Here are some of my favorite published stories and photography packages. Scroll down or jump to my features, interviews, reviews and cocktails.
—————
Features
The Rise of Poke
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
The first, and most difficult, part in understanding the rise of poke is to get a handle on what exactly poke is. At its root, poke is a classic Hawaiian dish that consists of raw, cubed fish served in a bowl with rice. However, that definition is often met with contradictory opinions and can lead to ceaseless digressions, caveats and exceptions. Read More…
Saving Horses
This story originally appeared in East Mountain Living Magazine
—————
The horse rescue at Walkin N Circles Ranch begins at the sharp bend in the road and continues on for about 30 acres of flat land in Stanley, New Mexico. On that ranch, 40 horses (give or take) at a time have found a temporary home to get their lives back under their hooves. Some have come to the ranch having been abandoned. Some neglected. Some were harmed, mentally or physically. Read more…
What You Missed at the State Fair
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Ribbons adorn the artwork at the New Mexico State Fair. The best in blue, and on down the spectrum with honorable mentions along the way. Just like the prized heifers or the best green chile, there is a quantifiable scale that a group of judges uses to dole out these awards. In the arts buildings, there are signs up telling fair-goers not to take pictures, complete with twitchy security guards ready to lunge …Read More…
The Mine Shaft Tavern
This story originally appeared in East Mountain Living Magazine
—————
Much has been said about the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid over the years, but those who have been there before know this place is worth revisiting. Locals know the stories (having crafted many of them themselves) filled with miners and ghosts, bikers and dogs, floods and fires. If you ask nicely, someone will likely share one with you at the bar. Read More…
Viva la Trifecta at Ruidoso’s Win Place and Show
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
If I could paint a picture of a small-town bar on a Sunday afternoon where the whiskey pours, the axes fly and the band plays on, it would be Ruidoso’s Win Place and Show. Read More…
Teddy Roe’s Sweet Spot
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
If you go down most any alley in Albuquerque and look behind the dumpster, you are likely to get a surprise. It’s hard to say what that surprise will be, but odds are you won’t find smooth tunes, comfy chairs and well-crafted cocktails. Unless, of course, you find your way to Teddy Roe’s speakeasy. You just have to pick the right alley, then look for the door behind the right dumpster. Read More…
Waffle House #545
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
On a Sunday morning inside any Waffle House across the country, it can seem like everyone in the place is playing their own version of a Kris Kristofferson song in their head. We seek out comfort foods in uncomfortable times and Waffle House has them. Eggs as you like them, hot coffee and waffles, of course. Breakfast foods are served 24/7, and with them, a filling, promising start to a new day…Read More…
Nina’s Story
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Viola Arduini knocked on a door in the biology department of the University of New Mexico. She knew that someone in there was doing work with the genetic engineering technique CRISPR and she wanted to work with CRISPR, too. As a visual artist, her background was not innately suited to that kind of work, but she had a purpose; she wanted a poem…Read More…
Golf Course Burritoville
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
Golf in New Mexico has a few handicaps. Clearly, living through a drought can make things like growing grass a challenge and raging wildfires can cancel your tee time, but our ferocious winds can also wreak havoc on your game. Read More…
24 Hours in Las Vegas
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
All stories about Las Vegas, New Mexico, must begin with a clarification: this is not the sin city of Nevada, but rather the often-overlooked gem in northern New Mexico, famous, if at all, for playing some other town on the silver screen. Its character is homegrown and genuine, a pronounced difference from the other Las Vegas. You will find no casinos, no gaudy stage shows and no Elvis impersonators here. Read More…
En Train Air
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Larry Moore got tired of writing emails to Amtrak. He had this idea that a group of painters could ride the length of a route, get out for the day to paint at various points along the way and then travel on to the next stop until they reached the end of the line. They could show what the little towns along the way were like in their paintings. All he wanted was a response from Amtrak. All he got was nothing. Read More…
Back to the Cellar
This story originally appeared in The Bite
—————
Everything feels familiar in the dark, rich textures of the newly reopened Cellar Bar in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill neighborhood. Just to the right and down the stairs from the entrance to Zinc Wine Bar and Bistro, the Cellar Bar has returned with plenty of upgrades after a COVID-prompted shutdown that lasted far longer than expected. Read More…
Local Flavor at Chili Hills
This story originally appeared in East Mountain Living
—————
A small bell over the door chimes a greeting to a new customer walking in, but the true welcome comes from owner Debbie Goss at Chili Hills restaurant in Edgewood. “Hi there. Come on in and have a seat,” she says. There is a genuine warmth in her voice, backed by a philosophy that infuses everything she does. That much became clear from my brief time spent across the table from Goss…Read More…
Michael McCormick
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Michael McCormick is a puppeteer and creature creator who worked with Jim Henson on some of his most memorable productions including “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth.” As part of the Albuquerque Museum’s new exhibit opening this Saturday, “The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited,” he will be introducing “The Dark Crystal” at a film screening followed by a Q&A. Read More…
Anna Martinez
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
Anna Martinez made it plain in the first poem she read after being named Albuquerque’s new poet laureate — “Take nice and shove it.” Read More…
Adri De La Cruz
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Scrimshanders are a rare breed and their work has entered the American consciousness chiefly as the domain of 19th-century whalers. But this Friday, Fourteenfifteen Gallery will not be showing the scrimshaw work of some second mate named Delmar from The Rose of Nantucket, but rather the scrimshaw of Adri De La Cruz of Albuquerque. Her take is pure New Mexico. Read More…
Levi Romero
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Levi Romero is a natural choice as the state of New Mexico’s first poet laureate. His poetry details New Mexico. It speaks to the people and the place. It is steeped in the culture. And, obviously, you would want your New Mexico poet laureate to seek out the writers, poets and storytellers throughout The Land of Enchantment while tooling around behind the wheel of his ’58 Impala. Read More…
Laura Paskus
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
You’re a smart, clued-in reader, so clearly you have a fairly good idea about the impact climate change will have on the state of New Mexico. Odds are the reason you know that is due in large part to the efforts of one woman: Laura Paskus. For two decades, she has been sounding the alarm about the devastating effects that our massive input of carbon into the atmosphere will have on the Land of Enchantment. Read More…
Leon Natker
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
The New Mexico Holocaust Museum in Downtown Albuquerque is set to reopen this week after the governor lifted a pandemic-related closure. I took that as an opportunity to sit down with the museum’s executive director, Leon Natker, to talk about the history of hate, its many manifestations and how we can be kinder to each other. Read More…
Hondo Baca
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
When a family of rodeo clowns loses their parents, the only thing they can do is pull together as a family, put the band back together and raise money for a proper clown funeral. After a number of drama-filled performances in Albuquerque, Darlin’ and the Rodeo Runners have raised enough to give their beloved Ma and Pa the grand send-off that rodeo clown royalty deserves. Son and band leader Hondo Baca…Read More…
Sarah Kennedy
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
Albuquerque comedian Sarah Kennedy began asking these questions in a formal way through her podcast “Comedy Ghost Town” in January. In it, she interviews comedians, academics and elected officials to find the edges of the problems and tries to publicly work through some of the solutions. Spoiler Alert: In the final episode…Read More…
Cannupa Hanska Luger
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Cannupa Hanska Luger is a New Mexico artist who works in sculpture and reclamation. His work reclaims part of the past in hopes of informing our present. His piece “Be(Longing)” speaks to the horrific decimation of the buffalo as part of our American history of western expansion and the genocide of the native population. I spoke with Luger while he was installing “Be(Longing)” at 516 ARTS about where…Read More…
Elvis and Birds
Ben Roe Jr.
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
“Elvis and Birds” by Ben Roe Jr. currently hangs in the naturally lit and underappreciated gallery space of the South Broadway Cultural Center as part of the group show “Recurrences,” joined by… Read More…
Dark Depths II
Mario Romero
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Stranger Factory’s “Made in New Mexico IV” group exhibit, on display through Feb. 2, is full of the kind of high-caliber work from the stable of Stranger Factory artists that we have come to expect. Read More…
Santa Fe Noir
Ariel Gore, Editor
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Akashic Books has hit on a formula to bring writers from a place together to tell the darker stories of their city. Santa Fe gets the same treatment in “Santa Fe Noir,” but what makes this book different is what makes Santa Fe the City Different. Read More…
More Clouds to Come
Lance Ryan McGoldrick
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Lance Ryan McGoldrick’s piece “More Clouds to Come” is a disappointment to anyone trying to throw something out. McGoldrick’s dumpster will offer you no comfort in that task. You will be denied. It does not work as a dumpster. Read More…
Send Her Back
Raymond Sandoval
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
If you want to get your point across and stir up a controversy, placing the baby Jesus in a cage and the Virgin Mary in handcuffs is a great way to start. Jemez Springs’ own Raymond Sandoval has hit on an exquisite formula for…Read More…
The Breaking Bad Sculpture
Trevor Grove
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
It was a lovefest at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Friday for the unveiling of the Walter White and Jesse Pinkman statue and why not? “Breaking Bad” was transformative for Albuquerque. It changed the way we saw ourselves…Read More…
The Radio Enginer
Joshua Benjamin Johnson
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
But streaming works in the car just fine, so let me introduce Joshua Benjamin Johnson’s “The Radio Engineer” into the context that seems most appropriate, the car. There is something of a gallop to American road songs. Read More…
What I Know Is True
Lucy Barna
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
Lucy Barna’s new album “What I Know Is True” treats the Madrid singer/songwriter’s songs softly and honestly. It is an album full of tight compositions and straightforward orchestration. It is a fair reflection of Barna’s years playing live, but…Read More…
Big Feelings
Gigi Bella
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Gigi Bella’s new collection “Big Feelings” is not a narrative work, but its poems flow like a drive through the streets, stopping at lights to check your phone for a text message and maybe pulling into the Golden Pride drive-thru for a number nine…Read Me…
The Art on the ART Bus
City of Albuquerque
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Let’s consider the little “a” art of the ART project. Soon (hopefully) these buses will be on the road and with them comes new public art worthy of closer inspection, if for no other reason than its declarative intent issued by the mayor. Read More…
Bourbon, Coke and Peanuts
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
I was sitting at the bar (as all good stories start) when a pickup truck piled with red chiles in the bed pulled up out front and out popped a couple of guys in worn cowboy hats who set up a sign and started selling the stuff, fresh, roasted or powdered. My (to remain anonymous) local rockstar drinking buddy sauntered out to see…Read Me…
Aperol Spritz
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
It seems the cocktail hour has become more fluid of late, given the decreased need to actually go anywhere during this pandemic. Begin when and how you see fit, keeping in mind that the Aperol Spritz is on the lighter side of the cocktail spectrum. This is a summer cocktail meant to be enjoyed on the veranda overlooking…Read Me…
Thoughts on the Mule
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
The first thing you need to understand about the Moscow Mule is that it was concocted in Los Angeles to sell more vodka and has nothing to do with Moscow. It is possible that when your hand is freezing from holding the copper cup, you may…Read More…
The Basil Gimlet
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
During the Age of Sail, scurvy took the lives of many a sailor. The disease stems from a lack of vitamin C and renders its sufferers weak, with bleeding gums and the inability to heal properly. It is a nasty time with death looming for the sorry sailor…Read More…
The Dill Paloma
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Dill Paloma is a name that works best for a hard-boiled gumshoe from a noir novel, but it also serves as the term for a warm-weather cocktail, perfect for when the temperatures hit 100 degrees. A traditional Paloma is composed of blanco tequila…Read More…
Arnold Palmer and Jack
This story originally appeared in The Weekly Alibi
—————
Just as Julius Caesar is the eponym for the Cesarean section and Humphrey Bogart is known for holding a joint too long, golfer Arnold Palmer, while surely not the first person to mix iced tea with lemonade, now extends his legacy to…Read More…
Honeydew Mint Mojito
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
Blender drinks involve chopping, blending, crushing and ultimately washing dishware as well. I recommend you make it a declarative by announcing your intentions in a loud, clear voice, “I’m making mojitos!” If you say it loud enough…Read More…
Old Man Collins
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
Haven’t we all been through enough? I think we know the answer to that question. The weekend is here and I am recommending for this week’s cocktail an Old Man Collins. Of course, the Tom Collins is a classic from the Victorian era with…Read More…
Maple Lime Bourbon Sour
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
The quixotic effort to produce a palatable maple syrup in New Mexico is admirable, but it’s like trying to grow decent green chile in Colorado. Maybe you can do it, but we have trucks and highways that work just fine in this country. Read More…
The Sidecar
This story originally appeared in The Albuquerque Courier
—————
This drink gets its name from the motorcycle sidecar but seems to have outlived the popularity of its namesake. And why not? The cocktail sidecar is delicious and the motorcycle sidecar is just plain silly. Read More…