chicken

hicken has been on the menu in Boulder since at least the late 1800s, notwithstanding this recipe from Mrs. F. W. Leland in The Boulder Cook Book with “Recipes Cooked with Boulder Natural Gas.” Antique recipes are famously short on details but this one is easy to follow. Feel free to spice it up a bit. “Two tablespoons of butter, allow it to melt and when hot, add one tablespoon of chopped onion and two tablespoons of chopped apple. Keep it stirred until a delicate brown. Now sprinkle over it two level teaspoons curry powthen add one pint of water, stir until it thickens; strain. Add the (cooked) chicken cut into small pieces, mix well with gravy, cover and let simmer gently ten minutes; add salt to taste and the juice of half of a lemon. Heap boiled rice around sides of serving dish and pour curry in center.”

Culinary Calendar: Last lunch on The Titanic

zo Coffee in Longmont is hosting a coffee brewing and art competition with cash prizes 4-6 p.m. Thursday, May 12. ... Boulder’s Growing Gardens—famous for the quality of its organic heirloom tomato plants—holds its Community 1630 Hawthorn Ave., Boulder. ... The third-class passengers in the bottom of the Titanic ate quite differently from the oligarchs in first class. On May 24, Denver’s Molly Brown House Museum offers a free virtual program and Q&A with culinary historian Veronica Hinke, author of The Last Night on The Titanic: Unsinkable Drinking, Dining and Style. Registration: mollybrown.org/titanic ... Boulder Mushroom offers fungi classes including: Fungi 101 for farmers and gardeners (May 14); food and drink events, classes, festivals, farm stands and dinners to: nibbles@ boulderweekly.com

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

MAY 12, 2022

Keep your eye on the ball

“I was talking with different producers of products and they all agreed that would take them out of business,” Jackson says. “They had so much minutia inside that bill that there would have hardly been a product left on the shelf,” meaning the products that saved her son Zaki’s life were going to disappear or become prohibitively expensive for her family. “So that’s when Realm of Caring got involved.” Jackson started RoC in 2013, after witnessing the

How a vigilant hemp advocacy organization rallied against a special interest group’s bastardized hemp regulation bill

by Will Brendza

riginally, when Heather Jackson saw the language of SB 205, she agreed with the sentiment. It was just three pages long, she says, and it was aimed at regulating CBD products to prevent manufacturers from including too much THC— the active cannabinoid that gets you high—in products meant to be non-intoxicating. Jackson, the co-founder and president of Realm of

rare and severe disorder called catastrophic epilepsy. Prior to discovering CBD, he was on 17 different pharmaceuticals to control his seizures, according to Jackson,

agreed that CBD products, especially those going across state lines, should be regulated to control illicit levels of THC. But then Vicente Sederberg LLP, a organization, got ahold of the bill. And the next time Jackson saw it, it had swelled in size to 15 pages full of highly restrictive and, in her eyes, regressive cannabis policy. “They just added so much language that it would have pretty much prohibited hemp in Colorado,” Jackson says. It confused her why a large cannabis law “Big Marijuana writing regulatory structure for hemp just makes no sense to me.” Among other things, the bill would have limited non-intoxicating hemp extract tinctures to 20 milligrams of THC per bottle, with criminal penalties for exceeding that number. It would have required Colorado CBD manufacturers to destroy their stock of non-intoxicating full-spectrum products, and potentially impose criminal and civil penalties on their storage and distribudetermine whether cannabinoid products are “intoxicating,” and did not provide a path for protecting the retail sale of CBN products (that are also non-intoxicating). It also limited the sale of non-intoxicating cannabinoids to novel cannabinoids.

but the cocktail of medicines wasn’t working. Zaki was eventually moved into hospice palliative care in 2012 and in a last ditch effort they started experimenting with CBD. The results were extraordinary. “Essentially, my son transitioned off of hospice within three months,” Jackson says. “His condition was in remission and he spent the better part of four years with no seizures at all. So that’s how Realm of Caring was founded . . . I felt just an extreme sense of urgency for this community to know that this was an option.” Through RoC, Jackson started facilitating and encouraging mainstream acceptance of plant-powered

MAY 12, 2022

therapies. Using research, education and grants, RoC understand dosage, and generally learn about cannabinoid therapy. In response to SB 205, Jackson says RoC went into overdrive to protect access to these life-saving medicines. “[Vicente Sederberg] was pushing this scare tactic or false narrative around: ‘Oh, these people are getting hurt,’ and that sort of language was just unnecessary,” she says. RoC had never received even a single complaint in seven years of operation about someone’s CBD products being too strong or slightly intoxicating—let alone that someone had been harmed by a product. perceived problem. “I just felt the same sense of urgency I felt 10 years ago,” Jackson says. “I felt that again in my heart and [needed] to make sure that we do this right.” RoC started working with one of the bill’s prime achieve its regulatory goal without compromising Colorado’s hemp industry, and without compromising patient access to plant medicine. Jackson says she’s on board with regulation—she just wants to make sure it’s done right to set an example for the rest of the country. It wasn’t easy. With the amount of back and forth, last minute changes and committee conversations, Jackson says she’s amazed that bills ever get passed. But it paid off. As of Tuesday, May 11, the bill had passed appropriations, and all of the problematic changes to SB 205 had been extracted from or clarified within the bill. If it passes in its current form (which RoC believes it will) it would only: authorize prohibiting chemical modification, conversion or synthetic derivation of intoxicating isomers from hemp; create a scientific task force to study intoxicating hemp products and make legislative and rule recommendations; and declare violations of provisions that apply to hemp as deceptive trade practices. “The good news is that in the 11th hour, everybody worked together,” Jackson says. “So I guess the moral is: keep your eye on the ball. We can work together to make sure that the people who need this most have it.” Email the author at wbrendza@boulderweekly.com

BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE

BY DAN SAVAGE Dear Dan: I’m a straight guy, married to a straight woman for 15 years. Several years back, I opened up to my wife about my fantasies of her sleeping with other men. I was nervous about bringing it up. Her views on sex had always been traditional, and she had always expressed a very strict idea of monogamy and commitment. So, I was extremely relieved when her reaction was intrigue rather than disgust. She was curious about it and wondered if I really wanted it to happen or if it was just something I wanted to keep in our rotation of dirty talk. Fast-forward to this week, and my wife tells me she is interested in exploring this. (Note to other guys who want this from their wives: be respectful, don’t pressure, and give her time to think about it. Your patience might be rewarded!) Here is the problem: We both have careers that could be complicated or damaged by the stigma around “cheating.” I know about all the apps out there, but we live in a large city, and there is a non-zero chance that we might run into someone on the apps we are connected to professionally or socially. Are any of the apps out there geared toward folks who want to go about this carefully? Is it possible to minimize the risk of professional or social embarrassment here, or is this just something we must accept to pursue this lifestyle? —Hooking Up, Seeking Help Dear HUSH: There are lots of dating apps for people and/or couples looking for casual sex and/or kinky sex (Feeld, 3Somer, #Open, et al), and lots of people—single and partnered—looking for casual and/or kinky sex on regular dating apps (Tinder, OKCupid, Christian Mingle, et al.). But hookup/threesome/swinger apps, while perceived as sleazier, are a safer bet for a couple like you and your wife. While there’s no way to eliminate your risk of being recognized on an app, HUSH, anyone who spots you on Feeld looking for extracurricular dick was on Feeld looking for and/or offering up a little extracurricular dick of their own. The threat of mutually assured destruction—if they gossip about you, you’ll gossip about them—is usually enough to restrain bad actors, as is the threat of the obvious follow-up question. (“Wait, why are you on Feeld?”) And most people on hookup apps aren’t bad actors, HUSH, but fundamentally decent people like you and your wife, i.e., singles and couples looking for a little fun, not for an opportunity to hurt anyone. A friend or a relative or a coworker who spots your wife in a bar with a strange man—or in the lobby of a hotel or on her way into your apartment—is more likely to

cause you headaches than one of your fellow perverts online. To minimize your risk of being spotted and outed on the apps, HUSH, don’t post face pics and only share them after you’ve established—to the best of your ability—the person you’re talking to isn’t a bot, a pic collector or an extortionist. Again, there’s no way to fully eliminate the risk, but at a certain point you have to trust your gut and take a risk. You also have visit regularly but don’t live in, HUSH. After you’ve found and vetted a few good candidates, get yourself some airline tickets and a hotel room and have those drinks in a bar that a colleague, a fan, or your father-in-law is unlikely to walk into.

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Dear Dan: There’s a story making the rounds on Reddit about people getting those metallic “bejeweled butt plugs” all the way into their asses and needing pretty intense intervention to get them out, ranging from (the unfun kind of double penetration) to actual surgery in a hospital (only fun for a very select few). The blame, apparently, is the fact that the base of these toys is rarely wider than the widest party of the head, which is pretty damning, and that lubed metal is slipperier than lubed silicone. So here are the operative questions: Are metallic bejeweled butt plugs safe or not so much? Are silicone bejeweled butt plugs any safer? Are there any safe bejeweled butt plug options out there? The world isn’t going to stop being obsessed with sparkly butt toys any time soon, so we’re going to need —Insertion Toy Extraction Messy Situation Dear ITEMS: I’ve seen those jeweled butt plugs in shops and in photos online— they’re usually made from stainless steel and have glass “gems” mounted at the end of an alarmingly narrow base—but I’ve never actually seen one in person. Or in a person, at least not in person. But knowing what I do about butts (and how they relax after some play), and knowing what I do defense against a trip to the ER), I would’ve worried too much about losing one to use one. As for safe bejeweled butt plug options, base and a jewel that’s at least the size of Queen of England’s royal scepter, which, come to think of it…

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