Durango Meets Fashion

art entertainment food drink music nightlife Thursday, December 21, 2017

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N O I H S FA called us the ay d To SA U o, ag s ar Nearly 30 ye the country. in ty ci s’ u io sc n co n ‘least fashio visit the issue Perhaps it’s time to re

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Also: How to combat seasonal affective disorder, saxophonist Sam Kelly, and is marijuana a gateway drug after all?

DGO Magazine

STAFF

What’s inside Volume 3 Number 9 Thursday, December 21, 2017

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Editor/ creative director David Holub

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From the Editor

Jay and Silent Bob (aka Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) may have been the most high-profile humans in Durango last weekend. But there were plenty of others out and about.

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Love it or Hate it

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Gaming

Check out the photos on Page 23 and many more at dgomag.com

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Street Style

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Sound

Jay and Silent Bob come back

dholub@bcimedia.com 375-4551 Staff writer Patty Templeton ptempleton@bcimedia.com Sales Liz Demko

Downtown Lowdown

375-4553 Contributors

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Album Reviews 9

Katie Cahill Christopher Gallagher

10 Beer

Keena Kimmel Bryant Liggett

11 Travel

Jon E. Lynch

Get Outta Town 11

Brett Massé

Wanderlust 11

Lindsay Mattison

16 Weed

Sean Moriarty Lucy Schaefer

Patty Templeton/DGO

17 Pages

Cooper Stapleton Robert Alan Wendeborn Reader Services 375-4570 Chief Executive Officer Douglas Bennett V.P. of Advertising David Habrat V.P. of Marketing Kricket Lewis

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Avoiding the winter blues It’s been a hard mental health year in and around Durango. As winter sets in, folks can become more isolated and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can set in. We spoke to Dr. Brian Burke, a professor of psychology at FLC, to find out what to do to avoid the wintertime blues.

Founding Editors Amy Maestas David Holub

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

16 Gateway drug? Psshh The opponents of cannabis have reached the end of their collective rope. Want to know how I know? They are recycling the “Gateway Drug” theory. Come on, people – have a little self-respect; there is a goddang opiate epidemic on!

18 Life Hax 19 Happening 20 DGO Deals 22 Horoscope/ puzzles 23 Pics

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10 First Draughts When I did predictions from last year, I really tried to think big picture and outside the box. Even though I thought big, I’m fairly shocked at how much I got right and how much I got wrong.

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[CTRL-A]

[ love it or hate it ]

David Holub |DGO editor

Snow Love

‘Least fashion-conscious’? It’s totally true ... and absolutely false

I

t seems like something the city would have forgotten about long ago – the “least fashion-conscious” in America. The only reason I bring all this up is because people still talk about it – like, all the time – decades after USA Today made the accusation. When I moved here four years ago, I heard it so often I assumed it must had been written, you know, sometime this decade. Not nearly 30 years ago.

But there’s a reason why it has stuck. Because it’s entirely true. And it’s completely false. And how we talk about it says more about Durangoans than any label USA Today cooked up.

Let’s set aside issues of methodology – this was not a scientific study worthy of such scrutiny. It was likely a conclusion reached by one to three people based on flimsy and unsophisticated evidence meant to sell newspapers and get entire cities and regions talking. Let’s indulge the assessment despite that the people who engineered it have probably died of natural causes by now.

Just consider the phrase: Fashion-conscious. What does that even mean? Whose fashion are we referring to, ours or someone else’s? How are we defining “fashion,” as if there is one definition and we all agree on it.

Which, of course, there isn’t, and we don’t.

And how conscious is conscious? Somewhere between indifferent and obsessed? That’s quite the gully.

It doesn’t take much looking in Durango to know that outdoor sports and their utilitarian clothes that are marketed, sold to, worn, and cherished by outdoor folks dominate closets in Durango. Go to Steamworks in a ironically named sports jacket amid a sea of North Face and Patagonia and people ask if you’ve come from a funeral. Are those khaki pants you’re wearing, kind bank employee?

No, they’re a nylon blend with pockets in odd places.

Before I moved to Durango, I regularly hung out in the Western Massachusetts town of Great Barrington. Though a third of its size, GB had a lot of similarities to Durango in terms of the values, spirit, and character of the people and place. But where Durango has its outdoorwear-as-fashion, in Great Barrington it was farmers. I’d go to the co-op

– the high-status place to shop for groceries for the crunchy crowd – and notice a lot of Muck boots, those three-season boots good for snow, rain or mud. Sometimes the boots would be muddy straight from the field, and sometimes complemented by L.L. Bean up top. Muck boots were utilitarian, yet they carried a sense of status with them, just like the dirty fingernails on some of those who wore them.

And that’s what fashion and style are all about: communication and status. What we wear signals what we care about, the things we do. It reflects our activities and values.

In Durango, all that activewear is absolutely necessary to the lifestyles of those who wear it, but looking like you just got off the mountain, down to the messy hair if not covered by some kind of headwear, also carries status.

To say that people are unaware or oblivious is inaccurate. They know, they just might not care. They may even make an effort to look like they do, the coiffed “I don’t care” look.

Fashion and style, of course, will change depending on culture and geography. The just-off-the-mountain look in Durango IS what counts as fashionable around here, but it also creates and reinforces a casual culture: I can’t imagine even the nicest restaurants in town getting too worked up about a lot of North Face walking through the door.

We’re a laid-back town. But we’re conscious of that.

And that’s not the only dominant style around here. Most of the friends I have here don’t own many “new” clothes. Thrift stores and vintage shops and other second-hand outlets dominate a large sector of Durango (and look at all the choices we have ... perhaps it’s supply matching demand). They’re also some of the most fashionable and fashion-conscious people I’ve met, regardless of where I’ve lived or who’s defining the terms.

Part of me wishes this 30-year-old label would slump off into forgotten memory. It seems like too much power to be given to something as equally outdated as nonsensical. But there’s a reason we’re still talking about it: Because it actually captures a lot of the identity here, though probably not in the way USA Today meant. I believe a lot of people are just fine with it all, wearing it like a fashion-unconscious badge of honor.

“Snow. SNOW. SNOWWWWWWWW!” I don’t know if you can hear it through the print, but I sang you the opening lines of the snow song from the train scene of “White Christmas,” which stars Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, but who gives a shit about them when it also stars DANNY KAYE who was such a GD LANKY DREAMBOAT that I might have to gravedig his bones and set up a creeper lust altar somewhere secret.

But really, would Danny Kaye be as hot as he was if he didn’t sing to me about snow? Probably, but that’s beside the point. Right now, we’re talkin’ snow. I love it. The first snow of the season is MAGIC. Looking out of your window to see the world as a white, frozen sheet of calm is MAGIC. Having gianormo fluffy snowflakes fluttering down and getting stuck in your eyelashes is ... wait for it ...

MAGIC. Snow makes winter picture-perfect worth it. If it’s gonna be cold as Finnegan’s feet the day they buried him, the least it can do is look pretty.

— Patty Templeton

Hate it The people screaming and pleading to the sky these days, their bellows of “Let it snow,” are likely doing so not because they want to look at it from the warm, dry confines of inside, but because they feel this need to go do stuff in it.

Which, you know, good for them.

Where some see this fluffy frozen water as something to slide planks and boards across, I see it as something my car and feet will slip upon. Which is why I think snow is great ... as long as I’m either inside with no place to go, or outside with no place to go. The “not going places” is key.

Which brings me to the song. When they say “Let it Snow,” it’s understandable: They have a delightful fire, they have corn for popping. Even the lights are turned down low. So yeah, by all means, let it snow. Just let me work from home.

—— David Holub

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[gaming]

Extra Life | Brett Massé

We don’t always have to be the star, in games or in life

I

recently spent a couple weeks working and living at a Zen Buddhist monastery and organic farm north of San Francisco. During my stay, I was more or less cut off from the world by the nature of the farm’s rigid schedule and location. The practice and work there is designed from the ground up to keep you aware in the present moment. It took some work, mentally, to shift into a place where distractions were all but gone and the focus of each moment was solidly on what you were doing. After a couple days, the nervous chatter that is soaked into every waking moment quiets down and you get to focus on this moment. “It’s just this,” one of my teachers said occasionally.

When I returned home and was brave enough to connect to the internet again, nestled in among my colossal stack of emails was a notification that a friend had gifted me a copy of a new game called “Ruiner.” The game takes place in a cyberpunk-styled future heavily influenced by works like “Ghost in the Shell” and “Bladerunner.” You assume the role of a masked brawler and essentially bludgeon your way through levels to accomplish various objectives, ultimately leading to the rescue of your kidnapped brother.

Though I was able to squeeze in a couple viewings of some classic German expressionist films while at the monastery, I didn’t feel I was quite ready for the stimulation a neon-colored, fast-paced, violent video game with a soundtrack that weighs heavily on the bass side can dish out, but hours later, I found myself deeply embedded in the game.

In most video games, we enjoy being the star, the main character. This applies not just to games but to our lives in general. This perspective is easily recognizable when we’re online, playing with several other people and blaming others for our team’s losses. We notice when our teams are doing poorly because it is everyone else’s fault and not our own.

It causes us to make personal what is actually impersonal, creating tension and anxiety around cir-

was basically operating the exact same way from start to finish. Characters I had run into, some that had no dialog with me, were being affected and going through visible changes as time moved on. This is, of course, how many games are designed to be played, but I felt a shift in perspective I hadn’t seen before playing this game. Slowly, I was no longer the star of the show, but just another character.

You could also say that everyone else was a star of the show. My task was to respond appropriately to every rising and falling moment, making choices based on my own values.

The stress of having to do the right thing calmed down when I realized those anxieties were entirely self-induced. We alone are not responsible for making David Holub/DGO; image via Wikipedia sure everything turns out right, that our team wins every time, that we alone are the ones to save the cumstances that we ultimately have no control over, day. This is a byproduct of our perspectives, but we anxieties that our daily life is inherently absent of. must realize that we are as much of the center of This perspective is easily found in other things, too: the story as everyone else is. In his book, “Pale Blue The line at the grocery store, rush-hour traffic, the Dot,” Carl Sagan once remarked on the instinct for line at the coffee shop, more rush-hour traffic. Who mankind to project its own nature onto nature. Each are all these people getting in the way of my day? I moment weighs a lot less when we see the delusions have things to do! Don’t they know that? that we are the only “great works” of existence, that This is our game and we are the main character, every moment has a weight to it based on how pleasbut there’s much more depth to the world when we recognize that we are just one of many characters. ant it is or unpleasant it could be. The reality is that In “Ruiner,” there is a seemingly massive, dense those moments are all interconnected, pleasant or world with a lot of minor, but very memorable, charunpleasant, and depend on each other to occur.

In the game, as I made my way through tunnels acters; You meet an artist that grew up essentially thick with tech, pipes, and hardware, gradually tanunderground, his art style shaped by his living circumstances and the limited light that was available gling downward into a new darkness, I felt a fresh to him. There’s a crazy, old lady that only speaks in spaciousness about my actions. Though I would riddles and wears a tengu mask. A homeless hacker rather have just stayed comfortably up top-side, eat is determined to reveal the truth. By comparison, bad sushi, and chat with some folks at the bar, it the protagonist of “Ruiner” has very little depth at wasn’t where I needed to be. Responsibility for my all, acting more as an empty vessel for the player to decisions and activity in every present moment was sit comfortably in, rather than someone with prededifficult at first, but it began to feel more natural.

It gets easier. termined back story or character.

My feeling of being the hero melted away over the course of playing “Ruiner.” As certain side characBrett Massé is currently playing “Hotline Miami” by ters slowly developed their layers of complexity, I Dennaton.

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[ wellness ]

AVOIDING THE WINTER »» Talking to Dr. Brian Burke about sidestepping seasonal affective disorder It’s been a hard mental health year in and around Durango. As of mid-November, 18 people died by suicide in La Plata County. As winter sets in, folks can become more isolated and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can set in. DGO spoke to Dr. Brian Burke, a professor of psychology at FLC, to find out what to do to avoid the wintertime blues.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

It’s a name for a subtype of depression. In the “DSM-5,” the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” that we use worldwide to categorize psychological disorders it’s listed as a major depressive Burke disorder with seasonal patterns.

It’s more common in northern latitudes, northern countries, places where winter days are short and the exposure to daylight is limited.

What are symptoms that you might have SAD? Generally, in seasonal affective disorder, it’s what we call an a-typical depression where it presents with low energy, extreme fatigue, tiredness, greater-than-normal amounts of sleeping, along with increased appetite and often, strangely enough, a craving for carbohydrates.

A lot of people have features of but not the fullblown disorder. In order for it to be a disorder, it has to be significantly distressing to a person and the people around them. It disrupts your life and causes dysfunction.

Does Durango having a blue sky for so much of the winter make us less susceptible to SAD? I think the way the blue sky helps is that it gets people outside. One of the best treatments for Seasonal Affective Disorder is light. There are machines and special lights you can buy to do what is called dawn simulation, to do light therapy. That therapy shows as much effectiveness as anti-depressive medication does.

The other thing that’s important for all depression is exercise, particularly outdoor exercise. People who are getting outside in the daylight and spending their time exercising are going to be less likely to have seasonal affective disorder.

What amount of time should you be spending outside to avoid this?

I don’t know if any study has quantified it. I would say, from my own experience, an hour. If you can get outside for an hour a day, you may be much better off.

Is there anything besides traditional meds or light treatment that helps

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someone avoid or lessen depression symptoms?

One of the most promising treatments for all types of depression, but particularly for seasonal affective disorder, is what psychologist Stephen Ilardi calls therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC). His proposition is that our generation is 10 times more likely to get depression than our grandparents’ generation was. He thinks it is because of society, elements like we are always stressed, always rushing places, we don’t sleep enough, we don’t get enough exercise, we don’t get outdoors, eat well enough, don’t have rich enough social interactions. He has shown, if we do those things, we may not need anti-depressant medications. The idea is that getting outside, exercising outside, eating well, eating omega-3 fatty acids like fish, it helps. Focusing on good nutrition and connecting with people, not just through Facebook but actually seeing friends in person. All of those things really help.

If you know that you get depressed in the winter,

David Holub/DGO; images via Adobe Stock

and you’re making plans to go skiing with your friends or having people over for dinner or listening to music with friends and having rich social interactions while eating good food, then I think you are much less likely to succumb to the

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BLUES

[Durango street style]

Red suits, local boots

of their (seasonal) equilibrium? What should they do?

One of the most problematic symptoms of depression is social withdrawal. It makes depression worse.

It can be hard to be roommates or in a relationship or close friends with someone in the throes of depression because you’re trying to get them to come out, go do things, but they have already succumbed and are saying, “No,” or “I can’t,” and they really can’t at that moment. They have too little energy and too little motivation at that point because of the symptoms of the disorder.

It can be really, really challenging. That said, one of the most serious symptoms of depression is suicidal ideation. We have had a spike in the past year in the community, in Durango, in La Plata County.

symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.

What if someone is at a tipping point where they are starting to lose control

Talk to someone, anyone, reach out to anyone you trust rather than nobody. You don’t have to talk to a lot of people, just reach out to one. We have many therapeutic resources in the community. Many of them are free or low cost. Like Axis Health. Personally getting connected to resources is super important. Counseling helps with depression. It helps as much, and in some cases, more than medication does. Depression is treatable, but it is not treatable if you are by yourself in your room not talking to anyone.

Interview edited and condensed for clarity.

DGO was having its jingle-jangle, jaunty-AF holiday party.

The exact location can’t be disclosed, but know it was a Christmas cabin lit to the dickens and garlanded to the max.

There was a thump, a few heavy-shoed stomps, several sneezes, and then an old dude fell down the chimney into the lit fire.

After a flame-smothering ground roll, ol’ Saint Nick stood before us in a dapper, singed suit. Loathe to let an opportunity pass, we asked Santa about his rad style.

“This old suit? Had it about 200 years.

Don’t get to washing it much. Don’t need to.

Sprinkle a smidge of elf dust on it every so often and I’m smelling like pine just fine.

Everyone thinks Ms. Claus stitched it up for me, but that’s reindeer scat, if I ever heard a pile drop. Made this beaut myself. Looks like red velvet, yeah? It’s actually red bear. They don’t exist anymore. There’d still be this one, but on a snowy midnight, more years back than not, the big ol’ curmudgeon gutted my first Blitzen, ate a leg off Vixen, and tried to gnaw on Rudolph. I shot the crimson beast and I can’t say I’m sorry. Rudolph is a pal of mine and I’d be a damn sight lonelier without him. Waste not want not, I skinned the bear and made a suit. Sure, sure, Ms. Claus added the fur lining, but she’d have to tell you about that. I think it’s from Krampus or some other such critter; I can’t be sure. Memory ain’t what it was.

The boots? Elf-made. I try to buy local where I can. Same with my belt.

No. Wait. The belt I got on Etsy, maybe 10 years back. Handmade is next best to local, yeah?”

Interview edited and condensed for clarity.

Got rad style or know someone who always looks fab? Send DGO a heads-up on who to interview next at ptempleton@bcimedia.com.

—— Patty Templeton

— Patty Templeton

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[sound]

Downtown Lowdown | Bryant Liggett

If there’s a sax playing in Durango, it’s probably Sam Kelly

S

am Kelly is the go-to sax player in Durango. The Dolores native and Fort Lewis College music department alum has been the choice dude for saxophone representation in numerous bands around town, including The Durango Funk AllStars, Afrobeatniks, J. Calvin’s Funk Express, and his full-time gig in Elder Grown. If you need a saxophone for something, he’s your guy.

He’s kind of our own Bobby Keys; Keys, the late saxophone player for what is now the classic-rock canon of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and, most notably, The Rolling Stones, who featured Keys on most tours since the early 1970s.

I want Sam Kelly to be the next Bobby Keys, all the way down to the noticeable watch they wear while on stage. Not the Bobby Keys who would throw televisions out of hotel windows with Keith Richards, or the Bobby Keys who ordered thousands of dollars worth of Dom Perignon on a tour in Belgium resulting in a strained relationship with the Stones that would last years, but the Keys who adds a thick layer of saxophone soul to your band’s sound, the guy who steps up to take a solo and the band backing him, and the audience in front of him, knowing it’s going to be great. I see that in Kelly; he’s fun to watch, and a hell of a nice guy to boot.

“I first started playing saxophone in fifth grade.

1998 maybe? Nineteen years. Back when you’re in elementary school, what your parents say is still pretty cool. My mom listened to a lot of jazz, and said ‘Sam, you should play sax,’ and I said ‘Yeah, I could do that,’” said Kelly. “In fourth grade, I told the music teacher, and he had me play the recorder, but the next year my mom rented me a saxophone in a lease-to-own thing, and I haven’t stopped playing.”

By “haven’t stopped,” he means it’s just become part of what he does. School band led to the discovery of hipper things that needed a saxophone, like ska. Its arguable that any kid that gave up their horned instrument in eighth or ninth grade regretted it when they got turned onto The Toasters.

“Honestly, it was middle school. Those years I played it because I liked doing it, I didn’t think too much more other than just doing it in school,” said

Courtesy of Sam Kelly

Kelly. “In high school, I got turned onto ska music; that’s when the gears started turning. Like, ‘Hey, the saxophone, you can play in cool bands.’”

The discovery of “cool bands” that utilize a horn

section may have been mind-blowing, but playing your instrument of choice as a college major was just as much. It’s like Kelly was given the green light to make music a full-time thing, forever.

“In college, I went to my advising appointment and the guy asked me what I liked to do that has anything to do with school and I said ‘I like playing my saxophone,’ and he asked if I wanted to be a music major. I asked ‘That’s a thing?’ I never made that connection, and I said ‘Let’s do that.’ Next thing you know, I’m a music major.”

He’s not spreading himself too thin. He’s just playing, and will continue to do so with who needs him, finding the balance that keeps him on-stage when he can.

“I guess I’m in multiple bands, and I have the great fortune of being able to sit in with a lot of groups,” Kelly said. “Elder Grown, I’ve been with those guys the longest; that’s the passion project. If I had an official title, it would be ‘Sam Kelly, saxophone for Elder Grown.’”

Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.

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[sound]

Lynch’s anticipated records of 2018 As we inch toward the end of one year and the beginning of another, we can certainly find solace in not only the music that was, but the music that is to come.

In lieu of a standard review this week, I offer a glimpse into some of my most anticipated releases in the year ahead.

Best of 2017, from

Shame,“Songs of Praise” Based off of a few blistering singles and a slew of videos showing their live performances across the pond, I am eager to hear the “Dead Oceans” debut from this English five-piece. Sounds like controlled chaos and blistering, full-throttled post-punk. Album due mid-January.

Moaning,“Moaning” This Californian three-piece was birthed from the same DIY/punk scene spaces (The Smell, Pehrspace) that have created some of my favorite music of the last 10plus years. Citing influences like Broad-

keyboards, and saxophone on that track alone.

Primitive Man,“Caustic”

Azure,“Wish For Spring” Every so often a record comes around that hits me in a massive way that I never expected. “Wish For Spring” is a triumph of progressive rock, and even atop that accolade, the album is much more than a prog-rock record. “Wish for Spring” is drenched in sex appeal, emotional vulnerability, astounding musicianship, and moving and insightful lyrics. A major metric in how much I love a record is its staying power. I first heard the album in full in early March, and it has been in constant rotation since then, soundtracking every plane ride and road trip. Perhaps the most notable accomplishment in “Wish For Spring” was making a record both cohesive in theme and wide in scope, where every single track has its own identity, but you’ll never doubt who you’re listening to. The best albums let every track be your favorite, depending on the day. Today, mine is “Piglet,” the only song from this year to get me to belt out the chorus with my windows open.

War on Drugs,“Deeper Understanding” An exquisite layer cake of psychedelia, prog, quiet moments, and moments of bombast. The synth lines merge with the guitars and Adam Granduciel’s voice in such a sublime way. “The Strangest Thing” is an absolutely gorgeous song, and it made this record for me. Worth the price of admission for the chord harmonies of the guitar,

Easily the angriest record to come out this year, my dudes out of Denver have done it once again. When I first heard the riff in “Victim,” I made a face like I had just smelled something dead, but instead of disgust, I was just angry. The vitriol at the center of the record is so grounded that it becomes emotionally heavy while simultaneously assaulting the ear drums with negative energy.

Pure expression of mood is one of the reasons I seek out ever-extreme music, and “Caustic” exudes everything that its name implies.

Evergreen Refuge/Twilight Fauna,“Procession of the Equinox” This split between Evergreen Refuge and Twilight Fauna is the anthemic cry into an open canyon and the contemplation of a dying campfire. Some genre purists decry the rise of post-rock influence in black metal, but I wholeheartedly embrace it. The elements of Twilight Fauna’s sound evoke his geography while the soft plucked banjo adds an exotic twang to the shimmering guitar progressions. The Evergreen Refuge side is an experience as well, full of exotic movements, ritual drums and quiet, deliberate guitar work that crescendos into a soaring pattern before decomposing into the quiet ambiance that birthed it.

Vvilderness, “Devour The Sun”

cast, New Order, and Slowdive, the two singles that have preceded their March release on Sub Pop sound earnest and necessary. If there was one album I’m most anticipating today, their self-titled debut might very well be it.

Ought,“Room Inside the World” Another band I owe to college radio, Ought makes its Merge Records debut in mid-February. I have yet to hear a single note, but their jagged, angular, and highly literate brand of indie rock was a favorite of mine when I first heard them

so glad that it did. A lot of people tend to not want catchiness in metal, black metal especially, but the riff on Sol is immediately ear catching and whisks you away, much like the early viking/pagan metal of bands like Ensiferum. “Devour The Sun” scratched that nostalgia itch like nothing else I’ve heard in a long time. Album closer “Aftershine” is one of

in 2014/2015.

U.S. Girls,“In A Poem Unlimited” Back in 2015, Meghan Remy made one of my favorite genre-bending records of the year. Hard to pin-point stylistically but easily one of the most listened-to in our household. She incorporated loops, found sounds, electro-pop, and various other sound methods in “Half Free,” and I look forward to her next 4AD release in February.

—— Jon E. Lynch KDUR_PD@fortlewis.edu

the best post-black songs I have heard, a gorgeous melding of shimmering guitars playing melancholic chord progressions while a layer of distortion slowly bubbles from below. The main chorus riff has stuck with me since hearing it, and, on chance occasion, has even caused a tear or two to fall.

—— Cooper Stapleton

Co mm it To Be ing A

DESIGNATED

DRIVER The Ultimate Friend Take Turns Save your friends, family, community members from accidents. Make our roads safe for all.

Save Money on No DUI’s Look for the bars and restaurants offering free non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers.

ourhealthycommunities.org

This Hungarian one-man black metal band blew me away while just wandering the bowels of Bandcamp, and I am

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[beer]

First Draughts | Robert Alan Wendeborn

What I got right and wrong in my 2017 beer predictions

E

very year in beer seems to move faster than the year before, and 2017 was no exception. From heartbreaking acquisitions to whirlwind beer trends, a lot of big things happened in the beer world.

When I did predictions from last year, I really tried to think big picture and outside the box. Even though I thought big, I’m fairly shocked at how much I got right and how much I got wrong.

First, I thought we’d see more evolution of the IPA. But really we saw little evolution, and the explosion of the New England India Pale Ale. The New England variant of the IPA style is noted for its hazy opacity, hop-forward aroma and flavor with no trace

of bitterness, aiming for a “juicy” flavor and appearance (it literally looks like orange juice in a glass). The fight over the style has gotten heated (I will not say bitter): traditional breweries clinging to the idea that the beer is not shelf-stable, defies proper brewing techniques, and is an affront to good brewing practices. Meanwhile, hazy breweries are laughing all the way to the bank; these breweries will sell out of hundreds or thousands of cases of the opaque brew in a day, as customers line up around the block to pay $20 per 4-pack. Depending on how you do the math, breweries like Other Half in Brooklyn, New York, will do a quarter of a million in sales on any given Saturday. Maybe it is a trend, but most breweries in this vein are stacking the

cash, upgrading their facilities, and planning for long-term growth.

Second, I pointed to young, hungry brewers working at new breweries showing new ways to start and operate breweries. This one, I really think I missed the boat on. True, there are a lot of good, young upstarts, but a significant number of older brewers left their long-term homes and helped create new breweries. Most notably, Peter Boukaert and Mitch Steele. Formerly of New Belgium Brewing, Boukaert was the brewmaster for 21 years and decided this year to leave and start a new project, Purpose Brewing and Cellars. Purpose sounds like it will start where New Belgium has meandered its way to: a lot of wood and barrel-aged beers, sours, and

unique American takes on traditional styles. It seems like it’s a chance for Boukaert to really dive into the little side projects he was doing at New Belgium (BTW, his little side project of wood and barrel-aged beer has turned New Belgium into the largest wood beer producer in the United States).

Steele was the brewmaster at Stone for 10 years before he left to help start New Realm Brewing in Atlanta. Even though he left Stone a year and a half ago to start New Realm, the brewery was supposed to open this fall (not gonna make it I don’t think) and will be ready to crank out beer from the get-go, with a 20 bbl system, packaging line, full restaurant and everything.

Continued on Page 11

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[travel]

Rollcage cars and parking lot drinking WANDERLUST Travel stories worth telling

For my senior design project, we did a SAE Baja car. It’s basically a miniature UTV (utility task vehicle). It’s like a single-person four-wheeler with a roll cage. We designed a car in two semesters. It was a shit-ton of work. Then we drove from here to Portland, Oregon, to race it.

There were 100 entries and schools from all over the country ... Our car was definitely not the best one out there, but considering it was Montoya our first year and the first year the school did it, I think we did pretty good.

We were solidly mid-pack.

In order to get into the competition, you had to do tech inspection – it’s like a safety inspection. It took us two days to get through that. It was a lot of stupid stuff we overlooked. Usually, you get there and the teams that knew what they were doing would get through in half an hour. With us, our car had frame issues and we had to bum a welder and materials off another team because we didn’t have any of the stuff there. There was nobody in charge; it was just us. We didn’t have time to deal with everything

From Page 10

On their website, you can follow along the build-out from the beginning and it looks amazing (wall-to-wall tile floors y’all!).

One of the next big trends I barely picked up on was the forming of smaller, more niche guilds and alliances. Sour Beer Guild? I totally nailed it! Except, being the super-cool group of brewers that they are, they chose a way better name: Sour and Wild Ales Guild (SWAG). The SWAG was formed during last year’s Great American Beer Festival. It was filled with the biggest names in the category, and hopes to expand and improve

so we were winging it. It was a shitshow.

We had to go to Home Depot every day for parts.

I didn’t care that we broke down or weren’t prepared. We made it there and competed. It was awesome that we got to go. We finished the car here, we loaded it up, we drove 20 hours straight, showed up, and barely got there in time.

On the first day, we showed up at the hotel. We tried to check into the hotel and the credit card that the school gave us didn’t work. We couldn’t get into our room so we ended up getting drunk in the parking lot waiting all day to get into the room. Somebody brought a bottle of Jameson. It was for-real drunk. I think we finished the bottle in the parking lot, before we got a hold of the chair of the engineering department and he gave us his personal credit card for the room.

Meanwhile, all these teams are showing up and working on their cars and we’re like, “How are they still working on their cars? Shouldn’t that be done?” Later, we realized that we should have been working on our car, too, to prep for inspection.

The Sasquatch Outpost GET OUTTA TOWN Quirky & cool spots in the Four Corners and beyond Bailey is a bastion for Bigfoot. This humble Colorado town has a track record of shit-tons of sightings of the hairy, American cryptid. Jim and Daphne Myers, longtime believers in Bigfoot, opened The Sasquatch Outpost as a way to honor the science and lore of the mannish beast.

The Sasquatch Outpost has a small museum that costs only three bucks to enter and has everything from handmade Bigfoot art to a map of area-centric sightings. If campy, quirky merch is your thing, the gift shop has a HUGE selection of Sasquatch stuff – and if you spend $50 or

more, your entry fee is waved. Make sure to actually talk to the person working behind the counter; likely you’ll find one of the owners and they’re full of stories of local sightings and insider knowledge of which trails you should take to make your own Sasquatching successful. Waiting to visit till fine weather months means you’ll probably even get to see an event like a Bigfoot bonfire or a conspiracy theory conference.

If you love roadside Americana, take a weekender to Bailey to visit The Sasquatch Outpost and hike around town. More info at www.facebook.com/ youdontknowsquatch.

— Patty Templeton

Happy Holidays!

—— Cody Montoya Got a travel story worth telling? Write it in about 400 words and send it to editor@ dgomag.com. If you’d rather tell your story, send a brief synopsis to the same address. Either way, your story should be true.

categories at GABF and advocating for brewers going the more traditional route in making sour beers.

As far as acquisitions goes, it was a slaughter. It was a super-sad year and really nobody cares. But, I do. It’s just such a bummer of a year. I don’t even want to report on it anymore, but I do want to make a point of avoiding naming breweries that sold and avoiding promoting their beers. So, if you see any of that beer from Boulder that used to be craft, just don’t buy it.

Robbie Wendeborn is the head brewer at Svendæle Brewing in Millerton, New York.

He is also a former beer plumber at Ska Brewing.

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I

What is Durango’s unique style, what are its influences, and are we really the least fashion-conscious? Four locals weigh in

BREAKING DOWN DURANGO’S STYLE

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n 1988, after casual research, USA Today labeled Durango the “least fashion conscious” city in America. This strange factoid, 29 years later, still gets dropped into conversations with certitude, as if it were a verifiable fact (and not a flimsy opinion).

There’s a lot to unpack in a statement that calls out any populace as stylistically ignorant. To start with, what is Durango’s style? Does it matter that we don’t fit with national trends? How does function influence fashion? Is Durango’s fashion sense that different than other smallish American towns?

DGO was full of Big Feelings about Durango’s street style. We deliberated on the fashion past and present of our southwestern corner of Colorado with four fabulously thoughtful, stylish locals: Dr. Paige Gray, a visiting professor of English at Fort Lewis College who has been in town a year and a half; Zack Angulo, who works in management, is a 22-year Durango transplant from Houston; artist George Schmidt, who has been in Durango for eight years; and real estate broker Amber Johnson, a lifer who grew up in Durango.

What do you think of Durango being called the “least fashion conscious” city in America?

Paige Gray: I’ve never heard this rumor before ... I think that is completely off-base because we are one of the more creative places around.

We aren’t super high-end, but we have an eclectic population. We have a student population and students are resourceful and curious in terms of how they dress and put things together. We also have the ski and snowboard culture and that has its own aesthetic.

Zack Angulo: For a while we kinda were, but that was like over 20 to 30 years ago. When I first moved here, it was different, coming from a city.

I lived in Houston. The women dressed up. The men dressed up. I came here and there was none

of that.

In the last 10 years, there’s so much more diversity, fashion-wise. Everyone wears whatever they want. There’s a lot of cool stuff. It’s a global market now.

George Schmidt: When that was written, there was a particularly awkward convergence of outdoor gear and grunge going on that wasn’t really a successfull merging.

Amber Johnson: It was a combo of a rejection of getting ready and outdoor gear ... There’s a way that Durango has a rejection of the values of getting ready in the morning because they are here to go outside and get dirty.

I think at the time when that was written, in Durango, we didn’t have a lot of shopping. You had to drive to Albuquerque. We had JC Penny.

Dillards might have been in Farmington. People

here, people with means or otherwise, did not have access to fashion. They had catalog shopping.

What is Durango’s style?

Gray: I feel like the people in Durango are creative. You have artists, people that go for comfort but what’s appropriate for hiking and biking.

There’s a personal feel because this is a smaller community that has tourists coming in; it is a big small-town feel. People have a sense of comfort.

There’s not a lot of pretension and peoples’ selves really come through.

Schmidt: There are people in Durango who reject that image-matters lifestyle or professional work lifestyle.

Continued on Page 14

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[style] From Page 13

Johnson: Yeah, there are people who come here and then “Eddie (Bauer)-out.”

Schmidt: Ski bums, rock climbing types ... The fleece hat and Carhartts, that’s still here and hasn’t changed for 25 years.

The rugged-cowboy-guy look is a thing. There is a belief in this country that we were all rugged individualists and each of us created our lives all on our own and that we aren’t a collective. That everything we’ve achieved is on our own strength of character as individuals. It’s a pervasive American myth. I think dressing like a cowboy is part and parcel of that idea.

Angulo: But, you can tell the real ones.

I’ll see some old crusty dudes out there and I’ll know that old boy is just getting off the field.

How is Durango’s fashion sense uniquely Durango?

Schmidt: It’s not an easy place to dress for. The temperature swings 40 degrees in a 24-hour period almost all year long. Depending on what elevation you’re at, it could be even more extreme.

Johnson: Aside from higher thinking about fashion, there’s a practical way to dress in Durango. It gets dirty and dusty and you might go for a hike after work, but you can get dirty even getting in and out of your car.

I grew up on a ranch and my family looks like that. My dad is not going to change to come to town. He’s gonna get in his truck and come to town. For me, as a professional in Durango, I’ve never worn a full suit and never would.

It doesn’t match here.

Gray: The thing I love about Durango is that it’s a real liminal space ... I think of Colorado in blues and greens and New Mexico in purples and oranges ...

Here you get both. You have the iconic New Mexico mesa spaces, but you also have the stereotypical forms of Colorado that bleed into the aesthetic of fashion here.

How does Durango’s outdoor obsession infiltrate its fashion sense?

Angulo: Almost everything here, you need what you wear: To keep you warm, to function, to adventure.

Schmidt: It’s possible that the

moniker of Worst Dressed Town in America is an early manifestation of a normcore concept. Maybe. I dunno.

The utilitarian aspect style is definitely at the forefront here. Not only can you go to work dressed casually, but you can get in your pickup truck after work and go backpacking at the drop of a hat.

Fashion as function but also fashion as projection of values. It’s saying, not only am I the type of person who lives in Durango, but I’m the type of person who values this freedom of going backpacking, or whatever other adventure, immediately.

Johnson: That is a huge part of Durango. People are ready ... People come to Durango to do the outdoor lifestyle.

People have a copious amount of nylon and technical fabrics in their closet.

Gray: You have the flowy, patterned clothes and fabrics. I’m thinking of that Georgia O’Keeffe feel, but then you also have Patagonia-everything and this idea of being prepped and ready.

I think there is a real hybrid between style and substance – functionality and form. People want that idea of functionality because, “Oh, I’m going hiking that day.” But there is a sense of, “How does this look?”

We have a large rural outdoor community. What people wear to facilitate that isn’t high fashion but it is fashion.

It’s for different purpose and works to our community. It might not be the same as what people are wearing out in Denver or Chicago or New York, but it can be just as representative to a unique identity.

How do you think people in Durango think about fashion?

Angulo: I think a lot of people in this town seem to say they aren’t concerned about (fashion). The reality is that they are. Everyone and their mother out there is wearing the latest puffy jacket; they saw it somewhere – Outside, another magazine, or in media outlets that perpetrate outdoor fashion. There may be function to it, but at the same time, for people to say they don’t care how it looks, I call bullshit on that. In summertime, everyone is in the same outdoor brand-name shorts and plaid shirt.

Gray: There are people who say, “I don’t think about fashion at all,” but they do. They think about it in terms of, “This makes me feel good,” or, “This makes me happy.” People connote the word fashion

»» Zack Angulo with a runway or a department store.

There’s baggage around the word instead of thinking about it as an expression of self. People’s association with fashion might be big names like Louis Vuitton

or Calvin Klein, but how you present yourself to the world is more than brand names.

They might think, “I don’t try to impress other people,” so they don’t

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Angulo: I don’t know. I don’t live in that world. I will say money can neither buy taste nor character. Right? We’ve all seen it.

Gray: It feels like a classist thing, this fashion judgment. Durango is a Colorado ski town, but it is not Aspen or Telluride, so is it that we have the ski lifestyle on a more affordable budget that people are judging? Is it that people think others don’t have style because they don’t have money? I wonder.

I think that people lazily think that areas that are more moneyed or elite have a higher fashion sense or style, but that’s not the case. It only means they have more money.

Schmidt: (Fashion) has always had an element of class ... It’s only within the last 150 years that that has changed. Fashion may be a slightly more level playing field now, but America is relying on the labor of people thousands of miles away in giant sweatshops for that. It’s a messy business, fashion.

Johnson: And now, there’s this renaissance of “workwear.” What does it say about us as a people that there are catalogs that display what steelworkers or lumberjacks wear at a high-end cost?

»» George Schmidt and Amber Johnson

Do you think Durango has a comparable fashion sense as similar-sized American towns?

Schmidt: Most of us do a lot of our shipping online now, we aren’t just going to JC Penny and the thrift store. Our horizons are whatever we want, but mediocrity in fashion is everywhere now.

»» Paige Gray think they think about fashion, but they

connection with the environment and

are thinking about their likes and their

outdoors. Clothing is used as a way to

comfort. You feel like you today – what

cement that relationship between the

makes you feel like you? In Durango,

environment, athleticism, and experi-

comfort is important but there is a

ence.

Gray: I’m wondering who is saying that we have bad fashion. Is it people who live here or people who are coming in from other big cities making judgments? You go in any medium-sized town anywhere and you have people that are average people with average incomes. You can go into any community and find awesome things and some crap. In a smaller populace the concentration of fashion-focus is smaller and not everywhere, but the voices are still there.

Does class come into play?

Schmidt: I was reading a biography of Goya, the painter, by Robert Hughes, and he talks about how Goya painted scenes of regular people. There was a hipster type around 1805-ish, and they would dress up like Spanish peasants – trying to have a nationalist mode of dressing that rejected the other hipster mode of fashion which was effete, costly, and very “feminine” with wigs, heels, silk stockings, everything impractical and powdered.

The peasant-wear was a rejection of the posh politically and symbolically. It is the same thing we see now where a wealthy person will dress in an outfit that runs into the thousands of dollars for what amounts to workwear – waxed canvas jacket and lumberjack shirt and $250 jeans. A search for authenticity.

Even if Durango had “lazy” fashion, what does that even mean?

Gray: When you don’t try you are still telling a story. It’s a T-shirt or sweater that says something about you that day. It says, “Today, I’m all about comfort or security.” I think there are days people have a louder story to tell.

Interviews edited and condensed for clarity.

—— Patty Templeton

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[ weed ] Seeing Through the Smoke Christopher Gallagher

A gateway drug? Do people still really believe this?

T

he desperation is palpable. The opponents of cannabis have reached the end of their collective rope.

Want to know how I know? They are recycling the “Gateway Drug” theory.

Come on, people – have a little self-respect; there is a goddang opiate epidemic on!

This darling of Reagan era puddle-deep thinking posits that the road to cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine hell is paved with broken bong glass and joint roaches. This “idea”(we are going with loose definitions of words like “idea” and “thought” today) has its roots in a 1930s line of thought known as Stepping Stone Theory; Researchers at the time observed that 100 percent of heroin addicts they observed had previously used cannabis, so (naturally, obviously) they concluded that the progression from one to the other was an inevitability. Now, I know pretty well how science works – hypothesis/experiment/conclusion/etc. – and I can confidently say that that analysis, with its willful ignorance of both causation as a standard and any analysis of the root causes of drug use and abuse (two different things, lest we forget) falls pretty far short of being a study on which to base generations of public policy ... unless ... unless that conclusion is the exact one desired by the creators and enforcers of said public policy.

While the tortured “any port in a storm” logic of Stepping Stone Theory becomes quickly obvious to anyone willing to examine it beyond the surface level, the American public policy of my younger days should be adequate proof that our nation’s citizenry’s strongest suit may not be our desire to look at things beyond the surface level. The statistics gathered during the interim eight or so decades of cannabis prohibition bear out the

truth that most cannabis users do not, in fact, go on to do harder drugs; most do not even continue to use cannabis. Even the D.A.R.E. program has cast the Gateway Drug theory aside; if that is not evidence of its unsustainability as a foundation for any edifice destined for success, I don’t know what might be.

The Jeff Sessions and Chris Christies of the world should be embarrassed by the fact that they are reduced to using studies focused not on actual people but, rather, lab rats as subjects to analyze the effects of drugs like alcohol and cocaine on the human brain – as if there is a dearth of people willing to use alcohol and cocaine. It’s the 21st century, fellas. Get a clue.

The fact is that the current era is characterized, on the drug front, by two stark realities.

First, the tidal wave of research indicating that cannabis is, in fact, one of the most effective and versatile medicines available on Earth. The second is that there is an epidemic of opiate abuse taking place in our country, an epidemic measured in physical, mental, and emotional pain

marked by broken individuals and the spiraling out of ruined relationships that accompany it. This real-time tragedy, created by the same pharmaceutical companies who spend millions to lobby against legal cannabis, burns a path straight to the graveyard, and the coffins are not full of lab rats, I assure you.

But, here is the beauty beneath the surface of this mess. Mary Jane’s standards are different from the rest of society’s. She does not worry about the fickle rulemaking of legislators who think they can decide what is best for her relationship with the rest of us; she just keeps on growing. She will continue to do what she does and the men and women who choose to stand against her will try their best, as their predecessors did, to suppress the medicine and consciousness that emanate from this green goddess. And she, like Kali, will continue to lay them low.

Christopher Gallagher lives with his wife and their four dogs and two horses. Life is pretty darn good. Contact him at chrstphrgallagher@gmail.com.

; images

Dav

/DGO id Holub

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via Ado

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[pages]

The must-have Sedaris for holiday re-reading Holiday chaos gotcha feeling frazzled? Well then, first, make yourself something strong for sippin.’ Then, find a seat out of earshot of all that holly, jolly muzak and a copy of “Holidays on Ice,”

by David Sedaris. This little gem, if it’s not there already, is destined to join the ranks of your holiday re-read list.

Favorites in the bunch? “SantaLand Diaries,” and “Six to Eight Black Men.” The former tackles his tales as an elf-for-hire at Macy’s, and the latter, the equally bewildering Christmas traditions of other countries. You’ll be recharged, delighted in the absurdity, and ready to rejoin the seasonal bustle.

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White Rabbit book review: “Holidays on Ice,” by David Sedaris

Bonus: Is holiday entertaining on your agenda? The next step in this bookish equation would be to procure a copy of “I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence,” by Sedaris’ sister, Amy Sedaris – she’s Martha Stewart meets weird. If eccentricity is your game, the Sedaris family has you covered.

— Keena Kimmel Owner of White Rabbit Books and Curiosities

[Odd Rot, by Patty Templeton]

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2nd Ave Bank of the San Juans

WWW.SANTECOLORADO.COM 742½ MAIN AVENUE DURANGO, CO

HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE

Mutu’s Italian Kitchen

Alley E 8th St

Patty Templeton watches two movies every holiday season, “White Christmas” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She very much misses her librarian pal Cathleen who would watch these movies with her while eating posh snacks. For more weirdo Templetonry, hit up www.instagram.com/pattytempleton.

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In typical Sedaris form, each essay is poured onto the page via people-watching eloquently mutated into prose. No topic is too small, and each will have you laughing, shaking your head, and puzzling the human condition.

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[advice]

Life Hax | Carolyn Hax

What to say when I won’t eat their ‘unhealthy’ foods?

I’m going on vacation soon with my in-laws, siblings-in-laws, and their spouses. Over the last few years, I’ve been working on eating fewer unhealthy foods like bread and dairy, and as a result I feel much better.

This hasn’t resulted in visible weight loss but has resolved many stomach issues I’ve dealt with.

Every time I am with my husband’s family, the mood is “vacation” or “celebration” and the foods they serve are always those I try to avoid, like pasta for dinner and chocolate cake from scratch for dessert. My in-laws keep kosher and my mother-in-law is an avid baker, so suggestions to eat at a restaurant where we can all pick our foods are met with confusion.

I get looks and occasional comments about declining those foods, such as how annoying the gluten-free trend is. I’m already anxious about this vacation and having either to join in and suffer the stomachache or decline and get eye rolls about fad diets.

Do you have a suggestion for how to handle this?

Lifestyle Choices Burn Yes, the commentary and eye rolls are annoying and pushy – not to mention the fact that a welcoming family would make at least a minimal effort to provide food everyone can eat.

But they’re saying a lot about themselves and virtually nothing about you, because they’re butting into something that just doesn’t affect them. You’re taking personally what isn’t personal.

That makes their eye-rolling a “so what” waiting to happen.

Through trial and error, you learned that you could resolve your stomach issues by not eating bread and dairy.

OK then! So you don’t eat them, that’s a good start. Now finish the job by responding just as matter-of-factly to your in-laws: You’re you and they aren’t and so let’s move on: “Yes, thank you, the gluten-free thing is annoying – I’d give anything to

eat cake without feeling sick. Oh, and bread ... don’t get me started.” Right? It can annoy you and the family commentariat for completely different reasons, but it’s still true that both parties are annoyed.

You can use shorter answers after that – “Eyes say yes, stomach says no”; “[sigh] Aren’t my food reactions old news yet?”; and eventually to, “[blank].”

As in, you just do what you do without feeling the need to respond to commentary about it. Cut to the last step right away if you feel game.

I do take issue with one remark you make here, and it might point to why this family isn’t more sympathetic: When you refer to “unhealthy foods like bread and dairy,” you reveal judginess of your own, no? Bread and dairy are not unhealthy, they’re just fine for ... people for whom they’re just fine. If you want to be left alone to your food choices, then the most productive thing you can do is leave others to their food choices, too.

In fact, for your own and others’ health, please break anything close to a habit of vilifying this or that food or food choice. Your gut, your business, the end.

Arriving from a work trip, I texted my fiancé that I had landed safely and would be home soon. He responded with, “I love you. I’ll bring home pizza for dinner.” Thirty minutes later: “Actually, I can’t be in a relationship anymore. I need to experience living on my own for a while. We aren’t getting back together.” He then blocked my number and signed our shared home over to me in full.

home, and the family I thought I had.

It’s like a death to both of us.

today, then tomorrow, then the day after.

I have him in therapy. I will go once we move and I can afford it again.

Our bodies are built to help us through truly horrible things by, for lack of a cheerier word, normalizing even acute pain. What is agony now will dull with time. And, as it dulls, your abilities to function will return, including those that help you make sense of what happened and help you rebuild your optimism. Which is, of course, emotionally synonymous with trust.

I’m a level-headed person and can safely say I could not see this coming.

In our few brief conversations, he agrees with that assessment. We had intimacy, laughter, were a great team around our house, always made time for each other with a date night once a week.

When he said he loved me and looked forward to our future, he said it was because he always hoped for, how he worded it, “better days.”

I’m shocked. Stunned. In disbelief.

What’s next in carrying on? How will I learn to trust again?

Ghosted So awful – I’m sorry.

I think you’re as close as you can get to an answer in treating this as a death.

Something so sudden and transformative and final (with the added slap of his having chosen it) has a set of rules of its own – along with license not to hold yourself to any rules too tightly.

The first step is relieve yourself of any responsibility to figure out longterm issues like how to trust again.

Your job now is to think of the immediate, because that’s plenty. Housing.

Kid’s emotional needs. Getting through

Obviously, people can get stuck in this process and may need help getting there.

So the moment you get your housing resolved, yes, therapy for you, whether you’re stuck or not. A support group might also help you on the cheap – check NAMI (www.nami.org) for listings.

You probably know this, but I’ll say it anyway: Anyone who can leave so abruptly has problems serious enough that you can’t assume all or even half of the blame for the outcome yourself.

He also isn’t representative of most people; he’s a sick outlier.

But that’s for later. Now, just console yourself and your boy.

Carolyn Hax is a syndicated advice columnist for The Washington Post. She started her advice column in 1997, after five years as a copy editor and news editor in Style and none as a therapist. Email her at tellme@washpost.com.

I sold quickly as I can’t afford the mortgage on my own, and I have not found another place to live yet. I have a 7-year-old son, and my ex has two sons. We were a family and lived together for four years. I miss my “stepsons.” I never got to say goodbye. My son is broken-hearted at losing the only dad he ever knew. In two weeks, I lost my fiancé, two stepsons, my

18 | Thursday, December 21, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[happening]

DGO’s picks in and around Durango Powerhouse Pub Trivia Why yes, there is booze at the Powerhouse Science Center! The first and third Thursday of every month, Carver Brewing Co. sponsors a trivia night. $5 donation per team, but if you can only fly in solo, no worries, there’s space for you to join.

Thursday Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Baby meet-up, 9:30 a.m., Columbine

House, 2307 Columbine Drive.

Toddler story time, 10:30 a.m., Durango

Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

Alpaca holiday gifts, 11 a.m., Pleasant

Journey Alpacas, 4128 County Road 129, Hesperus.

Thursday crafter-noons, 1 p.m., Pine

Details: $5 donation, 21 and over, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 21, Powerhouse Science Center, 1333 Camino del Rio, https://powsci.org

River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield, 884-2222.

Jam banding at Balcony

Library, 1900 East Third Ave., 375-3380.

If you find yourself hanging with relatives you hate on the Friday before Christmas, think about ditching the pre-holiday family crap to rock out with Steely Jam.

Church, 110 W. North St., Cortez.

Details: Free, 21 and over, 9:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 22, Balcony Backstage, 600 Main Ave., www.balconybarandgrill.com

Tim Sullivan, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Sa-

Cerda 7 Cantina starts a jam night Every Friday night, starting Dec. 22, Cerda 7 Cantina will host a jam night.

Latin fusion band Profetic Calaveras hosts this first edition.

Details: Free, 21 and over, 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 22, Cerda 7 Cantina y Comida, 639 Main Ave., www.cerda7cantinaycomida.com

Party at Studio & Get ready to get down at Studio &’s annual Holiday Party. There will be art. There will be some kinda performance. There will be merriment. What more do you need the Saturday before Christmas?

Details: Free, 21 and over, 6-10 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 23, Studio &, 1027 Main Ave., www.anddurango.com

See a best-of-2017 flick at the ACT Both Rolling Stone Magazine and The Guardian put “Lady Bird” on their best movies of 2017 lists. It’s a quirky coming-of-age comedy that debuted at the Telluride Film Fest.

It’s a #MustSee #ForReals.

Details: $9 students, $10 GA, 17 and over, varied show times, Monday, Dec. 18, through Thursday, Dec. 28, Animas City Theatre, 128 East College Dr., www.animascitytheatre.com

A musical Xmas Eve Patrick Crossing is bringing a Celtic Christmas to the Strater. Get your holly and jollies listening to traditional holiday tunes all morning long.

Details: Free, all ages, 10:30 a.m.–noon, Sunday, Dec. 24, Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., www.henrystratertheatre.com

Read to Rover, 3:30 p.m., Durango Public “Longest Night” Blue Christmas service, 5 p.m., St. Barnabas Episcopal Andrew Schumann, 5 p.m., Ska Brewing

Co., 225 Girard St. loon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Greg Ryder, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 375-7260.

Sunday Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Henry Stoy piano, 11 a.m., Jean-Pierre

Bakery and Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave., 2477700.

Santa Sleigh Ride, 2 p.m., $50, Rapp Cor-

ral, 51 Haviland Lake Road, 247-8454.

Bluemoon Ramblers, 7 p.m., Diamond

Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Robin Davis, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

Main Ave., 375-7260.

Monday Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Dustin Burley, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 375-7260.

Solstice bonfire and caroling, 6 p.m.,

Tuesday

Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield, 884-2222.

Free Transit Day, all-day event, Durango Transit Center, 250 W. Eighth St.

Wild West Squares Christmas Jubilee Barn Dance, 6:30 p.m., Florida Grange,

Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

656 Highway 172.

Robin Davis, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699

Main Ave., 375-7260.

Laugh Therapy, 8 p.m., Irish Embassy Pub,

900 Main Ave., 403-1200.

Terry Rickard, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Overeaters Anonymous, 5:30 p.m., Christ the King Lutheran Church, 495 Florida Road.

Friday

Tuesday Jam, 6 p.m., Steaming Bean, 900

Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Tim Sullivan, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 375-7260.

Alpaca holiday gifts, 11 a.m., Pleasant Journey Alpacas, 4128 County Road 129, Hesperus.

Wednesday

Santa Sleigh Ride, 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m.,

$50, Rapp Corral, 51 Haviland Lake Road, 2478454.

Holiday dance party, 3:30 p.m., Absolute Physical Therapy and Wellness, 277 East Eighth Ave. Donny Johnson, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle

Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Robby Overfield, 7 p.m., Office Spiritori-

um, 699 Main Ave., 375-7260.

Saturday Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery,

828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Henry Stoy piano, 11 a.m., Jean-Pierre

Bakery and Wine Bar, 601 Main Ave., 2477700.

Alpaca holiday gifts, 11 a.m., Pleasant Journey Alpacas, 4128 County Road 129, Hesperus.

Santa Sleigh Ride, 12:30 p.m., $50, Rapp

Corral, 51 Haviland Lake Road, 247-8454.

Six Dollar String Band, 5:30 p.m., Dia-

mond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Black Velvet Duo, 6 p.m., Sky Ute Casino

Resort, 14324 Highway 172, Ignacio.

Rob Webster, 6 p.m., Irish Embassy Pub, 900 Main Ave., 403-1200.

Dustin Burley, 7 p.m., Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave., 247-5440.

Main Ave.

Maria Samora, 9 a.m., Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave., 247-3555.

Morning meditation, 8:30 a.m., Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield, 884-2222.

SMART Recovery Durango, 5:30 p.m.,

Suttle Street Clinic, 72 Suttle Street, Suite M. Greg Ryder, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle Sa-

loon, 699 Main Ave., 247-4431.

Hello, Dollface acoustic set, 6 p.m., Eno

Cocktail Lounge and Wine Bar, 723 East Second Ave., 385-0105.

Terry Rickard, 7 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave., 375-7260.

Ongoing Call for auditions: Durango Voice fundraiser for Manna, submit two-min-

ute mp3 demo songs to durangovoice2@gmail. com by Jan. 12 for blind auditions Feb. 24 and finals April 7 at the Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave.

Submissions To submit listings for publication in DGO and www.dgomag.com, visit

www.swscene.com, click “Add Your Event,” enter the event info into the form and submit.

Listings at www.swscene.com will appear on www.dgomag.com and in our weekly print edition. Posting an event on www.swscene. com is free and takes one day to process.

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Horoscope ARIES (March 21 to April 19)

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22)

You feel serious in an ambitious way this week. You have big plans; however, this week, you might be met with obstacles. Give this little thought because you’re on a roll!

You are prepared to work hard this week, which will impress a boss or someone in a position of authority.

Your standards are high, and let’s hope others’ are, too.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20)

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22)

Despite your political or religious views this week, you will say very little. You don’t want to be caught rooting for the wrong side. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Children might become an increased responsibility this week. Meanwhile, discussions with romantic partners also will be serious. They might address the division of labor or how to share expenses.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) This is a good day to roll up your sleeves and deal with red-tape matters about taxes, debt, insurance issues, inheritances and shared property. It’s boring, but it’s gotta be done.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22)

Bizarro

Discussions with close friends and partners will be serious this week. You can’t avoid this, either. Just face the music.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) This week, you have to deal with an authority figure at home – perhaps a parent, an older relative or maybe even the government. Get ready for this discussion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) You might be worried about something

this week. Whatever you propose might get shot down by someone in a position of power and authority. (No fun!)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) You will be very careful about how you spend your money this week. In fact, if you do buy anything, it will be practical and long-lasting. (Oh yeah.)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) You’re in a serious mood this week because things are serious – it’s just that simple. Fortunately, you’re prepared to take on responsibilities and shoulder whatever is necessary. This is admirable.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) This week, you’re prepared to look at things in a serious way, even if it means giving something up. You see now that

you just cannot deny reality when it knocks on the door.

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Someone older or more responsible might have advice for you this week. Whether you want to take this advice is another matter, of course.

BORN THIS WEEK You are warm and courteous yet straightforward and direct. You are kind, compassionate and persevering.

This is a year of teaching and learning.

You will spend time in reflection. Because your spiritual or religious beliefs will take strong priority, you might explore meditation, yoga or other disciplines. What you learn this year will be crucial for your progress and success next year. © 2017 King Features Syndicate Inc.

[Net neutrality rundown] »»Net neutrality is not a law. It’s the principle that no internet service provider should slow down, block, or generally screw over access to certain websites in favor of corporate interests. »»There is precedent for companies being a-holes about access and internet speed. One prominent example is how Comcast and Verizon were caught purposefully slowing down bandwidth speed to Netflix users because Netflix was in competition to its own streaming video services. »»The FCC just voted (three Republican votes to two Democratic votes) to repeal Obama-era net neutrality guidelines. »»Before the FCC voted, there was a public comment period where 22 million public comments were made. The Pew Research Center estimates that 94 percent of those comments were fake, created by bots and temporary emails with thousands of comments being exact duplicates of one another.

It’s verified by FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel that at least 500,000 comments originated from Russian email addresses. »»In favor of net neutrality? Visit www. battleforthenet.com to send an email and a call to Congress about it.

22 | Thursday, December 21, 2017 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[pics]

Cold but not too cold With Christmas approaching, even though Durango remained snow-less doesn’t mean it wasn’t cold (but not too cold for ice cream or coatless violining).

DGO photo contributor Lucy Schaefer traversed downtown Durango last Sunday to capture the season. Among her stops: Cream Bean Berry, VAPE Durango, Inferno Board Shop, 11th Street Station, and buskers on Main Ave. For more photos, go to dgomag.com

2018

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