Tales of the Crypto Currency

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inside COVER P.4 Bitcoin is creating business and investment opportunities for Oklahomans, but it carries with it risks and unforeseen consequences.

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A bitcoin vending machine installed by L’Argent Services at Coin and Gold Exchange at 7714 N. May Photo Jacob Threadgill

Mining cybergold

Oklahomans are both fascinated and fearful about the rise of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

By Laura Eastes, George Lang, Ben Luschen and Jacob Threadgill

A few years ago, Jason Wilson used a Christmas bonus to buy two bitcoin when the cryptocurrency was valued around $200. That initial fascination allowed him to quit his day job as a truck driver and establish L’Argent Services three years ago.

L’Argent Services facilitates local demand for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Customers can invest smaller amounts like $100 and have that converted into a percentage of bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.

Wilson acquired a bitcoin vending machine from the Czech Republic and installed it at Coin & Gold Exchange at 7714 N. May Ave. The vending machine communicates with a back-end server and what is called a “hot wallet” to withdraw bitcoin. L’Argent Services receives a 7.5 percent transaction fee.

“The demand is such that I want to kind of turn Oklahoma into a cryptohub,” Wilson said. “We’re right in the middle of the country, and we have pretty favorable laws.”

In other places in the country, like New York, a bitlicense is required to sell bitcoin, but there are fewer restrictions in Oklahoma. Wilson registered with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury that monitors domestic and international money laundering.

“Bitcoin has sort of lost the mystique of the dark net, but it is still used,” Wilson said. “You have to be careful that you’re not funding a drug operation through FinCen.” Wilson deals with a variety of cryptocurrency. Some of the less popular ones are easier to access because the blockchain, the encrypted ledger that records transactions, can be created on a basic laptop.

“Bitcoin gets the headlines because 4

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it might go up to $20,000, but if you’re sitting on a bunch of coins that are worth a tenth of a penny and they go up to a penny and a half, you’ve made a huge return,” he said.

While bitcoin garners headlines calling it “digital gold,” Wilson views it as a destabilizing factor for currency the same way the internet allowed more access to information. Pre-internet, long-distance communication was costly or time-consuming.

“It’s that way for currency now,” he said. “If you have family out of the country, sending them money can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive. You can send cryptocurrency in 15 minutes, and there is no middleman.”

Wilson said he has two clients from the same village in Nigeria. The village is over 100 miles from the nearest bank, and there is only one car in the town. However, everyone in the town has access to cell phones, so they have access to bitcoin without making the trek into town.

“That’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s helping people that are unbanked and in financial crisis without a big charity.”

Origins and questions

The digital cryptocurrency bitcoin emerged in the mainstream market in 2009. Born from a detailed white paper published months earlier by a pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin was presented as an alternative to the government-controlled dollar. As a digital currency that changed hands over the internet, early adopters were mostly programmers and hackers. Next, it caught the attention of investors, Jonathan Willner, an economics professor, sees price fluctuations in the bitcoin exchanges as a reason it will not have staying power. | Photo provided

traders and unscrupulous characters — those who anonymously peddled drugs and other illegal products in exchange for bitcoin. In no time at all, bitcoin had captured headlines and entered public discourse.

Is bitcoin a legitimate currency?

That question has been posed to Oklahoma City University economics professor Jonathan Willner more times than he can count. Intrigued college students and curious friends present their question in terms of “real money” and “not real money.”

“In reality, money is how people define it,” Willner said.

Economics students learn early in their studies that money has three attributes: It must be a unit of account, serve as a medium of exchange and store value. Under such a theory, one can present cigarettes as currency. In absence of paper money, cigarettes have served as currency, holding value and enabling transactions in prisoner-ofwar camps and in the prison system.

Bitcoin doesn’t exactly fit the bill.

“Bitcoin isn’t really great money at this point because so few places will take it as transactions,” Willner said.

“You can’t swap it into goods and services very easily. That makes it hard to call it money.”

Both empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that many bitcoin owners buy it, wait for it to appreciate and later exchange it for dollars. Bitcoin conversations heavily center on how much one bitcoin equals in U.S. dollars.

“You see the dollar per bitcoin,” Willner said during an interview in midFebruary. “People take bitcoin and they turn it into dollars. They don’t, generally speaking, spend bitcoin. If you have bitcoin and you bought it a week ago, you spent $17,000 on a bitcoin. Today, it is only worth about $8,000. It’s lost a lot of value in the interim. It makes people reluctant to hold it.”

Willner falls into the category of bitcoin skeptics. He argues bitcoin resembles a Ponzi scheme, which is an

opinion not entirely his own, as plenty have argued as much in the pages of business publications.

Even though bitcoin has captured the interest of many, bitcoin’s price has been a roller coaster lately, which has Willner questioning its staying power.

“You can see the run-up in values and then the crash in values,” Willner said, “which suggests that there are a lot of questions remaining about what it’s worth and what it will be worth in the future.”

Mining disaster?

Last month, as bitcoin was surging in both its valuation and the public’s fascination with it, a Morgan Stanley analyst named Nicholas Ashworth sounded the alarm regarding bitcoin’s energy footprint.

For casual observers, the notion that bitcoin could be consuming huge amounts of electricity might sound like a joke; after all, part of its appeal is its ephemeral, internet-based existence. But it takes massive servers to keep up with bitcoin demand and process transactions, and Ashworth’s forecast was alarming to environmentalists and engineers and tantalizing for energy providers.

“If cryptocurrencies continue to appreciate, we expect global mining power consumption to increase,” Ashworth said in a note obtained by Bloomberg.

In 2017, bitcoin mining consumed 36 terawatt hours of energy. A terawatt is equal to 1 trillion watts, so bitcoin energy consumption last year was roughly equivalent to 1 trillion 30-watt light bulbs burning. Ashworth’s forecast for bitcoin consumption in 2018 is staggering — he predicted the cryptocurrency will suck up 140 terawatt hours this year. The prediction bears weight; according to Digiconomist.com, a bitcoin-centric site run by analyst Alex de Vries, 2018 has already surpassed 2017. As of Feb. 22, de Vries’ Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index puts global energy usage for the cryptocurrency at 51 terawatt hours.

“Well, it’s kind of staggering, the relative increase of it,” said Evan Lemley, assistant dean of the University of Central Oklahoma’s Department of Engineering & Physics. “If you look at what was going on a year ago, we’re talking an enormous difference — a nearly fourfold increase in a year’s time.

And that’s almost totally driven by the price, hence the value of the single bitcoin was that much more, so then more mining and transactions go on.”

To put things in perspective for Oklahomans, Lemley crunched some numbers from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Global bitcoin energy consumption in 2017 was equal to half the energy Oklahoma produced in 2016 and about 2,600 times what Oklahoma City consumes in any given year. If Ashworth’s forecast holds, bitcoin will consume twice the power that Oklahoma generates this year and 9,000 times what Oklahoma City busicontinued on page 6

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nesses and residents consume.

“Oklahoma’s not a small consumer of energy, really,” Lemley said. “We’re kind of in the middle in the U.S. I really wanted to understand, on a relative basis, how big we’re talking, and from every angle, it’s just sort of an amazing amount of energy.”

So far, not much mining takes place in North America, though Bloomberg reports that the Canadian energy giant Hydro-Quebec is courting miners.

Currently, most mining takes place in China, where energy is relatively cheap and largely unreg u lated.

Environmental impact, particularly the production of greenhouse gases by coal-fueled power plants, is something that concerns Lemley.

“There’s a lot of historical precedent, looking back at how energy is produced in Russia and China in particular, and just how unregulated that has been and still is — no doubt about it,” he said. “A lot of power in China is coal. Keeping in mind the cumulative effects of emitting CO2, the CO2 emitted by bitcoin mining sure does not help.”

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Personal investment

When Juan Moreno got his first bitcoin in 2010, they were literally giving it away.

“It was basically worthless, that’s how early I was,” Moreno said. “They were giving them out just for you to download the program and start mining.”

It took several years of steadily climbing worth for bitcoin’s popularity to grow from a niche following.

Moreno, 25, got interested in bitcoin eight years ago as a new way to make some additional money. He was just a teenager when he first got on board, and it was a totally new concept to him that took some trial and error. He learned a lot about bitcoin and other cryptocurrency strategies through YouTube at first, but as time progressed, he came to rely on his own, independent research.

Moreno is passionate about the earning potential of crypto investments and tries to teach others how to make money from it. He grew such a reputation among friends and in online circles that strangers started emailing him and sending him Facebook messages and friend requests for advice.

Through his experience dealing with others who use bitcoin, Moreno has come to realize that there is no such thing as a typical bitcoin owner.

“People who you think wouldn’t have crypto have crypto, like grandmas and grandpas,” he said.

Moreno did say that most crypto owners tend to be from the younger, tech-savvy generation. He views bitcoin and other crypto investments as a more exciting version of the stock

Illustration Jim Massara

market with a much cheaper entry point for young users.

“Millenials, we can’t afford to put down $5,000 on stocks,” he said. “And if we lose, we really lose it.”

As serious as Moreno is about bitcoin, not everyone who has owned bitcoin is as dedicated. Caleb Montgomery, 29, bought $100 worth of bitcoin in November 2017, around the time its worth exceeded $11,000 for the first time and its mainstream popularity was at a peak. To his joy, he made money at first and decided to invest much more into the currency — as much as $500 at one point.

“It was awesome,” Montgomery said. “I thought, ‘This is just going to go up and up and up.’”

In reality, money is how people define it.

Jonathan Willner Bitcoin’s worth rises and falls constantly throughout the day. Montgomery would check the price about every hour, and friends who owned their own would send texts cheering and cursing its fluctuations as if they were rooting for their favorite racehorse.

But soon, bitcoin’s worth began to fall.

Within a month, Montgomery lost all his bitcoin profit. He sold all his bitcoin and withdrew his cash, losing about $20-$30 from his total investment. While the bitcoin market has improved since then, he realized he just was not in a secure enough financial position to risk a substantial sum of money.

Montgomery said he feels some mild regret from selling his crypto, but from the beginning, he was not into bitcoin for the long haul.

“I just thought it would be a good way to make a little extra money,” he said.

“I wasn’t planning on getting rich.”

Moreno has not wavered in his commitment to bitcoin; instead, he has branched out his investments into other forms of cryptocurrency, including Litecoin, NEO and Ripple. His advice to crypto-investment beginners is to keep investments secure through downloadable wallet apps and only put up as much money as is reasonable.

“Invest what you’re able to lose,” Moreno said. “You can’t put your life savings into one thing and expect not to lose it.”

The Sieber, 1305 N. Hudson Ave., is an example of a property renovated to bring 30 apartments and eight loft-style units to Midtown. | Photo Laura Eastes

even custom construction.”

The arrival of residential options shows how Oklahoma City’s urban residential market is evolving.

CIT Y

Shifting trends

Urban dwellers

The seeds for urban living were planted long ago, but they’re now sprouting new residential options.

By Laura Eastes

With the start of construction on luxury condominiums, townhomes, apartments, flats and single-family homes all in Oklahoma City’s downtown and surrounding districts — including Midtown, Automobile Alley, Bricktown, Film Row and Deep Deuce — the city’s real estate market is at a major turning point.

While living downtown has long been an option — Regency Tower welcomed its first residents in 1967, and Sycamore Square Condominiums broke ground in the 1980s — it received a reboot over the last decade as a younger generation solidified demand for new residences in up-and-coming urban commercial districts. Developers erected urban housing, although most were rentals.

Downtown living, along with living in the city’s urban core, has become increasingly desirable among people of all ages. The next wave of residential

development features properties and development for sale bringing new potential buyers to the area, attracted by the quality of life, convenience, activity, proximity and lifestyle.

“What’s great right now is that there are options for true urban living without sacrificing quality, space, comfort and design,” said Sarah Bytyqi, founder of Verbode, a residential real estate company focused on property in the urban core and inner historic neighborhoods since 2011. “When the idea of urban living was being pioneered, the options were pretty limited. But now, we have everything from starter-level, entry-condos — we have a condo listed right now for $129,000 in downtown — all the way up to million-dollar luxury. We’ve bridged the gap, but we’ve just now done it. … We can serve every price point; we can serve every need,

Oklahoma City has become what many cities of its size want to be. It’s brimming with striking developments downtown and in surrounding commercial districts. It’s welcoming to millennials with jobs, housing, amenities and activities.

It’s opportunity-filled for those seeking to be plugged into the community.

Residential living is part of the transformation of Oklahoma City’s urban core. While the city has invested nearly $1 billion into capital projects that gave life to downtown’s warehouse district, a once-dry riverbed, a downtown elementary school, parks, public spaces, streets and more, private investors followed with a mix of rehabilitating old buildings into housing and the construction of new ones. The results are a residential boom in the urban core.

At February’s meeting of the City of Oklahoma City’s Downtown Review Committee, the panel authorized redevelopment of the historic Villa Teresa campus in Midtown, turning the former Catholic school into a $30 million mix-use property with 11 condos, 10 townhomes, six flats and a boutique hotel. The committee also endorsed a plan to build six single-family homes along NE Seventh Street in Automobile Alley and a six-unit condominium building just a few blocks away from John Rex Charter Elementary School in Film Row. A month earlier, at the January meeting, the committee backed the 701 Hudson, a five-story luxury condo property now under construction downtown, and The Bower at 4th and Lee, a 36-unit mix of townhomes and condominiums.

It’s only going to get better, or at least that’s the theory of Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA). The Denver-based community development consulting firm is working closely with Downtown OKC Inc. on its next strategic plan. At a mid-January luncheon, PUMA president Bradley Segal told a packed crowd of developers and community leaders, “Trends are converging to support downtowns.” More specifically, Segal added, downtowns in second-tier cities like Oklahoma City are having their moment.

It’s the movement of millennials into smaller cities drawn by affordability and lifestyle, while at the same time Gen Z is emerging and attracted to urban places. Unlike the generations before them who sought out the suburbs, these generations are favoring urban living, Segal said of findings from PUMA’s 2017 Global Trends Report.

“People are returning home to secondtier cities to get plugged into communities

and be agents of change,” he said.

Downsizing baby boomers are eyeing downtown areas for their lofts, condos and apartments, Segal said.

Downtown OKC’s biennial Downtown Home Tour on Sunday will offer a glimpse of downtown living. The free, self-guided tour features 12 properties. Between noon and 4 p.m., shuttles will run between nine properties. Three other properties are easily accessible by foot. The Downtown Home Tour first debuted in 2010.

Hot market

Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods have momentum. In recent years, Bytyqi and Verbode sales agents have noted attitudes shifting as homebuyers focused less on the suburbs and more on downtown and the urban core.

“People are buying a lifestyle more than just a piece of property or a piece of real estate,” Bytyqi said. “Along with the property comes more to do. You can walk or bike. You are surrounded by local eateries and bars. People are gravitating to that lifestyle, and they want to be closer to where they want to be.”

Jessica Thompson, a realtor with Loxwood Real Estate who focuses on properties in the up-and-coming Classen Ten Penn neighborhood, hears from buyers saying they “want to live in the Plaza District.”

Commercial districts, like 16th Street Plaza District, Uptown 23rd, The Paseo Arts District or Midtown, might draw potential homebuyers to an area, but it’s the sense of community in the urban neighborhoods that keeps them looking for the right property, Thompson said.

“People love the front porches and the common areas in these urban neighborhoods that bring friends and neighbors together,” Thompson said. “With nearby commercial districts, we’ve created places where people can meet and gather together.”

Indeed, the neighborly feel of downtown and its urban neighborhoods is easily spotted, Bytyqi said.

“What I see in the neighborhoods is both young and old revitalizing the area, building relationships and strengthening their neighborhood alliances,” Bytyqi said. “I see people out walking their dogs or riding their bikes. Really, it goes back to the way a neighborhood was designed to be. They are neighborly. We are seeing that in the downtown market too. The more people that come, the more neighborly an area feels.”

The urban lifestyle is also combined with an intimate feeling in Automobile Alley, said Jess Wedel, who moved into her apartment two years ago.

“It is a little neighborhood,” Wedel said. “Being able to get out on a Sunday afternoon, walk to a coffee shop, walk up to Midtown, where shops are open and people are walking their dogs, that’s my favorite part. You feel connected.

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S TAT E

NEWS

Civic-minded

New Leaders Council Oklahoma will foster the state’s millennial talent through unique leadership training to create changemakers. By Laura Eastes

The power of social networking drew Oklahoman Bailey Perkins to New Leaders Council, a national nonprofit dedicated to developing the leadership potential of young professionals and supporting them on a path to changemaking.

The former state policy fellow at Washington, D.C.’s Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a center-left think tank, kept hearing reference to New Leaders Council from her old co-workers. One was a fellow from the New Jersey chapter, and another was selected as a fellow in the inaugural class in Austin, Texas. The two strongly encouraged Perkins to either go through the leadership program herself or start a chapter in Oklahoma.

Two years ago, Perkins — now working in public policy at Oklahoma Policy Institute — traveled to Washington, D.C. for New Leaders Council’s national leadership retreat.

“It was truly mind-blowing to see powerful leaders under the age of 40 transforming public policy and making social change in their communities,” Perkins told Oklahoma Gazette when recalling her takeaways from the national conference. “You had lawyers, teachers, nonprofit leaders and people who had started their own businesses giving what they called ‘spark talks’ about how they changed their own communities. … This was perfect. We needed this in Oklahoma.”

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Six months later, Perkins was introduced to Ashten Hughes, a 2015 fellow from New Leaders Council Omaha who had recently relocated to Oklahoma City. Together, they launched New Leaders Council Oklahoma, serving as directors of the chapter. Hughes brought knowledge and experience of New Leaders Council to the table; Perkins, a native Oklahoman, had the local connections.

They recruited Oklahoma leaders such as Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, and Oklahoma City Councilman John Pettis to serve as advisory board members.

“We want to build a community of people, regardless of political orientation, where we can support one another in working to do what’s best for Oklahoma,” said Hughes, who works as a general consultant on progressive political campaigns. “We are training the next generation of leaders who will be taking over this state.”

In January, 15 individuals selected for Oklahoma chapter’s inaugural class embarked on a six-month intensive learning experience called “The institution.” These individuals from across the state and representing various sectors of the economy are learning about policy issues and building skills in entrepreneurship, communications, public speaking, finance, fundraising and the use of technology and social media.

Ashten Hughes left and Bailey Perkins are leaders of New Leaders Council Oklahoma, the local chapter of a national organization for training progressive millennial thought leadership. | Photo Laura Eastes

“It’s the premier training organization for progressive millennials,” Perkins said.

The statewide leadership group is nonpartisan and a qualified charitable organization with 501(c)(3) status.

“Our goal is to equip them with the skills to run for office, work on a campaign, start a business,” Perkins said, “and become the next generation of thought leaders.”

Atypical program

There is no shortage of leadership groups operating in Oklahoma. New Leaders Council Oklahoma is unlike what could be seen as traditional leadership development programs offered by local chambers of commerce, which typically engage professionals, allowing them to establish new connections while learning and thinking critically about business, policy and civic issues facing a community.

We want to bridge the rural-urban divide.

Ashten Hughes The New Leaders Council institute calls for selecting fellows based on both merit and potential, which creates an opening for younger applicants who might be in the early stages of their careers. Across the country, National Leaders Council chapters are known for building classes that are diverse in background and profession as well as representation of ethnicity and sexual orientation.

While each chapter tailors its training to the needs of the local commu-

nity, all chapters seek to build a community of progressive leaders to rise to the top of their fields and ultimately improve their communities. Upon graduation, fellows join the national alumni network. Some alumni choose to run for office, seeking both local and state seats.

Perkins sees New Leaders Council as filling a void in Oklahoma, where there has been a surge in independent voter registration in recent years.

“There are a lot of people who want to be involved in changemaking but don’t necessarily want to be involved in the party structure,” Perkins said. “I want us to meet the needs of the folks who want to get engaged but don’t see themselves as partisan.”

In the early stages of developing New Leaders Council Oklahoma, both Perkins and Hughes agreed to create a statewide chapter as opposed to a city chapter. The two see the Oklahoma chapter playing a crucial role in uniting progressives from the urban areas with rural Oklahoma.

“We want to bridge the rural-urban divide,” Hughes said. “In talking to folks in the city and the rural areas, you learn everyone wants the same thing, but we are not speaking the same language on how to get there.”

Of the 15 fellows, two are from outside the OKC and Tulsa metro areas.

The program’s connections to rural Oklahoma will help the urban fellows establish strong connections to their state, not just their own city. The institute will move around the state, giving fellows the opportunity to see and experience all regions of Oklahoma.

Through the program, fellows complete an individual capstone project that outlines how they want to use their skills to benefit the community. Hughes explained that fellows have already begun to name their capstone project topics, which include criminal justice reform, work-life balance and women’s issues.

Additionally, fellows plan a fundraiser that benefits future classes. The program is offered at no cost to fellows, as it is supported by individual donations and grants.

New Leaders Council Oklahoma will accept applications for its second class in October. Fellows participate in the program from January through May. Both Perkins and Hughes have high expectations for New Leaders Council Oklahoma and its role in creating a better tomorrow for Oklahoma.

“I’d like to see an Oklahoma where everyone feels like they have a role, a voice and that their state is reflective of them,” Perkins said. “Our fellows, many decided to run for office, but many of them do not. For those that don’t run for office, I want to see them in spaces of influence, whether that is through their business, a nonprofit or whatever it looks like for them.”

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chicken

friedNEWS

Litter alert

How many cats does it take for one to qualify as a crazy cat person?

Two? Five? Maybe 10 or 12?

Those numbers are small kibble compared to what one Midwest City woman was recently able to accumulate. According to a recent story by KOCO News 5, Central Oklahoma Humane Society is currently looking for new homes for 52 cats found living in a woman’s home.

The woman did not want to be identified or speak on camera, but she did tell the local news station that she rescued all the animals because she cares deeply for them.

“I just like cats,” she said in an off-camera quote.

We here at Chicken-Fried News are not sure “like” is quite enough to cover 52 cats. Was she trying to collect enough cats to start a new feline paradise somewhere far removed from mankind? You know, we’ve thought about that in the past, too. But even Noah knew to stop at just two of every animal.

The woman also told KOCO that she had no idea how many cats were living in her home.

“I just like cats, and cats multiply a lot,” she said. “Quite fast.”

Oh, so that’s what this is: a cat brothel.

We’re not sure just how fast cats can procreate, but we will take the word of a woman who has lived with more cats than there are states in the U.S. as the authority on that subject.

As of Feb. 14, 31 of the cats were receiving treatment in Central Oklahoma Humane Society custody. The rest are in Midwest City Animal Shelter, and some might be adopted.

The woman in question does not face any criminal charges. And even if she were, it is unlikely she would have faced a punishment any worse than sharing a house with more than four dozen strays.

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Alcohol procrastination

Who else is excited for October? After two long years of waiting, low-point beer is finally going the way of the flip phone! Hurray!

Why has it taken so long for the rule to go into to effect? It was passed with a two-year wait to allow the state’s dry counties to comply. Under the old law, restaurants in dry counties were allowed to sell low-point beer with food.

Dry counties will have to approve liquor-by-the-drink sales by Oct. 1 to continue such practice. If they take no action during the June 26 election, as many as 14 Oklahoma counties could lose the right to sell alcohol with food.

The new law has been a burden on the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission, which is encouraging counties to use the primary election because it will have high turnout due to the gubernatorial election, according to director Keith Burt.

“There are people in dry counties that are used to having a beer with their pizza, and when 3.2 beer goes away, that won’t be possible,” Burt told The Journal Record.

When contacted by The Journal Record, Harper and Alfalfa counties said they expect to have liquor-bythe-drink votes on June 26. So that leaves 12 counties that have had two

years to become compliant and are waiting until the last minute.

Who knew that county administrators take the same approach to elections as an undergrad does to a research paper deadline?

Cracking jokes

We at Chicken-Fried News have decided it’s time.

Every day, we comb through the headlines and learn of how drastic cuts to vital state services are having dire consequences. Case in point: implementing four-day school weeks, eliminating child abuse prevention programs, raising college tuition, limiting state troopers on their daily mileage, growing service wait times — by years — for the developmentally disabled, cutting mental health services, slashing provider rates for Medicaid — need we say more?

After lawmakers failed to move forward on the revenue-raising measures associated with the Step Up Oklahoma plan, it was announced that state agencies are bracing for another round of cuts. According to Janelle Stecklein with CNHI Oklahoma, agencies must reduce spending by about 2 percent a month from March through June to save the Legislature about $45 million.

Without the cuts, the state’s health agencies — human services, health care and mental health — would run out of money by April, Stecklein reported.

Our response: It’s time to utter broke jokes. We’ve got our fingers and toes crossed that citizens will begin to badger their lawmakers with these catchy one-liners. If enough citizens call their lawmakers, rears will get into gear to fix this budget blunder.

So call a state lawmaker and crack one of these jokes: Your state is so poor, out-of-state travelers pay more at toll roads to help out.

Your state is so poor, prison

roaches started paying rent.

Your state is so poor, it implemented the give-a-penny/take-a-penny cups in the lobbies of state agencies.

But the the sign just says, “Give a penny.”

Your state is so poor, it can’t afford to update its homepage, which says Scott Pruitt is the attorney general.

Your state is so poor, it’s always talking about the time it almost gave teachers a raise.

Your state is so poor, its citizens started electing Democrats?

Air con

Speaking of Scott Pruitt — and by the way, if you say his name five times while looking in a mirror, your bathroom becomes a Superfund site — the head of the Environmental “Protection” Agency (E“P”A) continues to catch flack for flying first class every time a factory farm needs help adding runoff to the local water supply.

Between claiming in a Las Vegas television interview that global warming might be a good thing and getting sued because the E“P”A isn’t properly documenting its internal activities, Pruitt revealed in an interview with New Hampshire Union Leader that he flies first class because the peasants back in steerage were being mean to him.

“Unfortunately, ... we’ve had some incidents on travel dating back to when I first started serving in the March-April timeframe,” Pruitt told the Union Leader, which is hilarious because up to that point, Pruitt never willingly spoke with a union leader. “We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment.”

Besides that final quote being the grand champion of self-owns, publication of the interview led to more information about Pruitt’s first-class habit.

CBS News reported on Feb.

13 that in June 2017, Pruitt flew back to the U.S. from an energy conference at the Vatican on Emirates Airlines — first class, but of course!

There is the first class on United from Houston to OKC with the warm, peanut-free mixed nuts and booze on command, and then there’s freaking Emirates. A few years ago, between the releases of Horrible Bosses 2 and Mother’s Day, Jennifer Aniston filmed some commercials for Emirates showcasing the luxurious beds, private rooms and showers available to the airline’s first-class travelers. Yes, if one of those monstrous liberal proles in coach spat Victory Gin at him during boarding, Pruitt could just wash off the offending effluvium in a nice, steamy shower.

Chances are slim that any members of the Chicken-Fried News team will ever be seated next to Pruitt in first class — we only get to fly in front of the curtain in cases of extreme clerical error. But if that ever happens, rest assured halal meals will be ordered and flaunted and the lucky CFN staffer will read aloud from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

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re v ie w

EAT & DRINK

Neighborhood standard

Caffé Pranzo innovates and stays true to classics under new ownership. By Jacob Threadgill

Caffé Pranzo 9622 N. May Ave. caffepranzookc.com | 405-755-3577 What works: The lunch is a great value, and the sauce on the chicken canelloni is delicious.

What needs work: The sausage and peppers pizza might benefit from sauce on the side.

Tip: Everything on the lunch menu starts at $8.

Caffé Pranzo has served as a neighborhood Italian restaurant for those near Nichols Hills and north Oklahoma City since 1996.

Nestled inside a shopping center at 9622 N. May Ave., a few blocks north of Britton Road, Caffé Pranzo has continued its mission of delivering well-executed American-Italian dishes in a quaint and relaxed, but attentive service setting. It has been over five years since Oklahoma Gazette visited for a review.

Tony Lachance celebrates his fiveyear anniversary later this October, and he’ll do so by putting his own stamp on the restaurant. Before he took over Caffé Pranzo, Lachance was a manager at Charleston’s Restaurant and was familiar with Pranzo because his wife waited tables there while she taught at Putnam City High School.

“The old owner was ready to retire, and I knew about it through my wife,” Lachance said. “It felt like a good fit.”

New face

Lachance’s influence on the restaurant can be seen right away after walking through the front door, as a large display of hydroponically grown basil is illuminated across from a bar built by Lachance himself. Lachance said he and a business partner are looking to expand the hydroponic setup to include romaine lettuce and other vegetables.

“I wanted to push toward freshness and really showcase it, not just say it,” he said. “It’s a big deal for me.”

Like most Italian restaurants, Caffé Pranzo allows customers to mix and match a variety of noodles with sauce and protein. There are the standards like linguine, fettuccini, penne and even fresh ravioli and tortellini, but when Lachance took over, he added “zoodles” made from zucchini squash made with a spiralizer.

“Instead of having gluten-free pasta, and I don’t know if you’ve even had gluten-free pasta, but it’s really not that good,” he said. “In my mind, it was a better alternative.”

I have to agree with Lachance. There is no finer savory indulgence in my mind 12

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than a large plate of starchy flour pasta with all its simple sugar that turns to fat, and every gluten-free pasta I’ve had can’t quite replicate that comfort feeling or al dente bite from traditional pasta.

I’ve used my spiralizer at home to make “zoodles,” and while they don’t mimic pasta, they’re full of more net-positive nutrients than most gluten-free options.

Differing menus

Caffé Pranzo offers different lunch and dinner menus and closes 2 -5 p.m. to accommodate the change. Everything on the lunch menu starts at $8; pasta comes with either a tossed or Caesar salad or a cup of soup, as do sandwiches, but you can also get a fruit cup or French fries.

I wanted to push toward freshness and really showcase it, not just say it.

Tony Lachance I made use of both menus during separate recent visits to Caffé Pranzo.

During a lunch visit, I ordered linguine in a pesto cream and added fried chicken ($3.99 extra) because, to quote Russell Westbrook, “Why not?”

If you remember my review of Kitchen No. 324’s fried chicken pot pie, you should know that I’ve been looking for more vehicles to combine fried chicken and sauces beyond a gravy-smothered fried chicken.

The chicken at Pranzo is served atop the pasta, which was finished in the pesto cream sauce. The chicken by itself is solidly fried, a cutlet pounded thin and dropped in breadcrumbs. I mixed the chicken into the sauce, which was heavier on the cream than the pesto, to fulfill my desire.

Even at lunch service, I was impressed that Caffé Pranzo had additional servers to handle fresh cracked pepper and grated Parmesan cheese for the salad and pasta. The meal begins with fresh bread and a dipping sauce with marinated tomatoes, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil that was borderline addictive. I ate the entire loaf without thinking about it.

The salad is a nice mixture of green and red leaf lettuce with a few other heartier greens. Nothing makes me more upset than to order a side salad and get a plate of iceberg lettuce. “[Using nutrient-rich greens] is one of my big things,” Lachance said. “When

you see iceberg, you think cheap. It’s all water anyway.”

As the kitchen makes the switch to dinner service, the menu more than doubles in size. Standby favorites like lasagna, chicken parmigiana and chicken marsala have been successful since Caffé Pranzo opened. Lachance added spinach artichoke au gratin ($7.99) to the appetizer menu and seafood risotto ($21.99) with shrimp, mussels and scallops to the menu and is ready to bring a mahi mahi dish from popular special to permanent item.

Lachance said one of the most popular dinner items is the seafood pomodoro ($17.99). He said Pranzo is one of the few restaurants in the city to serve the dish. Seafood pomodoro is a bevy of shrimp, scallops and mussels served over fettuccini with pomodoro, which is a basic tomato sauce with garlic and basil that differs from marinara, which traditionally includes other vegetables like carrot and onion.

When I visited for dinner, I was attracted to the chicken cannelloni ($17.49) because that’s another dish I rarely see on menus. Shredded chicken is combined with provolone and mozzarella cheeses and rolled into pasta sheets. It is baked in a tomato-cream sauce and served with a wilted spinach salad that also includes mushrooms.

The sauce was distinct, with a nice balance of tomato, cream and a little spicy kick at the end, and the pasta still had some bite even after baking under sauce and cheese. It was nice to get extra green with the spinach, and I paired it with another tossed salad to meet my antioxidants for the day.

I was impressed with the sauce, which Lachance describes as a cross between marinara and Alfredo. Caffé Pranzo sells all of its sauces in quarts Tony Lachance became chef and owner at Caffé Pranzo in October 2013. | Photo Gazette / file

A lunch portion of linguine with pesto cream topped with a fried chicken cutlet | Photo Jacob Threadgill

or pints listed on a chalkboard that says, “Buy the bulk by the bulk.”

I also tried the sausage and pepper pizza ($10.49) because it was not available on the lunch menu. I was surprised to find that it didn’t have sauce, but then I remembered that it wasn’t listed on the menu. The cheese, Italian sausage and roasted peppers were of high quality, and I couldn’t help but think the tanginess of the sauce might take away from the sweetness of the peppers.

“Neither the margherita or sausage and peppers pizza comes with sauce because we wanted to highlight the tomatoes and basil on the margherita,” Lachance said. “On the sausage and peppers, when you add the sauce, it gets a little oily because of the sausage and pepper, and it would be a little too much.”

If, like us, it has been awhile since you last visited Caffé Pranzo, you will be pleasantly surprised by the changes made by Lachance.

f eat u re

Chefs Colin Stringer and Paul Wang plate dishes inside the kitchen at Nonesuch. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Permanent taste

Maturing from a pop-up, Nonesuch takes diners on an Oklahoma journey with modern techniques. By Jacob Threadgill

Chef Colin Stringer has spent hours working on the ingredients for a chicken terrine made with foraged morel mushrooms and cooked with the same local lovage used to make a pair of accompanying sauces, but he can’t get the plating the way he wants it.

Over comes chef Paul Wang, who arranges the dish — four bites with every ingredient hailing from Oklahoma — in a completely new way.

Each bite is a microcosm of the ethos of Nonesuch, which uses ingredients from small local purveyors or foraged

by Stringer and chef Jeremy Wolfe over the years. Every composed bite on its rotating eight-course tasting menu asks guests to enjoy the palate interplay of umami, acidic and sweet flavors.

Wang moved from Los Angeles to join Stringer and Jeremy Wolfe on staff at Nonesuch after attending a dinner with the private chefs-for-hire supper club Nani started with Andon Whitehorn. Stringer and Whitehorn were named “young guns” by Eater, but Nani was shut down by the Oklahoma City-County Health Department for not submitting to restaurant inspection.

Local restaurateur Todd Woodruff (Waffle Champion, Maple’s Barbecue) contacted Stringer and Wolfe and gave them a home for what became Nonesuch in 2016 by hosting weekly pop-up dinners at Waffle Champion.

Tasting experience

Woodruff serves as the owner of Nonesuch’s permanent location, which opened at 803 N. Hudson Ave. in October.

Nonesuch is open 5-10 p.m. WednesdaysSaturdays. Reservations are made in advance and range from $50 to $60 a person, depending on the time of the day.

The staff seats a maximum of four

people in the 20-seat restaurant every 30 minutes for an eight-course meal that changes every day or two.

“Oftentimes, people try to curate their own experience, but here, it is the opposite,” Stringer said. “There is a letting loose of control. It takes a certain diner, for sure. A lot of people that are unsure find that they do enjoy it.

Throughout the meal, you’ll see a couple where one person was really wanting to come or they surprised a partner. You can see their faces changing over the first few courses and relaxing into it.”

Wang first tasted Stringer and Wolfe’s food at Nani while interning at an Oklahoma farm. He moved to Oklahoma City permanently as Nonesuch matriculated from pop-up to its own brick-and-mortar location.

The rest of the ingredients — much of which have been foraged by Stringer and Wolfe over the years — can be found dried and stored in the kitchen’s large larder that overlooks the U-shaped dining room.

“Being limited has helped us spark a lot more creativity out of necessity. If you look at our larder, a lot of it has been emptied out because we’re waiting for spring to come. Everything is so personal,” Wang said as he turned his attention to three shelves of the dry pantry on the opposite end of the kitchen.

“Those beans were grown and dried by a farmer in Yukon. Who else has a pantry where they have things dried by their own farmers? Everything has a story, and it’s fun to share that with our guests.

It’s been the most unique and rewarding part of working here.”

When Stringer and Wolfe started the tasting menu concept at Nani, many of the plates were Japanese-influenced, using a lot of fresh fish under the guidance of Whitehead.

The duo used their time as a pop-up to put the focus on Oklahoma ingredients, serving dishes that are inspired by both rustic and modern techniques.

Stringer presents what he describes as a pork heart cracker, a crispy disk of pork fat that is topped with slightly sour yogurt, sweet red bell pepper and her-

baceous flower petals.

“Everything [we serve] is about the complexity of the dish,” Stringer said.

Wolfe has proficiency in savory dishes, but he’s the best dessert maker on the staff. He presents a basil crème anglaise ice cream served on top of a fennel seed crumble topped with reduced Turmeon vermouth syrup.

“Turmeon has five different aphrodisiacs, so it’s been used in a lot of love potions over the years,” Wolfe said with a smile. “We’re really stoked to be in the permanent location. We spent years planning, and our food has gotten better as we get more equipment to push ourselves in a way we couldn’t before.”

Stringer said that 90 percent of the guests make reservations through the ticketing system Tock, which allows for dynamic pricing. Tickets cost $50 per person on Wednesdays but are $60 per person 6-9 p.m. with $50 slots at 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. other days of the week.

Nonesuch can accommodate walkups occasionally, but Stringer urges guests to book through its website (nonesuchokc.com) or by calling 405-601-9131.

If food allergies are made known during reservations, the kitchen staff will adjust the menu accordingly.

top A pork heart “cracker” topped with yogurt, red bell pepper and flower petals bottom Chicken and morel mushrooms terrine served with two sauces made with lovage Photo Jacob Threadgill

Being limited has helped us spark a lot more creativity out of necessity.

Paul Wang “In the short time since we opened last October, we’ve grown into a family,” Wang said. “We see each other more than anyone else. We spend close to 60 to 70 hours a week here.”

Rustic and modern

Even during the dead of winter, with ice on the ground outside, Nonesuch is able to keep a steady supply of local ingredients thanks to small purveyors like Oklahoma City’s Prairie Earth Gardens, which supplies 80 percent of Nonesuch’s produce, Stringer said.

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f eat u re

EAT & DRINK

New generation

Gogi Go opens what owners hope is the first of many locations of its fast-casual Korean concept.

By Jacob Threadgill

The mural by artist Kris Kanaly inside Gogi Go might seem abstract, but look closer and you will find references to chef Kevin Lee’s life and influences.

There is the blue of the Bricktown Canal, but there are also references to Lee’s youth in Seattle, college years in Las Vegas and post-grad time in Korea.

For Lee and business partners John Lee and Jason Chang, the opening of Gogi Go mirrors the goals of secondand third-generation Korean-American chefs like David Chang (Momofuku) and Roy Choi (Kogi): to elevate Korean food to more accessible concepts.

“Growing up, none of my friends had Korean food,” Kevin Lee said. “Now, everyone knows bulgogi and kimchi, and it’s really cool to see how it has evolved into a cuisine that everyone wants to try.”

Gogi Go opened in Midtown at 1325 N. Walker Ave. in early January after a 16-month renovation process as Lee, also chef de cuisine at Vast, devised a fast-casual Korean concept menu modeled after Chipotle. Lee is a graduate of the Coach House apprenticeship program and also helped design the menu at Chae, 1933 NW 23rd St. “It’s Korean food in a different setting, different environment,” he said. “People are used to going to a mom-and-pop restaurant where they don’t feel very comfortable, versus here [where] it’s more accessible and in a cool setting.”

Concept execution

There are only five options on Gogi Go’s menu. Customers choose a preferred protein like grilled chicken, beef bulgogi, spicy pork or crispy tofu, then pair it with a starch like fried rice, white rice or japchae (stir-fried noodles). Finally, they top it with Korean banchan (pickled items traditionally served on the side) like kimchi, daikon and red onions.

Lee said the opening of a restaurant can be the most perilous time, as kitchen staff learn the menu, but he devised a system that allowed him to continue working at Vast while turning over Gogi Go to trusted staff.

“The execution has been pretty phenomenal so far,” Kevin Lee said. “It’s been a good month and a half so far. It’s the hardest part. There are not enough cooks in Oklahoma City to support all of these concepts, and they might not start out of the gate too well, but for us, the concept and people we have has been great.”

Partners John Lee and Chang approached Kevin Lee about opening a Korean concept a few years ago. Neither has a background in the restaurant business, but John Lee’s family owned Korean House in Del City from 1988 until 2002.

“It means the world to me because my family started in the restaurant business with my grandparents,” John Lee said.

“My mom learned to cook from my grandmother, and I was always in the kitchen.

A combination bowl features grilled chicken, bulgogi beef, spicy pork, rice, japchae and toppings. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

14

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

It was important to me to do this to share the culture and Korean food. We want to make it more accessible. Our expectations have been exceeded. It’s been humbling to know that the city has accepted and supported us. To see people try the food and say it is delicious is a testament to Kevin creating a system that works. It’s all the hard work we put into the last 16 months. It’s satisfying to know it was worth all that pain and suffering.”

Beyond Midtown

A walk along Walker Avenue comes with the smell of grilled meats wafting onto the sidewalk from Gogi Go. Even if the line to go through the counter service goes out onto the street, Kevin Lee said customers see their order topped with a perfectly sous vide-poached egg in about 12 minutes.

Delivering high-quality food quickly is part of the model that Gogi Go owners are planning to scale to other locations.

Kevin Lee said scouting has already begun for a second location, something they are shooting for in 2019.

“We plan on scaling this business, so we want to build the right system and be

Chef Kevin Lee stands in front of a mural by artist Kris Kanaly representing Lee’s influences at Gogi Go. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

picky about what we do,” John Lee said.

“We do five things, and we want to make sure those five things are the best.”

Gogi Go will roll out specials including lettuce wraps for the summer through its social media. It recently debuted local beer and canned wine this weekend, which will be joined by patio service and Korean popsicles over the next few months. Its commitment to its core menu is modeled after other successful restaurants in the city.

“If you look at the restaurants that do well here: Empire [Slice House] pizza, Tucker’s [Onion] Burgers or Irma’s [Burger Shack], they’re all specialized,” Kevin Lee said. “The number two store is everything because if you don’t do well at number two, there is not going to be three, four or five. You have to be patient and pick and choose where we want to go.

Location is important, and we’re lucky and blessed to be here. We want to make our second location just as good.”

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eat & DRINK

Indulgent sandwiches

Have you ever eaten a sandwich and wanted more? You won’t have that problem with sandwiches from these seven restaurants.

Piled high with extra sauce, cheese and creative toppings, these are some of the best indulgent sandwiches the city has to offer.

By Jacob Threadgill

16

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Urban Johnnie Bar & Grille

James E. McNellie’s Public House

More than just a gimmick, the updated concept of Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler puts new versions of its classic burgers like the Theta or Caesar on the menu but piles them high with toppings. A burger arrives ready to be as indulgent to your taste buds as it is to your eyes. Whether you’re looking for traditional burgers, a juicy chicken burger or a vegetarian variety, Urban Johnnie delivers.

The Reuben is one of the most popular sandwiches in the country. How does James E. McNellie’s Public House elevate the ubiquitous sandwich to indulgent territory? It beer-braises the corned beef in-house and adds caramelized onions to the traditional sauerkraut topping. The Reuben is a classic done right, and McNellie’s Memphis burger tops a beef patty with sliced pit ham.

121 NE Second St. urbanjohnnie.com | 405-208-4477

1100 Classen Drive mcnelliesokc.com | 405-601-7468

The Mule

1630 N. Blackwelder Ave. themuleokc.com | 405-601-1400

Is there anything more indulgent than a grilled cheese? The breakout hit from Hungry Town Concepts that has allowed owners to expand to Anchor Down and The Press is based around all things grilled cheese — it even uses cashew cheese as a vegan option. The most indulgent of the bunch has to be the Macaroni Pony that loads up two slices of jalapeño cornbread with chipotle pulled pork, three-cheese mac and cheese and pickles.

Das Boot Camp

Hobby’s Hoagies

Nashbird

Waffle Champion

Das Boot Camp has something venerable German restaurant Royal Bavaria doesn’t have on its menu: sandwiches.

In particular, the schnitzel sandwich is as indulgent as pork loin fried in breadcrumbs can be, but if you ask for it to be topped with Das Boot Camp’s famous mushroom-bacon gravy, then you’re really onto something truly decadent.

The traditional Philly cheesesteak in Philadelphia is topped with cheese whiz.

Luckily, Hobby’s Hoagies doesn’t follow this regional delicacy directly, as it’s made in Pennsylvania, subbing real cheese for the processed monstrosity.

Choose from one of five cheesesteaks on Hobby’s menu, including the pizza hoagie with pizza sauce, mushrooms, onions and cheese.

Open less than a year, Nashbird has already become one of the most soughtafter sandwiches in the city. Choose from four levels of spiciness or eschew the heat altogether with a buttermilk ranch or Southern-fried variety and get your sandwich on either a brioche bun or buttermilk biscuit. Add bacon and cheese for another level of indulgence.

The classic bacon, egg and cheese has been Waffle Champion’s most popular sandwich since its days as a food truck.

As it has morphed into a go-to for weekend brunch and become a Midtown mainstay, a few other sandwiches have come and gone. Currently, check out the Monte Cristo (smoked ham, Gruyere, strawberry-anise compote) or the chicken and waffles, which loads chicken tenders with crispy leeks and tobacco honey inside a warm waffle sandwich.

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ART

ARTS & CULTURE

Discovering beauty

Art and science find common ground in Science Museum Oklahoma’s smART Space galleries.

By Ben Luschen

Successive lunch trays sit side by side in a row, nearly all of them overrun with mold, fungus and who knows what else. Most people prefer to consume their sandwiches, oranges, juice and other lunch treats before they can be devoured by nature itself, and even fewer would think to call their moldy meals art. But Science Museum Oklahoma believes the concept is one that will grow on its visitors.

Each of the trays sits under glass displays that often fog up with humidity thanks to moisture released from the fungal growths. The demonstration is one part of SMO’s smART Space gallery exhibition Decomposition: Discovering the Beauty and Magnificence of Fungi. The exhibit opened in late December and will remain at SMO through Aug. 12.

Art galleries have been a part of SMO since it began, but the space was rebranded smART Space in 2015. The intended purpose of the dual gallery showrooms — one short and one extended rotation — is to highlight the many ways in which science intersects with art and to make some science concepts more relatable to the museum’s young audience.

The Decomposition trays are moved down the line to show how fungus progresses over time, with the last tray showing growth from as long as 10 weeks.

Some unfortunate soul is tasked with putting in a new tray of identical food and mustering the courage to toss out the spindly bed of gray fuzz and goop that the last tray became.

“I don’t do that,” said Scott Henderson, Science Museum Oklahoma’s smART Space gallery director.

Henderson acts as smART Space’s main curator. He might work for a science museum now, but he has curated exhibitions in art galleries in the past and is an active artist himself. SMO, which is an Allied Arts affiliate, is strongly informed by art perspectives. Vice president Clint Stone is also a community artist.

Stone likes exhibits like Decomposition because they provide opportunities for youth and all guests to make their own connections. Trays of moldy food can quickly turn into objects of marvel.

“At first, they’re like, ‘Ew! That’s so gross!’ But then you can say to them, ‘Imagine if the food you left on your plate never went anywhere,’” Stone said. “‘We would be living in piles and piles of garbage. That the world works this way, it’s pretty awesome.’”

Other than Decomposition, the smART Space galleries have hosted popular exhibitions like Sole Expression: The Art of the Shoe and iconic stop-motion models and movie art in Ray Harryhausen — Mythical Menagerie. Its newest exhibit, Into the Fold: The Art and Science of Origami, opens

March 9 and runs through January 2019.

Access to the galleries is included with museum admission.

Stone hopes the smART Space galleries are an additional way in which SMO encourages its guests to learn and be curious.

“You come in for one experience and you leave with inspiration you never even imagined,” he said.

Natural splendor

Art and science are viewed by some as polar opposites — stodgy, by-the-rules lab-coat wearers versus loose, whimsical creators in paint-stained smocks. But in reality, the two disciplines have fewer

versa. For example, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” is cherished in both worlds. His contributions to mathematics and engineering are as valuable as his work on “The Last Supper” or “Mona Lisa.”

“Most scientists are artists, and most artists are scientists,” Henderson said.

Stone said he often merges the realms of science and art in his work. Recently, he has been using the biological and neurological ideas that people perceive colors differently from each other.

“Often when I’m working, I’m pushing those boundaries of candy-coated poppy and garish,” he said.

While science and art often overlap, they are not the same. Stone said they should be viewed as complementary forces.

Their incessant push and pull constantly drives the culture further.

“The artist is good at connecting things,” Stone said, “while the scientist is going to want to understand those connections.”

the work usually goes toward recovering a space from the exhibit that previously inhabited it.

“The hard part is when you take out an exhibit, there’s a lot of repair work that needs to be done,” Henderson said. “The planning is there, and you kind of know where everything is going to go. You just have to get everything to looking good.”

Most scientists are artists, and most artists are scientists.

Scott Henderson Henderson likes exhibits that introduce concepts but do not do a lot of the thinking for the viewer. When a guest checks out Decomposition, he wants them to come across revelations about the complex structure of fungi on their own. The museum’s job is just to nudge

A display in the smART Space exhibition Decomposition shows guests how real food decomposes over time. | Photo Science Museum Oklahoma / provided

differences than they do similarities.

Stone said it is natural for a science museum to dedicate space to art.

“In some ways, I think it would be harder to explain the opposite,” he said.

“With art, we’re always looking for creativity and problem solving. With science, we’re looking for the same thing: understanding how something works so that we can innovate and create something new.”

Science and art are so ubiquitous in life that of course the realms overlap.

Everything everywhere has a scientific function or explanation, Stone said.

Similarly, who can say what is and is not art? If a painting or sculpture can be art, why not a tree or a fungus? Especially when art takes so many cues from nature.

Many of history’s greatest artists also rank among the greats of science, and vice

Creased connections

There are many possibilities for shows that could come through SMO’s smART Space galleries, but Henderson said curating the child-friendly museum’s secondfloor galleries is a lot different from bringing an installation to a fine art gallery.

“You have to think hard and build exhibits that are tough and can withstand all the touching, because they will get touched,” he said.

Henderson was in the process of installing Into the Fold while speaking with Oklahoma Gazette. In addition to showcased works from several origami artists, the exhibition includes interactive displays and tutorials that explain different kinds of folds.

Install time varies by exhibit but usually takes about two weeks. A lot of

them in the right direction.

“I want to lead to that discovery,” he said. “Not explain everything, but hopefully they go home and try to figure it out.

To learn from mistakes is how you have the ability to grow.”

The smART Space galleries — much like the rest of SMO — are all about opening doors to new ways of thought. What might start as a simple love for the art of folded paper has the potential to morph into something much more complex.

“It’s just creating that spark,” Henderson said. “You never know who will be the next physicist through their love of origami.”

Visit sciencemuseumok.org.

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By the book

Work by Harold Neal and other local artists brings literary characters to life in Off the Page. By Ben Luschen

There have been many portrayals of American Gothic great Edgar Allan Poe throughout art, but few quite like the slender, resin-coated bust by local artist Harold Neal.

Poe’s iconic face, in this instance, has been merged with the subject of his most famous poem, “The Raven.” The writer is given a long, sharp beak and spiky wisps of black-and-blue feather hair. The sculpture’s head and shoulders look and feel almost like a blown-up action figure. Neal built the bust by covering a ceramic armature frame with a black epoxy coating.

“I want it to last a long time,” Neal said.

“It’s a very sturdy material.”

The sculpture — simply titled “Edgar Allan Poe” — is one of many literarythemed art pieces included in Neal’s Off the Page exhibition, which is scheduled to debut at The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo St., during The Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Art Walk Friday.

The show runs at The Paseo Plunge through March 25.

Off the Page features paintings and sculptures that aim to bring beloved characters from literature out of the imagination and into a gallery space. Neal and a cast of other artists will offer their literal or figurative interpretations of characters from H.P. Lovecraft novels like The Call of the Cthulu, different mythologies and a wide variety of other works.

Neal’s love for art — which includes acrylic, impressionist-style paintings, pottery and some jewelry work in addition to sculpture — is often inspired by his love for literature and science fiction.

“Whatever I’m reading at the moment I get obsessed with,” he said.

Off the Page is co-presented by Charles Martin, founder of The Paseo Plungebased bookstore and publisher of Literati Press. He said the exhibition perfectly fits into Literati’s core mission.

“We’re trying to bolster the view of literature as another art form,” Martin said.

“We’re in the midst of the oldest arts district in the entire state, so people come here anticipating visual art, three-dimensional art. We want to make sure that poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics — all these things — are held in the same esteem.”

We’re trying to bolster the view of literature as another art form.

Charles Martin

Visual stories

Initial talks on what would become Off the Page began around Neal’s involvement in another Paseo Plunge art show in 2017.

Literati Press published a book of secular blessings titled The Non-Prophet Book of Common Prayer, and for the book’s launch, the shop put out a call for artists to visually depict a select blessing from the book.

Neal saw the call and offered his own art assistance. He immediately fell in love with the book.

“I connected to the very first two I read,” he said.

At the book’s launch and opening art show, Neal began talking to Martin about doing a show that would combine his loves of reading and art. Martin was a fan of Neal’s style and thought the show would be a good fit for them.

Ma r t i n has noticed that a lot of Neal’s pieces have a narrative quality to them, even when they are not figurative.

“You look at it and you’re wondering about what the story is, like you’ve got this one slide from a long story,” he said. “It makes you want to figure out what has happened before and after.”

Loving fiction

Neal’s favorite book of all time is Geek Love, the 1989 novel by Katherine Dunn, and for good reason.

“I think that was my way into getting

A Cthulu sculpture by Harold Neal | Photo provided

Harold Neal blends his love of visual art and literature in Off the Page. | Photo provided

married to my wife,” he said.

Neal was being a wallflower at a backyard birthday party one day when he struck up a conversation with Della, his future wife, by a large outdoor trampoline. They were drinking beers and talking about books they loved. Neal mentioned how much he loved the surreal story of life in a carnival family.

He watched as Della’s face lit up.

“She’s like, ‘Geek Love? I love that story.

That’s great!’” he said. “By the end of the night, I was like, ‘Hey, Geek Love, what’s your number?’”

Aside from van Gogh, Neal said he is inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon as well as the less-known illustrations by famous filmmakers Clive Barker and Tim Burton.

Neal’s love for literature and art grew at a young age almost simultaneously. His mother made an effort to instill a love of critical reading in him early on. She would often drop him off at the local library, leaving him there for hours as, essentially, a form of daycare.

“I would be sitting there, drawing, if I wasn’t reading at the same time,” he said.

Neal attended art school for a while but dropped out after becoming disillusioned with formal learning.

“I didn’t think they needed to teach me anything,” he said. “They could have taught me a lot about business, though.

That’s what I didn’t listen to, and I should have.”

Not all of Neal’s work is directly inspired by literature. Reflecting his taste in fiction, a lot of it is dark and personal.

His fictional depictions, however, are the things most people can relate to.

“I have a lot more personal stuff that I do for shows,” he said. “It seems like people connect more with the literature and the stories than they do the angry self-angst.”

Neal hopes Off the Page becomes an opportunity for him to connect with other artists. He also thinks the show has a good shot at attracting a crowd that isn’t too familiar with the state’s local art scene.

“Come support local artists and local writers,” he said, “because there’s a lot of local writers who sell their stuff here.

Oklahoma’s emerging, and we’ve got our own style.”

Off the Page opening 6 p.m. Friday The Paseo Plunge 3010 Paseo St. | paseoplunge.com | 405-315-6224 Free

t h eater

Night music

Folk legend Judy Collins’ tribute to Stephen Sondheim proves beauty can eclipse context.

By Ben Luschen

Whether it should be called fate, luck or another instance of talent and preparation meeting opportunity, folk legend Judy Collins’ encounter with and approach to Stephen Sondheim’s poignant show tune classic “Send in the Clowns” helped build her career to where it is today.

Sondheim — the iconic Broadway composer and lyricist most known for his immortal musical contributions to 1957’s West Side Story, ’62’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, ’79’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and many more — penned “Send in the Clowns” as a reflective and emotional second act ballad for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. The song eventually found its way to Judy Collins, a classically trained musician entranced by the national folk revival in college and rose to relative prominence as a singer-songwriter in the folk world by the late ’60s.

Collins will also be forever linked to late Canadian folk legend Leonard Cohen for discovering the young songsmith and helping establish his career, favors Cohen repeatedly repaid for her as his own fame swelled years later.

Collins’ version of “Send in the Clowns” appeared on her ’75 album Judith and spent several weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart. Her cover earned Sondheim a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1976.

Decades later, Collins is still singing Sondheim’s praises, not just for his contribution to her career, but as a gifted poet in his own right. In 2017, she released a tribute album to the composer entitled A Love Letter to Stephen Sondheim. A live version of the tribute has been broadcast on public television and still tours across the country.

The tribute show makes a local appearance March 9 at Oklahoma City Community College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave. Collins recently spoke with Oklahoma Gazette about Sondheim, her unique relationship with Cohen and the undeniable power of good storytelling.

Oklahoma Gazette: The way I’ve heard you tell this story in the past, you were not familiar with Sondheim or his work the first time you heard “Send in the Clowns.”

Collins: Not at all. I didn’t know what A Little Night Music was; I didn’t know anything about him. I was busy making Amazing Grace and “Both Sides, Now” and “Someday Soon” and so on and so forth. I was brought the album by a mutual friend — mutual with Leonard

Cohen — Nancy Bacal, who was Leonard’s best friend. He introduced us pretty shortly after I first began working with Leonard. So I had known Nancy for a long time, and she had this exquisite taste. She sent this album over to me and said, ‘I think you better listen to this song’ and it was “Send in the Clowns.” I called (famed Broadway producer and A Little Night Music director) Hal Prince and said, ‘You have a great song on this album.’ He said, ‘Yes, it is good, isn’t it?

About 200 people have recorded it already,’ and I said, ‘I don’t care.’

OKG: But eventually, you did get to meet with Sondheim, right?

Collins: Oh, sure. I’ve known Stephen for years. But, you see, we have to separate the man from the songs. The songs have their own destiny; they have their own function. Once you get a song out of your head and you record it — or have it recorded, in the case of Sondheim — it becomes a property that finds its own way to the people who are supposed to sing it. It comes to its own fate, in a way.

I believe in the song. Human beings are frail and imperfect; songs are impeccable and perfect. They can’t be swayed with flattery and can’t be challenged with assault or accusations. They live on their own terms.

My gauge for what to sing has nothing to do with genre or where it came from; it’s whether it talks to me personally.

Judy Collins OKG: That’s very true. You’ve probably experienced firsthand how songs you’ve been a part of or written have taken on a life of their own that transcends you.

Collins: Yeah, that’s right. My friendship with Leonard Cohen was very different.

I knew him very, very well as a friend, as a mentor, as a genius, as somebody who was unbelievably generous to me in all ways. There was never an article with Leonard Cohen where he did not talk about how Judy Collins had discovered him, recorded all of his songs and continued to do so over a period of 50 years.

That’s not something usual. Most people are much less generous and much less excited to share and talk about how this all came about. … Most people write a song, and then maybe they sing it to you

Judy Collins | Photo Shervin Lainez / provided

and you never see them again. You make it a big hit, and then they diss you on Facebook. It is extraordinary. But you’re right, the song transcends the frailty of man — or woman.

OKG: Sondheim is, of course, a fantastic lyrical storyteller, especially for theater. How do you compare the writing you find in theater lyrics to someone like a folk singer? Is there a close comparison?

Collins: Well, yes and no. Someone asked me recently how was it that a classically trained musician would turn to folk music. I said, remember, [American composer] Aaron Copland flagrantly used the songs of the folk tradition. Appalachian Spring, of course, features the traditional Shaker song “Simple Gifts.” ... There are many similarities between what becomes the most effective and transcendent folk song and what becomes the most transcendent song from something like My Fair Lady. It has to do with melody, it has to do with content, it has to do with how personal or touching it is. That’s what you have to look at. You don’t look at the genre, the category, the cliché type of thing it is. You look at the quality of the song itself. … My gauge for what to sing has nothing to do with genre or where it came from; it’s whether it talks to me personally. If it talks to me personally, I’m going to sing it. If it doesn’t, I never want to hear it again.

OKG: So, what you’re saying is, regardless of genre, there’s this underlying poetry or sentiment that transcends everything.

Collins: Absolutely. It’s an aesthetic.

Back in the old days, the radio stations — particularly the FM stations around the country — would play what they wanted. They played all kinds of things.

They played dance music, Roy Orbison, [Johann Sebastian] Bach, the country songs that were famous — they’d go all over the map. But now we have different places to go to hear what we like. Now you have the ability to build your own library from iTunes and all the different streaming services. People have all kinds of things on their phones and iPods now: orchestral, vocal, rap. It shows that there is an underlying sentiment within the composition that decides whether you like it or not.

I do think Sondheim is unique in a lot of ways in that he really transformed Broadway and allowed people to really talk about things in Broadway musicals.

That wasn’t necessarily the case before.

I think he’s made a huge impact not just on Broadway, but on music in general. I think there are a lot of undiscovered songs in Sondheim’s repertoire that ought to be much more popular than they are.

OKG: Do you think storytelling is still as valued in music today as it was in the past?

Collins: People tell their own stories.

They may not come off very well or they may be inaccessible because of the electronics that interfere with the language.

But then, that’s part of their story. The whole electronic experience is part of their story. It all depends. I think people always want to hear stories, and I think that’s to our advantage.

Judy Collins’ A Love Letter to Stephen Sondheim 7:30 p.m. March 9 OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater 7777 S. May Ave. | cityrep.com | 405-603-4707 $50-$200 O kg a z e t t e . c o m | F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8

21

Arts & Culture

The

Brunch Issue Call 405.528.6000 or email advertising@okgazette.com to book your space today

Brunch is the most important meal of the day, and it’s not just for Sundays anymore. Get the goods on the best brunch destinations in OKC in this special issue just in time to plan for Easter, Mother’s Day and beyond.

Publishes March 28 Deadlines March 21

Community space

T h e AT E R

Mike Hosty | Photo Gazette / file

RACE Dance Company’s permanent downtown studio space will be an OKC hip-hop dance hub.

By Jacob Threadgill

As RACE Dance Company prepares for an August show celebrating 10 years as a nonprofit group focused on social awareness through dance performances, it will do so with the benefit of its first permanent studio.

Executive director Hui Cha Poos slides open the large metal door and enters her new space located at 705B W. Sheridan Ave. and sharing a wall with Okay Yeah Coffee & Eatery. RACE has installed a raised dance floor with matting and the first of many large mirrors used for practice.

On a morning in late February, there is still much work to do before the studio’s March 1 opening — the walls must be painted black to create what will be a black-box theater, and new signage must be put up to replace the branding of a design company that previously used the space.

Poos, who is full-time faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma, founded RACE when she moved back to her native OKC after a successful film and dance career in Los Angeles.

“As an executive director, [the studio] means stability and a sense of being able to get more sponsorships,” she said. “As a dancer and choreographer, it’s not any different because I’ve been able to do what I love for the last 10 years, but as somebody that is looking for RACE to last beyond me, this helps keep it rooted and solidified.

A lot of energy and effort is going to the logistics of the thing rather than the artistry, so it takes away some of that energy and puts it to work. It’s sense of relief.”

22

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Artistic movement

The studio will host classes 5-10 p.m.

Monday-Saturday, which will expand to more daytime slots over the summer.

Since RACE’s founding, Poos has made it a mission to combine different mediums of art, often pairing dance performances with work by musical and visual artists.

The back wall of the RACE studio will be set aside for a rotating set of artists, with the first month supplied by NBA player-turned-artist Desmond Mason.

“It’s important to me that we use other mediums to influence and inspire,” Poos said. “If we have this art piece and we’re dancing and creating, we look over and it should serve as inspiration, not just the music.”

The new studio allows RACE to expand beyond focusing on classes only for adults

RACE Dance Company executive director Hui Cha Poos inside the company’s new studio at 705B W. Sheridan Ave. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

RACE’s female dance team | Photo provided

and teenagers. It will offer contemporary dance lessons in a variety of genres to all ages. By inspiring new generations, Poos said the focus of classes will be on hip-hop dance.

“There are hip-hop teachers throughout [the city], but not a place to do popand-lock classes or beginning break dancing classes,” Poos said. “We will focus on hip-hop with correct b-boy (break dance) technique with real b-boys, which is a big deal.”

Anyone can learn to pop and lock.

Hui Cha Poos In addition to monthly shows curated by visiting choreographers, Poos wants the space to be open to the community, envisioning opening the large sliding garage door so customers visiting OK Yeah will wander in to support the art or sign up for classes themselves.

“Anyone can learn to pop and lock,” she said. “We want to do contests for families as a group to get people dancing together. … We’re interested in growing the next generation of dancers. We’re different from regular studios in that we’re nonprofit. The teachers get paid, but we’re not just padding a [corporate] system that is going somewhere else.”

RACE Dance Company currently includes 17 adult dancers and about 20 participants in the junior teen company. Each group will perform collaborative routines during August’s X show, which will honor the company’s 10th anniversary by featuring some of its most popular routines.

“We’ve worked with guest artists from New York City to Los Angeles, and we’re bringing pieces back,” Poos said. “It shows the caliber of dancing the company can do, across many different genres.”

Visit racedance.com.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8

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Most of the performances of Oklahoma City native Molly Cason Johnson’s career have relied on the methods that have allowed her to become a successful teacher in Texas and at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).

This weekend’s Painted Sky Opera performance Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins asks the question, How do we interpret music?

Foster Jenkins was a New York socialite and philanthropist who became infamous for her tone-deaf and off-key performances, eventually selling out Carnegie Hall in 1944. Meryl Streep earned her 20th Academy Award nomination for her performance in the eponymous 2016 biopic, and Judy Kaye earned a 2006 Tony nomination for the Broadway performance as Foster Jenkins in Souvenir.

“It’s a favorite role of mine,” Johnson said. “She is such an interesting soul. How can I not love to pursue this after so much of my life has been spent cultivating quality operatic training, to say what makes us lean into an artist? Is it always just about the quality of the sound?”

Those questions are asked by Souvenir’s narrator and only other performer, Foster Jenkins’ pianist Cosmé McMoon, played by UCO grad Joey Harbert.

Breaking form

Johnson’s preparation for the role began by taking Foster Jenkins’ interpretation of classic arias and relying on her training.

“I can listen to my advice as a voice teacher and do the opposite. It’s knowing the music and how to depart from it,” Johnson said, noting that she isn’t trying to do a strict imitation of Foster Jenkins’ recordings. “It’s definitely harder to sing incorrectly than it is to sing correctly. It’s been fun, though.”

CitySpace Theatre at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., hosts the Painted Sky Opera performance, which can be seen 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30.

“I love this show partly because it presents both sides of Florence, who was a truly unique figure in musical history.

Souvenir shows how ridiculously awful her singing was, but it never mocks her or becomes mean-spirited,” stage director Rob Glaubitz said in a press release.

“Florence was a good person who genuinely thought that her singing was bringing joy to people. Of course, her singing was indeed bringing people joy, but not in the way she thought.”

Johnson said the intimate CitySpace Theatre is a “wonderful marriage between venue and story.”

The performance is structured around conversations between Foster Jenkins and McMoon.

“The audience will feel so privy to it because they’re so close,” Johnson said.

“It’s not a booming space to tell a personal story.”

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Possible farce

The real Foster Jenkins was born Nascina Florence Foster to a wealthy family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

She trained in piano until age 15, when she married Dr. Frank Jenkins.

The marriage only lasted three years, and he likely gave her syphilis, which is thought to be a reason for her performance irregularities late in life.

She is such an interesting soul.

Molly Cason Johnson

Anecdotal stories have come forward in the following decades to only fuel the debate about whether Foster Jenkins understood that she rose to prominence based on infamy.

“The conclusion is still out from people that have studied up on her,” Johnson said. “Was she aware that she was terrible? Were there medical things to make her think she was great when she wasn’t?”

Foster Jenkins used her family inheritance to invest in the arts, sponsoring social clubs throughout New York City. It is in the safe space of these clubs — away from critics — that she gained fanfare. At the age of 76, she relinquished to pressure for a public show and booked Carnegie Hall.

The performance sold out weeks in advance, and thousands had to be turned away at the doors. Foster Jenkins suffered a heart attack a few days after scathing reviews hit publications. She died a month after her biggest performance.

“What is music? What is bad? It’s all of life’s questions answered in an hour and half — not really,” Johnson said.

Painted Sky Opera’s 2017-2018 season concludes in May with Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers.

Visit paintedskyopera.com.

Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins

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Arts & Culture Therapy intern Rachel Southworth works with student Kaevion Tyner at ReadWrite Center. | Photo Gazette / file

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Alternative learning

Community presence

ReadWrite Center expands its programs and facilities to better help its students. By Jessica Williams

ReadWrite Center is redefining early childhood education one student at a time. vv Focusing on speech-language therapy for children with dyslexia, the center recently expanded its facilities, staff, programs and abilities to provide alternative forms of learning for elementary level students.

“This expansion has given us nonprofit status and larger facilities,” ReadWrite Center director Wendy Stacy told Oklahoma Gazette. “We will be able to serve more children than ever in our community, especially focusing on families in financial need.”

The expansion project will bring on 14 academic language therapists and pathologists under Stacy’s supervision as well as a new dedicated classroom space for group learning.

The center was co-founded by Stacy and Laura Gautreaux to provide screening, assessments and immersive therapy for children with dyslexia and reading disorders. Using the OrtonGillingham curriculum for dyslexic patients, Stacy and her team help hundreds of families each year.

“We take a holistic approach to dyslexia and reading disorders,” Stacy said.

“Families come into the center desperate to find a solution for their children.

Dyslexia affects entire families, and our goal is to treat everyone dealing with this learning issue.”

Numbers work

Combined with years of medical research and experience with hundreds of patients, ReadWrite approaches learning as a multifaceted, multi-dimensional process.

“The Orton-Gillingham-based curriculum is the only method that has been proven to make a difference in

learning disorders,” said Stacy. “We utilize the Take Flight curriculum under the Orton-Gillingham method, which is a research-based dyslexia intervention. It’s systematic and explicit, meaning every skill is taught without leaving anything to imprint.”

We make sure each child understands that he or she has the ability to learn.

Wendy Stacy This highly detailed curriculum involves each student learning every rule in the English language and then practicing each rule 1,500 times. Such an intensive program is the foundation of ReadWrite’s mission to provide accessible learning for all children.

“It’s so repetitive because these kids need to have everything imprinted on their memories,” Stacy said. “The Take Flight program is an interactive and multi-sensory curriculum using visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile learning points for each child.”

The Take Flight program varies greatly from what Stacy calls a traditional 2-D classroom style, which is not effective for many children with dyslexia. ReadWrite seeks to supplement what the school system lacks in dyslexia education through such rigorous therapy.

“When we first meet children struggling to read in school, we emphasize the fact that they have not failed,” Stacy Wendy Stacy, director of ReadWrite Center | Photo Gazette / file

Expanding the center’s resources and building means more of a presence in the OKC community. In partnering with organizations like Payne Education Center, ReadWrite can expand its mission to families that cannot afford expensive education therapies.

“Since we are now a nonprofit, we’d like to build partnerships with other community organizations focused on learning and improving the quality of life for low-income families,” Stacy said.

In the future, Stacy said the center will seek more partnerships with local schools and organizations to expand ReadWrite’s programming. The center will also provide specialized training for teachers in several public schools, including those in Yukon and Putnam City.

Changing how we perceive education starts with a change of expectations.

Walk into ReadWrite on any day of the week, and chances are it will sound more like a jovial playground than a typical therapy center.

“There’s a certain grace you feel walking into the building,” Stacy said.

“People expect it to be a sad experience.

In reality, the kids we serve are so full of energy and a zest for life. If the ReadWrite Center can give them that happiness, then we’ve fulfilled our mission.”

Visit readwritecenter.org.

Molly Cason Johnson and Joey Harbert as Florence Foster Jenkins and Cosmé McMoon in Painted Sky Opera’s production of Souvenir.

Photo Wendy Mutz / provided

C U LT U R E

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Josh Huestis discusses the classic novel Invisible Man at John Marshall MidHigh School in January as part of the Ralph Ellison Foundation’s outreach efforts. | Photo provided

Continuing conversation Ralph Ellison Foundation continues to promote literacy and important conversations. By Ian Jayne

Writers, though mortal, tend to live on through their works. For Oklahoma-born literary icon Ralph Ellison, channels to posterity include the magnum opus Invisible Man, several essay collections and the posthumous novel Juneteenth.

In addition to his written works, however, Ellison’s legacy continues due to a group of thinkers, professionals and self-professed “Ellisonians” who, in 2014, created Ralph Ellison Foundation.

As it enters its fourth year, the foundation’s activities are a mixture of continuation and innovation, with both short- and long-term plans. On Feb. 24, the foundation hosted its annual fundraising gala at Oklahoma History Center.

Other initiatives, such as the In the Light Bulb Room series, enabled by a grant from Oklahoma Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, will continue this year. The series aims at creating dialogue and room for difficult-to-discuss issues of race, identity and culture.

“The concept really comes out of the idea of creating a space where one can be enlightened, can be illuminated, but also a healthy space where you can voice your opinions without retribution,” said Michael Owens, the foundation’s executive director.

Ralph Ellison Foundation hosted four In the Light Bulb Room conversations in 2017 (Stillwater, Tulsa, Norman and Oklahoma City). Owens said those events have fostered honest dialogue and given the foundation insight into its role moving forward.

“It was one of the most honest conversations I think I’ve ever been in,” Owens said of the Oct. 26 In the Light Bulb Room conversation in Norman, which focused on change and race relations in the town.

“A lot of work goes into how you facilitate

the conversation, which is a learning skill, and this is something that the foundation wants to hopefully do, moving forward: to teach organizations, to teach professionals, whether it’s teachers or CEOs, how to have these conversations.”

In the Light Bulb Room conversations will resume sometime in March, Owens said, with the added goal of creating a youth-focused offshoot of the series.

Expanding futures

The foundation has multiple ongoing initiatives meant to reach school-age children. One, started in Feb. 2017, displays posters of Ellison at various elementary schools, while another provides free high school curriculum resources for teachers discussing Ellison’s Flying Home and Other Stories. Regular reading clinics at Ralph Ellison Library and creative writing workshops featuring local writers and speakers will continue as part of the foundation’s 2018 programming.

Owens said that many minority children and those from underserved communities don’t always have the opportunity to talk or think about their futures.

“How can we help them talk about their past? How can we help them understand their present and then focus on the future?” Owens asked.

In order to help young people visualize these questions, the foundation created a mural project. Composed of a two-sided wooden display with framed spaces, the project allows for students to express their ambitions through visual media. The traveling display can move between schools.

Owens said the mural project is designed to dovetail with photography and art classes so students can document images of their surroundings in relation to past, present and future. When brought together in the display, the student-creat-

ed images represent both individual and collective narratives, Owens said.

“These are their ideas and thoughts,” Owens said. “Where you are is not where you will end up. There is a future for you.

What is that future?”

A January event brought Oklahoma City Thunder player Josh Huestis to John Marshall Mid-High School to discuss Invisible Man, showing the wide appeal of Ellison’s work. The event bridged the divide between Ellison’s long-held academic appeal and the foundation’s aim of promoting his works to a wider audience.

“My goal has been to popularize Ellison and bring him into pop culture,” Owens said. “Look at what this enormous writer, this great person, has done. He’s still relevant in culture.”

As pop culture continues to absorb and adapt Ellison’s work through projects such as Hulu’s forthcoming Invisible Man miniseries, Ralph Ellison Foundation hopes to continue the appeal in Oklahoma inside and outside the classroom.

“We have plenty of intellectual capital here,” Owens said. “The foundation is helping to bring attention to that intellectual capital.”

As part of its annual awards, the foundation honored Dr. Stanley Evans, assistant dean at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and Councilwoman Breea Clark, who represents Norman’s Ward 6.

Owens said the foundation’s awards will expand to include youth who have done exceptional work in the community.

Although 2018 has only just begun, the foundation is already looking well into next year. A long-term goal of the foundation — to consolidate operations into one space — is taking form through a partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Owens said that the proposed headquarters would be on Broadway Avenue in Oklahoma City and is tentatively slated to open sometime in fall 2019.

“When you value your greats, you show it,” Owens said. “I think we’ll get there simply because he deserves to be there.

Ellison did all the work. All we have to do is continue to highlight what he did, to … make that relevant in the lives of people today and to use his legacy in a way that improves Oklahoma, the culture, the people.”

Visit ralphellisonfoundation.org.

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calendar are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS The Way of Being Lost, a book about author Victoria Price’s journey of rebuilding her life by embracing a daily practice of joy, healing childhood wounds; join the author as she signs her book, 6:30-8 p.m. March 1. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU Oklahoma City’s African-American Education, Anita Arnold signs her book about Frederick A. Douglass High School and the students whose contributions still matter today, 6:30-8 p.m. March 6.

Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE Read for Adventure, the OKC Zoo and Metropolitan Library Systems have partnered to publish the children’s book, Our Day at the Zoo and to create a community Read for Adventure program enabling readers to check out the new book from any of the 19 Metro Library locations, through March 31. Metropolitan Library System, 300 Park Ave., 405-231-8650, metrolibrary.org.

FILM Dunkirk, (2017, USA, Christopher Nolan), allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army and are evacuated by every naval and civilian vessel that can be found, 5:30 p.m. March 1. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-2363100, okcmoa.com. THU Get Out, (2017, USA, Jordan Peele), a young African-America meets his girlfriend’s parents and when things seem to be going well, their friendliness reveals something much more sinister, 8 p.m. March 3.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Boy, (2010, New Zealand, Taika Waititi), Boy, an 11-year-old child, has developed a heroic fantasy version of his absent father. 2 p.m. March 4.

Meinders School of Business, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5536, okcu.edu/business. SUN

HAPPENINGS Senior Wellness Wednesday, a 30-minute heart healthy exercise class, followed by a heart healthy cooking /wine demo and tasting with Kam’s Kookery, 9-10:30 a.m. Feb. 28. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED Ad2OKC Annual Agency Speed Dating, get tips on interviews, portfolios, resumes and inside information on job/internship opportunities with

a group of pros from Ad2OKC, 6 p.m. Feb. 28.

Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe, 121 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-319-9599, www.tapwerks.com. WED Unapologetically American-Muslim: The Struggle to Embrace Our Diversity, Linda Sarsour, co-chair of the National Women’s March, speaks the issue of embracing our diversity, 7 p.m. Feb. 28. Meacham Auditorium, 660 Parrington Oval, Norman, 405-415-6851, cairoklahoma.com. WED Unlocking the West, an overview of Glenn D. Shirley Western Americana Collection full of documents, photographs, movie memorabilia, books and magazines with a variety of guest speakers, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Thursdays.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-744-5868, education. okstate.edu/olli. THU Lewis & Clark Revisited, explore the journey made by the Corps of Discovery through journal entries, works of art, historical photos, and more and learn about what became of the corps members and the people they met, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Thursdays.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St.,405-744-5868, education. okstate.edu/olli. THU All You Need to Know About Starting Seeds, hands-on workshop teaching participants how to start annual flowers, vegetables and herbs, the best way to take care of seeds as they grow and many more tips, techniques and tools helpful in seed starting, 6-7:30 p.m. March 1. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-4457080, myriadgardens.com. THU Omelette Party: Eggscape to Paradise, features an art raffle with works from local artists, live music by the Stars and DJ Brian Smith and gourmet omelettes, egg dishes and more, 7 p.m. March 2.

Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave., 405-236-4143, chevyeventscenter.com. FRI Tune Out Melanoma, join Miles Against Melanoma Oklahoma in the fight against skin cancer with an evening of live music from the Jason Young Band, heavy hors d’oeurves, beer and wine service, and a silent auction, 7 p.m. March 2. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-706-5182, mamok.org/Tune-Out-Melanoma. FRI Designing Your Kitchen Garden, learn the elements that might be included in home gardens and how to add little touches that will make it more beautiful, functional and fun, 10 a.m.-noon March 3.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SAT National Anthem Tryouts, if you think you have what it takes, register to audition as a musical performer before Dodgers home games, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. March 3. Penn Square Mall, 1901 Northwest Expressway, okcdodgers.com/ anthemtryouts. SAT Made in Oklahoma, shop local with Oklahomamade products to promote Oklahoma; admission is a nonperishable food item donated to Passion Community Pantry, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. March 4. Devon Boathouse, 725 S. Lincoln Blvd., 405-602-1851, oklahomagypsyglam.com. SUN

Downtown Home Tour Ever wondered what it’s like to live in the heart of Oklahoma City? Experience free self-guided tours beginning at any participating location.

Downtown Home Tour features twelve properties, including 701 Hudson at 701 N. Hudson Ave., LIFT at 801 NW 10th St. and more. Shuttles run the entire route, stopping at each property, noon-4 p.m. Sunday. Call 405-235-3500 or visit downtownokc.com.

SUNDAY Photo Downtown OKC / provided

Indie Bridal Show, shop local for your wedding dress, venue, accessories, catering and more at this bridal show featuring independently owned Oklahoma businesses, noon-4 p.m. March 4. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-2326506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SUN OKC at the Oscars, walk down the red carpet in style and mingle with OKC’s finest while enjoying an open bar, hors d’oeuvres, a popcorn bar, Oscars bingo, a silent auction and more 6:30-10 p.m.

March 4. Will Rogers Theatre, 4322 N. Western Ave., 405-604-3015, memorablemomentsokc. com. SUN Meet the Candidates: Drew Edmondson, Democrat and former Oklahoma attorney general presents his politics and policies followed by a question-and-answer period with the audience, 7-8:30 p.m. March 6. USAO Ballroom in the Student Center, 1727 W. Alabama Ave., Chickasha, 405224-3140, usao.edu. TUE Tracing Your Roots, students learn how to search for their heritage online, how to obtain free resources that are available for research, and how to access materials located in the Oklahoma Historical Society, 10 a.m.-noon Tuesdays.

Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-522-0765, okhistory.org. TUE Brown Bag Lunch Series: “Over My Dead Body!”: Native Americans, Borders, and the Transnational North American West, join Andrae Marak, Dean of College of Arts and Sciences at Governors State University, as he discusses transnational borders, noon-1 p.m. March 7. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-4782250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. WED The Poetree Show, an orchid show curated

by Nate Tschaenn, director of horticulture and resident orchid expert features exhibits inspired by poetry, through March 24. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com.

Museum Theory and Practice, explore the research, preservation, management and interpretation of historical and cultural resources through the University of Central Oklahoma’s graduate program in museum studies, through April 27. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org.

FOOD

Discover the Dinosaurs: Time Trek Bring the whole family for an interactive dinosaur exhibit including realistic prehistoric dinosaurs and other creatures. The event is 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens. Tickets are $13-$25. Call 405-602-8500 or visit discoverthedinosaurs.com. SATURDAY-SUNDAY Photo Spotlight Marketing / provided

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Syrup Sunday, enjoy a buffet style serving of cinnamon roll pancakes or crunchy French toast, scrambled eggs, coffee, juice and pecan wood smoked bacon from local restaurant Syrup, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. March 4. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SUN The Buzz Behind Bone Broth & Collagen, find out why these products have become so popular, what they are and how to use them to support optimal health, 3-4 p.m. March 4. Natural Grocers, 7013 N. May Ave., 405-840-0300, naturalgrocers.com. SUN

The Lost Ogle Trivia, for ages 21 and up, test your knowledge with free trivia play and half-priced sausages, 8-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Nov. Fassler Hall, 421 NW 10th St., 405-609-3300, fasslerhall. com. TUE

YOUTH Dr. Seuss Day in the Gardens, bring the kids aged 2-7 to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and his wonderful books; Cat In the Hat, will read stories and tell fun Dr. Seuss facts, 10 a.m.-noon March 2.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, myriadgardens.com. FRI Saturdays for Kids: Parfleche Bags, the parfleche bag was used by many Plains Indian tribes made from rawhide for storage; create your own and then explore the museum, 10 a.m.-noon March 3. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT Kid’s Trout Fish Out, a free opportunity to bring your fishing pole and bait and win raffles and prizes awarded to the fishermen with the smallest and largest fish, 8-11 a.m. March 3. Dale Robertson Center, 1200 Lakeshore Dr., Yukon, 405-350-8937, cityofyukonok.gov. SAT Explore It!, answer all your questions of what, why and how about the natural world we live in, 11:30 a.m.-noon Saturdays. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. SAT OKSeed Walkups, visit the gardens and learn all the amazing things seeds do to survive and how we depend on them, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, noon-3 p.m. Sundays.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com.

PERFORMING ARTS A Few Good Men, a Broadway hit about the trial of two Marines for complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through March 3.

The Pollard Theatre, 120 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie, 405-282-2800, thepollard.org.

Cabaret, a Tony-winning musical about following your heart while the world loses its way offers some of the most memorable songs in theater history, 7:30 p.m. March 1-3, 2 p.m. March 4. Rose State College, 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City, 405733-7673, rose.edu.

The Other Mozart, a one-woman show created by and starring Sylvia Milo, The Other Mozart is based on facts, stories and lines pulled directly from the Mozart family’s humorous and heartbreaking letters, 8 p.m. March 2-3. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

The Bartered Bride, romantic Czech opera by Bedřich Smetana, performed in

English with piano accompaniment and a plot about true love overcoming conniving parents, 8 p.m. March 2-3, 3 p.m. March 4. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-2085000, okcu.edu.

Contemporary Dance Oklahoma, examines the creative range of modern dance, featuring choreography that is abstract, mood-inspired and narrative while exploring the human condition, 8 p.m. March 2, 3, 9, 10 and 3 p.m. March 4, 11 Elsie C. Brackett Theatre, 563 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-3254101, theatre.ou.edu. FRI Romanticism at Its Best, features Karelia Overture

by Jean Sibelius and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor as well as violinist Martin Dalton playing Max Bruch’s Concerto No. 1 for Violin in G Minor, 7:30 p.m. March 6. Oklahoma Christian University, 2501 E. Memorial Road, Edmond, 405425-5000, okorchestra.org. TUE Dr. Stephen Weber Composition Concert, Dr. Stephen Weber, chair of the division of arts and humanities and professor of music at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, performs a concert of his own compositions, 7:308:30 p.m. March 6. USAO Music Annex, 1810 S. 19th St., Chickasha, 405-224-3140, usao.edu. TUE Crumbs From the Table of Joy, a play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage about an African-American teenage girl and her family in 1950 Brooklyn, New York, 7:30 p.m. March 1, 8 p.m. March 2-3, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 4; 7:30 p.m. March 8 and 8 p.m. March 10-11. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com.

Oklahoma Muslim Day at the Capitol Join CAIR Oklahoma as Muslims gather from across the state to meet with their representatives and discuss issues affecting Oklahoma’s Muslim community. The annual event is 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday at Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Call 405-415-6851 or visit cairoklahoma.com.

MONDAY Photo CAIR / provided

ACTIVE Line Dancing Lessons, perfect your dancing skills with some country music, Wednesdays.

Chisholm’s Saloon, 401 S. Meridian Ave., 405-9490423, facebook.com/chisholmssaloon. WED HUSTLE, Oklahoma Hall of Fame presents a 5K and one-mile fun run through Historic Heritage Hills so bring your friends and family, 9 a.m.

March 3. Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Gaylord-Pickens Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomahof.com. SAT Yoga in the Gardens, an all-levels class led by Lisa Woodward from This Land Yoga; class participants should bring a yoga mat and water, 5:45 p.m.

Tuesdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE

VISUAL ARTS Beginning DSLR Photography, gain fundamental skills for using a digital single-lens reflex camera and editing software with your own camera and laptop, 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SUN

Botanical Watercolor Painting, learn how to create watercolor paintings working with silk flowers and live flowers with teaching artist Kiana Daneshmand, 6-9 p.m. Thursdays. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU Brett Horton Art Show, features acrylic and oil paintings, colored pencil and ink drawings, mixed media and surreal works as well as photos and videos by the artist, through Feb. 28. Picasso Cafe, 3009 Paseo St., 405-602-2002, picassosonpaseo.com.

Dale Chihuly: Magic & Light, the galleries incorporate a unique design that features a three-dimensional approach to viewing some objects in the collection of glass art, through July 1. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Do You See What I See? Painted Conversations by Theodore Waddell, explores Waddell’s abstract expressionism like never before by redirection the visitor’s attention to the importance of what they do not see rather than what they do see on the canvas, through May 13. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org.

Drop-In Art: Staccato-Inspired 3-D Paintings, create 3-dimensional paintings inspired by Gene Davis’ Staccato using acrylic paint and dowel rods, 1-4 p.m. March 3. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Fine Print! Posters from the Permanent Collection, arranged chronologically and thematically with five topics: artists, entertainers, patriotism, products and ideas reflecting the twentieth century’s conflicting values, through May 27. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Fringe at the Art Hall, hosts artists of Fringe Women Artists of Oklahoma providing various fine art mediums and provocative concepts to our communities, through April 1. Art Hall, 519 NW 23rd St., 405-231-5700, arthallokc.com.

Generations in Modern Pueblo Painting: The Art of Tonita Peña and Joe Herrera, documents and celebrates in particular the art of Tonita Peña (1983-1949), the only female Pueblo painter of her generation, and the work of her son, Joe Hilario Herrera, through April 8. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/ fjjma.

USAO Meet the Candidates: Mick Cornett Republican and current Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett presents his politics and policies followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The forum is open to the public 7-8:30 p.m. Monday at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma’s Ballroom, 1727 W. Alabama Ave., in Chickasha. Admission is free. Call 405-224-3140 or visit usao.edu.

MONDAY

In Their Element: A Showcase of Native Photographers, features four American Indian photographers — Brad Woods, Jim Trosper, Lisa Hudson and Cara Romero — ­ with their individual photography styles, through Feb. 28. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., Ste. 100, 405-767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. MON Jardin do Amor/Garden of Love, view works by Skip Hall with mixed-media drawings of tattoo expressive patterning, looping graphic lines and kinetic scribbling creating a sensual and sensory experience, through March 23. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com.

Feb. 28. The Purple Loft Art Gallery, 514 NW 28th St., Suite 400, 405-412-7066, thepaseo.org.

OFF-SPRING: New Generations, explore the development of both personal and group identity, childhood, family, history, and gender politics through sculptures, paintings, photographs, and videos, through Apr. 2018. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com.

Prairie Moderns: The Artwork of Don Holladay, focuses on figurative and non-objective images that convey isolation with pieces originating from the printmaking process, through March 16.

Nesbitt Gallery, 1727 W. Alabama Ave., Chickasha, 405-416-3524, usao.edu.

Space Burial, an exhibit using satellite dishes as a burial object for a space-faring culture and facilitates the dead’s afterlife journey to the stars, through April 8. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

The New Art: A Milestone Collection Fifty Years Later, features 52 works including paintings, prints, sculptures and drawings; it is a collection that has shaped the museum and Oklahoma in the art world, through May 13. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Wake, a multisensory installation created by Grace Grothaus and Rena Detrixhe to animate water with waves through recorded audio, through March 31. Oklahoma Contemporary Showroom, 1146 N. Broadway Drive, 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

Works on Paper, features works with a range of visual qualities, subject matter and printmaking techniques as well as works by former artists in residence, through March 17. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, 1ne3.org. THU

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by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

Love Is a Canvas, give art to your Valentine this year choosing from a selection of paintings, fused glass, metal sculptures, jewelry and more, through

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

For okg live music

see page 33 O kg a z e t t e . c o m | F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8

29

event

MUSIC

Try DIY

Roz Adams brings do-it-yourself punk extravaganza Everything Is Not OK back to OKC for its fourth installment. But will this year be its last?

By Ben Luschen

Over the last four years, the annual do-it-yourself punk music and art festival Everything Is Not OK has transformed Oklahoma City into a global punk capital — at least for one weekend.

Around 70 mostly underground bands from across North America will converge on the city for a practically nonstop run of shows over four days.

The fourth installment of Everything Is Not OK (EINOK) has been given the official tagline “I Heard It’s Gonna Be the Last One.” Local artist, musician and EINOK organizer Roz Adams declined to clarify to Oklahoma Gazette whether the subtitle was an official announcement or a clever marketing ploy.

“That’s a rumor I heard,” Adams said. “I can’t confirm or deny.”

While EINOK’s status for next year might be uncertain, this year’s event, which runs March 8-11, is a sure thing packed with shows across multiple local venues.

The main music showcase featuring eight or nine bands occurs nightly at 7 p.m. at 89th Street — OKC, 8911 N. Western Ave. Admission is $15-$20 each night. Advance four-day passes are 30

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

available for $70 at ticketstorm.com.

Some headlining bands set to perform at 89th Street include Kansas City’s Warm Bodies (on Thursday), Minnesota’s Aquarium and New Orleans’ Patsy (Friday), California’s No Statik and Canada’s S.H.I.T. (Saturday) and a reunion of Chicago’s Raw Nerve (Sunday), among many others. Several local bands, including Cherry Death, American Hate and The Lamps, will also perform over the weekend.

Adams said it is hard for him to think of which bands he is most excited to see during EINOK. “I’m excited about all the bands,” he said. “That’s why I picked them all.”

Other than 89th Street, there will be pay-at-the-door shows at Snug Bar & Lounge, 2321 S. Robinson Ave.; The Red Cup, 3122 N. Classen Blvd.; and Farmers Market District venues Delmar Gardens, 1225 SW Second St., and Warehouse B, a small DIY venue and shop just west of Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave. Visual art is also a major component of the festival. Throughout the weekend,

BioTe® Pellets

Local artist and musician Roz Adams first organized Everything Is Not OK as an excuse to see his musician friends from across the country.

Photo Gazette / file

guests will find visual art shows at Warehouse B, neighboring The Strange Exchange Trading Post flea market and art gallery and The Loaded Bowl, 1211 SW Second St. Adams said some additional art shows and venues might be added later.

Graduation day

Beyond EINOK’s mysterious Last One moniker, Adams said this year’s festival has come to be colloquially known in the DIY punk community as “Senior Year,” as it has now been four years since the event began.

“That’s funny to me,” Adams said.

“I just think it’s a funny thing to call it.

It’s like all the punks are graduating.”

Adams said he still remembers his own high school senior year — a formative time that helped instill his love for DIY culture. Adams graduated from Edmond Memorial High School in 1997.

If life isn’t surprising you, then go back to bed.

Roz Adams “It was a funny time in my life,” he said. “I was a punk; I didn’t do my homework. I went to school, and my mom was my principal. She was a really good principal.”

Adams fully immersed himself into the local punk community as a high school student because he didn’t feel like he fit in anywhere else.

“I liked Black Flag and the Sex Pistols, and I didn’t like sports,” he said, “so it was the perfect fit.”

Big hang

While there are no big fundamental changes to EINOK this year, Adams said each year is always a little different. He tried to avoid day-to-day monotony as a general life rule.

“I think every day we wake up, there’s something new,” Adams said.

“If you’re not doing new things all the time, well, you need to change something because you’re boring.”

EINOK was originally started by Adams as a glorified hangout for his DIY punk friends across the nation.

“It worked — all my friends came,” he said. “It would have been sad if none of my friends came because the whole point of it was just for me to hang out with my friends.”

That original goal has remained more or less unchanged in the last four years. While Adams is hanging out with the people he likes, others do the same.

New friendships are sparked every year. The community also welcomes all curious newcomers.

“We’re always open to new friends,”

Adams said. “[Canadian pop rap star] Drake says ‘No New Friends’; we say, ‘Yes, new friends!’”

Adams is still sometimes astonished by the fact that EINOK manages to survive — even thrive — each year.

Sometimes it feels like a dream.

“I think it’s surprising that it all happened,” he said. “It’s surprising that it worked. It’s surprising that all my friends are still my friends.”

Then again, new daily surprises and discoveries are what keep Adams going.

Spontaneity, he said, is the spice of life.

“If life isn’t surprising you, then go back to bed,” he said.

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Self-sufficiency

Adams said the DIY ethos is all about taking matters into one’s own hands.

“It’s like grabbing the bull by the horns,” he said.

Whatever thing someone wants done, Adams said, the best way to accomplish it is to go out and do it for yourself. If there is a band a person likes, a good way to see them in person is to invite them to town yourself instead of waiting for them to come through.

“I wanted to have a music festival where all my friends came to town, so I did it,” Adams said. “It’s like that Kevin Costner scenario in Field of Dreams. You know, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ So if you want something to happen, you shouldn’t wait around for someone else to do it; you should do it yourself.”

Adams, at first, said that anyone who comes to EINOK should be prepared for the “most fun they will ever have in their lives,” though he soon backtracked from the claim.

“I mean, really, that’s situational,” he said. “You might eventually do something more fun. But do you like music?

Well, we’ve got a bunch of it. Do you like fun? Cool, because that’s what it is.”

Adams spends a lot of time each day thinking about EINOK. The annual festival is up there with Christmas and his birthday among the things he most looks forward to each year.

While it might or might not be the last year for EINOK, Adams is certainly not ready to resign from the culture he loves or the many friends he has made within it.

“I like to make music, and I like to make art,” he said, “so I’m always going

to do that.”

Everything Is Not OK IV Free-$20 | March 8-11 7 p.m. March 8-11 89th Street — OKC 8911 N. Western Ave. 11:30 p.m. March 8-10, 3:30 p.m. March 9-11 Delmar Gardens Food Truck Park 1225 SW Second St. 12:30 p.m. March 9-10 Snug Bar & Lounge 2321 S. Robinson Ave. 10 a.m. March 10 The Red Cup 3122 N. Classen Blvd.

Noon March 11 Bikes in a Tree NW 24th Street and North Dewey Ave.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8

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event

MUSIC

Getting hooked

Rapper Vince Staples brings his brand of afrofuturism to The Jones Assembly.

By Ben Luschen

In Oklahoma City’s increasingly competitive booking market, The Jones Assembly recently reeled in a really big fish.

Vince Staples, a 24-year-old rap star hailing from Long Beach, California — a city with a hip-hop progeny that includes 213 triplets Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G — was announced in midFebruary as a surprising but welcome addition to the Film Row restaurant and venue’s performance schedule.

Staples is set to play 7 p.m. March 8 at The Jones Assembly, 901 W. Sheridan Ave. Tickets are $27.50-$500.

The young emcee reached a new level of popularity and critical praise after the release of sophomore full-length LP Big Fish Theory in June. The album includes guest appearances by Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J, A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. Staples also appears on the song “Opps” on Black Panther: The Album, an official soundtrack to the blockbuster Marvel movie.

Staples first appeared on music radars as a periphery figure in the Odd Future hip-hop collective’s internet-fueled rise in the early 2010s. Though not an official member of the group, he was most known as a friend and musical collaborator of teenage rap prodigy Earl Sweatshirt.

Though Staples is now firmly established as a solo artist, he still carries some stylistic ties with his millennial Odd Future contemporaries. Staples makes his OKC appearance straight off a tour with the collective’s ringleader Tyler, the Creator.

At the same time, Staples has used his first two solo albums to set himself apart as an artist not only unique to other rappers his age, but to all of hiphop. On his Summertime ’06 debut in 2015, the emcee found middle ground between what would be considered the traditional gangster rap of his West Coast forerunners and the type of selfaware reflectiveness that comes from youth suddenly made aware of the wider world around them. Expert production from No I.D. also gave Staples a dark but understated platform that put his lyrics front and center.

One of Staples’ biggest advantages as an artist might be a refined taste in beats. Big Fish Theory breaks away from anything that could be called a conventional hip-hop instrumental. Whereas Summertime was purposefully subdued, Big Fish channels noisy Detroit techno that often commandeers the listener’s complete attention. Hip-hop is known for its rumbling bass, but Big Fish takes the concept to a new extreme.

On its surface, the album does not 32

F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

sound like a hip-hop album, but reviewer Joe Madden of New Musical Express pointed out that Big Fish takes sounds invented by black people that are no longer associated with the race and repurposes them to once again fit the aesthetic of modern black youth.

In a 2017 interview with LA Weekly, Staples hinted that his album might represent rap music’s next big wave.

“We making future music,” the artist said. “It’s afrofuturism. This is my afrofuturism. There’s no other kind.”

Shifting focus

Staples also plays a part on Black Panther: The Album, which, in itself, is somewhat of a modern anomaly. The soundtrack was curated by Lamar and his Top Dawg Entertainment label as an accompaniment to the highly successful superhero film. Other big-name artists like The Weeknd, SZA, ScHoolboy Q, Travis $cott, Future and Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee appear on the tracklist.

There was a time when movie soundtrack albums were not only commonplace, but hot-selling commodities.

The concept never truly went away, but it certainly lost steam in the era of highspeed internet, likely due to a combination of factors such as decreased theater attendance, unprecedented access to other kinds of music through YouTube and streaming services and just a general decrease in album sales across genres.

However, the Black Panther album joins the film version at the top of their respective sales charts. The Lamar-crafted project topped Billboard’s top sellers with 154,000 equivalent first-week album sales.

It might be a movie tie-in album, but Black Panther can easily be called a standalone project. Without context, one could easily come to the conclusion that the soundtrack was a well-made, between-albums collaborative experiment by Lamar.

The album’s popularity is fueled by the appropriateness of Lamar to guide Black Panther’s auditory equivalent.

The film is the first major superhero movie in the modern Marvel film series to feature a black protagonist and largely black cast, and Lamar is arguably the most vocally pro-black artist in mainstream music.

Staples is also a voice for black empowerment, but often with a focus more firmly set on the future.

Writing about Big Fish in a pre-release Twitter post last year, Staples once again described the album as his attempt at afrofuturism.

“We’re trying to get in the MoMA (New York’s Museum of Modern Art)

Vince Staples | Photo James W. Mataitis Bailey / provided

not your Camry,” he wrote.

Though Big Fish was highly lauded by many music critics, Staples’ sophomore effort was snubbed at the recent Grammys. His public image in recorded interviews is typically a nonchalant, ambivalent and sarcastic one. But when it comes to music, Staples cares deeply about his craft and how it is perceived.

In an interview with NPR Music before the announcement of any 2018 Grammy nominations, Staples said he believed his album deserved recognition not only for Rap Album of the Year but Alternative Album of the Year, Electronic Album of the Year and overall Album of the Year. He argues that the Grammys and some other awards practically segregate black artists from competition by lumping them in arbitrary categories.

“I don’t need any award to tell me that I’m better than everyone else or not better,” he said. “Differentiation is key to me. I don’t really believe in better or worse; it’s subjective. When you find other music that sounds like my music, then you can come talk to me about that type of thing.”

Staples is right in saying that not too many albums sound like Big Fish, which is perhaps to the Grammys’ defense. But if the artist’s vision for Afrofuturism proves to be a mainstream reality in coming years, it will necessitate major shifts to longstanding industry mindsets.

Vince Staples 7 p.m. March 8 The Jones Assembly | 901 W. Sheridan Ave. thejonesassembly.com $27.50-$500

LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY, 2.28 Amarillo Junction, JJ‘s Alley. COUNTRY Carolyn Cotter & Michael Howard, The Depot.

FOLK

Happy Tuesday, Red Brick Bar. ROCK Lee Rucker, The Lobby Bar. JAZZ Lomelda, Tower Theatre. ROCK

THURSDAY, 3.1 JD Souther, UCO Jazz Lab. JAZZ Mirrors for Psychic Warfare/Idre, 89th Street OKC. ROCK Necrotic Disgorgement/Limbsplitter/ Center of Disease and more, Snug Bar & Lounge. METAL Spring Fever, CHK|Central Boathouse. DJ The Lone Bellow, The Blue Door. COUNTRY

FRIDAY, 3.2 411, Remington Park. R&B

Johnny Polygon Hip-hop artist Johnny Polygon returns to his roots in Oklahoma to play some new and old R&B and rap music as he prepares to release his new record. The show starts 10 p.m. Saturday at Blue Note Lounge, 2408 N. Robinson Ave. Call 405-6001166 or visit facebook.com/bluenoteokc.

SATURDAY Photo provided

51 Junction, Grady‘s 66 Pub. COUNTRY Adam Aguilar, Bin 73. ROCK Adventure Club, OKC Farmers Public Market.

ELECTRONIC

Anchor the Girl/The Innies, HiLo Club. ROCK

Tyler Wilhelm, Six Shooter Saloon. ROCK

SUNDAY, 3.4 Dead Meadow/Helen Kelter Skelter/Junebug

Bringer, Your Mom‘s Place. ROCK Spade, 89th Street - OKC. ROCK

Budderside, The State Theatre. ROCK Casper McWade, Mooney‘s Pub and Grill.

COUNTRY

Dropkick Murphys, Diamond Ballroom.

PUNK

Goldie Lahr, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/

SONGWRITER

Jabee/Knoble Savage/S.Reidy and more, The Deli. HIP-HOP Jack Waters and The Unemployed, The Root.

Fred Eaglesmith, The Blue Door. COUNTRY Michael Kleid‘s Touch Of Sax, Flint. POP OneofYou/Big Okie Doom/Crobone, Red Brick Bar. ROCK Opal Fly, The Depot. SINGER/SONGWRITER Protomartyr/Shame, Opolis. ROCK The Sheckies/The Damones, The Drunken Fry.

COUNTRY

PUNK

Jake Adams Band, Lazy E Arena. COUNTRY

Typesetter, Blue Note Lounge. PUNK

Mipso/Ben Sollee and Kentuck Native, Opolis.

MONDAY, 3.5

Raina Cobb/Ben Brock, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewery. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Elizabeth Speegle Band, Saints. JAZZ

INDIE

Randall Coyne, Grand House. JAZZ Riley Redding, Red Brick Bar. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Soda Gardocki & Husky Burnette, Lost Highway Bar. ROCK Tim Barry/Garrett Dale, 51st Street Speakeasy.

FOLK

SATURDAY, 3.3 Acid Tongue, VZD‘s Restaurant & Bar. METAL Death Before Breakfast, Your Mom‘s Place. PUNK Easton Corbin, Riverwind Casino. COUNTRY

Mosquitto, The Deli. ROCK Tigers Jaw/Yowler/Looming, 89th Street - OKC. ROCK

TUESDAY, 3.6 As We Are, Red Brick Bar. ROCK August Eve/Jasper Bones, Opolis. POP

WEDNESDAY, 3.7 Amarillo Junction, JJ‘s Alley. COUNTRY Jason Scott/Ben Brock, JJ‘s Alley.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Five Shot Jack, Red Brick Bar. ROCK Full Tilt, Mooney‘s Pub and Grill. ROCK Joe Mack, Anthem Brewing Company. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Joel T. Mosman & Oklahoma Uprising, The Root. FOLK Miss Brown To You, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ Pearl Charles, Tower Theatre. INDIE Rainbows Are Free, The Deli. ROCK Sophia Massad/Guys on a Bus/Lauryn Hardiman, VZD‘s Restaurant & Bar. POP

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

The Washitas, The Blue Door. FOLK

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8

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puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle SEE 68-ACROSS

By Elizabeth A. Long | Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz | 0218

ACROSS 1 ____ aisle, part of a church 5 Prayer books 12 Bit of baloney 15 Rep 19 Two, in Toulouse 20 Neighbor of New York 21 Pesticide ingredient 23 Still a contender 24 Cousins of jaguarundis 25 City in Los Angeles County 26 Leave in the dust 28 European eruption site 29 Search engine failure?

30 Is able to translate what was

heard on the wall?

32 Thwart 34 Choler 35 Not stay the course?

36 Gin, lime and soda combo 38 Things that are bought and soled 40 Arizona tribe 43 Scotland’s longest river 45 River through Russia and Kazakhstan 46 Is expecting 48 Oddity 50 More in order 52 Dole (out) 53 Tactic in a war of attrition 54 It goes after go 55 Mattress tester’s compensation?

61 Word after big or oil 62 Suggestion of what to do, slangily 64 Opposite of ennemies 65 Basics of education, briefly 66 Super superstar 68 Supercilious sort … or the title

for this puzzle 72 A bushelful 73 Make faces in front of a camera 74 European capital named after

a saint 75 “____ your head!”

76 Monster.com posting 77 Dress code requirement for the Puritans?

80 Peak in Suisse 83 City on the Erie Canal 86 Tops 87 Goads 89 Test-prep aid 90 Dark beer 92 France’s ____ Noël 93 What may follow a school period?

95 Connect, as picture with sound 96 Annual CBS awards broadcast,

with “the” 97 Playoff matchup 99 Years ago 101 Mudbound director Rees 102 Actress Rowlands 103 Hoped-for conclusion by

someone with sore knees?

108 Make a really long-distance call?

113 Rani’s raiment 115 Matador’s foe 116 Infamous Chicago bootlegger 117 Mediterranean resort island 119 “____ go bragh!”

120 Swimmers with flippers 121 Rufous ruminant 122 Census datum 123 Sp. miss 124 Follower of hi or lo 125 Slips into at a store, say 126 Louver DOWN 1 “Hasta la vista” 2 Corral 3 Software package 4 Like high-quality olive oil 5 Nighttime event in the western sky 6 Business magazine 7 Resolve 8 Coarse, as language 9 Elvis ____ Presley 10 Engaged in arson 11 Request for aid 12 Pointless 13 Go over one’s wardrobe?

14 Titanic’s undoing 15 Burn a little 16 Went wild 17 Added numbers 18 Many mowers 22 Number of i’s in “Sicilia” 27 Hula accompaniment, for short 29 With 29-Across, surprise in the mail 31 With 30-Across, is blunt 33 Khayyám and others 36 Left only the exterior of 37 Green of the LPGA 38 Fills 39 24 heures ago 40 Central command spots, for short 41 Sénat affirmative

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42 Polish dumpling 44 Senate affirmative 47 Big brand of grills 49 Gunpowder holder 51 Overdue amount 56 Things that might be grabbed

by someone in an argument 57 Authority on diamonds?

58 Uprightness 59 With 55-Across, big sleepover 60 What mos. and mos. add up to 63 French vineyard 66 Devilkin 67 Apt rhyme for “grr” 68 Everybody’s opposite 69 New York Titans and Dallas

Texans, in ’60s sports 70 Mine, in Milano

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71 Plains tribe 72 Lackadaisical sorts 74 Glaswegians, e.g.

76 Protrude 78 With 77-Across, red, blue and yellow 79 Welcome at the front door 81 The Oblong Box writer 82 Witch’s home 84 Against 85 Electrical connection?

88 Like fried food vis-à-vis grilled

food, typically 90 Fey’s co-star in Baby Mama and Sisters 91 Simple variant of baseball 92 Part of Potus: Abbr.

94 Break, as a habit

EDITOR-in-chief George Lang glang@okgazette.com

96 QB’s feat 98 Way out 100 Three-dimensional fig.

103 Wear down 104 Buenos ____ 105 End of story?

106 With 103-Across, simple

furniture style 107 Schubert’s “Eine Kleine Trauermusik,” e.g.

109 Lion queen in The Lion King 110 Prefix with dermis 111 Anchor 112 With 108-Across, not talking

loudly on a cell, e.g.

114 The King ____ 117 D.C. Cab co-star 118 Board hiree, for short

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B O R E

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New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers Puzzle No. 0211, which appeared in the February 21 issue.

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free will astrology Homework: What good old thing could you give up in order to attract a great new thing into your life? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) On September 1, 1666, a London baker named Thomas Farriner didn’t take proper precautions to douse the fire in his oven before he went to sleep. Consequences were serious. The conflagration that ignited in his little shop burned down large parts of the city. Three hundred twenty years later, a group of bakers gathered at the original site to offer a ritual atonement. “It’s never too late to apologize,” said one official, acknowledging the tardiness of the gesture. In that spirit, Aries, I invite you to finally dissolve a clump of guilt you’ve been carrying . . . or express gratitude that you should have delivered long ago . . . or resolve a messy ending that still bothers you . . . or transform your relationship with an old wound . . . or all of the above.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) The Committee to

Fanatically Promote Taurus’s Success is pleased to see that you’re not waiting politely for your next turn. You have come to the brilliant realization that what used to be your fair share is no longer sufficient. You intuitively sense that you have a cosmic mandate to skip a few steps -- to ask for more and better and faster results. As a reward for this outbreak of shrewd and well-deserved self-love, and in recognition of the blessings that are currently showering down on your astrological House of Noble Greed, you are hereby granted three weeks’ worth of extra service, free bonuses, special treatment, and abundant slack.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) No one can be somewhat

pregnant. You either are or you’re not. But from a metaphorical perspective, your current state is a close approximation to that impossible condition. Are you or are you not going to commit yourself to birthing a new creation? Decide soon, please. Opt for one or the other resolution; don’t remain in the gray area. And there’s more to consider. You are indulging in excessive inbetweenness in other areas of your life, as well. You’re almost brave and sort of free and semi-faithful. My advice about these halfway states is the same: Either go all the way or else stop pretending you might.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) The Appalachian Trail

is a 2,200-mile path that runs through the eastern United States. Hikers can wind their way through forests and wilderness areas from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. Along the way they may encounter black bears, bobcats, porcupines, and wild boars. These natural wonders may seem to be at a remote distance from civilization, but they are in fact conveniently accessible from America’s biggest metropolis. For $8.75, you can take a train from Grand Central Station in New York City to an entry point of the Appalachian Trail. This scenario is an apt metaphor for you right now, Cancerian. With relative ease, you can escape from your routines and habits. I hope you take advantage!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Is 2018 turning out to be as I

expected it would be for you? Have you become more accepting of yourself and further at peace with your mysterious destiny? Are you benefiting from greater stability and security? Do you feel more at home in the world and better nurtured by your close allies? If for some reason these developments are not yet in bloom, withdraw from every lesser concern and turn your focus to them.

Make sure you make full use of the gifts that life is conspiring to provide for you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) “You can’t find intimacy

-- you can’t find home -- when you’re always hiding behind masks,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz. “Intimacy requires a certain level of vulnerability. It requires a certain level of you exposing your fragmented, contradictory self to someone else.

You running the risk of having your core self rejected and hurt and misunderstood.” I can’t imagine any better advice to offer you as you navigate your way through the next seven weeks, Virgo. You will have a wildly fertile opportunity to find and create more intimacy. But in order to take full advantage, you’ll have to be brave and candid and unshielded.

cLASSIFIEDS

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) In the coming weeks, you

could reach several odd personal bests. For instance, your ability to distinguish between flowery bullshit and inventive truth-telling will be at a peak. Your “imperfections” will be more interesting and forgivable than usual, and might even work to your advantage, as well. I suspect you’ll also have an adorable inclination to accomplish the half-right thing when it’s impossible to do the perfectly right thing. Finally, all the astrological omens suggest that you will have a tricky power to capitalize on lucky lapses.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) French philosopher Blaise

Pascal said, “If you do not love too much, you do not love enough.” American author Henry David Thoreau declared, “There is no remedy for love but to love more.”

I would hesitate to offer these two formulations in the horoscope of any other sign but yours, Scorpio. And I would even hesitate to offer them to you at any other time besides right now. But I feel that you currently have the strength of character and fertile willpower necessary to make righteous use of such stringently medicinal magic.

So please proceed with my agenda for you, which is to become the Smartest, Feistiest, Most Resourceful Lover Who Has Ever Lived.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) The state of Kansas

has over 6,000 ghost towns -- places where people once lived, but then abandoned. Daniel C. Fitzgerald has written six books documenting these places. He’s an expert on researching what remains of the past and drawing conclusions based on the old evidence. In accordance with current astrological omens, I suggest you consider doing comparable research into your own lost and half-forgotten history. You can generate vigorous psychic energy by communing with origins and memories. Remembering who you used to be will clarify your future.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) It’s not quite a revolution that’s in the works. But it is a sprightly evolution. Accelerating developments may test your ability to adjust gracefully. Quickly-shifting story lines will ask you to be resilient and flexible. But the unruly

cLASSIFIEDS

Jobs.

Homes EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, preference or discrimination.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of this law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings in . our newspaper are available on an equal housing opportunity basis

DAVE’S APPLIANCE REPAIR

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) It’s the Productive

Paradox Phase of your cycle. You can generate good luck and unexpected help by romancing the contradictions. For example: 1. You’ll enhance your freedom by risking deeper commitment. 2. You’ll gain greater control over wild influences by loosening your grip and providing more spaciousness. 3. If you are willing to appear naive, empty, or foolish, you’ll set the stage for getting smarter. 4. A blessing you didn’t realize you needed will come your way after you relinquish a burdensome “asset.” 5. Greater power will flow your way if you expand your capacity for receptivity.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) As you make

appointments in the coming months, you could re-use calendars from 2007 and 2001. During those years, all the dates fell on the same days of the week as they do in 2018. On the other hand, Pisces, please don’t try to learn the same lessons you learned in 2007 and 2001.

Don’t get snagged in identical traps or sucked into similar riddles or obsessed with comparable illusions.

On the other other hand, it might help for you to recall the detours you had to take back then, since you may thereby figure out how to avoid having to repeat boring old experiences that you don’t need to repeat.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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flow won’t throw you into a stressful tizzy as long as you treat it as an interesting challenge instead of an inconvenient imposition. My advice is not to stiffen your mood or narrow your range of expression, but rather to be like an actor in an improvisation class. Fluidity is your word of power.

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