PQ Monthly: March/April 2013 Issue

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PQMONTHLY.COM Vol. 2 No. 3 Mar./Apr. 2013

WILDFANG COME OUT TOMBOY FASHION LAUGHING

TOPLESS RICA SHAY PROTEST ‘NEW FEMINISM?’ JD SAMSON

Photo by Steven L. Price (“Skippy Steve”)

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IN THE FLESH

Is it just us, or does the arrival of spring make you more aware of your body, too? After months burying them beneath sweaters and blankets, of skin zealously withheld from wind and wet, of feet and toes discreetly tucked away in wool socks and boots, we’re suddenly feeling the urge to move more and expose more — to, in essence, reintroduce our bodies to the outside world. Hence, our editorial exploration of the corporeal form — with a nod to the ways we can use and enjoy our bodies, be it through sports, travel, protest, or dancing with abandon for ourselves, for art, or for a paycheck.

Speaking of enjoying bodies, we have to take a moment to give thanks to all the beautiful, fascinating folks who packed into Portland City Hall last month for our first anniversary party. We were profoundly moved by your display of support and are still not sure how we managed to hold back the urge to grab the mic and belt out an all-staff rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings.” It’s no secret that print journalism is not for the faint of heart these days, but our incredible community keeps the fire stoked in our bellies and our amazing advertisers continue to step up, so expect this free (to you) and vital resource to keep on keeping on for years to come.

-The PQ Monthly Team

Portland yoga teacher and musician Bibi McGill connects her students with their true selves within. Read more on page 10.

A SMATTERING OF WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:

ON THE COVER

Dispute leads to two summer camps for HIV-affected youth........................ page 6 Wildfang sinks its teeth into the tomboy market............................................. page 9

izzy ventura

Yoga for all: Local teachers help cultivate safe space................................. page 10

Staff Photographer izzy@pqmonthly.com

Rose City Rollers: Lifestyles of the brutal and bodacious.............................. page 13

media

Sammi Rivera

Femen pushes ‘new feminism’ via topless protest.......................................... page 16

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Body work: Queering the pole, the go-go block, and the stage.................. page 16

Director of Video Productions

Wedding (and honeymoon) planning special............................................... pages 19-22

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The National Advertising Representative of PQ Monthly IS Rivendell Media, Inc. Brilliant Media LLC, DBA El Hispanic NEws & PQ Monthly.

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“Roller derby is the most accepting sport I’ve ever been a part of,” says Guns N Rollers star Scald Eagle. “No one around here talks about how much they ‘should’ weigh, how tall they should be, or how they are supposed to look. We talk about how strong, quick, and flexible we need to be.” Read more about the Rose City Rollers on page 13.

Photo by Steven L. Price (“Skippy Steve”)

On the rise and on their way: Big Dipper and Rica Shay............................... page 28 JD Samson on music, politics, and gender...................................................... page 29 Three funny queers bring the funny ha ha...................................................... page 31 Columns: The Home Front; Latebian Life; The Lady Chronicles; Everything is Connected; Ponderlust, Cultivating Life; and Eat, Drink, and Be Mary. Plus Astroscopes, Queer Aperture, See and Be Seen … and more!

March-April 2013 • 3

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NEWS BRIEFS PERSPECTIVES

From left to right: Portland’s LGBTQ soccer club the Netrippers is aiming for the 2013 OutGames. University of Portland students demonstrate for an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination policy (photo by Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly). Frank Dixon is elected president of the Democratic Party of Oregon (photo by Jules Garza, PQ Monthly).

LOCAL Lonesome’s Pizza in downtown Portland has removed an anti-trans slur from its menu item after receiving complaints from the community. The menu, which is full of unconventional names like “Hasselfodd vs. velcro headboard restraints,” had described the restaurant’s breadsticks as “tranny stix” and linked to an image of co-owner Nic Reddy (aka Nik Sin) dressed in drag. Within a day of receiving the complaints, Reddy and co-owner Noah Antieau removed the description and apologized. “The absolute last thing we ever want to do is upset somebody who’s already got a rough road. The idea of doing that makes us all feel pretty horrible. So, if you’re transgender, we’re all apologies,” Reddy said. For more on these and other news stories, visit the blog at pqmonthly.com.

A group of University of Portland students recently launched “Redefine Purple Pride,” a campaign urging the Catholic university to adopt an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination policy. The push to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the school’s policy came after an annual Fireside Chat on Feb. 18 with UP President Fr. Bill Beauchamp, in which he responded to student concerns about the lack of protections for LGBTQ students, staff, and faculty. The group has launched a Change.org petition with more than 1,700 signatures and held a silent protest on Feb. 28 with more than 100 people. The University’s non-binding Statement of Inclusion opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation, but activists say that isn’t enough. While most Catholic schools argue that the Church’s position on homosexuality prevents them from adopting LGBTQ-inclusive protections, a number of Catholic colleges and universities have done so.

In other education news, the Gresham-Barlow School District recently reaffirmed its decision to not extend the contract of openly gay North Gresham Principal Tom Klansnic past the end of this school year. Klansnic’s attorney, Judy Snyder, has told a number of media outlets that she believes the well-liked principal is being pushed out because of his sexual orientation. The district won’t comment on personnel issues, but has emphasized its commitment to a workplace free from discrimination. Snyder has notified the district that Klansnic is considering filing a discrimination suit.

In advance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of two same-sex marriage cases, marriage equality supporters will hold demonstrations across the nation as part of March 4 Marriage. In Bend, folks will march through downtown from 10 a.m. to noon on March 23, starting at the corner of Wall St. and Newport (signs are encouraged). In Portland, people will rally from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 26 outside the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. Demonstrations will take place in Washington, D.C. on March 26 and 27. For a map of events across the country, visit unitedformarriage.org.

The Democratic Party of Oregon also welcomed a new leader recently with the election of Frank Dixon to the prespqmonthly.com

idency. Dixon served as the party’s vice-chair for six years and founded its GLBT caucus. He also founded Veteran’s for Human Rights. Learn more at dpo.com.

NetRippers FC, Portland’s LGBTQ soccer club, is hoping to send two teams to the 2013 OutGames in Antwerp, Belgium (not to be confused with the Gay Games). To make the trip, the club will have to raise $10,000 before May 1. Learn more about the team and its fundraising efforts at netrippers.org.

Just Out, the LGBTQ magazine that launched in Portland last June, announced it was ceasing publication in February after a nine-month run. Owners and publishers Eddie Glenn and Jonathan Kipp attributed the closure to a lack of income in a letter sent to advertisers. Just Out was previously published as a bimonthly newspaper by Marty Davis, who sold the name to Glenn and Kipp after going out of business in December 2011.

Portland-based domestic violence agency Bradley Angle recently released the results of its 2012 LGBTQ Needs Assessment Survey. Of the 172 people who completed the survey, 37 percent self-identified as a survivor of domestic violence. However, 82 percent said they had been in a relationship where a partner “ignored, put down, or disregarded their emotional needs” and 75 percent said they had avoided talking to a partner out of fear of their reaction. Also noteworthy: More than half or the respondents said they had been unable to meet their basic needs (such as food, bills, and housing) in the past six months. Bradley Angle plans to repeat the survey sometime this summer.

For more information about Bradley Angle’s LGBTQ programming (including support services and healthy relationship classes), visit bradlyeangle.org.

Want to make your voice heard in halls of power? Two opportunities are coming up. On April 3, Causa is organizing and LGBTQ Lobby Day in Salem. Participants will meet at 10 a.m. at Causa’s Salem office (inside the First Congregational Church, 700 Marion St. NE) for a training. To join them, RSVP to christian@causaoregon.org. On April 15, the Oregon Alliance to End Violence Against Women will descend on Salem for Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Awareness Day, providing information, training, and support to individuals interested in speaking with their legislators about the issues. For more information, visit alliancetoendviolenceagainstwomen.org.

Author and educator Tim Wise will speak on racism and privilege in America at Portland State University on April 10.

Wise is the author of “Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority” and regularly appears on outlets such as CNN and ABC’s “20/20” to discuss race. Tickets are required and are free for PSU student, faculty, and staff. Public tickets are $5.

TransActive Education & Advocacy — a Portland-based nonprofit providing services for trans and gender nonconforming children and their families — is hosting an

open house April 17. Community members will have an opportunity to meet TransActive’s staff, learn about Community Education and Client Services programs, the “In a Bind” binder exchange program, and Family Advocacy projects while networking with others interested in serving the needs of this population. Call 503-252-3000 for the location and to RSVP. Learn more at transactiveonline.org.

TransActive and Q Center are collaborating on a new project called Community Connect, a drop-in program for transgender, genderqueer, intersex, and gender non-conforming youth and their families. An advocate will be on-hand during drop-in hours — Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Q Center (4115 N. Mississippi Ave.) — to provide resource referrals for counseling, hormone therapy, legal name/gender changes, and more.

NATIONAL Doctors recently announced that a Mississippi toddler has been functionally cured of HIV. According to media reports, the child was treated with high doses of anti-retroviral drugs within 30 hours of her birth. Typically, HIV-positive mothers are treated during pregnancy to prevent transmission of the virus, but this child’s mother was not diagnosed until shortly before delivery.

Researchers are also looking to bee venom as a potential cure for HIV. According to U.S. World News and Report, a study published in the journal Antiviral Therapy showed that a toxin found in bee venom called melittin can kill HIV by puncturing the viral envelope. Researchers believe the discovery could lead to the development of a preventative vaginal gel and even an intravenous vaccine.

WORLD The Mexican Supreme Court has ruled that anti-gay hate speech — including words such as “maricón” — are not protected as freedom of expression because they can be used to encourage, promote, and justify intolerance toward gays.

There was a lot of buzz about the Queen of England taking a stand for gay rights by signing a new Commonwealth charter, until people realized that the text makes no explicit mention of sexual orientation. It reads: “We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.”

The Roman Catholic Church has a new Pope. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected March 13 to replace retiring Pope Benedict XVI. Bergoglio chose the title Pope Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi. The new Pope is the first to hail from the Americas, the Southern Hemisphere, or the Jesuit tradition. Like Pope Benedict XVI before him, Pope Francis is opposed to extending marriage rights to same-sex couples.

March-April 2013 • 5

NEWS NEWS

CAMP KC VS. CAMP STARLIGHT Dispute leads to two summer camps for HIV-affected youth — at the same time

Michael ThierHawke (left) and Kevin Cook

By Kelsey Rook PQ Monthly

Camp Starlight has welcomed children and youth affected by HIV/AIDS to its week-long summer camp for the last 15 years. For many campers and their families, the last week in August offered a respite from the overwhelming stigma of HIV/AIDS, as well as an opportunity for play, spiritual growth, community building, and support. But last month a dispute came to light over who can best serve these children, and how.

In mid-February, two press releases exposed the falling out between a group identified as the Camp Starlight Commission — made up of longtime volunteers and founders of

Camp Starlight — and Cascades Aids Project (CAP), which has provided fiscal support and acted as “home base” for Camp Starlight since 2005. There will now be two camps for kids affected by HIV/AIDS — Camp KC and Camp Starlight, both taking place the last week of August and both claiming to be a continuation of the long-running Camp Starlight.

Late last year, CAP announced changes in its programming for families and children that included a change in name and leadership for Camp Starlight. At that time, PQ Monthly had been running weekly interviews online with campers and volunteers. The blogs referred to the camp as “CAP’s Camp for Kids.” PQ Monthly first learned of the schism between CAP and a group calling themselves the Camp Starlight Commission after an interview with Michael ThierHawke was posted on the blog on Feb. 11.

ThierHawke, a camp counselor with Camp Starlight since 2009, alerted the Camp Starlight Commission — a group of camp founders and volunteers who split from CAP late last year — that his interview was being used to promote CAP’s Camp for Kids. The commission claimed that CAP’s Camp for Kids was not merely a new name for Camp Starlight, but rather a new camp altogether.

In December 2012, the Camp Starlight Commission was incorporated as an Oregon nonprofit under the business name “Camp Starlight” and is currently applying for 501(c) (3) nonprofit status, according to Camp Starlight co-director Randall Bodkin.

Bodkin said the split between members of the commission and the camp’s fiscal sponsor, CAP, came to a head last fall. “In the months leading up to October 2012,” he said,

“the relationship between our organizations had become increasingly strained.”

According to Bodkin, CAP announced their intent to disband the Camp Starlight Commission and incorporate Camp Starlight into CAP’s programming for kids and families, known as Kids’ Connection, at an October 2012 meeting. Bodkin said this signaled an end to the mutually-beneficial relationship established seven years prior, which included CAP’s help with fundraising, grant writing, publicity, and staffing for Camp Starlight.

A Feb. 18 press release from the Camp Starlight Commission announced the termination of their relationship with CAP and noted, “These changes will permit supporters of Camp Starlight to make donations directly to Camp Starlight.”

Mary Marshall, CAP’s interim executive director and director of finance and operations, sees the division differently. “CAP’s ‘Camp KC’ is primarily a change in name with a few administrative changes we feel are needed,” she said.

“We view Camp KC as a continuation of Camp Starlight, which has been a program of CAP for the last eight years.”

The new name, Camp KC, reflects the integration of the camp into CAP’s Kid’s Connection programming, which “provides HIV-specific support to children, youth, and families who are HIV- infected or -affected,” according to the CAP website.

CAP representatives says their leadership and fiscal support of Camp Starlight provided the stability and funds essential to keeping the camp running for the last eight years, and it was apparent that Camp Starlight was camps p age 9

KAROL COLLYMORE TAKES THE HELM AT EQUITY FOUNDATION

By Erin Rook PQ Monthly

Karol Collymore, 35, started work as the new executive director of Equity Foundation March 11. The foundation — which gives out scholarships to LGBTQ students, supports community organizations, and engages in shareholder actions — had been without an executive director since Peter Cunningham’s departure late last year.

“We are delighted Karol will be bringing her considerable talents to the Equity Foundation,” Board Chair Carl Creasey said in a Feb. 27 release.

Collymore has 13 years of experience in non-profit, political, and government roles, including her work with the American Heart Association, Pro-Choice Oregon, and MultKarol Collymore nomah County Chair Jeff Cogen.

She ran for county commissioner in 2010 and was most recently director of development at Raphael House of Portland.

She chatted with PQ Monthly about why Equity’s work is important to her and what she hopes to bring to the organization.

PQ Monthly: How do you identify?

Collymore: I’m a black woman with a Panamanian 6 • March-April 2013

background. It’s where I was born and where my family is from. I also want to say that I am a progressive. As much as that means to people anymore, I’m not sure. But my worldview is large and continually expanding. Moving forward and creating community means progression, expansion, inclusion, moving forward. That’s too many words, but it’s what gives me the capacity and passion to do this work.

PQ Monthly: What attracted you to Equity Foundation?

Collymore: Equity was founded 24 years ago with a sole mission to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in Oregon. My personal and professional mission has always been to work in spaces where fighting for diversity and equality is a primary goal. When I saw an opportunity to put my passion to work in this community, I jumped at the chance.

PQ Monthly: What’s one thing about Equity Foundation that isn’t widely known?

Collymore: Equity Foundation is a catalyst for change in Oregon. Your donation turns right around and benefits several non-profits that make change for the LGBTQ community. A donor gives one gift and that gift joins a pool that turns into a wave of support for so many other wonderful organizations.

PQ Monthly: What’s one thing about you that isn’t widely known?

Collymore: I started a small movement a few years ago called Portland’s Progressive Dinner Party. My friends and I would host parties at our homes for organizations that had budgets less than $500,000. The entry fee was $20 and a bottle of wine. They were such a good time, we made new friends, and it was a great way for us to make an impact on

our community through good food and fun. The other thing that is not widely known: I love yacht rock.

PQ Monthly: What are your goals for the organization’s future?

Collymore: My goals include raising Equity’s endowment to $1 million in three years, to grant scholarships that impact the recipients in significant ways, and use our platform to bring light to the organizations and causes that support eliminating discrimination. Our giving range is as varied as HIV/AIDS prevention, support of isolated LGBTQ youth, and expansion of the arts focused on African American plays. We can tell those stories so donors and the community know the impact of Equity across Oregon.

PQ Monthly: How can the community help you in the months ahead?

Collymore: Equity Foundation has been a part of the community for 24 years. What impacts us most is community involvement and support. Support us, help us tell the story of the organizations we help, come to our events and learn about the vital work we are doing with in the greater Oregon communities. Our door is always open; I want to know what we are doing right and where improvement is needed.

PQ Monthly: Is there anything you’d like to add?

Collymore: Follow us on Twitter at @Equity_Oregon and like our page on Facebook. We’ll be sharing our stories, inviting grant and scholarship applications, and accepting gifts in ways that will be easy for the community to access.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share.

For more information on Equity Foundation, visit equityfoundation.org. pqmonthly.com

pqmonthly.com

March-April 2013 • 7

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NEWS FEATURES

WILDFANG SINKS ITS TEETH INTO THE TOMBOY MARKET

By Erin Rook

hair and a fondness for creepy crawling creatures like snakes and insects. Wildfang’s site doesn’t include a size chart, so knowing the models’ dimensions and the size they are modeling gives some fit hints.

It’s becoming clear that 2013 is the year of the tomboy. After a lifetime of scouring Tops tend to range in size from extra-small to large, sometimes in women’s, other men’s and boys’ departments in search of masculine clothes that fit a female form, queers times in men’s. Jeans run from 25 to 31. Most shoes can be found in women’s sizes 6-10. whose fashion needs straddle the gender binary have an increasing number of options.

“We have had to place bets where we thought we could sell items,” McIlroy says. “You’ll One of these progressive new outfitters is Portland-based Wildfang (from the German see us carry all the popular sizes and what I can promise is we will listen to our commufor “tomboy”). Helmed by former Nike employees Emma McIlroy, 29, and Julia Parsley, 32, nity and give them what they want.” with creative direction from fellow Nike alum When it comes to price, customers can Taralyn Thuot, Wildfang has a team of 20-plus expect to pay anywhere from $28 to more tomboys working to create not only a clothing than $100 for a top. Most bottoms are between company, but a sense of community. $100 and $150. Shoes tend to be closer to $150 “We don’t think tomboy is a trend. She’s — it’s the only place on the site where prices always been with us – from Audrey Hepburn ever exceed $200. to Patti Smith – and she always will be,” McIl“Everything we bought we put through the roy says. “The only difference is that social filter of ‘Would I pay that, for that?’ And when networks have allowed tomboys to find the team answered ‘yes,’ then we bought it,” each other, and high-end fashion has finally McIlroy says. “You’ll see a range of price points started to pay attention.” depending on the item and a real focus on Though the retailer’s launch corresponds craftsmanship in our clothing.” with the rise of related outlets like Tomboy Despite the company’s newness, the Tailors and Saint Harridan (which focus on excitement and anticipation are palpable. making more formal menswear work for femWildfang created its Facebook page on Feb. 1 inine bodies), inspiration struck McIlroy and — a month and half before items were availParsley three years ago in the men’s departable for purchase online — and by the March ment of a well-known retailer on NW 23rd Ave. 15 beta launch, it had nearly 6,000 likes and “I was salivating over a graphic tee with an outpouring of enthusiastic comments Kate Moss on it,” McIlroy says. “Jules was from future customers around the world. eyeing up a men’s blazer with patches on the People who had never seen or worn Wildelbows. Jules turned to me and said, ‘Why fang’s products (aside from a glimpse of the don’t they make this stuff for us?’ And right company’s crush-worthy celebrity models) Photo by Lindsey Byrnes there in the men’s department Wildfang was have been raving since day one.

Wildfang models Laurel Pantin, Megan Rapinoe, Nadia Sarwar, Hannah Blilie, and Kate Moennig. conceived.”

“I love you already!”

The online shop brings together items from men’s and women’s lines, vintage items, and “I’ve been seriously waiting for this my whole life!” a variety of shoes and accessories. The site launched in beta mode — open only to those who “I would love to be your #1 fan!” signed up in advance — on March 15. A full launch is expected by later this spring.

Based on Facebook comments alone, it’s clear the company’s fanbase has already “Three years ago no one was playing in this space. The consumer demand is real and gone global. Though Wildfang does not currently ship internationally, fans are making obvious — you see it everywhere: on Pinterest, on Tumblr,” McIlroy says. “In addition, their interest known from such far-flung locales as Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Beirut, high-end fashion has played a lot in androgyny recently. We love that other people are Bolivia, Greece, Mexico, Holland, and England. starting to serve tomboys. Frankly it’s about time.”

It certainly didn’t hurt that the company hit the ground running with a strong social The clothing currently available on Wildfang’s site is mix of classically masculine pieces media presence and a visual branding campaign featuring a number of iconic tomboys (a striped crew neck sweater), items with a sexy feminine edge (a sheer sleeveless west- including Kate Moennig (best know for playing Shane on “The L Word”) and local celebs ern-style shirt), punk-inspired elements (a black studded jacket), and vintage originals.

Hannah Blilie (drummer for Gossip) and Megan Rapinoe (the out athlete who helped lead “Remember, tomboy is a spectrum. There are lots of different tomboys — from the the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to gold at the 2012 Olympics). prep to the rocker and the sophisticate to the jock,” MvIlroy says. “We are going to try and “We are here to serve the tomboy. We want to serve her style and her spirit. We don’t create looks for all of them. We’ve bought some menswear brands and some womenswear define her sexuality,” McIlroy says. “We just want to build a community of badass tombrands and are styling them to ensure they look great on the female form.” boys. Our company is a very diverse one and I think our consumer base will be too.”

A poignant illustration of this blending of masculine and feminine sensibilities is WildHungry customers combined with a limited inventory means the indecisive will likely fang’s jewelry collection, which includes a line of deceptively dainty-looking heart pen- be left in the dust. On the flip side, early adopters are almost guaranteed biter-proof style. dants engraved with brash expressions ranging from the relatively tame “in it to win it” “Well, we’re a start up with a small budget so we haven’t got a huge inventory, which and “balls to the wall,” to the decidedly bolder “fuck off” and “kiss me where I pee.” probably means you should buy anything you love quickly,” McIlroy says. “If you do meet In addition to virtual racks, Wildfang’s website also contains editorial content, includ- another tomboy wearing the same item, our advice is to high five them and pretend you’re ing profiles of designers and insights into Portland’s unique culture. Next to each apparel in a rad new tomboy gang.” item are stats on the model, as well as a brief bio.

Rocking a vintage black velvet blazer is Taylor. She is 5’6” and slender, with long dark Get on the list for the next peek at Wildfang’s collection at wildfang.com.

PQ Monthly

camps Continued from page 6

in need of a leadership change.

“As one of the old volunteer commissioners, I saw the need for the changes CAP asked for and have signed on to the new management process as a volunteer,” Kevin Cook, a Starlight volunteer since 2001, said in CAP’s Feb. 15 press release.

While the two organizations have clearly parted ways, they have released conflicting information about the split. Both Camp KC and Camp Starlight claim to be continuations of the “original” Camp Starlight and pqmonthly.com

highlight their staff’s composition of individuals previously affiliated with the Camp Starlight of 1999-2012. The Camp KC planning committee includes Cook, Noah Kling, and Trevor Scott, all former Camp Starlight Commission members. The Camp Starlight Commission’s returning staffers include Angie Raffaele, co-founder and camp director since 1999; Dr. Rebecca G. Block, mental health supervisor at the camp since 2000; and Melanie Smith-Wilusz and Kit Noble, both co-founders of Camp Starlight.

The division between the competing camps has grown to a turf war of sorts, as both groups will host their summer camps during the same week this summer,

Aug. 25-30. Marshall said this scheduling changed the nature of the two camps’ co-existence from “an opportunity for the kids to have two camp experiences each year to a situation where they are divided between two competing camps.”

But Bodkin said Camp Starlight simply wants to continue its camp festivities during the traditional last week of August, as it has for the previous 14 years. He takes issue with the fact that Camp KC will be held at the same campgrounds where Camp Starlight has been held since 2003.

He noted that the contract securing the campsite was signed last fall as part of CAP’s regular support of Camp Starlight.

“We are saddened by CAP’s decision to claim ownership of the rental contract for our usual campsite and dates,” Bodkin said, “and we are shocked that CAP would misuse Camp Starlight’s good name and history with [the campgrounds] to secure the campsite for themselves.”

W hile these factions move forward with planning for their upcoming summer camps, families are faced with the difficult decision of where to send their children this summer. In the meantime, both groups have obtained legal counsel, though both Marshall and Bodkin said they hope to avoid litigation and resolve any issues amicably.

March-April 2013 • 9

NEWS FEATURES

YOGA FOR ALL: LOCAL TEACHERS HELP CULTIVATE SAFE SPACE INSIDE AND OUT ‘Can you explain the line between man and woman?’ ‘No,’ she said. ‘Me neither,’ I replied. ‘I can promise you that the people you find at Fat Yoga will be kind and accepting, or they’ll be ousted. Past that, I refuse to draw the lines for size, gender, or anything else. We need to be all-accepting and all-inclusive.’”

BIBI MCGILL, ASCENSION YOGA

“I can promise you that the people you find at Fat Yoga will be kind and accepting,” says local yoga teacher Anna Ipox. “We need to be all-accepting and all-inclusive.”

By Nick Mattos PQ Monthly

Yoga isn’t just popular —numerous scientific studies and thousands of years of anecdotal evidence have shown that it’s also an effective means to cultivate physical and mental health. However, some would-be yoga practitioners avoid starting a practice because of fear that their particular constellation of gender, sexual, ethnic, or economic identities would leave them feeling like misfits in yoga class. To correct this misapprehension, local teachers such as Amy Ipox and Bibi McGill help their students cultivate healthy bodies and minds by creating safe spaces — both within their classes and within the hearts of their students.

ANNA IPOX, FAT YOGA Twelve years ago, Anna Ipox fell in love with the physical practices of yoga. As someone mindful of both social justice and her own physical size, Ipox embarked on a search to find yoga spaces and classes that fit her needs.

“I struggled to find classes that were affordable, not cliquish, and that didn’t include culturally appropriative things like chanting or speaking in Sanskrit,” she recalls.

Health concerns ultimately made Ipox realize two things: first, she needed to get serious about yoga practice, and second, that many other people were looking for the same things she was and having the same difficulty locating them. Ipox headed off to teacher training, and while immersed in practice experienced the flash of inspiration that has since sparked a movement: Fat Yoga.

“People have absolutely been looking and waiting for 10 • March-April 2013

some form of fat fitness — something that didn’t have dieting or shaming at the core of the experience,” Ipox notes.

To achieve this, Ipox modified some traditional postures and practices to embrace the realities of bigger bodies, and brainstormed methods to ensure that the individuals assembled felt embraced and celebrated in exactly the bodies they occupy.

The result: the revolutionary studio Fat Yoga, which in less than a year has become a safe haven and community center for body-positive people of all sizes. Ipox affirms that absolutely all body sizes are welcomed and affirmed in Fat Yoga classes. She also notes her classes are highly queer- and gender-affirming, and that a huge variety of folks from every point on the sexual and gender spectrums enjoy greater health and community through participation in Fat Yoga. Even beyond the physical dimension, Ipox acknowledges that economic factors are often a significant barrier of entry for folks interested in practicing yoga. In response, Ipox makes her class passes extremely affordable, ensuring that practitioners can enjoy Fat Yoga as often as they’d like.

The fruit of Ipox’s inspiration is growing — a Fat Yoga teacher training is planned, as well as further explorations of applying the Fat Yoga ethos and methodology for pregnancy, children, and seniors. However, Ipox ultimately feels that yoga is for all; as such, there are certain ways in which she is insistent that Fat Yoga classes not specialize further in regards to student demographics.

“It’s interesting — in order to bring it broader, it becomes narrower,” Ipox muses. “I was just at a women’s health event to speak about yoga and someone asked, ‘Will you ever offer women’s-only classes?’ I asked her,

While specialization serves an important function for some yoga instructors, others feel that in order to actualize their vision of how yoga should be presented, all classes should be open and accessible to all students — in other words, that demographic-specific “safe spaces” are secondary to creating a universal “safe space” within their classes.

Bibi McGill, a Portland-based yoga teacher and musician, started practicing yoga in 1998; she found that the inward focus of yoga practice cultivated by skilled teachers naturally created a space where she, a woman of color, felt fully accepted.

“Honestly, I wasn’t looking to be rejected,” she says. “I went [to class] to focus on myself, not on what else was going on. I didn’t experience any sense of being unwelcome.”

After pursuing teacher certification in 2004, McGill began teaching in 2006; core to her approach of the philosophy is a sensibility that classes can and should be safe spaces for everyone. This sensibility has a firm rooting in yogic philosophy; as one example, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a treatise on the philosophy dating from between 100 BCE and 500 CE, makes no mention of gender or sexuality, instead noting that all people are equally able to achieve the goals of yoga through diligent practice. In addition, other yogic texts imply that excessive identification with such identity markers as gender, sexuality, or the state of one’s body can actually be a significant hindrance to manifesting the ultimate goals of yoga practice; instead, one must continuously go inward, gradually shifting one’s identity from exterior descriptors to a core identity of oneness with everyone and everything.

On the practical level, McGill makes her classes a space for all to cultivate safe spaces within, which naturally manifest a safe space for others in the class.

“My classes are multi-level,” she notes. So, in addition to athletic yoga practitioners she will also “have people who are in their 60s or 70s and less active, as well as folks on the heavy side.” However, she assures that “everyone can come to my class and get through it; I give lots of modifications to make sure each pose is safe and effective.… I just treat each student the way I would like to be treated, and give everyone the individual attention to make sure they get what they need.”

“In my opinion,” McGill adds, “if you’re a teacher or a studio owner and you want to accommodate a specific demographic or group of people, that’s great! Do it! If that’s what it takes to get people to do yoga or attend a specific class, go for it — I’m not opposed to it at all. That said, personally, I want to see a little bit of everyone in my class — tattooed rockers, businesspeople, hippies, every size, every color, everyone. I’m not going to have a class for just dancers, or rockers, or any other specific group. I simply work to ensure that anyone and everyone can feel welcome in my classes.”

Fat Yoga is located at 6340 SE Foster, Portland; go to FatYoga.org for schedules and rates. For more information on Bibi McGill and her yoga offerings, check out YogaBibi.com. pqmonthly.com

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March-April 2013 • 11

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ROSE CITY ROLLERS Lifestyles of the brutal and bodacious FEATURES SPORTS

By Shaley Howard PQ Monthly

With over 250 active skaters, the Rose City Rollers (RCR) has become one of the largest roller derby leagues in the nation. For those unfamiliar with the sport, it’s a fast-paced contact sport in which roller skaters — in the case of RCR, all female — battle it out on a flat track. The women br utally push, elbow, and jam their way around the track in games called bouts.

It’s a combination of tough chicks, violence, sarcasm, and raunchy sexual i n n u e n d o s w i t h p l a yers sporting names such as Licker N Split, Frank N Hurter, Ivana Thrasher, and Scald Eagle. What’s not to love?

The idea for a Portland roller derby league arose in 2004 as Kim Stegeman (AKA Rocketmean) and Jeffrey Wonderful sat in a SE Portland bar enthusiastically discussing the resurrection of roller derby nationwide.

A skater herself, Stegeman thought: “We can drink, roller skate, and hit each other. I’m made for this!”

With a lot of hard work and Photo by Steven L. Price (“Skippy Steve”) passion, Portland’s RCR “We pour our blood sweat and tears into this for each other, for weeks and weeks, prior to bout day,” says Scald Eagle (center), seen here with her fellow Guns N Rollers in a February bout with Salem-based derby team Cherry City. was born.

“I knew instantly that how much they ‘should’ weigh, how tall they should be, or For Scald, who is openly gay, image is about far more with my extensive ice hockey and athletic background, how they are supposed to look. We talk about how strong, than the flamboyant makeup she wears in the rink. this was the sport for me,” says all-star skater Scald Eagle, quick, and flexible we need to be. Muscle is heavy, and the “I hope fans see a good sport, a team player, and who in her “civilian” life is Hillary Buscovick, a craftswoman more of it you have the more powerful your hits will be. authenticity,” she says. “My main mission when I step specializing in restoration and remodeling. Scald became We talk about how strength, determination, and teamwork on the track during a bout is to be myself and give it my involved in the RCR back in 2010 after watching the movie are beautiful. Every body type can achieve success in this all for my teammates, coaches, and fans. We pour our “Whip-It.” sport, which is one of the coolest things about derby. As blood sweat and tears into this for each other, for weeks “Within three days I had the gear and I was YouTubing long as you can keep up and be smart on the track, big girls and weeks, prior to bout day. It’s about giving as much as ‘how-to’ videos,” she recalls. “I made the Fresh Meat try- and tiny girls alike can be super effective. Women want to I can for them in those crucial moments and sacrificing outs Aug. 12, 2010, got drafted to my home team, Guns N watch because it’s easy to identify with the players in this my own personal needs at any given time for the needs Rollers, by December of that year, and by February 2011 I sport compared to many other sports; yes, because we are of the team. That is what is so fulfilling to me and also was playing with RCR’s travel teams, Axels of Annihilation, women, but also because every body type is well repre- what makes this so much fun.” and our all-star team, the Wheels of Justice.” sented on our floor.”

“What I get out of derby every day is what makes life One of the best parts of the RCR is that the women who The league gets its message of empowerment out there worth living,” Scald adds. “I am passionate about it and I skate come in all shapes and sizes. It’s a sport that accom- early through the Rosebuds, a junior derby team made up can’t imagine doing anything else right now. I am so alive modates all women. Back in the 70s, Stegeman says, it was of girls from 12 to 17 years of age. These youth also benefit when I’m out there, and I’m confident that I will look back just campy, tough-chick villains vs. the Farrah Fawcett-type from the example set by the strong adult athletes of the RCR. on this time of my life with zero regrets. Check it out if you skaters. Today’s skaters receive a ton of body image accep“[The Rosebuds] don’t always fit into boxes that media haven’t already, both to watch and to play. It’s a blast and tance and get the chance to express their alter egos. These and their schools tell them to fit in to,” Stegeman says. the door is all ways open to newcomers!” women are the athletes they want to be, on their terms.

“Seeing these women embody and personify the kind of “Roller derby is the most accepting sport I’ve ever been image and athlete they want to be is such a positive role For information on Rose City Rollers bouts and tryouts, a part of,” says Scald. “No one around here talks about model for these young girls.” visit rosecityrollers.com. pqmonthly.com

March-April 2013 • 13

FEATURES FEATURES

FEMEN PUSHES ‘NEW FEMINISM’ VIA TOPLESS PROTEST

By Nick Mattos PQ Monthly

Feminist activist group Femen has garnered international attention for their nude and topless protests of government organizations and churches in the name of a “new feminism”— but many question whether they are indeed a renaissance of the women’s movement.

Founded by a group of Ukranian college students in 2008, Femen first organized to protest the country’s booming sex trade. While their first protests were fully clothed (and mostly ignored), Femen spokewoman Inna Sevchenko explains that the group decided to pursue a vastly more eye-catching strategy: showing skin.

“We realized we had to do something really radical,” Sevchenko explains. “We don’t have people to promote or help us, or big money. Everywhere — from TV channels to magazines — you see naked girls selling something. We are trying to say, ‘You should not show your body like that; you should use it to protest and fight.’”

International feminist activist group Femen demonstrates on behalf of queer rights in France.

Protest and fight they have.

Femen went on to stage dramatic actions against sex traf- men,’” notes Sara Merritt, a student with a background in ficking and sex tourism in cities such as Kiev, Odessa, and gender studies. “If that’s their primary goal, then I’m confiZaporizhia. Due to their eye-catching tactics and adroit dent they’ll be successful. Whether doing those things actuuse of social media, Femen became a household name ally creates social progress, though, is what I am skeptical of.”

Party promoter Cameron Kude, on the other hand, views in the Ukraine; shortly thereafter, other European cities began to see independent cells of Femen holding demon- Femen and their strategies as a vivid lashing out against the strations against government organizations, churches, and oppression of women’s bodies and rights.

“I think the topless tactic is brilliant,” Kude says. “It businesses. As of early 2013, at least 13 countries have seen topless protests from groups utilizing the Femen model, immediately confronts our culture and media with the demonstrating around issues such as the sex industry, basic fact that females are oppressed. If men protested topqueer rights, governmental policies that impact women, less, there would be no controversy.”

That said, Kude doesn’t see Femen as a new form of femaccess to reproductive healthcare, female genital mutilation, and abuses against women carried on and protected inism. “Feminists have been burning their bras for decades and fighting for normalcy and acceptance of the natural in the name of religion.

Femen claims that their protests represent a “new fem- female form. I think its an extreme form of feminism, but inism,” bringing together a push towards female equality the mere fact that I [and others] see it as extreme says a lot with a postmodern understanding of media, politics, and about how oppressed women continue to be.”

Some feminists don’t see Femen as a “new feminism” the manipulation of the male gaze. However, local queer activists hold mixed feelings, both about the efficacy of as much as a continuation or rehash of past philosophies.

“There’s not a lot in their actions or statements that their tactics as well as whether they truly represent somedoesn’t remind me of some of the more militant (and septhing new in the feminist movement.

“In their manifestos and statements, Femen says that their aratist) factions of the Women’s Movement of the late ‘60s intent is to bring ‘disorder, neurosis, and panic to patriarchal and early ‘70s,” says Pride NW Executive Director Debra

14 • March-April 2013

Photo by Margaux Aubin, courtesy of Femen

Porta, adding that part of this may be due to the youthfulness of the group. “Most of the time, when I see the rise of these kind of efforts … the first thing I see is a common thread of little to no real connection or communication between those currently on the front lines and those who came before them. There’s a very strong generational component; this group isn’t doing much of anything different from what’s been done before, so where does their expectation of success come from? I’ve sometimes seen a tendency towards the attitude that ‘the prior generations failed, sold out, turned their backs, or weren’t prepared’ when it comes to such movements. It’s a mutual disconnect, as well; the elders have an equal responsibility to connect with the current frontlines, which they often don’t do.”

Porta ultimately believes that Femen, and the feminist movement at large, can become even more of a force to be reckoned with — if all factions from young to old choose to work together and learn from one another. “The reality is that if the generations were to actually form strong ties,” she says, “perhaps we could build on our successes rather than completely reinventing the wheel every 20 to 30 years.”

For more information on Femen, go to femen.org/en.

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OPINION

LIFE IS GOOD. ENJOY THE RIDE!

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FEATURES FEATURES

BODY WORK: QUEERING THE POLE, THE GO-GO BLOCK, AND THE STAGE

By Erin Rook

leader for the whole crowd rather than just a sexual object.”

While she may not be building the same fanDance, like all art, has the power to create tasy of sexual availability that Stevie is, Hofstein alternate realities, to transport audiences to a is likewise using her body to create an ambiance world conceived at the intersection of the perand an experience for the crowd. former’s intentions and the viewer’s desires.

“What I enjoy most about dancing is the This power is not dependent on the amount of opportunity to connect with my community skin shown, the allure of the movements, or the and facilitate fun,” Hofstein says. “I try to find sophistication of the venue. the most miserable person in the room and In Portland, there is no shortage of ways to make them smile by being a complete ass. Queer use that power to create sexy fantasies on stage dance parties for me aren’t about who you’re — from stripping and pole dancing to burlesque with or what you’re wearing. It’s about having a and modern dance. But despite the similarities safe space to be a fool, be a little raunchy withamong these styles, each type of performance is out fear of violence, shedding the chains of the colored by a distinct public perception, power double-life a lot of second class citizens are dynamic, and politics. Add queer identity to the forced to live and just fucking be yourself.” mix and these types of body (if not sex) work take That commitment to authenticity extends to on additional layers of complexity. her openness about her dancing gigs. Hofstein To explore the diverse experiences of queer fights the stigma against sexual performance dancers and strippers, PQ Monthly talked to art by standing proud behind what she does, a few performers from different backgrounds: insisting that there’s nothing to be ashamed of. a stripper, a go-go dancer, and a performance “I’m very out about go-go dancing and I’m artist who isn’t afraid to get naked. very out about being out when I dance,” she Leila Hofstein go go dances at queer nights (photo by Ty Chance). Kaj-anne Pepper creates dance, drag, and performance art. says. “My 14-year-old sister and both of my par“STEVIE” ents are on Facebook and have access to all of my photos. Transparency is really important to me because of our culture of shame and oppression around sex and sexuality. Just Stevie (not her real name), 36, is a femme lesbian who has worked as a stripper on and because I express myself dancing scantily clad does not mean I’m constantly wasted, irreoff for the past 15 years, primarily at mainstream strip clubs that cater to straight men. sponsible, or an otherwise unsavory human being.”

“I first worked as a cocktail waitress at Flashdancers, a NYC strip club, when I was 15.

Hofstein, who has taught children’s art and enrichment activities for the last decade I was fired when they found out I was underage. I didn’t start dancing naked until about and works as a tattoo artist by day, hopes to normalize sexuality so that younger generaage 20 or 21, in Chicago. There, I worked at a peep show because the idea of being behind tions “can have an easier time being all facets of themselves without fear.” glass made me less nervous,” Stevie says.

But dancing is even more personal than that for Hofstein. It represents a triumph over These days, she works at a woman-owned establishment where the crowd includes pain and physical limitations. After two years of unmedicated diabetes brought her close straight women and queer and trans folks. Still, she’s selective about who she discloses her to death, Hofstein spent months on bed rest and more than a year with a cane. Despite own identity to; careful not to disrupt the hetero male fantasy that ultimately pays the bills. persistent nerve pain in her legs, Hofstein returned to dancing to regain her sanity. “[T]he main part of my job isn’t dancing, it’s providing a momentary fantasy — and “I’m in constant pain and likely will be for the rest of my life, but if I didn’t dance; the that involves appearing ‘available.’ Guys are always fishing to see if I have a ‘boyfriend’ rest of my life wouldn’t be worth it to me,” she says. “It’s what saved me and kept me from or whatever, because part of the fantasy is that I’m their girlfriend for that night, or that giving up when it felt like I’d never get ahold of my disease or have normalcy again.” five-minute lap dance,” Stevie says. “I wouldn’t talk about my relationship the same way I wouldn’t talk about politics, or depression, or something that would just totally kill the KAJ-ANNE vibe. It’s all about keeping it light and sexy and fun. And then, leaving it behind.”

She maintains a pretty strict division between the two worlds in which she works.

Kaj-anne Pepper, 28, is a dancer, choreographer, and performance artist whose creDespite Portland’s sex-positive reputation, stripping still carries a stigma that has both ative work often involves varying degrees of undress. social and economic consequences.

“I’ve done sexy dancing as a go-go dancer at Blow Pony and I’ve danced there often in “I’m out to friends and family but not at my day job or school. I am very picky about drag. Those shows were particularly fun, nasty, and frivolous,” Pepper says. “[Queer strip who I talk to about stripping, because I’ve found from experience that you never know night] Hedonistic Decadence [was] technically my first ‘stripping’ job. But, in my work who has hangups about it, and those hangups will be taken out on you in unfortunate as a dancer and choreographer I’m often stripping my clothes off and rolling around.” ways, like getting fired from another job,” Stevie says.

The illusions he creates in his work are not always easy to understand or digest, his Though she enjoys aspects of the work — the camaraderie with other strippers, the nudity not necessarily intended to arouse. So the reactions he gets are varied and depenconstant flattery, a built-in way to stay fit — she says the biggest perk is being able to make dent on the makeup of the crowd. a lot of money in a short amount of time, which allows her to spend most of her time on “My style of drag isn’t necessarily always going to be ‘pretty’ or ‘passing’ and I have things she cares about. found drunk straight guys to be very threatening when they are attracted to the queens, “Sometimes it’s like having a trust fund,” Stevie says. “I like getting out of my head, too. the clowns, and the freaks and not knowing how to deal with that except with anger or I’m an introvert and a nerd and I spend a lot of time alone, reading and writing. I need this unwelcome advances,” Pepper says. That said, “If Mary’s Club wants to hire a drag queen job because it gets me moving around and socializing. Stripping has taught me to come stripper and can provide security, LET’S GO!” out of my shell, how to get the party started, how to be diplomatic and friendly and easySometimes, presenting people with a fantasy they didn’t know they had can be powerful. going with anyone. How to charm a difficult person. Handy tools.”

“I also think performing ‘queer’ to a group of heterosexual folks can be really transgressive and empowering too,” Pepper says. “But it’s a fine line between being the star versus LEILA being the sideshow attraction.”

Being a main stage attraction, however, is another matter. Especially when the audiLeila Hofstein, 28, is a queer (“disco butch”) go-go dancer who frequently performs at ence brings their manners — and their tip dollars.

Blow Pony and other queer dance nights.

“PDX is sometimes too cool and too broke to wanna tip their queens and dancing “I feel really strongly about only dancing in queer spaces,” Hofstein says. “I feel cele- ladies,” he says. Still, he would gladly give another performance at the next queer strip brated rather than fetishized by the people I’m dancing for. It’s more like being a cheer- night. “If given the chance, at the next Hedonistic Decadence I’m getting filthy.”

PQ Monthly

16 • March-April 2013

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LENT OR BUST!

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By Daniel Borgen PQ Monthly

Year after year, an old friend of mine gave up alcohol for Lent. I, in turn, would always mock him, mostly because I considered the prospect of that sort of self-imposed punishment ridiculous, and not just because I can’t imagine giving up the good stuff for 40 solid days. As a bonus, it was also nice to take digs at a religious observance. Besides, he wouldn’t swear off the sauce and stay home; he went about socializing as usual, hitting up every gay dance party and drinking, well, soda water — depriving himself of so much pleasure.

“It’s about self-control,” he told me.

“It’s about proving I’m in control.” I never caught on.

This year, on Fat Tuesday, my friends and I went to a going away party at Hobo’s before embarking on a big, messy night out. (Sidebar: Fat Tuesday itself turned out to be a bust; I was in bed with a belly full of Chinese food before midnight.) That night, I got to chatting with a new lady friend, Julia (not Roberts, sadly). Over the past few months, I’ve enjoyed many a drag moment with her, and once you’ve shared those precious moments with me, I’m yours forever — so is my counsel, for better or worse. Julia and I talked about Lent and all the things we’d ever tried — successfully or no — to abstain from.

Our chat up in that dark, velvety attic-balcony prompted me to make a tipsy, off-the-cuff pledge. This year, I’d go 40 days without Grindr — and all of its wicked, electronic stepchildren. Julia convinced me Lent provides the perfect arbitrary starting and stopping point, and plus you have all that built-in camaraderie. Everyone’s giving up all manner of everything — cheeses, meats, vodkas. Not surprisingly, every male in the room predicted my failure and did to me what I used to do to that old friend who gave up booze.

I’ll spare you the dramatic reveal and give it to you right here: I lasted two weeks.

It’s not that I’m all that surprised — I’ve long known I have the self-control of Lindsay Lohan, but I did think making it very public and, well, loud would convince me to try a little harder, hold out a bit longer. I’d prove it to myself and everyone else. And, in those first days, having some measure of accountability was helpful. It felt nice not to lose hours to those endless electronic black holes. There was no checking my phone at 11 p.m., messaging a bit, and having hours (and my battery life) slip away. Added bonus: I didn’t have to worry about crabs

for weeks.

Just before my temporary Lenten conversion I had, much to the chagrin of everyone close to me (including Therapist), struck up a friendship with my old live-in ex-boyfriend. If you do not know me, let me assure you: I am the most stubborn person alive, and I will do things to defy you just to prove I can, to prove I am in complete control. It’s certainly not one of my finest qualities — it’s the sort of mess one pays a professional to help sort out.

In this case, though, my actions weren’t the result of a childish, something-to-prove tantrum. They weren’t meant to affirm I do what I want. I genuine believe — I always have — that when you share your life with someone, especially for years, there’s some small part of you that will always love them.

And, after some time goes by, why not be friendly? I find the prospect of shutting that door completely and forever unspeakably sad. So, my ex and I talked. We cozied up.

We drunk texted — and we sent sober ones.

This movie reminds me of you. That restaurant reminds me of us.

But, with closeness comes compromise — and I’m not talking common ground. If you’re not ready, if you’re not prepared, if you haven’t tidily packed that part of you away in some safe part of your psyche, you get compromised. Old feelings and insecurities crop up. You jab him, he cuts you.

There are no kid gloves. You’re shackled to strange, old habits that simultaneously sting and feel comfortable. But, before the situation spiraled out of control and we ended up back in utter, duplicate ruin, we called it off. Friendship and civility isn’t in the cards, and may never be. Although I found myself momentarily — and familiarly — devastated, it passed quickly. And I was pleased with that measure of self-control.

And that’s how my two-week Lenten season proved worthwhile. It sure as hell wasn’t 40 days, but it never needed to be.

Sometimes progress is OK in fits and starts.

Sometimes breakups aren’t anyone’s fault; some things just can’t and won’t work, regardless of our stubbornness. Last week, at the coffee shop where I work, I casually mentioned to a patron my fondness for devouring entire bags of potato chips. She returned later with an Overeater’s Anonymous pamphlet and schedule of local meetings. I graciously accepted it and thanked her for her concern. An older version of me would have torn into her defiantly.

See? Progress, in fits and starts.

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March-April 2013 • 17

FEATURES CALENDAR

GET OUT!

Want more? We’ll give you everything. Head over to www.pqmonthly.com and check out our online calendar of events, submit your own events, and check out photos from your reporters-about-town.

Also, remember to carefully examine our weekly weekend forecast — with the latest and greatest events — each Wednesday, online only.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22 Red Meat PDX: a benefit for Cascade AIDS Project celebrating gay redheads and the men who love them. Deejays, gogo boys, and “the hottest remixes.” CC Slaughters and Steam Portland have teamed up to give away a trip for two to Puerto Vallarta. Yes, that’s a real thing. A five-day, fournight trip and you get to stay in a beachfront condo. Pre-sale raffle tickets already available — check CC’s or Steam. They’ll also be available the night of the event. 9pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis.

SATURDAY, MARCH 30

Come Out Laughing: Jason Dudley, Dana Goldberg, and Ian Harvie = comedic powerhouse. Some of the best gay, lesbian, and transgender comedy seen today. According to organizers, the “cohesion and brilliance of the show plays off of each comedian’s strength and delivers an ‘edu-taining’ slant” on the queer community. Hearts and minds open, sides hurt from laughter. 8pm, Bob White Theater, 6423 SE Foster. $20 advance, $25 at the door. www.brownpapertickets.com.

Bridge Club welcomes Chelsea Starr, which certainly warrants a “hot damn” and a mark on your calendar. The usual suspects — Hold My Hand, Orographic, Gossip Cat, Little Bear — join Portland’s beloved left coast sensation, Ms. Starr. A variety of drink and food specials await. 3pm-9pm, Produce Row, 204 SE Oak. Free

Mad for Plaid Bowling — this highly-anticipated annual event first started as organizer Jose Rivas’ birthday party. Now droves of people come and bowl for equality. Mix, mingle, meet new people, support HRC. Plaid attire encouraged. Well, required.

6:30pm, AMF Lanes, 3031 SE Powell. action.hrc.org/site/ Calendar

Honey Bea Hart’s Un-Birthday. Honey and Valerie DeVille throw a party featuring Disney, craziness, and mayhem. No cover — the queens just ask that you buy some food and “Guapa”: the play runs through April 13 at Miracle Theater drink and shove some dollars in their bras. 8pm, Hamburger Group. “Single-mom Roly lives in a dusty Texas border town Mary’s, 19 NW 5. Free. that everyone longs to escape. She’s never seen anything like Guapa, an athlete who wants to be an international soccer THURSDAY, APRIL 4 star. When Guapa joins Roly’s family, everyone’s life is turned Scandals Celebrates 34 years on the planet. The bar’s offiupside down.” Performances are Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays/ cial anniversary party will continue its tradition of being on Saturdays at 8, and Sundays at 2. milagro.org. 525 SE Stark. First Thursday. Absolut cocktails, DJ Robb, an art show feaTicket prices vary. turing Robert Richter, and the venue’s usual Thirsty Thursday drink special pricing. 6pm, Scandals, 1125 SW Stark. Free.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Blow Pony demands you “spring on,” kids. This month, the BP FRIDAY, APRIL 5 welcomes both Seattle and San Francisco to mix with your Pablito’s Bridgetown Bear Art Show! Tigerlily, Vancouver’s beloved Portland faves. The Handsome Young Men (SF) and new LGBTQ bar and restaurant, will showcase Pablo Cáceres’ MGM Disco (Seattle) are among the guests. 9pm, Rotture, latest collection, “Bridgetown Bears,” throughout the month of 315 SE 3. $5.

April. This first Friday reception, Pablo himself will be on hand.

5pm, Tigerlily, 1109 Washington Street, Vancouver. Free.

TUESDAY, MARCH 26 Repeal DOMA Candlelight Vigil: On March 26 and 27, the U.S. The Honey Bea Hart Show. Honey’s heading north for five Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitution- weeks, so come kiss her goodbye, get your fix, whatever you ality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Organized by Equality need. Honey, Violet, and Valerie provide entertainment and Southwest Washington, this peaceful show of solidarity aims an amazing dinner show. And you have two nights to see it. to celebrate love and our right to happiness. Make signs, hold Seattle’s Velo comes down to join in the fun. Friday at 8pm, candles, stand with your community, and take action. 7pm, Saturday at 10pm. Hamburger Mary’s, 19 NW 5. Free. (But tips are encouraged.)

Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, 1000 SW Third.

SUNDAY, APRIL 7 THURSDAY, MARCH 28

THURSDAY, APRIL 11 - SUNDAY, APRIL 14

PQ PICKS

Slabtown Grrrl Front: First annual all-ages festival for “grrrls.”

Intended to highlight women and creativity, while supporting groups that represent and support women and community.

Gay and Grey Fourth Thursday Social. Come on, come all, Bands, comedy, deejays. Proceeds go to In Other Words, come socialize. And eat delicious foods. 4pm, Starky’s, 2913 Planned Parenthood, and more. We’ll have all the latest info.

SE Stark. on our website. 7pm, Slabtown, 1033 NW 16. $7 per night, Cockabilly. Rock & roll disco with homosexual tendencies. $20 bracelet for the entire festival.

Thursday nights are back. 9pm, White Owl Social Club, 1305 MONDAY, APRIL 15 SE 8. $5.

Gay Skate, sponsored by yours truly (PQ Monthly). Join Sock Laid Out. (Sloppy Seconds.) Gay dance party. Things always Dreams, the Rose City Rollers, and all the amateur skaters taste better the second time around. Roam between here in the city at the one and only queer skate night. Work musand the White Owl (see above). 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE cles you never knew you had — but don’t fall. 7-9pm, Oaks Morrison. $3.

Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way. $6. All ages.

18 • March-April 2013

Saturday, March 23 Control Top: Gay ass party. The queer(est) experience. A new quarterly get-together blending skillful music, stunning visuals, rich photography, and design, along with “lots of cute people you want to make out with.” Special guests JD Samson (Le Tigre, Men) and Nark (Seattle, Bottom Forty) join Portland’s finest: Roy G Biv (the party’s architect), Mr. Charming, and Bruce LaBruiser.

Find it on Facebook. 9pm, White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8. $10.

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DANCE IT OUT (CHEERFULLY PAY YOUR COVERS; DEEJAYS GOTTA EAT, TOO.)

FIRST SUNDAYS Bridge Club. Hours of afternoon delights. A slew of deejays play stellar music on one of the city’s most treasured patios. Old Boys Club regularly welcomes special guests. 3pm, Produce Row Café, 204 SE Oak. Free.

Every Sunday. Superstar Divas. Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea Hart, Ginger Lee, and guest stars perform your favorite pop, Broadway, and country hits.

Oldies, too! Dance floor opens after the show. 8pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free!

FIRST THURSDAYS Dirt Bag. Keyword: Bruce LaBruiser. She’ll make all your musical dreams come true. Indie, pop, electro, all of it. Dance to the gayest jams. 10pm, The Know, 2026 NE Alberta. Free.

Hip Hop Heaven. Bolivia Carmichaels hosts this hiphop-heavy jam night every Thursday night at CCs. Guest performances at midnight. 9pm, CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free.

FIRST SATURDAYS Sugar Town. DJ Action Slacks. Keywords: Soul, polyester. 9pm, The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42. $5.

Maricón! DJs Moisti and Ill Camino redefine the Eagle with their beloved once-monthly dance party. For homos and their homeys. 10pm, Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard. $3.

SECOND THURSDAYS I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul. Three keywords, the most important being: DJ Beyondadoubt. Others: soul, shimmy. 9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $5.

SECOND FRIDAYS BMP/GRND. Portland’s only queer dance night devoted entirely to that tragic(ally wonderful) decade. DJs Kasio Smashio and Rhienna. Wear 90s gear, get in on the cheap. 9pm, The Foggy Notion, 3416 N. Lombard.

Free before 10pm, $5 after, $3 w/ themed attire.

SECOND SATURDAYS Realness, Category Is…: Eagle Portland takes on the ubiquitous theme night, with a new one each month.

Bridge Club boys Hold My Hand and Little Bear make the blessed noise. 9pm, Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard. $3.

Mrs.: The queen of theme. Most recent: Paparazzi. How’s that for perfect? And dynamic DJ duo: Beyondadoubt and Ill Camino. Costumes, photo booths, all the hits.

10pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi. $5.

THIRD THURSDAYS Polari. Troll in for buvare. Back-in-the-day language, music, and elegance. An ease-you-into-the-weekend mixer. Bridge Club boys make the music. Bridge and tunnel patrons have no idea what to do with us when we pour in. 10pm, Vault, 226 NW 12. Free.

Monday, March 25 Portland’s Snatch Game. That’s right, Drag Race’s one-week hiatus means some of Portland’s biggest drag names will put on their very own version of RuPaul’s snarky classic. Stars on slate include: Aretha Franklin, Reba McEntire, Divine, Cher, Amy Sedaris, and many more. We’re afraid (and intrigued) to see what happens when all those personalities pile into one room.

We’re not going to lie, our money’s on Bolivia’s Reba.

8pm, Scandals, 1125 SW Stark. Free!

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THIRD FRIDAYS Ruthless! Eastside deluxe. DJs Bruce LaBruiser, Ill Camino. The fiercest jams all night, they do what they want. 10pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $3.

THIRD SATURDAYS Gaycation all you ever wanted. DJs Charming and Snow Tiger. Get there early so you can actually get a drink. Sweaty deliciousness, hottest babes. THE party.

9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $3.

Nuttz 2 Buttz. Maricón’s kid brother. DJs Moisti, Ill Camino. Ass-shaking contest. Hug Moisti! 10pm, Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard. $3.

FOURTH THURSDAYS Cockabilly. Rock and roll disco with homosexual tendencies. The night’s charismatic hostess, Chanticleer, proves Thursdays are back. 9pm, White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th. $5.

FOURTH SUNDAYS Gender Abundant Square Dance. All-ages goodness.

No experience necessary! 7pm, The Village Ballroom, 700 NE Deckum. All ages! $7.

FOURTH FRIDAYS Homodeluxe. Beloved icons Mr. Charming and Roy G Biv invade downtown. Make their party something drunken Old Towners remember forever. 10pm, Saucebox, 214 SW Broadway. Free.

Twerk. DJs Slutshine and II Trill. Keywords: old school.

Established fun, all night long. So much dancing. 9pm, Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. Free!

Double X Dance. Bears, scruff, musk. 9pm, Embers Avenue, 110 NW Broadway.

FOURTH SATURDAYS Inferno! DJs Wildfire and D-Zel. Ladies, ladies, ladies.

Rotating venue — check online for the latest!

Blow Pony. Two giant floors. Wide variety of music, plenty of room for dancing. Rowdy, crowdy, sweaty betty. 9pm, Rotture/Branx, 315 SE 3. $5.

Hey Queen! For all the party girls. The more intimate, shoulder-to-shoulder choice. Bruce LaBruiser and special guests. Always fabulous. 9pm, Beulahland, 118 NE 28. Free.

LAST THURSDAYS Laid Out, Portland’s newest gay dance party. Seriously, the posters read: “gay dance party.” Deejays Gossip Cat and Pocket Rock-It, with photos by Eric Sellers.

9pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison. $3 after 10pm.

LAST FRIDAYS Temple! A West Side Social. Keeping the west side afloat. Downtown dancing goodness at everyone’s favorite dive bar. Resident Kasio Smashio, plus guest.

10pm, The Matador, 1967 W Burnside. Free is a very good price.

Friday, March 29 Chicken Strip. Hosted by Kaj-Anne Pepper, it’s Portland’s bi-monthly dose of dance floor raunch and drag. A diverse group performs — from Serendipit y Jones to Shitney Houston to Melody Awesomazing. According to the organizers, this non-gender specific party is “opening a new portal for drag and dance by and for queens and kings.” Come on, give it a chance. Chelsea Starr and Nark make the musics.

9:30pm, Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11. $4. pqmonthly.com

TO THE ‘MOON AND BACK Honeymoon ideas to fit every budget

Congratulations! You just pulled off perhaps the most logistically-challenging public display of affection of your life. Now, it’s time to celebrate. It used to be that the honeymoon was the time when you’d first get to know your partner. While most of us now know our partners rather intimately before we tie the knot, it’s still a wonderful opportunity to get your marriage started off on the right foot.

However, if you’re not thoughtful in planning and execution, the ‘moon can cost more than the moon itself. To get you thinking and planning in a way that fits your hunger for romance without leaving your cupboards bare upon return, here are a few

WEDDING SPECIAL

PERS{ECTOVES

try getaway is that it’s scalable for virtually any budget — from bumming a friend’s car and staying at an inexpensive sublet to enjoying some of the state’s loveliest hotel accommodations, one can stay and have more than enough cash left over to savor the region’s fabulous food and wine offerings. Perhaps a spa day is in order?

Coast Along. The Oregon Coast’s rugged elegance is a perfect option for a Pacific Northwestern-style beach getaway. With numerous bed and breakfast options, whether your tastes run towards the delightfully chintzy fun of Seaside to the upscale finery of Newport, you’re sure to find something in your price range.

Outside The Box. The Western United States has some very surprising, queer-friendly, and picturesque destinations that can make a perfect and unique honeymoon destination.

Look into Santa Fe, New Mexico; Fairfield, Iowa; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Walla Walla, Washington — a few cities Photo by Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly that frequently get overlooked despite being charming, romantic spots for Is Puerto Vallarta atop your list of honeymoon destinations? Or would you — starting out your marital bliss. and your budget — prefer a closer-to-home view of the setting sun?

Retreat. Going to a destination options for your special getaway, ordered retreat — be it for yoga, surfing, horseback from most frugal to most extravagant. Let riding, or any other activity you enjoy with us know what you choose, or if you have your lover — can be a wonderful way to get another brilliant honeymoon idea to share, active on your honeymoon. Southern Calat PQMonthly.com. ifornia, Arizona, and Utah are full of excelStaycation. While it’s not the most lent facilities and companies offering queerseductive of options, approaching your friendly resort options likely catering to just time at home the same way you’d approach your interest. planning a vacation can help you start out Volunteer. How about giving something your matrimonial home right. What would back on your getaway? A quick Google invesyou do in town if you were visiting for the tigation can yield a wide array of volunteer first time? Consider hitting up a museum or vacation opportunities that enable you and park that you haven’t seen before, or recre- your spouse to make a positive impact when ate your first date. Don’t forget to get your you’re not “impacting” one another, if you house — and bedroom — gussied up prop- catch our drift! Wink and thumbs up! erly beforehand, so you aren’t compelled to Mexication. Our sister nation to the south tend to the housework when you should be has recently made some significant steps tending to your beloved. forward in their civil protection of queers — Weekend Away. When was the last time so, give them some money in thanks. Puerto you enjoyed Seattle with your sweetie? Vis- Vallarta is basically the epitome of a queer iting our neighbors up north can be partic- beach vacation spot, with numerous resorts ularly cost-effective now that the Bolt Bus and private beaches catering to a wide varioffers fares as low as $1 between Portland ety of travelers. For a hoity-toitier experiand Seattle. Find cheap hotel deals online, or ence, consider Conchas Chinas, the Beverly book a sublet through AirBnB.com to borrow Hills of Puerto Vallarta, where you’re likely someone else’s love nest for a few days. to see other gay newlyweds rubbing elbows Get Wild. While certainly tailored for the with Mexico’s upper crust. more butch amongst us, camping can be Wine It Down. While cheaper to get to a transcendently romantic way to spend than Mexico, Sonoma and Napa Counties a honeymoon. Even something as simple can be vastly more expensive once you’re as taking a jaunt into Oxbow State Park there — but considering how many queers or backpacking into the wilderness of Mt. make California’s world-famous wine counHood for a few days lets you start out your try their honeymoon destination, there’s marriage with a walk on the wild side. Also: clearly quite a bit going for it. Right off the tent sex. Tent. Sex. Need we say more? beaten path is Western Sonoma County, Wine It Up. The Willamette Valley is very featuring such charming locales as internaclose by, but holds many surprises even for tionally-lauded art destination Sebastopol, the most seasoned of palates. One of the quaintly upscale Calistoga, and historic gay biggest benefits of an Oregon wine coun- resort town Guerneville. pqmonthly.com

March-April 2013 • 19

NIGHTLIFE WEDDINGS

EIGHT WAYS TO KEEP THE ROMANCE ALIVE WHILE PLANNING YOUR NUPTIALS 1) Never underestimate the power of a song. You don’t even have to show your partner sweet surprise — a single piece of chocolate, (although they’ll likely love it) — this is primara flower you pick yourself, or a loving text in ily for you, to celebrate how alive love can make the middle of the day doesn’t cost much but you feel. makes the recipient feel like a million bucks.

7) Call in the pros. One thing that Catholics 2) Get into nature — from a weekend getdo well in terms of wedding planning is incoraway to the coast to a quick walk in Laurelporating counseling into their plans. If you hurst Park, something about being outside haven’t already, this can be an excellent time to with your beloved can bring you back to the consider taking even a few sessions of couples core reasons that you were together in the counseling with a therapist. It can be dauntfirst place. ing, particularly in this stressful time, but in 3) Give them space, and give yourself perthe long run you’ll be glad to have gotten some mission to take space. “Absence makes the of your groundwork straightened out before heart grow fonder,” certainly — and a little building your life together. time apart can make you all the more excited 8) Let go. Of all things, love is the one that by to come back together. its nature will surprise you — it has a life of its 4) Establish “no-planning zones.” Often, own, a cadence and energy that no one can box stressful times can make couples want to pick Photo by Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly in. Let go of your attachment to how your relaapart everything — and an extended consid- A weekend trip to the coast — with or without your betrothed — can be a quick and easy way to recharge your batteries. Haven’t yet tionship should look, how you want your parteration of your wedding flower arrangements popped the question? Proposal Rock in Neskowin, Ore., beckons. ner to feel about you, or how you want to expecan quickly escalate into a conversation you rience your partnership, and cultivate a sense of 5) Make love. Enough said! never wanted to have. Set aside specific times peaceful abiding in how your partner and part6) Get creative. When was the first time you realized that nership look now, just as they are. Realize that, regardless of for considering your wedding plans, and then don’t let them creep out of their boundaries. This is a place where you loved your partner? What was the first thing you found how it appears or your fantasies around how it should look, a wedding planner can particularly come in handy — let sexy about them? How did you feel when you realized they that this is what love looks like for you now, in this space. them define when you need to be concerned, and let it go loved you too? Commemorate these moments by writing True love is beautiful, far beyond any limit we may place to them down, painting them, or even just making up a silly little how it “should” look or feel. otherwise.

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CALENDAR WEDDINGS

THE HIGH COST OF COST-CUTTING: DANGERS OF HAVING FRIENDS EXECUTE YOUR WEDDING To save money, many couples now opt to enlist the help esting task — just giving a very brief talk at the beginning of family or friends to plan and execute their weddings. of the service, then letting the assembled guests give short While this certainly can shave hundreds or thousands off thoughts and blessings to the couple. However, as the date the bill, it often comes with a heavy drew closer, I found myself increasprice in terms of losing boundaries ingly anxious about the task; instead and straining relationships at a critof being happy for Jennifer, I started ical time. to resent that she had co-opted me “When my partner and I decided into this role.” to celebrate our union,” says JenniAt the ceremony itself, Treadfer Gladwell (all names are changed er’s closeness to the couple proved at the request of the wedding party), to make it more emotional than she “we wanted to go as simply as possianticipated. “I always cry at close ble — a small Quaker-style ceremony friend’s weddings, and this was no in a national park. Because my partexception — I was so embarrassed ner and I are both artists, we weren’t to be standing in front of everyone, working with a significant budget, so in this very official role, barely able I decided to enlist friends to help us to contain my own sobbing.” out.”

The baker saw similar probOne friend was asked to serve as lems. “While I’m confident in my the officiant, another cooking-savvy baking abilities,” explained Kathercompatriot was recruited to make ine Crowder, “a wedding cake is quite the cake, and a family member was the challenge! Honestly, I didn’t even chosen to handle the reception’s food factor in that it’s really not somePhoto courtesy of Pastry Girl thing appropriate to cook in a home spread.

“I was really honored to be asked A professional baker would gladly spare your friends and family the kitchen.” to officiate,” says Leah Treader, “even pressure of creating your dream cake, like this one from Pastry Girl.

Crowder drafted a plan for the though I had never done something like it before. For a cake — a three-layer chocolate-and-marionberry monQuaker-style wedding in particular, it seemed like an inter- strosity, frosted in buttercream — that ended up being

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overly ambitious for her own skill level. “The night before the ceremony,” she recalls sadly, “I found myself laying on the floor, absolutely devastated and crying that I couldn’t execute this thing that I promised Jennifer. I did end up getting something done, but I felt like it was a scene out of ‘Like Water for Chocolate.’ I was worried that all my tears in that cake would leave the whole wedding party devastated after eating it!”

For all of the problems it posed her friends, Gladwell and her partner were deeply pleased with the results. “My ceremony was just beautiful,” she recalls. “I couldn’t have been happier with it, myself. However, it was tangible to me that some of my closest friends were so stressed out! It added to my own stress level, but I couldn’t really address it. I do think it changed how much they enjoyed the ceremony themselves.”

In order to repay her friend’s kindness, Gladwell hosted a special debriefing dinner party after her honeymoon for the friends who helped. “Honestly, it was pretty upsetting to get the full picture of what it took for them to help me execute it,” she says. “I never plan to have another wedding, of course, but if I could go back and change things, I really do think it would have been worth it for me to pay a bit more and have professionals do things like the officiating and food. Everything turned out absolutely beautifully, of course, and I’m so thankful that my friends were able to step up for it, but I really would have rather had them enjoy my special day more.”

March-April 2013 • 21

WEDDINGS NIGHTLIFE WEDDINGS

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ARTS & CULTURE

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By Steve Strode PQ Monthly

Most of us have felt this way at one time or another — we’re on vacation, away from the obligations of daily life, and the place of that moment is the Best. Place. Ever. From relaxing on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, to an amazing surf in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, our community gets around. We see opportunity where others may not — and often that opportunity involves real estate.

So, you’ve vacationed to your favorite place for the umpteenth time, and decide you want to buy your own place. Where to start? Nowadays, we’re only limited by our imagination — and our budget. Millions of Americans now own property outside of the United States. Formerly only for the rich and famous, foreign property ownership often is now an integral part of middle-class investment or retirement strategy.

Like any major life decision, start with a plan. When we’re on vacation, we see everything through our rose-colored sunglasses.

Life is good; everyone is happy. So a wise plan is essential.

First, enlist a professional. Fellow Portlander Larry Holmes — he and his partner are closing on a property in Mexico soon — started with this advice: “Find the realtor before you start looking.”

We all surf the web for information, but just as in the U.S., information can be conflicting or outdated. And practices vary greatly by region.

“Assume you know nothing,” Holmes adds. “Never assume it’s anything like it is here.”

Fortunately, you can start your search locally. There are Certified International Property Specialists who are members of the National Association of Realtors. Since many countries require no licensing, and brokers outside the U.S. may not bound by any code of ethics or licensing laws, this is a great place to start. These property specialists often focus on a country or region — and since they are a part of your local community, they’ve got your back. Realtor.com/ international is a nice resource, too. And, of course, talk with friends or family who have already bought property elsewhere.

Who did they use? What would they have done differently?

Due diligence is essential. Laws vary greatly from country to country for foreign nationals. Make sure your broker can recommend a full team of professionals — attor-

neys, inspectors, etc. Cultural and business practices vary tremendously from the U.S.; be sure that broker is attuned to these differences.

Check to see if there are any restrictions on foreign ownership. In the United States, most property is conveyed fee simple — an absolute title to land, free of any other claims of title. Many other countries offer the same rights to foreigners as they do to citizens. But others may place restrictions or simply convey property differently.

Using Mexico again as an example, their Constitution defines a “restricted zone” near borders and coastlines. Property acquired by any non-Mexican is placed in a “fideicomiso,” or trust. But you still have the full right to use property and pass to heirs as if it were fee simple.

To underscore the caution “assume you know nothing,” remember that some places have storied and tumultuous pasts. Just as we do here, we want to be sure that the seller has legal authority to transfer title. We don’t want someone else to lay claim to what we thought was our new dream home!

Another part of due diligence is to be certain that your prospective property can be used as intended. If it’s just a “lock and leave” condo, and you don’t plan to rent it, you probably don’t need to worry. But if you do intend to rent it out, be sure that there won’t be limitations on rentals, and that it’s a viable option financially.

Everyone I have met who owns property outside the U.S. offers this advice: BE FLEXIBLE! Don’t judge differences as bad. In many cases, your dream location simply has a much different history of property rights. They may operate more slowly during certain times of the year — just like we do when the sun reappears on July 4.

As Holmes also shared with me, “Expect the unexpected.” Initially told he wouldn’t need a visa to buy property, from a practical standpoint that quickly changed. For financing and to get utilities, he learned later a visa was necessary. We’ve all learned that lesson, too — the right answer is dependent on asking the right question.

Finally, enjoy the quirks. That utility bill that you expect by email or snail mail? In Holmes’ case, it will be delivered by a guy on a bike and slipped under the main gate.

Steve Strode is a broker with Meadows Group in Portland. He is also vice chair of the Certified International Property Specialist Advisory Board at the National Association of Realtors. Locally, he also serves as president of Portland Frontrunners. pqmonthly.com

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ARTS & CULTURE FEATURES

LATEBIAN LIFE DARK SHADOWS

By Kathryn Martini PQ Monthly

PQ Monthly is published the 3rd Thursday of every month. Please contact us for advertising opportunities.

503.228.3139 PQMONTHLY.COM 24 • March-April 2013

The mammography technician asked if I’d lost weight since my last screening; the too loose skin on my now tiny body swallowed me and I told her I had. My entire mammogram would need to be repeated with “smaller plates.” She also let me know that sometimes when women rapidly lose weight, breast lumps are easier to detect, explaining the two my doctor recently found. After the mammogram, I went to the ultra-sound room where a technician slid a plastic wand across my well-lubricated left breast, measuring and taking pictures of round dark shadows on the screen.

“We found two masses,” Dr. Holland, the radiologist told me. I stared blankly at her, feeling the last drops of strength drain from my already depleted body. “They don’t have characteristics of being malignant, but we would like to schedule a biopsy, just to make sure.” She said not to worry and lots of women have non-cancerous tumors; it’s just precautionary.

I told Dr. Holland my wife left me four weeks earlier for someone she knew for six days. Somehow it seemed important that she knew that I just couldn’t do this now; she put her hand on my knee, let me sob, and was kind to me.

When I complained about the extra skin hanging on my mid-section from three cesareans and my breasts that looked like deflated footballs dangling from my chest, my wife would always say, “You’re beautiful just the way you are.” I was a size six, occasionally an eight, but always thought if I lost 10 pounds I would look super hot like I used to before time and circumstances took their gravitational toll. I wonder how many times I wished those pounds away.

“The break-up diet looks good on you, Martini,” a friend said. I was never sure whether or not to be flattered or insulted when someone noticed. I was 115 pounds, the smallest I’d been in 20 years. I signed a contract with my therapist, and promised to eat at least twice a day and not drink more than two glasses of wine. So far, I was abiding by my contract about 50 percent of the time. Eating disgusted me, but for some reason, I gained a super high alcohol tolerance.

I made no effort to lose weight; it just kept falling away from me, and I grew weaker, sicker, and deeper in despair. I looked at my body, not super hot like I imagined, but rather like someone robbed of everything good in her life and left an empty, decrepit, broken vessel of a person.

My now-recently-estranged-wife drove

me to the b i o p s y, b u t Dr. Holland thought it best if she waited outside during the procedure. Well medicated, I tried to relax while small needles of anesthetic, and then large hollow needles, punctured my breast, ripping back with them small pieces of tissue that would be examined for cancer. When it was over, the nurse held compresses to stop the bleeding; there would be swelling, two small scars, and someone from the lab would call in a few days. I imagined the results from the worst-case to less-than worse case scenarios, not sure if six months to live was better or worse than having my boob mangled or losing it all together. I watched YouTube videos on the procedures and obsessed awhile longer, detailing elaborate fantasies that somehow I would get a boob job out of the deal and would never have to wear a bra again.

“Hi, this is Judith from the lab. Do you have time to talk about your biopsy results?”

I wondered who ever said no. She slowly explained that the more prominent mass was normal fibrocystic changes with no malignancy and the other a fibroid adenoma, or benign tumor.

“Aren’t you relieved?” everyone asked, but I was quite ambivalent; it was increasingly difficult to see the good in anything, even news that I didn’t have cancer.

I was invited to a party with some new friends and went shopping for a little black dress that would fit. I turned to the side and saw myself. I looked different, definitely, and nothing like I did at 25, despite being the same size. I bravely went to the party, met fun, nice people and started to see that there would one day be light in my life again, and my body and my soul would eventually heal.

My body will change and age and eventually fail. Nothing stays the same and no matter what commercials may tell us, we can’t reverse the process or take shortcuts.

Sometimes our lives break down and somehow we keep moving forward through each day and experience, at times with the greatest joy and at others in the deepest heartbreak. My grief has taught me that my personal well-being is what’s most important, because life is both infinitely short and messy.

Our bodies reflect what’s happening inside, and issues like my dress size or how my breasts look, or if I even have them or not, are much less vital than being kind to others and loving ourselves through each life lesson we encounter.

Kathryn Martini is a freelance writer and MFA candidate for creative nonfiction at Portland State University. She can be reached through kathrynmartini.com. pqmonthly.com

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DID I JUST TAKE PILLS? OR, SOMNILOQUIES

By Nick Mattos PQ Monthly

8 a.m. Sunday morning; his bedroom is bright with early sun shining through the east window. I open my eyes slowly as he walks back into the room holding a tray — I see a French press, a coffee mug, his crooked smile as he sets the tray down beside the bed.

“Morning, handsome,” he says softly.

“Good morning,” I reply. “When’d you wake up?”

“Just a bit ago,” he says. “You talked in your sleep again last night.”

My smile dissipates. “Fuck,” I sigh.

One year ago: I’m sitting on the wide leather couch in my psychotherapist’s office — “Do you remember when it started?” she asks, her legs crossed neatly at the knee.

“As far as I know, it’s been happening my entire life,” I say, looking thoughtfully at the floor. “My mother tells me that when we would go to visit family and would have to sleep in the same room, I’d talk all night.”

“Does it disturb you?” my therapist asks, leaning back in her chair.

“No,” I reply. “I mean, I’m asleep, I have no idea. It disturbs the hell out of the people I’m sleeping beside, though, and that’s what bothers me. I mean, what the hell am I telling them? What part of me keeps talking when the rest of me is asleep?”

She runs her thumb over the slick plastic of her pen thoughtfully. “It’s quite fascinating,” she says. “Usually, when we’re asleep, something switches — our bodies are paralyzed and our minds are free. However, it sounds like that switch doesn’t quite happen.” Her eyes meet mine. “For you, something doesn’t switch off.”

“Somniloquy.” It’s such a beautiful word, a term that evokes poetry or the theater. However, my somniloquies, my sleep-talkings, are virtually never drama or poetry — they’re random, bizarre, non-sequitur exclamations and murmurings. A dear high school friend still reminds me frequently of lying on her bedroom floor in a sleeping bag, inquiring incredulously, “Did I just take pills!?” Various reports have indicated that in my sleeping hours I’ve had one-way communication with the likes of Pippi Longstocking, Abraham Lincoln, my father, Nancy Drew, Burt Reynolds, Mary Baker Eddy, and perhaps most cryptically and alliteratively, “The Man in the Pan.” My own taped experiments have indicated that I don’t sleep-talk when alone; however, when I’m sleeping beside someone, particularly someone I’m romantically interested in, I talk extensively. It can

be absolutely hilarious at times, sure — but my sleep-talking has also caused me significant relationship problems, leaving me to wake up next to a partner who’s angry and vexed about something “I” did with no consciousness. In that regard, it’s a nightmare.

Joan Didion once articulated her coping strategy for dealing with the unfathomable: “Read, learn, work it up, go to the literature.” So, I immerse myself in the research on my particular parasomnia: 5 percent of adults occasionally talk in their sleep, with a much smaller percentage sharing my penchant for chronic severe somniloquy. While folk wisdom dictates that sleep-talkers are simply speaking aloud the things that one would say in a dream, sleep specialists find that sleep-talking can occur at all stages in the sleep cycle, and that the somniloquies often have nothing to do with the dreams that the sleeper later recollects. Fifty percent of children sleep-talk, but virtually all outgrow by the onset of puberty; however, a very large percentage of parents whose children sleep-talk begin sleep-talking themselves, regardless of whether they ever did previously.

Modern sleep science — and the courts — accept that sleep talking is not a product of a conscious or rational mind; as such, somniloquies are virtually never admissible in court.

Researchers have not yet pinpointed a single cause of somniloquy. Stress, depression, fever, sleep deprivation, alcohol consumption, and mental illness have all been pointed at as potential causes; however, none of these explanations mesh well with sleep-talking being so common in children.

One study, however, pointed out something critical: sleep-talking occurs more frequently when one is sleeping in a strange location such as a hotel room, or in children who are moved (say, from the couch to a bed) once asleep.

“These circumstances evoke a need for vigilance that translates into a need to stay awake so as to protect oneself from harm,” explains researcher Dennis Rosen, “which often collides with the drive for sleep.” The result: something doesn’t switch off. Is this why I sleep-talk? When I’m asleep next to someone, do I ever feel safe?

8:05 a.m. Sunday morning, and he is climbing back into bed beside me, careful not to jostle our coffee mugs. “You were saying really cute things,” he tells me, setting his hand on my arm.

Something doesn’t switch off. In my sleep, in the quiet hours beside someone, I talk. Do I ever feel safe? Here, in his sun-lit bed full of wakefulness and coffee, I do — as much as I ever will.

“What did I say?” I ask, hesitantly. He smiles crookedly in response, and I wait to hear the answer.

Nick Mattos can be reached at nick@pqmonthly.com. pqmonthly.com

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BOOKS MUSIC

BIG DIPPER FINDS HIS PLACE RICA SHAY: ON THE BEAT PATH IN THE HIP HOP FIRMAMENT

By Daniel Borgen

‘I need to meet my meat quotient’ did. We used lettuce for the flesh-ripping sound effect. We just tore it up in the mic; Dan You’ve probably seen the viral videos. read that they did it in the sound design for (Hint: YouTube “Meat Quotient” or “Sum- ‘Jurassic Park,’ so we messed around with mertime Realness.”) Maybe you visited it. It was originally much longer—four long Chicago and caught one of his intricate- verses, tons of storytelling. We cut it down, ly-choreographed live shows — he plays but it’s still a pretty long track.” both gay bars and more obscure, androgAlthough Big Dipper now seems like he ynous hipster locales. Maybe you caught was meant for the stage—if you haven’t seen the Details spread wherein he was labeled him yet, you will soon—it wasn’t his first a “queer hip-hop pioneer” — a label that passion. Immediately after college, where both baffles and humbles him. He’s only he studied theater and directing, he was been making music since 2011. headed down a different road. Performance was a secret dream.

“I never felt completely confident,” he says. “The things I wanted to do were always too far left in the arenas I was working in — especially in college, when I was directing.

“When I left college I was all set to pursue a career as a director, and I did for a while. I directed and choreographed and worked in live theater and at events and parties. I started to perform a bit and realized that I really loved it.

“When I created music and stage shows and music videos I was in complete control — I didn’t have to please an artistic director or client and I got to be completely free with my expresPhoto by Cheryl Mann sion. That’s when I started Big Dipper’s inaugural Portland performance is at The Eagle on April 20. focusing all of my energy on rap music. To me, every “I am a fan of all the other people in that single skill I learned as a director, choreograspread,” he says. “I felt like the odd man out pher, producer — they all helped create Big — but I’m honored.”

Dipper and help me greatly as a rapper.”

He fucks bears, forges lifelong friendAnd, as a self-declared control freak ships with dykes, loves pop music, and who’d rather take his time putting out a proudly stages his shows “like Britney quality product than hurry and put out Spears concerts.” Ambitious. something half-assed, that autonomy sits Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the well with him. But Dipper doesn’t shy away world of Big Dipper. from collaboration. Foley, obviously, has “Meat Quotient,” Dipper’s latest single— been in on the game from the outset — off of his EP, “They Ain’t Ready”— is all at once there’s also “Summertime Realness” with messy and catchy, raunchy and completely Rikki Crowley, aka Rica Shay. And, of late, addictive. These aren’t your grandma’s lyrics Big Dipper has spent a ton of time working (and certainly not Britney’s): “I need some- with other producers and artists in New thing rough and thick and wet and juicy/a York. This amalgamation is what makes his five-course meal to make my ass so loos- music stand out: the synths, the drums, the ey-goosey.” Made with frequent collaborator samples, the brash lyrics.

Dan Foley (of Baathhaus), “Quotient” deliber“Most of my inspiration came from nonately offers a more graphic and overtly sexual queer rappers like Kanye, Nicki Manaj, Jurasvibe than the track that made Dipper a queer sic Five, Missy Elliot — that sort of thing,” he household name, “Drip Drop.” says. “I had really only heard of Cazwell as far “‘Meat Quotient’ was the second track as ‘successful’ gay MCs — so I thought I was I made with Dan,” Dipper explains. “‘Drip doing something pretty new. Then when I Drop’ was so bouncy and playful, we started doing press and being grouped with wanted to do something darker, grimier, other artists, I became aware of the numermore graphic, and even more sexual — but I ous queer rappers out there. By the time I was also trying to work a melodic hook into was in New York for the Details shoot, I loved the mix. That didn’t stick, but the chant of big dipper page 31 PQ Monthly

28 • March-April 2013

“You can catch me in the bar I be workin’ for cash,” Rica Shay in “Summertime Realness.”

By Daniel Borgen PQ Monthly

Rica Shay, aka Rikki Crowley, first appeared on our radars last summer when he collaborated and co-wrote the video sensation “Summertime Realness” with Big Dipper. And, let’s get serious, hearing those rhymes spit out by 5’7”, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Crowley, we were taken aback.

The self-proclaimed nomadic “fagabond” can rap with the best of them. He’s also endlessly amused by the “butch” pictures publishers and bloggers insist on taking of him. (“That’s so not me, but whatever. Fantasize.”)

We caught up with Crowley hours before he got on a plane to see family in Alabama.

PQ Monthly: Was “Summertime Realness” your first stab at making music? Were those your lyrics?

Rikki Crowley: That was my third time in the studio — I started in January of last year. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started. I’m a Taurus and I’m very stubborn — I will never spit someone else’s lyrics. If you want me to be on a song, record it, send me a version, and I’ll write my own parts. So yeah, I wrote my verse and we [Dipper and Crowley] wrote the chorus together.

With “Realness,” I also got to help style the video and help with art direction — I went to film school and that’s part of what I want and like to do. We shot that video in two days. I was in New York Friday night dancing until like 4 in the morning, and I was on the plane at 7 and on set just a few hours later. I was fucking tired, but it worked.

PQ: How did the Accidental Bear summer tour come to be?

RC: I met Mike Enders, who runs the blog, after “Realness.” I was in San Francisco, and I was going to leave, but I heard Big Dipper was coming, so I stuck around to see him. Mike saw me perform and then later hit me up for the tour. I’m so excited — it’s like my second time being flown anywhere like this. So far it’s five cities, and

Photo by Walt Cessna

we’d love to add more. All I want to do is travel — however long the tour goes is how long it goes.

PQ: Are you recording anything right now?

RC: I have about 30 or so tracks I’m working on, but I’m being really picky. I don’t want to release anything shitty. I am really conceptual when it comes to art projects — sound is a big thing to me, I want it to flow and make sense. I want people to get that I’m giving them a story. I want to release something by summer, hopefully. It’s tentatively called “The Midnight Caterpillar.”

The beats are dark and grimy — I want it to be my style, what I want to listen to on my headphones. A lot of electronic, hip hop, trance, techno — it’ll be a clusterfuck, but one that makes sense.”

PQ: So you’re seemingly everywhere right now — city after city. Will this be your first time in Portland?

RC: I’ve been living nomadically for three years. I called myself a “fagabond” and was disappointed when I found out a gay travel agency already coined the phrase.

Anyway, yeah, I went to film school, but I don’t want to be behind the scenes until I’m an old man — so for now, I travel and perform as much as I can.

I was in Portland, actually, a couple of years ago with my friend Bradley. It was November and it was cold as fuck. I remember going to this underwear party — I don’t remember where. I’m a big exhibitionist.

Shocking, right? Anyway, I’m not comfortable unless people around me are. And there, at that party, everyone was super cute, laid back. We went to a club later and I go-go danced — this drag queen came up to me and said, “Baby, you got a little BO going. I mean, I think it’s hot and it’s sexy you don’t give a fuck.” And no, I don’t give a fuck.

See Rikki this summer during the Accidental Bear tour — along with Big Dipper and Portland’s own Logan Lynn. Stay with our blog for all the latest. pqmonthly.com

BECOMING MEN

MUSIC

JD Samson on music, politics, and gender

By Erin Rook

PQ: People sometimes complain that the queer community focuses too much on dance parties, saying they’re just an Queers of a certain age may remem- excuse to get drunk and debaucherous. ber Le Tigre’s music as the soundtrack to But you’ve argued that dance can be politthe booze-fueled feminist dance parties of ical. Is it inherently political or is that an their early 20s. But former band member JD intention that has to be brought by the DJ Samson’s current project, MEN, takes that or the crowd? fusion of pop and politics Samson: I think that in to a more grown-up place.

Le Tigre we were definitely PQ Monthly chatted working with the idea that with Samson in advance being in a space with all of her West Coast DJ tour these incredible feminists about the band’s second and allies moving their album (due out in the fall) bodies around and being and the evolution of her vulnerable to the music approach to music, poliwas inherently political, for tics, and gender. sure…. I think that in terms PQ: How would you of this record I really wanted compare MEN’s upcomto think about something ing album to the last one? that someone would turn Samson: I think I went on at home. Something that more introspective. Someyou could listen to on the one was interviewing me dance floor but that you from France for the promo also want to listen to by from the first record and yourself and in your headshe said something like, phones and all the other JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN) DJs at Control Top “You never say ‘I’ in this places we’re queer. I think March 23. record, you say ‘we’ the that was really an interestwhole time.” I was so shocked because I ing thing for me because as I grow older I had never heard that before in a review…. I definitely have less interest in spending all think I was hiding behind this “we” or some- the time I have at the dance club. And that’s thing and this album is very much more per- made me really redefine what is political sonal for me. Like there’s some love songs about dancing and what is political about and things like that and I think it was a really just being by yourself at home and thinkbig step for me as an artist to be vulnerable ing a lot about art. in that way, so that is cool. But then there’s PQ: Where did the name MEN come from also, of course, a bunch of political songs and how has its meaning shifted over time?

— one about [South African runner] Caster Samson: The name kind of came about Semenya and one about Pussy Riot and, you because Johanna [Fateman] and I were know, some general feminist jams. I would DJing a lot and our agent was like, “You say we took more chances and, in a way, it guys really need a name — you can’t just feels like that makes the record a little all be Jo and JD from Le Tigre.” So we had been over the place. But to me, what I really like traveling a lot on tour and talking about about it is that it’s not 15 songs that sound how we needed to adapt to a new philosthe same. It’s a journey. ophy, mostly for travel purposes, which PQ: What about Caster’s story spoke to was: “What would a man do?” It was kind you? of about this idea that men have more conSamson: I think I’ve always been kind fidence and believe in themselves more, so of androgynous in the way that I look and women need to pretend they’re like men questioned in terms of who I was and what when they’re in situations where they might I identified as. It’s always a struggle for me feel vulnerable in order to gain some of that. to respond to people because I find that I’m It was kind of this tongue-in-cheek idea. kind of shy and I feel so vulnerable in those Obviously I don’t think men and women moments that I just want people to be quiet need to pretend to act like men all the time and go away. And I really saw that in her. I to feel better about themselves, but you think that my relationship to it is extremely get what I’m saying…. We talk a lot about personal and emotional. I feel like I saw this this idea that anyone can call themselves a feeling that I feel all the time in her face man, anyone can call themselves a woman and that really drew me in and I feel like I — and we are all just human beings. And so wanted to express that. And the song that that another part of it – it’s like men as in we wrote about her is in the first person, so humans, and I like that idea, too. people could think that I’m talking about myself, but it’s her voice.

JD Samson performs a DJ set in Portland PQ: Where does the album rank on a March 23 at Control Top with DJs Nark, Roy scale of dance-i-ness?

G Biv, Mr Charming, and Bruce La Bruiser; Samson: I think it general it’s almost White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th Ave. For dancier [than the last album] but it’s a little more from PQ’s interview with Samson, visit bit more experimental. the blog at pqmonthly.com.

PQ Monthly

pqmonthly.com

March-April 2013 • 29

PERSSPECTIVES

30 • March-April 2013

pqmonthly.com

TRAVEL & OUTDOORS ARTS & CULTURE

COME OUT LAUGHING: THREE FUNNY QUEERS BRING THE FUNNY HA HA

(Left to right) Ian Harvie, Dana Goldberg, and Jason Dudey

Photo by Gen Levy

By Julie Cortez

down our community,” adds Dudey, who founded Come Out Laughing in 2008 but thinks he scored the perfect combination of comic talents when Harvie, a trans man, and Goldberg, a lesbian, joined him about a year ago. “We don’t take the easy punchline.… We all lift the LGBT community up.”

Their warm humor, fierce devotion to their “LGBTQ family,” and their mutual admiration suffused the conversation as they chatted with PQ Monthly via phone in advance of their Portland visit.

“Ian and Jason and myself, our egos don’t play into a lot of what we do, so we enjoy being on stage with each other,” Goldberg says. “ … We have so much faith in each other’s skills and talents, that we actually get to sit back and enjoy the show, which never happens when you’re [a comedian] at a comedy show.”

Their affectionate teasing is particularly illuminating of their friendship and their comedic styles, and is probably best appreciated as a straight-up conversation.

PQ Monthly

ON THEIR DYNAMIC “Just be funny.” For the comedians on the Come Out Laughing tour, this is a commandment to be devoutly followed — one etched in stone by the god of comedy.

Above all, Jason Dudey, Dana Goldberg, and Ian Harvie want to make you laugh. If knowing that the folks splitting your sides identify as gay, lesbian, and trans can help shake up a few of your preconceived notions about gender and sexuality, that’s gravy on the GLT sandwich the trio will be serving up March 28 at Portland’s Bobwhite Theatre.

“When you’re funny, your gender identity, however that is, becomes secondary to an audience,” says Goldberg. “…

I tell you what, if we bomb on stage, then we were a notfunny lesbian, we were a not-funny gay man, we were a not-funny trans. But if we’re bringing the funny, which is what we do, then we’re just funny comics.”

Their approach to “bringing the funny” does not, however, mean resorting to cheap shots at the LGBTQ community’s expense.

“Each of our styles is about honesty and our lives,” Harvie says, “… It might be edgy because it’s honest, but it’s not edgy because it’s picking on somebody else.”

“We’re not going to do something that slanders or brings

big dipper Continued from page 28

all the other artists in the piece.”

“From there I started to do some major research about the trailblazing MCs that have been in the game for a while,” he adds, mentioning the likes of Mikki Blanco, Cakes Da Killa, House of Ladosha, and God Des and She. “Johnny Dangerous from Chicago has a similar vibe to what I’m about. Fun and sexy— he’s very sweet and smart and experienced, and he gave me a ton of advice when we met.”

Big Dipper is known for genre-bending in music and community — he’s famously said he screws bears but doesn’t necessarily always socialize with them.

“If someone wants to call me a bear,” he insists, “more power to them.”

Just what the hell does he mean by that? pqmonthly.com

Harvie: “Despite all three of us being in relationships, I think these two both want to do me.”

Dudey: “Totally.”

Goldberg: “Jason and I have talked about it; we both have crushes on Ian. It’s very confusing for me, because I actually want his sperm, but he doesn’t have any. He’s a baby daddy option, but there’s one part lacking. So we’d actually have to have a baby daddy for our baby daddy.”

Dudey: “I just want to share a hotel room with Ian, but apparently I snore a lot. … Wait till you meet Ian — you’ll fall in love with him, too. It’s the lips.”

Goldberg: “… He’s actually, I think, one of the best looking guys I’ve ever seen. Period.”

Dudey: “Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.”

Goldberg: “Next to Jason. I’m sorry. After Jason Dudey, Ian is the next [most] attractive man.”

Harvie: “You guys fell for it so hard. I just threw that line out there, and you both bit, and it just was awesome. I just got all these awesome compliments and completely just was fishing and got exactly what I needed. So I’m good for today. Thanks, guys.”

And what sort of juxtaposition occurs when where you fuck is different from where you party?

“I guess, traditionally, and what we see predominantly represented in any sort of magazine, porn, gay bar — a bear is an older, huskier, chubby man with a lot of body hair, and specifically a beard. Normally these men present very butch and take their masculine representation very seriously. Traditionally, this isn’t a group of men who listen to hip hop music.

“Now, things are changing. ‘Bear bars’ are populated with a variety of people, ranging in race and age and body size and interests and all that. My experience has been you hear more techno, house, electronic, or even pop music in bear bars, but never hip hop music. On the other hand, my peers are throwing awesome queer dance parties, open to anyone in neutral spaces defined by

PQ: “I think the subhead of this article is going to be, ‘Wherein Ian gets his ego stroked.’”

Dudey: “Yeah, when I said none of us has an ego, I meant Jason and I. I’m sorry.”

Dudey: “That’s the only thing Ian has to stroke.”

Ian: [Laughing] “Oh, shit.”

ON TWEAKING STEREOTYPES Dudey: “I play a lot of ‘straight rooms’ — I hate saying that, I just play fucking rooms is what I play. Sometimes I’m in places like Pittsburgh, and these steelworkers, by and large, really can’t stand homosexuality. But then afterwards, I’ve had them laughing the whole time, and then after the show they’ll punch me in the shoulder, like, ‘You’re fucking funny!’ And I’m like, ‘Ow! That hurt!’ Because I’m kind of the gay next door. I’m that gay that everyone knows. …

So they listen to me. I hope I’m changing a few people’s minds. I’ve definitely seen less homophobia in audiences.”

Goldberg: “None of us are directly stereotyped immediately when we hit the stage. No one’s just gonna assume I’m a lesbian, and no one’s going to assume Jason’s gay — until he starts talking — and no one is going to assume Ian is trans.”

Dudey: [Later, after Goldberg has left the conversation] “I love that she thinks no one knows she’s a lesbian. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard all day. Wait till you meet Dana — you’re not even going to question. And I like the way Dana thinks they’re not gonna know I’m gay till I start talking. You can tell when I walk on stage — just the way my hips swivel, you can tell I’m gay.”

Harvie: “It’s the footwork; it’s the feet.”

Dudey:”It’s totally the feet. I can’t walk straight — I don’t even know how.”

Harvie: “You have really gay feet.”

Dudey: “Right? I also have them shoved in size 8 pumps, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.”

Catch Come Out Laughing, also featuring local comedian Belinda Carroll, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bobwhite Theatre (6423 SE Foster, Portland). Tickets are $20 in advance through brownpapertickets.com and $25 at the door.

people at the party. They play dance music, hip hop music, and embrace queer hip hop artists. It’s an underground where art and expression and gender and genre-bending are all encouraged.

“I usually attend a party where my friends are spinning or I rap live at a show like that and then I go somewhere else, a traditional ‘bear bar’ to meet men I’m interested in sleeping with. I like to date older, beefy, hairy men. I like a man with a past, a man with experience. I totally play the stereotype — I want a thick butch beefcake who will take care of me, after I take care of him.”

“But seriously,” he continues. “I am part of the separation too. I don’t see a bear bar as a potential gig because I don’t think the audience is interested in the music I’m making or what I’m saying — they’re just interested in me taking off my shirt.

I continue to get proven wrong, though.

I just played a bear bar the other night in New York City. It was filled with big, beefy men who were into my show — and I even brought out some straight girls, too.”

Whatever the secret formula, Big Dipper seems to have mastered it. Bears, twinks, lesbians — Dipper has legitimate crossover appeal. His now-frequent jaunts around the country are proof enough of that. He’ll be in Portland three times this year — in April at the Eagle, again at Blow Pony in June, and then later this summer as part of the Accidental Bear tour, along with local Logan Lynn and “Summertime” partner Rica Shay. Big Dipper’s April visit will mark the first time he’ll experience Portland nightlife. So, naturally, he expects you, dear readers, to bring it.

See Big Dipper at The Eagle, 835 N Lombard, on April 20 at 10 p.m. Download his EP at bigdipperjelly.com.

March-April 2013 • 31

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PONDERLUST WRITTEN ON THE BODY

By Erin Rook PQ Monthly

I have a complicated relationship with reflective surfaces. When we’re alone together, I can’t get enough of them. But make us share a public space and I’ll pretend we’ve never met. See, I’m not proud of this thing I have with mirrors. When I am alone and safe behind a closed bathroom door, my first impulse is to zoom into the mirror, bringing my face within a few inches of the glass. This is my comfort zone.

Zoomed in, it’s all pores and chin hairs and chapped lips. Standing back, there’s a whole face and, worse, a body to contend with.

Growing up, my granddad liked to joke that I was going to wear out the big unframed mirror hanging in the entryway.

It was so innocent back then, the stuff of preteen vanity. Fixing my bangs, trying to decide if that dimple in my left cheek was cute or weird, thinking if I looked long enough I’d start to recognize the person staring back at me.

My vain preoccupations only got worse as puberty delivered ingrown hairs, acne, and other blemishes. Suddenly, making sure everything was in its place became a bigger task. I couldn’t resist the little red bumps of ingrown hairs and diligently set out to fix each affected follicle. Before long, my legs were covered in tiny red dots — one more reason to detest dressing down for gym class. I nearly failed P.E. because of my aversion to wearing shorts. When I caved, I told my classmates I had chicken pox to deter their questioning. Eventually, strangers came to that conclusion on their own.

Once I discovered the internet, I learned I was not alone. Not only that, but I was lucky. Forums contained stories of people digging so deep they had to go to the hospital. Informational websites confirmed my condition could, in fact, be “life-threatening.” There was little information about possible remedies. It turns out, I’m a compulsive skin picker.

I know what you’re thinking — probably some combination of “ew” and “everybody does it.” But it’s not just a bad habit. It’s a real disorder — like, possibly getting its own entry in the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders “real.” Doctors have a number of serious-sounding names for it: neurotic excoriation, psychogenic excoriation, pathological skin picking, dermatillomania, and just as many possible causes and comorbidities. Perhaps you’re familiar with its cousin, trichotillomania — the one where people pull out their hair and sometimes eat it? It’s sort of like that. It may be related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or Body Dysmorphic Disorder, or addiction. No one

really knows.

By my junior year of high school, my parents had become concerned and sent me to see a psychiatrist. The doctor sat behind an imposing dark wood desk while I described the many hours each day I spent excavating my pores, searching for redemption in sebum and peeling epidermis — the results of each day’s dig gathering like rejected snowflakes at the bottom of my full-length mirror’s frame. I told her about my recurring, nagging, and entirely unfounded fear that my dad would run us off the road during car trips. It was one of a handful of odd and somewhat intrusive thoughts that slipped through from time to time. Though there was no clear connection between the obsessive thoughts and the compulsive behaviors, it was enough to earn me a diagnosis of “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified” and a prescription for Paxil.

The pills never seemed to make a difference. Nor did the many counselors and social workers I saw over the years. Not even the hypnotherapist who specialized in CSP could cure me with his $280-an-hour sessions, his knowing beard, and his legal pad full of what were surely Freudian observations.

I’ve been trying, with varying degrees of interest and success, to stop picking since I was 13 years old. Perhaps there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to. It’s like I’m hooked on the feeling. Or rather, the lack of one.

If I’m not careful, picking puts me into a trance where time, and the world outside my task in that moment, do not exist. When I finally come up for air, my body twisted into awkward positions, I have no concept of how much time has passed. It’s like this black hole I stumble into periodically, a mini dissociation vacation offering respite from the trappings of my physical reality.

Remaining present takes a constant vigilance I’ve not yet developed. I practice looking into the mirror from a distance, squirming in the discomfort of a wider view.

Even away from mirrors, I must be always on-guard. A reasonable attempt to pull off a dangling flake of dry skin — to scratch an itch, even — can easily turn into a tactile fault-finding mission. My fingertips springing to action, surveying my skin’s landscape with obsessive form, paying careful attention to every bump, ridge, and ripple. Reading my skin like braille on a sheet of paper that was meant to be blank. The blankness is alluring, but ultimately unachievable. But I’m writing a new story on my body now — hoping, this time, it will be one I can bear to read.

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Erin usually writes other people’s stories, but occasionally offers up a few of his own.

What’s written on your body? Send charts and diagrams to erin@pqmonthly.com. pqmonthly.com

March-April 2013 • 33

THE GOOD LIFE

Cultivating Life YOUR SPRINGTIME GARDEN IS CALLING TO YOU

By LeAnn Locher PQ Monthly

It’s Monday deep will both feed the soil and deter weed m o r n i n g a n d germination. I like the power mulch from I’ve awakened Best Buy in Town Landscape Supply in Hillto a body that sboro. It’s cow manure-based, meaning it’s spent a weekend high in nitrogen to help plants grow and spring gardening. thrive. They have a certified organic comScratches from post that’s also fantastic. shrub pruning • Share the love by dividing plants now show themselves and gifting friends or bare areas in your on my wrist, and that swelling on my finger garden. Hostas and daylilies will benefit is most likely a rose thorn that hooked with a little more room and divisions. me while I hacked at it mercilessly. Ham• Watch out for slugs. Wet weather is a strings present themselves, letting me know slug’s favorite habitat. Clean up ground they’ve been put to good debris where slugs like to use, and as I gaze out at hide, and bait with beer the cleared front garden no or iron phosphate (safe longer filled with the debris to use around pets). Or if of last season’s growth, I sip you prefer, don a headmy coffee and dream for lamp and venture out what’s next. at night with a bucket This is the time of year of soapy water to hand when one blinks, and the pick and dunk the slugs garden jumps. What’s weedyourself. Try to not laugh free with fresh soil bared maniacally while doing to the sky today, will likely so, hardcore gardener. be full of popweed and its • Prune ornamental white blooms next weekshrubs and plants now. end. While I’ve dug out Remember you’re prunthe taproots of those firm ing to both control and gripping dandelions best I promote growth, and for could, it’s quite possible I god’s sake get to that rose missed a tiny bit and within now before it explodes all days, a telltale sign, a yellow Popweed, or Little Bittercress, is a most popular weed over the place. bloom, will open itself on a in gardens this time of year. Did you know it’s edible?

Ke e p u p w i t h t h e sunny afternoon. Such is the work of a spring weeds. Vigorous attention to them now gardener. We do what we can, the best that keeps them from setting to seed and we can, and enjoy the moment for what it becoming a thousand times worse months is. Just as the sky is likely to turn from sun- from now. I know it’s not what you want to shine to rain and back again, Portland gar- hear, I’m sorry. deners do our best to keep up in springtime.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS THE TRUTH ABOUT TIMING Hardy Plant Society’s Hortlandia Plant & It’s not time to plant tomatoes. Put those Art Sale will take place April 13-14, 10 a.m. basil seeds away. Make a list of the corn, to 3 p.m., at the Portland EXPO Center. With squash, cucumbers, and peppers you plan 105 vendors all in the same place at the same to grow, but for god’s sake do not plant them time, giddiness of spring gardeners is palnow. This time of year is a tease to Portland pable at this excellent plant sale. Yes, there gardeners, with reports from family mem- is art, too, but if you haven’t made time to bers in Texas turning on their AC or tending get to all of those specialty nurseries you’ve to their salsa gardens. While you can’t plant made lists of, chances are, they’ll be here your “Mortgage Lifters” yet, there’s a pleth- at the sale. Admission is free; parking is $8. ora of things you can do this time of year.

Portland’s downtown Saturday farmThey include … ers market opens March 16, 8:30 a.m. to 2 • Use a soil thermometer to determine p.m. A great place for both plants and prowhen you can plant vegetables. For vege- duce, this is my favorite spot for taking outtables to thrive, the soil needs to be 40ºF of-town guests and for getting my week’s or above. supply of fresh foods. My favorites are the • Spread compost over garden beds. A forest foragers, with early spring bringing good three-way mix spread several inches in wood sorrel and black truffles.

LeAnn Locher is an OSU Extension Master Gardener and self-certified home arts badass. Connect with her and others who love to dig in the garden and cook in their kitchens at facebook.com/sassygardener.

34 • March-April 2013

EAT, DRINK, AND, BE MARY JUICE ME

By Brock Daniels PQ Monthly

There is definitely no doubt that we eat, and enjoy food, because it tastes good. The fad diets of the ‘80s and ‘90s have taught us that eating healthy doesn’t mean crunching on peanut butter-coated, Styrofoam-textured rice cakes and chewy microwaved chicken. We have learned that being healthy can be as delicious as it is good for you. Juicing helps us take the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and transform them into a tasty and easy meal packed full of everything we need. Do something good for yourself. Have a juice!

Key distinctions of the two Greenleaf Juicing Company locations at 810 NW 12th Ave in the Pearl and NW 23rd and Glisan are that they only use fresh organic produce.

“We don’t have any other inputs into our menu except for organic fruits and vegetables. No dairy, yogurt, almond milk, or other additives … nothing,” says owner Garret Flynn. “So we try to think up creative ways to juice, blend, press, and steam fresh fruit and vegetable combinations.”

And that is an understatement. Keeping the ingredients simple is their mantra, and giving our community access to honest, organic, unadulterated, local raw goods is a promise they keep. Heck, they get at least a full pallet of fresh produce delivered daily by bicycle.

From their signature drink, The Greenleaf — a perfect combination of green apple, lime, ginger, spinach, kale, parsley, cucumber, and celery — to an ice-thickened, blended berry smoothie treat called the Berry Fix where blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and a banana blend with strawberry-carrot juice — the possibilities are endless. Juice and smoothies aside, the ingenious conception of Greenleaf’s vegetable-based steamed juices epically renovate a cold-pressed juice into a mouthwatering warm soup-like meal. Avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, green pepper, cucumber, and celery are juiced in the Spicy Avocado Soup, and then steamed like milk in your morning latte. Unlike anything you

have ever had, just one in a lifetime would be a shame.

Juice cleansing has a long history of successful health benefits, and this internal body wash is making its way into our modern diet mainstream.

“Overhaul your diet, jumpstart a healthier lifestyle, drop some extra pounds, cleanse your body, clean-out your digestive tract, improve mental clarity and cognitive function, feed your hair, skin, and bloodstream with an abundance of micro-nutrients, live enzymes, vitamins, and minerals from the best source out there: raw, unadulterated produce,” ,” Greenleaf’s website suggests.

It’s easy, too. Let Greenleaf do the work for you. They will make and bottle the juice, they will organize and create your

Photo by Emily Wann

specialized plan, and all you have to do is drink. Call the juice cleanse professionals at Greenleaf Juicing Company for more information at 971-271-8988.

With an almost unlimited number of combinations, don’t be afraid to try your own concoction of fruit and vegetable juices. Start with some classic combinations like carrot and orange, and work your way up to spinach, kale, and ginger. Before you know it you will be taking wheatgrass shots every morning before yoga class.

It’s simple, it’s delicious, it’s juice, and it’s good for you.

Greenleaf Juicing Company Two Portland locations 810 NW 12th Ave. 971-271-8988 NW 23rd & Glisan 503-407-6890

Brock Daniels, a Pacific Northwest native, has studied wine, culinary arts, gastronomy, and loves researching new food. Brock has written a self-published cookbook titled “Our Year in the Kitchen.”

Reach him at brock@pqmonthly.com. pqmonthly.com

ARTS BRIEFS THE GOOD LIFE

Hot Flash Dances hosts a fundraiser for the Portland Fighting Fillies women’s football team at its March 23 dance party. Players will be in attendance for a live auction including a Fillies jersey and a silent auction including a date with a team member. DJ Wildfire will spin at this bimonthly party for women at Jones Bar. Learn more at hotflashdances.com.

Come Out Laughing brings three of its regular headliners — Jason Dudey, Dana Goldberg, and Ian Harvie — to Portland’s Bobwhite Theatre March 28. A popular monthly show at Long Beach’s Laugh Factory, Come Out Laughing is launching a national tour. Dudley, Goldberg, and Harvie are some of the top gay, lesbian, and trans comics currently on the scene and have appeared on LOGO, Comics Unleashed, and Wisecrack. Read more on page 31.

Bimonthly drag performance night Chicken Strip kicks off March 29 at Funhouse Lounge. Hosted by Kaj-anne Pepper, the lineup includes Serendipity Jones, Shitney Houston, Melody Awesomazing, Avocado Jones & Urethra Franklin (SF), Hellena Keller, and DieAna Dae. Dancing and debauchery will follow the drag show, with beats provided by DJs Chelsea Starr and Nark.

Brooklyn’s Heels on Wheels Glitter Roadshow rolls into Portland March 30 and 31for two days of workshops, performances, and dancing. On Saturday, a troupe of performers from across the “femme-inine” spectrum bring poetry, rock ‘n’ roll, and other queer performance art to the Local Lounge. Performers include Shomi Noise (NYC), The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins (SF), Heather Acs (NYC), Damien Luxe (NYC), and locals Sophia St. James and Sossity Chiricuzio.

DJs Roy G Biv and Shomi Noise will bring the dance party and Bloodhound Photography will capture all the beautiful faces. On Sunday, the performers will offer workshops and an all-ages, sober show at Recess. The all-genders workshop — “Femmepowerment: Strategies for Self-Confidence from the Stage to the Street” — starts at 4 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m. Find out more on Facebook or at heelsonwheelsglitterroadshow.com.

Radical queer author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore reads from her new book, “The End of San Francisco,” April 1 at Powell’s Books (downtown). The free-form memoir has been in the works for six years, and explores the realities and mythologies of radical queer community in San Francisco. The Seattle-based author is also the author of two novels, “So Many Ways to Sleep Badly” and “Pulling Taffy,” and the editor of five nonfiction anthologies, including “Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?: Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform,” “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity,” and “That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation.”

Not Enough! is hosting a reunion show April 6 at Red and Black Café comprised of bands that formed at past festivals to raise funds for this year’s fourth annual event. The show starts with an opening ceremony by queer worship band Thank You Holy Spirit and includes performances by dual-drummer band Voices, lesbian space metal from Fucking Lesbian Bitches, and the “faggoty” punk rock of Cockeye. The show starts at 7 p.m.

After a packed March debut, Sophia St. James’s queer strip night Hedonistic Decadence returns to the Local Lounge April 12. Expect pole dancing, a new layout for better viewing, birthday dances, and drink specials. Bring cash for tips — last month the bar ran out of ones. Find the event on Facebook to see a list of performers.

Queer literary roadshow SISTER SPIT returns to Portland April 7 with a 7:30 p.m. show at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. This year’s performers include Sister Spit co-founder Michelle Tea (author of award-winning memoir “Valencia” and the just-released young adult fantasy book “A Mermaid in Chelsea Creek,” among others), Ali Liebegott (author of the award-winning books “The IHOP Papers” and “The Beautifully Worthless and the upcoming novel “Cha-Ching!”), Cristy C. Road (a prolific Cuban-American artist and writer whose new graphic novel “Spit and Passion” comes out this fall), TextaQueen (an Aus-

tralian artist whose work has exhibited internationally and often uses felt-tip marker to explore the politics of sex, gender, and identity), Daniel LéVesque (a Bay Area wr iter and performer whose debut novel “Hairdresser On Fire” comes out this year), and DavEnd ( a Sa n Fr a n c i s co-based songwriter, performing artist, and designer whose current project “Fabulous Artistic Guys Get Overly Photo by Gary Norman Traumatized Some- “Anything But Brilliant: A Love Story” times: The Musical!” explores heterosexism and street harassment through theater). For more information, visit radarproductions.org/ sister-spit-2013.

Lights Up! Productions presents the premiere of “Anything But Brilliant: A Love Story,” by Bobby Ryan from March 30 through April 20 at Theatre! Theater!, which tells the story of a middle-aged playwright whose lifelong partner has recently died. The April 13 show is a fundraiser for Basic Rights Oregon and Oregon United for Marriage and includes a “Know Now!” post-show discussion. Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com.

Applications are open for the Third Annual Portland Queer Music Festival. This year’s event will take place at SHINY Music Hall Aug. 2-4 and will include an all-classical night. To apply, visit facebook.com/pdxmusicfestival.

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THE GOOD LIFE

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36 • March-April 2013

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March-April 2013 • 37

THE FUN STUFF

QUEER APERTURE Through his Queer Aperture project, photographer Jeffrey Horvitz has spent years documenting the LGBTQ communities of Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C. He’s well aware that a picture paints a whole mess of words, but here he offers a few actual words to better acquaint us with his dynamic subjects.

What is your name?

Daniel Borgen

Favorite book?

“The Year of Magical Thinking,” Joan Didion

How long have you lived in Portland?

Over 20 years, between Portland and Vancouver.

Favorite movie?

“Pretty Woman”

What is the first time you noticed that gayness existed?

When I started getting crushes on boys in elementary school on the playground.

Favorite word?

Perpetually

What would you consider a guilty pleasure?

Holing up at home with my stories and a wide array of goodies.

You’re having a dinner party of six; whom would you invite?

Jennifer Garner, Oprah, Hilary, Jesus, Whitney, and Leo DiCaprio What would you consider a perfect meal?

An authentic Italian spread What would be a perfect day off?

A vacation day in San Francisco or New York

Least favorite word?

Moist Favorite swear word?

Fuck What is your profession?

Writer/Tutor/Barista If you could change your profession with a snap of your fingers what would choose?

I’d be the author of many, many books.

What person, living or dead, would you like to meet?

Jesus For more Queer Aperture visit, queeraperture.com

Photo by Jeffrey Horvitz

ASTROSCOPES WITH MISS RENEE Miss Renee aka Tarot Chick is an empath, tarot card reader, and spiritual astrologer of 20 years based out of N. Portland’s Kenton neighborhood. She loves love notes so feel free to holla or schedule a tarot/astrology chart session: that_tarot_chick@yahoo.com. tastic retrograde. It’s remains in dreamy/non-linear Pisces, however. Luckily for you, multiple planets in Aries march through your 11th house of Friendships.

This is an excellent time to consider advice from trusted, grounded friends. Full moon March 27 can bring romantic/creativity tickles. Hayyyy!

Miss Renee aka Tarot Chick. Email her to make an apointment

that_tarot_chick@yahoo.com

ARIES Bam! Pow! Zoom! The next 30 days = high octane.

Last month may have tangled you up/ muddied your mind, slowing you down and creating opportunities to clarify where you want to put your energy. You have the power of attraction now as Sun, Mars, and Venus lend their power to Aries. What are you gonna go get?

TAURUS Taurus gets all k.d. lang “Constant Craving” now.

Multiple planets tiptoeing through your 12th house (Hidden/Unconscious) in fiery Aries may have you acting on desires you didn’t consciously realize you had / provoke endings. Venus here may reveal secret admirers, uncover hidden talent. Yum! Full moon in Libra March 27 highlights work and health shifts.

CANCER Put the WERK into work, Moonbaby. Multiple planets in Get It! Aries grouped in your 10th house (Career) help push open doors and give you energy to burn the candle at both ends. Be strategic: Mars here is über competitive and Venus here wants to mix work with pleasure. Full moon March 27 highlights “home/ mom/family.”

LEO “These vagabond shoes are longing to stray.” Wanderlust hits Leo like a ton of hipster glasses with a group of planets in fiery Aries zipping through your 9th house of Travel. Starting/completing higher education, expanding your life experiences via hobbies/ cultures, even starting/finishing a book are possibilities now. Un-rut and focus on long-term goals.

VIRGO GEMINI Give/take, what’s yours/what’s mine, comfort zones YES!!! Your ruler Mercury is FINALLY out of that crap- — all main themes for Virgo now— taking the forms 38 • March-April 2013

of finance, intimacy/sex/your values systems. Usually reation. Kids. You are on FIYAH here and your power I side with Jessie J’s “Price Tag” song. But for you of attraction is amazeball. Be fearless. Be scrupulous. right now, it IS about the “money money money.” Full #PleaseHammerDontHurtEm moon March 27 and new moon April 10 are catalysts.

LIBRA Polarization station! Thick planetary action between the first house (Self) and the 7th house (Others) highlights issues of You OR Me vs. You AND Me, requiring strategic balancing acts between getting your needs/ desires met and meeting the needs/desires of others.

On the + side: peeps have your back. Full moon in Libra March 27 = amazing self-care day.

CAPRICORN Tribe Cappie loves planning BUT (wait for it...) multiple planets jamming your 4th house (Home/Family/ Housing) requires flexibility. However, this is a great time to put energy into home life, do repairs, put your house on the market or move. Full moon March 27 in 10th house (Career) says shine on, you crazy diamond.

AQUARIUS Aquarians are known as the mad scientists/geniuses of SCORPIO the zodiac. Sun/Mars/Venus in your 3rd house of ComPeople rarely discuss the deeply caring and spiritual munication just might give you the opportunity to prove side of Scorpio. These things get highlighted as plan- that an accurate correlation. Think outside of the box etary action in your 12th (Hidden/Unconscious/Spirit) and dazzle us with your brilliance. Networking ability and and 6th (Service/Work/Health) houses ask you how charm are on your side now as well. #BondJamesBond you want to be of service/feed your spiritual yearnings/revamp your daily rituals. Find “Ohm” in retreats, cleanses, volunteerism, job shifts.

PISCES Charm has been with you Mermaid/Man for a few weeks. Hopefully you used it to make friends/conSAGITTARIUS nections. Mid-March-April shifts focus onto financial So, you know how in fantasy/sci-fi movies the bolt of surprises — hopefully in the form of windfalls/extra magic shoots out of the wizards hand/staff/eyeballs? money — and requires you to be financially proacYeah, that’s YOU right now. Specifically in 5th house tive. New Moon April 10 lends magical boost to setways: Creative self-expression. Art. Romance. Rec- ting new money plans/intentions. pqmonthly.com

SEE AND BE SEEN

THE FUN STUFF

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PQ Monthly’s First Anniversary Party at Portland City Hall; BOYeurism at Star Theater; Lezberados!

Comedy with No Bull at Bobwhite Theatre, PFLAG Portland Black Chapter’s 4th Anniversary Celebration at Curious Comedy Theater; and Redefine Purple Pride protest at the University of Portland.

Photos by Jules Garza, Sammi Rivera, and Julie Cortez, PQ Monthly

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March-April 2013 • 39

40 • March-April 2013

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