kristin a. smith

2010-01-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

http://thebolditalic.com/Kristin/stories/107-sugar-bowl

2010-01-12T23:41:00.000-08:00

http://thebolditalic.com/Kristin/stories/83-wrecking-cruise

Jersey on the Plate

2010-01-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

65 Degrees, Winter 2010

Rich Pepe was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, a stone’s throw away from Frank Sinatra, who was a family friend. Like most Italian immigrant families, the Pepe home revolved around the kitchen—a pot of fresh sauce boiling on the stove at all times, sometimes crab fetched from the Hudson River.

It was there, in his grandparents’ kitchen, alight with the smell of basil and oregano, that a young, scrappy, street-savvy Pepe learned to appreciate home-cooked meals, an appreciation that he tries to instill in the customers of his various restaurants and culinary businesses.

“It seemed I was more interested in food than the other kids, but I was also more hungry,” jokes Pepe. “You got a little extra if you hung around the kitchen.” In a large family—consisting of 28 auntsand uncles, and the same number of first cousins— you had to be tenacious to get what you wanted.

It was perhaps this same tenacity that led Pepe to seek adventures far beyond the stoop-filled blocks of Hoboken and into the terra incognita of the West Coast. He was one of the few who moved away. “My family likens me to the grand- parents who left their families to pursue new lives,” says Pepe.

In Pepe’s mind, California was the place to start anew. He says he wanted to find a place that was “in juxtaposition to where [he] came from—from the hard knocks ‘whatcha gotta be’ of Hoboken to a new relaxed lifestyle.” He found it in Monterey.
Drawing on his skills as a baker that he developed in his family’s shop growing up, Pepe, then 21 years old, took a job at a Monterey bakery. And he’s been on the Peninsula ever since. Today he owns Carmel Bakery, along with two restaurants, a budding wine company, and a homemade sauce company.

It’s the new sauce company that Pepe seems most excited about. Pepe & Pants, named after himself and his childhood best friend, Joey Pantoliano, is a relatively small operation and risk compared to running two restaurants—Little Napoli and Peppoli. With this new business, everything on a Pepe restaurant table will be proprietary, just like it was at his home growing up. Pepe and Pantoliano have been in business together before, but this is the first time they’re working on something that reminds them of their childhood. “We’re really excited about this, and much of the proceeds are going to charity,” says Pepe.

But it’s not just the sauce-makers who are excited about the project. Even the Kennedy family has gotten on the Pepe & Pants bandwagon. Pan- toliano lives near Bobby Kennedy, and when Bobby and Mary Kennedy needed to cook for an 80-person Kennedy family reunion, they called on Pepe & Pants to help them out. Ethyl Kennedy especially loved the sauce and talked with Pepe for hours. “She is fascinated by cooking. Some of the top people in the world are just fascinated by a guy who can cook,” he boasts.

It’s more than just his culinary skills that bring people to Pepe. He’s got that East Coast ex- troversion that we often long for on the West Coast. Pepe is magnanimous, the way that you want your Italian chef to be, singing and yelling jovially from the kitchen, walking out to greet his regular customers with a warm handshake. And he knows this about himself. “I like making friends. Sometimes you just gotta go knock on the door and say ‘hi’ and ask what do we have in common?” The answer is usually food. °

From Calligraphy to Conception

2010-01-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

65 Degrees Magazine, Winter 2010

As a child, Mike Poppleton practiced calligraphy. It was part of his Japanese heritage and the founda- tion for his appreciation of design that would carry him through his college years and into his profes- sional life as a designer and retailer.

“In calligraphy, you have to consider the balance, the overall impact and aesthetics,” explains Poppleton, who sits among his expansive furniture store in Monterey. The collection that surrounds him echoes his appreciation of design—there are Italian imports, hand finished and ornately etched, as well as a collection of jaw-dropping antiques.

But Poppleton’s Furnishings & Interior Design wasn’t always Poppleton’s, the eponymous shop housed on Lighthouse Avenue. Before it was Poppleton’s, the largest retailer of furniture on the Monterey Peninsula, it was Butcher Block and Barstools, a small furniture store in Capitola.

Twenty-seven years ago, Poppleton acquired Butcher Block and Barstools through an ad in the Businesses For Sale section of the Wall Street Journal. “It was only one year old and a small store so I bought it,” tells Poppleton. “From there it just kept growing.” As the store transformed, its original name no longer fit with the upscale inventory. “It came down to Poppleton’s and Dovetails. I wanted Dovetails, but the staff said Poppleton’s is better, so I said ‘okay, let’s do it.’”

Poppleton trusts his employees. He humbly says that hiring excellent people is one thing he can take credit for. Poppleton has 13 people on payroll, which he says is “not bad for a Mom and Pop shop.” But it’s really just a Pop shop, as Poppleton oversees it all himself.

Poppleton wasn’t always a retailer. Before selling highly stylized goods, he made them. With a degree in Industrial Design from San Jose State University, Poppleton pursued car styling. He had a love of cars even as a child. “I always sketched cars as a little kid; really anything that was moving, I loved,” he says. His love of cars continued into his teen years when he dreamed of being a car stylist.

A summer internship program at GM made that dream a reality, and shortly after college GM hired him to work on their design team. Among his favorite tasks was converting a Cadillac Seville for the Geneva Auto Show. “We put in Rolls Royce leather and modified the interior, the exterior, and shipped it to Geneva,” exclaims Poppleton, whose voice fills with excitement as he talks about the project.

While he liked the job at GM, he hated the weather and looked for a reason to move back to California. He found it in a Wall Street Journal ad, and thus Mike Poppleton the designer was replaced with Mike Poppleton the retailer. But before there was Mike Poppleton the designer, there was Mike Poppleton the child in Wash- ington State, and before that, Hawaii, and even before that he was a little boy named Manibou Arai (Manibou translated means to study and learn) living in Japan. Mike Poppleton acquired his current name through his stepfather, Sydney Robert Poppleton, who was in the Navy and met Mike’s mother during the war. The family took Poppleton as their surname and began a new life in the United States.

Despite being given the name by his stepfather, Mike Poppleton has made a name for himself. From his teen years as the National Judo Champion of his division (his success got him a scholarship to SJSU) to his adult years as proprietor of his namesake shop, Poppleton is fully Poppleton.

And his store seems to reflect all the parts of himself. There’s the gorgeous leather couches, reminiscent of his early GM days, Asian-inspired art hangs on the walls, and most notably, hand-drawn tags adorn each piece of his furniture. Poppleton sketches each piece of furniture on a small card and hand-writes a history of the product. He says he draws the tags to make it easier for him to keep track of sales, but like the calligraphy he learned as a child, the strokes perform double duty as both art and story. °

2010-01-11T00:22:00.000-08:00

http://thebolditalic.com/Kristin/stories/86-freezer-burn

Article in San Francisco Magazine

2009-11-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

Check out my piece on San Francisco's lesbian nightlife in the December issue of San Francisco Magazine. On stands now.

2009-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Toxic Toys
By Kristin A. Smith
Published in Curve Magazine

You know what you like. You’ve spent years perfecting it. You know how to cinch it, stuff it and strap it on. You know what speed you want and what length you need. You know how to ask about it in the store and ask for it in bed. You are a sex toy connoisseur and you may know what feels good, but do you know if it IS good?

Cheaply made sex toys are full of harmful chemicals. The most ubiquitous of these chemicals are phthalates (pronounced THA-lates), which are added to otherwise hard PVC toys to make them flexible enough for your enjoyment. Manufacturers add a chemical cocktail of phthalates to destabilize the molecules and give the toy that soft, realistic feel.

It’s not just adult toys that contain phthalates; some children’s toys also contain the chemicals. But children’s toys are becoming government regulated. There is no currently regulation for adult toys.

“In some ways that’s good,” says Jessica Giordani, founder of The Coalition Against Toxic Toys (CATT) and owner of Smitten Kitten, a sex shop in Minneapolis. “We don’t want the government in our sex lives…but it means we have to be smarter consumers.”

Being a smarter consumer means making connections. No study has been conducted on the danger of phthalates in sex toys, but studies have been done on phthalates in children’s toys; the results show a link between phthalates and liver and hormonal damage. The European Union and the state of California have now banned the chemicals in children’s toys. Giordani says we need to ask ourselves, “If it’s dangerous for my kid in a pacifier, might it also be dangerous for me in a butt plug?”

Phthalates aren’t just used in butt plugs; they’re used in a lot of toys— a lot of your favorite toys, like the “Rabbit Habit,” with its little pearls of joy. Babeland founder Claire Cavanah says that while Rabbit Habit was one of their best selling toys, they have taken it off the market and replaced it with a new phthalate-free version of the toy.

Giordani and Smitten Kitten partner Jennifer Pritchett went further than just pulling phthalate-infected toys from their shelves. With what they describe as “an information blackout” about the dangers of chemicals in sex toys, Giordani and Pritchett took matters into their own hands.

The CATT founders brought some of the most scrupulous toys to a chemist for testing. Among the chosen toys—the newly popular Cyberskin products. The women were surprised to learn that the product contained no phthalates, but did contain “industrial grade mineral oil,” a compound that Giordani says is “essentially kerosene.”

Giordani says that unless you are a chemist yourself or go to have your toys tested, there’s no way to know the chemical makeup of your toys. But there are ways to tell if your toys contain phthalates. “Trust your nose,” says Giordani. “The new car smell, those are phthalates.” She adds that if the toy melts when boiled, it probably contains phthalates as well.

Many companies, even boutiques, still sell phthalate-infected toys. Some stores urge you to use a condom with anything that may contain dangerous chemicals, but Giordani says there is no proof that a condom will keep you safe from toxins. “If there was,” she says, “we’d all be walking around covered in giant condoms.” She adds that good sex shops should have floor models that you can feel and smell before you buy.

So why are these toxic toys still on the market? Denise Corona, owner of Vixen Creations, a toxic free toy manufacturer in San Francisco says, “it’s all about the profit margin—with a lack of oversight and cheap overseas labor, sex toys are affordable, but not always safe.”

Even with all the dangerous toys on the market, there are still some that are guaranteed harmless—Glass, surgical steel and medical grade silicone are sure to tickle your fancy while keeping you safe.

All images from smittenkittenonline.com

Off to the Races

2009-09-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

While fast cars are in her blood, Gill Campbell's journey

to Laguna Seca had more curves than straight-aways.

65 Degrees Magazine

Feature, Summer 2009

Gill Evans isn’t your typical national racetrack CEO — she’s not a man, not a professional driver, she’s not even American. But then again, Laguna Seca isn’t your typical racetrack.

As the country’s only non-profit professional track, Mazda Raceway’s Laguna Seca has a decidedly different design than its peers. That’s why it’s no wonder that a British woman with an affinity for kayaking and hiking is driving the company vehicle.

While fast cars are in her blood — her brothers raced with Sir. Sterling Moss and her father owned an auto dealership — Evans’ journey to Laguna Seca was filled with more curves than straight-aways.

“I had a pretty convoluted path,” she says, speaking of her career that spans more than 20 years. “I started as a teacher in the UK, and then I came to Eugene for a holiday. I fell in love with [the west] and never left.” What began as a one-month vacation has turned into a 32-year residence.

After a brief stint working at a tavern in Eugene, where she says she made more than she did as a teacher, Evans took up a job in restaurant management, and later promotions. Her first break was in “the big city of Portland”, where she worked for a promotion company that dealt with racetracks.

“I stepped onto the track and said, ‘Oh my God, I’m home’”, said Evans.

And she’s been at the track ever since. In 1988 (check on), Evans started her own promotion company that focused on car races and beer gardens, where she jokes she “promoted drinking and driving.” Evans’ sense of humor is a mixture of wry British wit and casual American candor; it is perhaps this blend that has helped propel her to the top of her field.

Evans had no intention of abandoning her business, but Laguna Seca asked that she join their team, and when a company that holds the largest California spectator event — the Red Bull US Grand Prix — asks you to head it, you say ‘yes’.

Evans was attracted to the atypical design of the company: A non-profit track seemed almost oxymoronic, or at least unlikely, but the philanthropic aspects of the company appealed to her.

Formed in 1957 by a group of local businessmen, the car races were originally held in Pebble Beach, but eventually the popular event became too crowded and unsafe for the small area and the track promoters went looking for another home and found it tk miles north on an army base in Laguna Seca. Because the property was owned by the military, the only way a track could exist on its land was if it was a non-profit. And thus the 501C4 (and later the 501C3) of Laguna Seca racetrack was born.

As a non-profit, the track supports roughly 80 charitable groups every year. Laguna Seca Raceways has given nearly $16 million in donations over the years. With the mission of “providing world class motorcross to the community of Monterey and the surrounding areas” Laguna Seca is a staple of the Monterey Bay community.

After tk years at the track, Evans considers herself a local and she spends her free time exploring the outdoors on foot and in boat. Her placid pastimes seem a far cry from the roar of the racetrack, but Evans says she likes the dichotomy. “The outdoors is the yin to my yang. I love the track, but it’s also good to get away.”

Evans, herself, is a mixture of yin and yang. She appears very sweet and open, but by her own account, “has no trouble standing up to anyone, man or woman.”

When she started in the business — which is overwhelmingly male dominated both in both management and spectators — there was only one other female CEO of a major track.

In the early years, Evans encountered sexism from some of her male counterparts. One time when promoting an NASCAR Truck series, a track bigwig told her, that under no circumstances would he work with a woman promoter. Years later, Evans crossed his path again, only this time she wasn’t a promoter; she was the CEO. “It was sweet revenge,” she says, laughing.

Today there are at least tk women running major racetracks in the country, and Evans says sexism is less prevalent in the business than it used to be. “Now when I encounter sexism it’s from people who don’t understand that a woman can do this job.”

It seems that as the years go on, the racing community is coming to the view that Evans held all along: “I’ve never thought of myself as a woman. I’m just a person doing this job.”

A Different Kind of Animal Lover

2009-06-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Published in Curve Magazine
Story by Kristin A. Smith
Photographs by Molly Decoudreaux

Tia Resleure’s apartment is filled to the brim with animals. There are dogs, pigeons, monkeys, goats and a dray of squirrels on the table. Two slight Italian greyhounds dance around the house, while another sits motionless…mounted on the wall.

“I don’t have a problem decorating my house with taxidermy; I think it’s beautiful,” says Resleure (pronounced ray-LURE), who sits on a chaise lounge, stroking her dog’s ear.

Resleure’s tattooed arms point at her favorite pieces—Flora and Fauna, the two-headed lamb encased in glass, and the four-legged piglet with strangely sweet eyes. “It’s gotten to be that albinos have become passé for me,” she says, lighting another cigarette.

Resleure has an extensive collection of Victorian and Edwardian taxidermy, as well as an expanding portfolio of her own work (acaseofcuriosities.com).

The entryway to her San Francisco apartment holds one of Resleure’s “diva-pigeons,” a series she is working on. The white pigeon, with its cocked head and downward gaze, is in stark contrast to the blue silk gown that envelops it. “Taxidermy for me, is like playing with dolls,” she says.

Resleure is one of a growing number of women involved in taxidermy. From the traditional taxidermists, mounting their husband’s hunting trophies in the basement, to the art kids tattooing animal hides in studios, taxidermy is gaining popularity among women. “It’s going through a real renaissance right now,” says Resleure. “There are a lot of young pups coming up in the art world.”

One of these young pups is a San Francisco artist named Maya Bookbinder. Bookbinder, whose day job is actually binding books, began her love of taxidermy in the nature lab at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). “I was doing taxidermy repair work and then I just got kind of obsessed,” says the 23-year-old art school graduate.

Bookbinder’s obsession first led her to the home of Jan Van Hoesen, an award-winning competitive taxidermist. It was there that in addition to caring for Van Hoesen bobcats, she learned to stuff coyote, ground hog and other small mammals. “It was an amazing experience,” says Bookbinder.

While Van Hoesen taught Bookbinder the basics of taxidermy, it was all within the constructs of traditional work and was a far cry from the art dreams—including robotic taxidermy—of the RISD graduate. “The two worlds are just so separate,” says Bookbinder. “There really isn’t much overlap.”

So Bookbinder came to San Francisco to study with Resleure. Under Resleure’s instruction, she learned to work with Italian Greyhounds, one of the more difficult animals to stuff.

“Italian Greyhounds are so hard to do, because you can see everything,” says Resleure, pointing at the thin-faced dog on the wall. As if to reinforce the point, one of her Italian Greyhounds walks by, shaking its veiny legs.

Resleure has a fondness for animals—both living and dead. “A lot of people have said that I’m insensitive to animals, but I love them,” she says.

She even started an Italian Greyhound rescue because the existing San Francisco one “was filled with an idiot volunteer core” who didn’t know how to care for the animals. Twenty-two dogs have come through Resleure’s door in the last two years. She says that most taxidermists have a profound love for animals and it is that love that helps them to create beautiful pieces.

It was Resleure’s connection to animals that brought her to taxidermy in the first place. Growing up in a severely dysfunctional home, she turned to animals to escape the world of abuse. “The dogs were the only people who listened to me,” she says, laughing. The one connection her family shared was their love of nature—her parents loved natural history and her grandfather had a vast taxidermy collection of his own.

Resleure says that her favorite book as a child was the Big Golden Book of Fairytales, which centers on anthropomorphic characters. “That’s sort of what my collection feels likes,” she says, gesturing at the diorama of sword-fighting frogs in pirate shirts.

Resleure returns to Aissi, the Italian Greyhound mounted on the wall—It was her first greyhound mount and a pet she loved dearly. She stares at the face and says, “you can’t put the dog’s spirit in it…I look at this and I see a beautiful animal, but I don’t see my dog.”

Resleure usually doesn’t do mounts of other people’s pets, and she doesn’t use any endangered species. “I think about the ethics of what I do a lot,” she says.

But Resleure, like many taxidermists, has come under sharp attack from animal rights activists. “They say that I’m going to burn in hell,” she says, adding that their posters of animals are more gruesome than anything she has seen.

Bookbinder also contemplates the morals of her work. A vegan for some time, she understands people’s aversions to dead animals, but says she “just [doesn’t] have the baggage about it that some people do.” She adds that the first time she cut into an animal, “it felt really natural.”

Neither Resleure nor Bookbinder are hunters, so they get their animals in other ways—road kill, donations, purchases or pets that have died. “People used to bring road kill to my door. It’s really just recycling,” says Bookbinder. But her San Francisco apartment is too small to stuff big animals; she mostly works with pelts now.

Resleure and Bookbinder both have big dreams for their taxidermy careers. “I’d love to get a hold of a turkey and work on it,” says Bookbinder, excitedly. “Yeah, I’d love to learn to do birds.”

“I’d like to do the best Italian Greyhound mount in the world, better than the one in the British museum,” says Resleure. For now, she keeps repairing her collection of oddities and dreams of opening a bar to house her collection--perhapa a Victorian one with Flora and Fauna sitting on a table and Aissi, her loyal dog, by her side.

Youth HIV AIDS Summit

2009-06-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Published in ON Magazine
April 2009

Teenagers make up the fastest growing segment of HIV-infected Americans. The most recent Center for Disease Control statistics estimate that youth between the ages of 13 and 29 account for 34% of new infections, the highest proportion of any demographic in the country.

“Youth are heavily impacted by HIV and they are a group we need to be reaching out to,” says Nikki Kay of the Center for Disease Control.

Dane Dugan agrees. As the Executive Director of Silicon Valley AIDS Coalition, Dugan is shocked by the number of youth infected. “It’s really scary. The rate of infection is rising across the board, but it’s dramatic among teens.”

With the frightening figures, Dugan saw a need for action. He, along with a coalition of local adult and youth leaders, decided to organize the first Silicon Valley Youth AIDS Summit.

On April 10th, 350 youth and 150 adults will meet at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose to discuss a myriad of AIDS related issues and implement a plan of action to slow its rate of infection among young people.

“The purpose of the event is to have youth solve the problems affecting their own community,” says Dugan. “We’re really excited to hear what young people have to say; we no longer have to guess what they are thinking.”

There will be plenty of time to learn about the participant’s ideas. Much of the summit is dedicated to group discussions and brainstorming on the issue. “We want to know what they are thinking, what they know and what they think should be done,” says Dugan.

The single day event will be divided in two parts. The first half consists of workshops, panel discussions and expert speakers, including youth who are currently living with HIV. According to the CDC, there are more than 56,000 American youth between the ages of 13-24 who are infected with HIV, many of whom don’t even know they are infected.

Among the list of adult speakers are Michael Uslan, Executive Producer of the Batman movies and Dr. Rick Rigsby, Texas A&M Professor and motivational speaker. Both speakers were chosen for their commitment to education and ability to motivate students.

The second half of the day consists of a “youth voices in action”, where the participants will talk about their understanding of the issues and implement suggestions for getting the message of AIDS prevention to their peers.

The message—which will be delivered in the form of a post-summit report—will be given to local schools and service organizations. With the help of the Silicon Valley AIDS Coalition Board of Directors, the report will eventually be turned into a two year HIV prevention campaign.

“The summit is a real launch pad for grassroots action,” says Dugan. “I’m so excited to see youth acting as leaders of the cause.”

The Silicon Valley isn’t the only area to organize young people around the issue of AIDS education. Last year, the National Campaign to End Aids created a Youth Action Institute, which consists of a summer-long program dedicated to AIDS education and activism.

This year’s program is held in our own backyard on UC Berkeley’s campus. Just like the Silicon Valley Summit, the Youth Action Institute is open to any youth interested in getting involved in the cause. The Silicon Valley program is free for students; the Youth Action Institute asks students to raise $600 too off-set the cost.

While the Silicon Valley AIDS Youth Summit is only its first year, there is a possibility of it being an annual event. “There’s been a lot of interest in making it even bigger in the future, but right now, we’re really focusing on this year’s conference,” says Dugan.

This summit is designed specifically for youth, but the Silicon Valley AIDS Coalition holds a number of other direct action events for people of all ages, including the annual Walk for AIDS held on December 1st, National Aids Day.

“We encourage people to continue to be advocates for the cause and to keep AIDS education a top priority,” says Dugan.

The statistics on youth infection prompted Dugan to create this conference, but he and other AIDS activists will have to wait until the next CDS statistics are released to see if their education plans are working.

The First Lady of Humility

2009-05-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Cover Story, 65 Degrees Magazine

Spring 2009

For a woman often referred to as a socialite, Karen LeVett is painfully modest. When asked about herself, she is often evasive, usually quick to change the subject, and always humble. But when asked about those she loves, the words come pouring out. Speaking through an interpreter—two of her daughters—a clear picture of Karen LeVett begins to emerge: a self-made woman, who through her own tenacity, rose up to become one of Carmel’s most noted interior designers and art collectors.

Growing up in Bakersfield, LeVett, nee Karen Schaffer, showed an early affinity for design. As a child, she attended auctions with her parents and was keen at picking out the most interesting items. “I suppose I had an eye for it,” she says, reluctantly after much prodding. “My mother certainly loved design.” Again, praise for others comes more easily.

Despite her own interest in design, LeVett initially chose a career in teaching. A job offer at a Fort Ord elementary school brought her to Monterey, and the Peninsula has been her home ever since. When asked what she likes best about the area, she quips, “how many words do you want?”

During the school year, LeVett taught 2nd grade and 1st grade in Carmel where she was known as a caring teacher who went above and beyond the call of duty. “My mom was so committed to her students,” says Kate, Karen’s youngest daughter and perhaps her biggest fan. “She went to all of their homes to meet the mothers and talk about their kids. Because of my mom, each of the students got a personalized education.”

One summer, LeVett led an arts and crafts class; she relished in sharing her love of art with students. Perhaps this was just an extension of her teaching or perhaps it foreshadowed her next move: the giant leap from education to design.

“My mom was making—if you can believe this—just $5,000 a year as a teacher,” says Amanda, Karen’s tk child. She went to the teacher’s credit union to get a $5,000 loan and with that small nest egg, LeVett bought her first home in Carmel. She spent two years fixing it up by hand. “My mom never hired anyone to help; she did it all herself,” says Amanda, proudly.

After its remodel, LeVett sold her house, bought another and repeated the process over and over until she was fully immersed in the world of real estate. “I just took it one step at a time,” she says.

This new world of housing introduced her to three influential business partners: Michael Bolton, with whom she started an interior design business; Chris Tesher, her long-time business partner; and Denny LeVett, a real-estate mogul, whom she later married.

Together, LeVett and Bolton started Bolton and Rowe, an interior design company in Carmel. It was here that she cut her teeth in design. But it was with Tesher, a successful contractor, that LeVett really honed her craft. She designed the inside of the homes, and he the outside. “It was a real partnership,” says LeVett.

LeVett’s homes are scattered through illustrious neighborhoods of Carmel and Pebble Beach. “We lived in 22 houses and I’m only 22 years old,” jokes Kate. “Every place we lived was more beautiful than the last.”

LeVett has no formal design education, but Kate says that her mom “just knows about it intuitively.” As a child, Kate would lay on the floor, pouring over blueprints and catalogs with her mother. “She was more than an interior designer, she understood all aspects of the house.”

Karen has also worked on Denny LeVett’s luxury Bed and Breakfasts by furnishing them and adding art to the establishments. Amanda says her mom “never took a backseat to Denny. She just rode along side him, building her own career.”

Recently, Amanda has taken on some of her mother’s role in the B&B’s. “I’d say I’m more of an operations manager though. I can’t hold a candle to Karen (when talking business, she refers to her parents by their first names). I still ask her opinion about all the art.”

While interior design is Karen’s profession, art is her obsession. Amanda says that besides her modesty, her favorite thing about her mother is her ability to pick out great art. “She has the most incredible taste. The way she puts art together is itself an art form.”

Karen has always made great sacrifices for art. In her early 20’s, Amanda says that her mother traded a pair of Levis, “right off of her body” for a piece of art. Later in life she traded a Ford Mustang for a painting.

The image of a young LeVett passing a pair of worn denim to an artist is all the more astounding when juxtaposed with the image of her today. LeVett is a thin, pretty woman with perfectly coifed hair and a pristine and pressed wardrobe. It’s hard to imagine her wearing jeans, let alone trading art for them.

While Amanda had heard the infamous stories of Karen’s love of art, she hadn’t seen it first hand until the two of them went to a Carmel art walk. It was there that she saw how important a collector her mother was—every artist knew her and thanked her for supporting them over the years. “The artists all came up to her and praised her. One artist, who was getting older, invited her to come to her garage and take anything she wanted.”

LeVett continues to collect art to fill her homes. She recently purchased an apartment on Central Park South in New York City, and you can bet the walls won’t stay bare for long. “I wish you could see every home my mother has done,” says Kate. “The designs don’t come from any country, they come from the incredible mind of my mother. But it’s hard for her to realize the genius of her work.” Lucky for LeVett, she has her daughters to remind her.

The Case Against Prop 8: California's Anti-Gay Amendment Explained

2009-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Published in Curve Magazine, April 2009

IN SEPTEMBER 2008, Christina Amini and Elspeth Stowell stood side-by-side under the carved rotunda in San Francisco’s City Hall. Amini wore a glistening white dress, Stowell a gray suit. Friends and family listened as a judge proclaimed, “By the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you…spouses for life.”

“When he said those words, I realized how much weight the ceremony actually had,” says Amini. “I didn’t expect to be moved, but it was really meaningful to be there in City Hall.” This was their second ceremony, but their first to be recognized by the state.

Amini and Stowell are just one of 18,000 samesex couples who are legally wed in California. But with the passage of Proposition 8 the legality of their marriage, and the future of same-sex marriages in California, is uncertain.

Prop. 8, which redefined the state constitution to include the words “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,” won by a 5 percent margin, shocking many residents who thought it unlikely that a conservative measure would pass in their liberal-leaning state, especially with opponents like the California NAACP, the United Farm Workers, the California Teachers Association and dozens of congregations.

With the exception of the 2008 presidential race, more money was spent on the Prop. 8 campaigns than on any other political objective nationwide. And the costly and lengthy battle continues. Those fighting to reinstate our right to marry are focusing their attention on three aspects of the case:

The Minority vs. the Majority
One tenet of the constitution is to protect the rights of the minority from the will of the majority. Opponents of Prop. 8—which include the ACLU, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)—filed a petition on Nov. 5, challenging Prop. 8 on the grounds that it violated “the constitution’s core commitment to equality for all by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group.”

Shannon Minter, legal director of the NCLR, explains it this way: “If a majority can strip away fundamental rights from a minority, then there would be no point to having a constitution in the first place.”

And it’s not just civil rights groups who agree. Last December, Attorney General Jerry Brown, who was expected to uphold Prop. 8, suggested it be overturned on the grounds that it allowed the majority to take away our “inalienable” constitutional rights.

A Revision vs. an Amendment
Those fighting Prop. 8 believe it never should have been on the ballot in the first place. The argument: Prop. 8 is a radical change to the constitution and should be considered a revision, rather than a simple amendment; a revision requires a 4-3 majority within the state legislature and cannot be decided by the voters. “In a nutshell, what we are arguing is that the supporters of 8 didn’t go about this in the right way,” says Jason Howe, senior public information officer for Lambda Legal. “Revising the constitution is a bigger job than just amending it.”

Grandfathered In?
Beyond confronting the constitutionality of the initiative, a decision needs to be made regarding same-sex marriages performed before Nov. 4. Will Stowell and Amini still be recognized as “spouses for life?”

Proponents of Prop. 8 say no. They believe the language of the amendment (“is valid” instead of “will be valid”) implies that all same-sex marriages, past or future, will not be recognized by the state. In a brief filed by the Yes on 8 campaign, the group stated that the initiative’s “plain language encompasses both pre-existing and later-created same-sex marriages, whether performed in California or elsewhere. With crystal clarity, it declares that they are not valid or recognized in California.”

But Howe disagrees. “We think they are valid,” he says. “A law has to explicitly state that it is retroactive. This one doesn’t. You can’t tell someone something they did is illegal after the fact.”

What’s Next?
The California Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments on both sides and a decision about reinstating marriage for all could come this spring or summer. Both the NCLR and Lambda Legal are optimistic that Prop. 8 will be overturned. “Our arguments are pretty strong,” says Howe. “We’re very hopeful the court will strike down Prop. 8 and restore the freedom to marry for same-sex couples,” adds Minter.

And when our right to marry is reinstated, Amini says that if it’s necessary, she and Stowell will happily make their make way to the steps of City Hall again.

Bringing Joy to Monterey

2009-03-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

Published in 65 Degrees Magazine
Winter 2008

Columnist Joy Colangelo doesn’t care if you like her. In fact, she would prefer you didn’t. She isn’t in the business of writing to gain your approval; she’s in it to challenge traditional ideas and bring about change.

“I feel like if people agreed with me, I’d be on the wrong track,” says the fast-talking, silver-haired Pacific Grove writer. “People have already read all the nice language and I’m not going to be sweet about it anymore.”

The “it” she is talking about is living more consciously. Colangelo, an Occupational Therapist for twenty years, uses her column to talk about how disconnected many of us are from our bodies, and the affect that this disconnect has on our culture as a whole.

“If we lived right and moved right, we wouldn’t need this medical system, this food system and this economy,” she says.

While her bi-monthly pieces in the Monterey County Herald are only 550 words, Colangelo jams as many ideas into the column as possible. A recent article titled “Prisoners Can Teach Us A Lot About Toilets” made connections between excessive water usage, over-incarceration and the health advantages of squatting versus typical toilet posture. “I have a weird mind and I connect a lot of things together,” she says.

This connection between social, environmental and physical aspects is at the center of Colangelo’s world. She’s even written a book about it—Embodied Wisdom: What our anatomy can teach us about the art of living. Like her column, the book is a flurry of ideas. “It’s a dense book and difficult to read, but some minds really get into it,” she says. “It’s sort of three books in one.”

It’s not only her writing that incorporates the connection between body and environment; it’s also her life. When Colangelo reached what she refers to as her “fu**ing fifties”, she made some drastic changes: she traded her car for a bike and her traditional hospital job for one that was more holistic.

“I changed everything to make it more meaningful,” says Colangelo. “I wanted everyone on board—brain, heart and body—the whole thing.”

Walking the walk is what Colangelo says makes her more than just an angry columnist spitting ink onto the page. She says she realized she had to get tough with herself or she would never grow. “I found I wasn’t budging unless I used really strong words with myself.”

One of her choice words: Liar. Calling herself a liar is the impetus for much of Colangelo’s action. She says she was lying to herself that she needed the possessions she had and the car that she drove. Once she started being honest with herself, Colangelo says she could face the demons and grow into who she wanted to be.

In a recent column, Colangelo addressed the common lies that we tell ourselves. She wrote that we lie to our body when we caffeinate it instead of sleeping and lie to our minds when we subject ourselves to terrifying images while curled up comfortably on the couch.

Colangelo says that the biggest lie is that you can’t do what you want. “I don’t ask for permission and you can do that too,” she commands, adding that you shouldn’t wait for “tumor time”—when the doctor tells you you have only two months to live—to do what you want.

Readers don’t always appreciate Colangelo’s harsh words. Every column is littered with comments from people angry about her tone or questioning of her ideas. But the responses seem to only fuel Colangelo’s fire. “I’ve got a very strong ego,” she says. “And I have something to say.”

2009-01-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Chattin' Up Natalie London

Published on Curvemag.com
Kristin A. Smith

Natalie London

Photo: Neil Visel

Natalie London is that rare musician who can do it all—sing, write, play a symphony of instruments and compose multi-dimensional pieces. And she’s currently doing it all from the confines of her bed. As a talented New York musician and Columbia University senior, London’s life was on the fast track to fame. But a tick bite while scoping out New England music venues changed it all. Today she lives in California with her mother and spends what little energy she has composing music. London talks with Curve about her art, her illness and how her desire to perform on the Ellen DeGeneres show motivates her to get well.

Natalie, you rock. Seriously, you totally tear it up. I feel like if PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke stayed together long enough to have a kid, you’d be the kid. Where’d you learn to play like that?
That’s so sweet. Wow, that’s probably the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. Someone once said I was like Gwen Stefani, but that wasn’t as exciting. This comparison is awesome. Well, I pretty much taught myself everything. I’ve been playing since I was 4. I play everything in the band, except for the drums and the viola. And I arrange everything.

Getting on Ellen’s show seems to be your focus right now. Why is that so important to you?
I think for anyone trying to break into the business, it’s extremely difficult to get out there. It’s a full-time job just trying to promote yourself and making all those connections. And I’m pretty much bed-ridden right now so it’s a lot harder. Plus Ellen gives people chances; she’s incredible that way. And it would be a way to get myself out there to a lot of people who I connect with.

You’ve even made a video letter to Ellen to plead your case for getting on her show. In that video, you’re really sick. Can you talk a little about your illness?
Yeah, I was bit by a tick two years ago. Which seems silly because so many people get bit by ticks. I was at Columbia University at the time in my final semester, and I just couldn’t get out of bed anymore. I had fevers every single day. Nobody could figure out what it was. I couldn’t take care of myself anymore so I had to come back to California and move in with my mom. It took six or seven months to figure out what was wrong with me. I finally found a specialist who figured out I have advanced Lyme’s Disease. The treatment is really harsh. You get worse before you get better. I’m on about 40 pills per day of antibiotics and supplements and stuff like that.

Will it continue like that?
Well, I’ve been on this intense treatment since February and I’ve gotten better since then but I’m still not able to do too much. I’ve got a good hour or so in me a day to play some music.

So if Ellen called to say you made the show, would you be well enough to perform?
Oh God yeah! I’d pump myself full of painkillers and I’d make it there. I’d make it work for sure. That’s part of the thing, too. When you’re going through such a hard time it’s really great to have an incentive like that because there’s always a mental component to illness. Getting on the show would be a great incentive to feel better.

Have you heard back from Ellen?
I haven’t yet.

As someone who is going through an incredibly challenging time, do you have any words to impart to the rest of us? Any realizations or observations?
I guess just that life is crazy. I almost look at this experience as a story; all of these things are part of it. On the video I talk about my Grandpa. I lived with him for a long time and took care of him when my Grandma died. And he just passed away a few weeks ago. So I think there are crazy bad things in life but I believe crazy good things can happen as well.

Read more from this interview in an upcoming issue of Curve. And, catch London at Dinah Shore where she’ll be competing at Dinah Idol!

Making Waves Through Art and Boards

2009-01-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Published in 65 Degrees Magazine, Winter 2008

Bev Saunders began leading women’s adventure trips at the age of eleven. A faded sepia photograph documents the first safari—nine girls, nine bikes and thirty miles. Bev is in the center, dressed in plaid and straddling a bicycle. There is a faint look of mischief in her eyes.

“I was always instigating mutinies, always pushing it,” says Saunders, proudly. “It makes absolute sense that I ended up doing what I am today.”

As the founder of Manifesta Safaris, Saunders continues to lead adventure trips for women. While the rusted Schwinn bikes of her childhood have been replaced with sleek surfboards and paint-splattered aprons, the intent is still the same—Have fun!

Saunders’ trips range from the seven-day surfing safaris in Mexico to three-day art adventures in Carmel. It might seem odd that one company would lead both art and sport adventures, but Saunders says there’s a connection.

“Surfing is extremely creative and expressive—it’s a form of art, dance and poetry.” When Saunders asked her surfers to list other things they’d like to learn, painting was at the top of the list. “A lot of surfers are also artists, there’s a crossover,” says Saunders.

It’s the combination of art and adventure that first attracted Saunders to Carmel. She and her husband were living in the East Bay in a comfortable home that they owned. On a weekend trip to Carmel Bev fell in love with landscape, the surf breaks and the art scene. “I honestly never came home,” she says, laughing. They sold their house and moved immediately.

Saunders concedes that many people would find her decision irresponsible. With Carmel’s high cost of living, they were forced to rent, not own. But Saunders doesn’t see it that way. “I followed my heart and I’m really happy here,” she says.

Following your heart is a lesson many Manifesta participants learn on the trips. The leaders (one of whom is a world champion long boarder) encourage women to let go of responsibility and just enjoy themselves. This kind of release has powerful implications.

“The whole experience absolutely transforms lives,” says Saunders “We’ve had investment bankers quit their jobs to become writers.”

While not everyone makes such drastic changes as a result of the trips, Saunders says most people walk away stronger and more confident than when they arrived. She credits the new found strength to the women only format.

“When you put women in a group together, they’re really supportive of one another,” says Saunders. Manifesta trips are designed for women of all ages; they’ve had 11-year old girls and 70-year-old women on surf trips. One Mexico adventure had three generations of women learning to ride the glassy waves together.

Saunders believes that when women are around men they often doubt their physical abilities. She saw this interchange years ago on the ski slopes. (Bev and her husband Chris owned Avalanche Snowboards, a successful California-based snowboard company.) “I’d watch guys lead their girlfriends to the snow like lambs to the slaughter,” she says. She also saw women athletes take a back seat when it came to sponsorship.

Bev tried to rectify this gender gap in sports by designing some of the first women’s specific snowboards. Even her own reps were afraid to sell the new boards, worried it would taint their image as serious athletes. “I felt like my decisions to bring women into sports were often blocked by others,” says Saunders.

So she did something about it.

“I had this epiphany about fifteen years ago that if I let women teach women then the blocks would go away.” And they have, for hundreds of women. Saunders has been running Manifesta trips and “making girls out of women” for more than a decade. What began as a childhood mutiny is now a full-fledged movement.

Touching procession honors slain bicyclist

2008-12-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

Published in the SF Bay Guardian
October 1, 2008

Story and photos by Kristin A. Smith

Some came on fixed gears with spotless rims, others on basement bikes with balding tires. Some were clad in safety orange, others in business suits. They came from all parts of the city, with pants rolled and lights blinking, to mourn the loss of one of their own.

Jordan McKay, 23, was shot and killed on September 17 while commuting home from the East Bay. Police are chalking the incident up to “road rage” but aren’t close to making an arrest.

Last night’s route followed McKay’s final ride through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park to 15th and Cabrillo, the site of the murder. A black and white spoke card with McKay’s picture and the words “Live. Love. Laugh. Ride.” spun in the riders’ wheels.

“His death is shocking,” said Bert Hill, who taught a bike safety class that Jordan took last year. “The kind of people who spend four hours on a Friday night learning about bike safety are not the kind who get into rough and tumble fights.”

Jordan, a University of California at Santa Cruz graduate who dreamed of starting a micro-lending business to help people rise above poverty, was known for his peaceful nature. “He was really loved,” said Elisa Litsky, Jordan’s girlfriend. “And he was so dedicated to those that he loved; he held them so close to his heart.”

Upon Litsky’s suggestion, mourners threw out adjectives that represented Jordan. “Fun, hilarious, beautiful, creative…” the words flew from the crowd. Bike bells dinged in applause.

Jordan’s father, a statuesque and handsome man, spoke next. “They have killed Jordan,” he said, eyes misting up, “but his light continues to shine in each of us—every one of us who tries to make this a better place.”

In Jordan’s mind, part of making the world a better place was riding his bike. As a San Francisco Bicycle Coalition member, he was active in the cycling community. “Part of why he started biking was because of his ethics…this is what he would really want,” said Litsky, looking out over the crowd. She never wavered, never cried. “Our purpose tonight is to celebrate Jordan’s life and do part of his commute.”

The event was more “Take Back the Night” than “Critical Mass.” Richmond residents were shocked that a murder took place in their normally quiet neighborhood and many were afraid to venture out. “We want to show them it’s safe,” said Litsky.

The ride, which had police escorts, serpentined slowly through the city. More than 200 riders pedaled to the site of the shooting, where a delicate memorial blanketed a tree. Litsky held Jordan’s mother closely; riders bowed their heads. When all the candles were lit and the flowers placed, the group rode toward the ocean, wheels spinning silently.

Vote No on Rick Warren

2008-12-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday’s announcement that Rick Warren, pastor of Southern California’s Saddleback Megachurch, was chosen to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration has sparked outrage among the gay community. And with good reason.

Warren helped lead the fight for Proposition 8, which stripped us of our right to marry. Even more upsetting, in a recent interview, Warren said that legalizing gay marriage is akin to legalizing incest and pedophilia.

These kind of comments are small-minded, bigoted and hateful, and the rhetoric has no place in Obama’s progressive administration—an administration that we helped usher in.

While Warren is touted as a moderate and known for reaching across party and religious lines, his stance on gay rights is in direct opposition to the ideals of an Obama White House.

As politically active gay citizens, we must call on Obama to rescind his invitation to Pastor Warren. If we are to truly believe that change has come to the white house, we must see it on the first day.

She's Our Number One [Lesbian Comedian]

2008-12-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

In the beginning there was Suzanne. And she was good. And gay. And out. As the first openly gay comic on the mainstream stage, Suzanne Westenhoefer paved the way for queer comedians around the country. For nearly 18 years, she’s been performing for packed audiences at clubs, on cruises and even opened for Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls. In between wedding plans (she and her partner are getting hitched in September) and preparing for a family vacation, she talks with Curve about her fear of lakes, her love of lezzie and her experience on Letterman.

What's new, Suzanne?
Okay, I have to ask you this because my sister and I are very close and we were talking about this yesterday and I said I’d ask everybody I talked to. Did you ever swim in a lake?

Oh heck yeah, I grew up in Pennsylvania like you.
Oh right. So you know, swimming in lakes, it’s like there’s an eerie feeling that there’s bodies in the bottom. Because if someone drowns in a lake, it’s like there’s nowhere for them to go. If you think about the ocean, people drown and they go to Europe or something.

Maybe you grew up a little too close to New Jersey.
Yeah, that’s funny. You know, we’ll be in a lake by next week because we’re going up to Lake Superior. I think that’s how all of this started, because we’re going up to “vacation” with my girlfriend’s family.

Speaking of vacation, you headlined Dinah Shore last year. What was that like?
I’ve done it a lot. It’s perfect. It’s like a thousand lezzies in a room. And I usually do my show on Thursday when everybody’s fresh and vibrant and ready and they just got there and they’re stoked. And it’s always a really awesome show. You feel like you could say anything and they’re in to it and it’s fun. I love it!

Lezzie’s one of my favorite words, by the way.
Lezzie’s one of my FAV-O-RITE words. It’s actually the cutest word. You know what else is a cute word? You’re going to hear it and laugh because the root word is so difficult. But if you say, ‘cunty’. It’s so cute. Isn’t cunty oddly cute?

It’s sort of endearing.
Yeah, I like lezzie; I like fag. I like all those words. And I know some people still get offended. But I never grew up having that yelled at me. I look like a cheerleader. I look like a big girly girl. That’s what I am. If someone took offense to me using the word, I would hug them. I’m a big hugger.

Do you think straight people relate to your work?
Definitely. That’s my piece of history—I was the first openly gay comic on the main stage. I used to do this old joke about how queers can’t get married so we don’t get bridal showers. And I would say it’s ridiculous, I’ve been with my partner 11 years and we don’t have two matching lamps. It’s not a joke anymore because things have changed, and isn’t that great, but to do that in front of straight people it wasn’t like it was their life, but it was more like they hadn’t thought of it and it was funny for that reason.

Can you talk a little bit more about the time when you were the only out gay comic in the mainstream?
It’s weird now because it was different when I started almost 18 years ago. There were comics who were gay, but they weren’t out and they were like “don’t do it, don’t do it.” Because they were truly frightened for me. There were very few people who were like “go for it, this is going to be great.” Most people were like “Oh no, this is going to hurt your career, this is going to end up badly.” No one did it to be mean; everyone did it with goodness in their heart.

Did you ever have any scary experiences as a result of putting yourself out there like that?
Not really. Well, I mean, I did Texas in 1992 at the Improv and I was pretty new and there were definitely people who got up and left when I was on stage, but there were just as many people who got up and left because the comedian after me was a black woman. I walked out and said, ‘I’m a gay comic.’ I did it on purpose; that was my activism. You could wait and warm up the audience, which is what most people do. It’s probably smarter, but it’s not my style. I’m the kind of person if I’m talking to you at the bank and I never met you before, in like 10 seconds I’m going to ask you how much you get paid a year. I don’t think of ‘Oh, that’s inappropriate. It just comes out of me.’

So having no filter. Does that get you into trouble?
Oh my god! Uh, weekly! But I’m not unwilling to apologize if I’ve truly hurt someone’s feelings. I’ve never been like that. I’m not like ‘hey, that’s my art, you just have to fucking deal with it.’.

You were the first gay comedian on Letterman. What was that like?
It was a phenomenal experience, but Letterman was sick. And he’s never sick, so there was a guest host. It was such a big milestone, but the gay community didn’t leap on it. They were like, “Oh, good for you.” They had no idea how hard it was; how no one had done it before. It was just such a big fucking deal. So there was a sort of anti-climatic experience, because I thought it was a huge thing and I thought it would be a breakthrough and ten other gay comics would get on. It kind of happened and it was great and I got all this great response from all these straight people. But the gay community, I don’t know, maybe they don’t actually watch Letterman.

Where do you get the inspiration for your material?
Well let’s look at it. You called and because my sister and I are talking about dead people in a lake, that’s what I’m talking about. So, I guarantee you, or there’s a 90% chance, that when I get up on stage in a couple of nights, I’m going to talk about dead people in a lake, because it’s on my mind. I might not talk about it again. It might be very funny or it might just fly right over. Or it could be something where I’m doing it for a year. That’s how the show evolves. I don’t write. I don’t know how to. I don’t sit and write jokes I’ve not sat and written a joke for myself ever. I don’t know how I would even do that.

What’s coming up for you in the near future?
For some reason, everybody I’m involved with, like my agent and my girlfriend and another friend of mine are all bugging me to write a book. I’m like, ‘Oh my god’. They all have the same freaking idea. I swear they went behind my back.

Published in Curve Magazine
November 2008

Telenovela Star: As Dramatic As They Want To Be

2008-12-01T08:35:00.000-08:00

Published in Curve Magazine
November 2008

Nikkie McLeod began her relationship the way many of us have—by responding to a Craigslist ad. But instead of an awkward first date, a sloppy roommate or a one-night stand, she got a band. A kick ass band, a kick ass lady band: Telenovela Star.

McLeod says she knew right away that the group belonged together. “We really communicated well musically. As soon as I sat down and started to play, it just made sense, ” says the 31-year-old drummer.

When McLeod saw the Craigslist posting for an all girl band, she had just moved to New York City, had no Internet access and was therefore unable to learn the songs the other two women had sent her. “We basically had to jam,” she says, “good thing we’re all really good at jamming.”

By the end of the session, everyone on stage agreed that the trio was great together. Centered on the heavy drums of McLeod, the screaming guitar and vocals of Maggie Argyros and the sexy bass and vocals of Hanna Klein, Telenovela Star was born.

While deciding to become a band came easily, deciding on a name seemed to linger. “It was becoming a problem that we didn’t have a name,” says McLeod, explaining that the group wanted to perform but still didn’t know what to call themselves.

The struggle to find a name that embodied the group continued until one fateful day when Argyros began talking about the telenovelas that were always playing at her local laundromat. “How about Telenovela?” Argyros asked, interrupting herself. But the name was already taken by a Chicago band. “Well then, how about Telenovela Star?”
McLeod says that the name “just clicked,” adding that it fit because the group can be “sort of dramatic sometimes.”

The drama can be seen in their press photos of the band, complete with stylish wardrobes and wind-blown hair. The photos look like an Urban Outfitters catalog spread of edgy New York girls or perhaps…an advertisement for a real telenovela. When asked who each of the band members would play if they were actual telenovela stars, McLeod gets quiet.

“Um…I guess I’d be the gay cousin,” she says laughing. “And Maggie might be the drama queen. Oh god, she’ll kill me for that. And Hannah, well she’d be the mellow, stable person. Do they even have that on the show?” We agree there must be, but can only come up with Brandon from 90210 as a possible example.

While none of the band members are Latina, and are unlikely to star in an actual telenovela, the group members do represent a variety of cultures: Guitarist Maggie Argyros’ family is from Greece, but she was raised in New York City, bass player Hanna Klein is from Romania, and Nikkie McLeod is from Trinidad and Tobego.

Despite their international backgrounds, there is nothing “world music” about their sound. You can hear the influence of the Pixies and PJ Harvey more than Mediterranean guitar rifts or African drum beats, but McLeod says that even if it’s not recognizable at first, all of the group members bring their background to the music. “It’s just ingrained in our psyche,” she says.

Their music is as diverse as they are. Telenovela’s most recent album, “Love, Lust, Sci-fi and Monsters”, which was released in 2007, is about everything from dating to Dr. Who. Self-released, the album transcends garage band quality and has a studio, polished sound. McLeod says the album (available on Itunes) is doing pretty well, but they aren’t “becoming millionaires off the project.” “Actually,” she adds, “we’d like to sell a lot more.”

Najarra Townsend Q&A

2008-11-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

Najarra Townsend isn’t your typical Hollywood teenager. You won’t see her in the tabloids next to Lindsay Lohan or the Olsen twins. She’s just a talented young actress making a name for herself by performing in Indy films like You and Me and Everyone We Know.

This year she stars in Tru Loved, Stewart Wade’s latest romantic comedy about a straight girl with gay moms, gay dads and a fake gay boyfriend; she’s already received two film festival best actress awards for her role. Featuring some of the best gay Hollywood icons, as well as an array of new faces, Tru Loved will have you laughing, crying and waving your gay flag all at the same time. And understandably, Townsend’s really “excited” to talk about it!

Why were you drawn to the role of Tru in Tru Loved?
When I originally read the script, I just fell madly in love with it. It was like my ideal script. Tru was such a great character to get to play—She’s a 16-year-old girl, but she’s a really strong individual. She knows who she is and she knows what she wants to fight for. And that was just so exciting to get to play.

Do you know what this inspiration for this film was?
I’ve heard Stewart Wade talk about this before. I believe it came about because of his partner, Antonio, who is the producer of the film. They are gay parents together and they wanted to make a film that focused on gay parents. There aren’t many films like that.

You seemed really comfortable playing the part of an LGBT activist and a gay ally. Do you have any personal experience with that in your life?
Well, I have so many gay and lesbian friends and I was raised in theatre. I have always been really into gay and lesbian rights, so it was an exciting script to get to make into a film and it was something I believed could really make a difference. So that was exciting. And I’ve always wanted to be an activist.

In a lot of ways, this is a good introduction to the gay film genre—Who was the target audience, and how has it been received?
I’ve seen it with so many different audiences now. It’s really a film for everyone. It has something for every age, but I think that originally it was probably targeted at high-schoolers, to get the word out there that you can be open about who you are…We always get different responses based on who the audience is. I haven’t gotten a bad response yet, so that’s really exciting.

Jane Lynch, everybody’s favorite Best In Show lesbian, makes a cameo in the movie. Why do we get so little of her?
I never asked why; I was just so excited to get to work with her. I’m guessing it’s because she signed on after everyone was cast, so they created a role for her and put her in. I was just ecstatic to work with her. It was funny because I know she’s been in so many great films, but I was mostly excited because she’s on the L Word and that’s like my favorite TV show! And I was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m working with someone who is on the L Word!’ I just wanted to be next to her all the time. I mean, hello, it’s Jane Lynch! I totally love her.

Published in Curve Magazine
November 2008

Through Fire and Water: Oceana’s Crusade

2008-10-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Published in 65 Degrees
Fall 2008
By Kristin A. Smith

In a cottage-like building near Fisherman's Wharf, directly across from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Center for the Future of the Oceans, sits Oceana's California office.

Looking at its small building you wouldn’t know that it tackles big issues like saving endangered species and slowing global warming. With sister offices in Juneau, Alaska and Portland, Oregon, Oceana has built a virtual archipelago of ocean preservation along the west coast.

While the focus of the organization is to promote conservation of all oceans and coastlines, they are paying a great deal of attention to the Monterey Peninsula. The mixture of a diverse marine habitat with the longstanding tradition of commercial fishing industry means there is plenty for Oceana to do in Monterey.

“There are so many issues down here related to the ocean; it’s a major hub of activity,” says Santi Roberts, Oceana’s California Project Manager.

One key issue is the regulation of fishing — Oceana advocates for sustainable fishing methods and works to ban those that are not. Among their list of dangerous practices is bottom trawling, which involves dragging a net along the ocean’s floor. Bottom trawls wreak havoc on the delicate seafloor habitat that many species of marine life depend upon. The appeal of trawling is that it is a very efficient method in terms of total capture volume because the nets scoop up everything in their path — including unwanted or protected species. These unwanted species are referred to as bycatch in the industry, the elimination of which represents a major goal in the sustainable seafood movement.

Bottom trawls are by no means the only fishing gear that is of concern to Oceana. Leatherback Sea Turtles, who travel from as far as Indonesia to Monterey to feast on jellyfish, are regular victims of bycatch. These massive creatures that can weigh up to 1,500 pounds — roughly the size of a VW Bug — are often caught and killed by trawls, longlines (which can span anywhere from one to fifty miles long) and gillnets (nets designed to entangle marine life).

In 2001, Oceana came to their rescue by helping to create the Pacific Leatherback Protection Area (PLPA) that extends from Monterey to Oregon. Although this protected area may seem like a great victory, Oceana’s work is never done. Opponents of the PLPA are pushing to reopen the turtle protection area, but Oceana is fighting hard to maintain this sea turtle sanctuary. “It’s a constant battle,” says Roberts. “Thankfully Californians are interested in taking on these battles.”

One such interested Californian is Pacific Grove’s Mayor, Dan Cort. He and his wife, Beth, serve as the only couple on Oceana’s International Board of Directors. Together they work to raise funds and deliver Oceana’s message to listeners up and down the West Coast.

“The more we learned, the more appalled we were at the state of our oceans,” says Beth. “And Oceana was doing something about it. We were drawn to them because they actually change policy.”

While the Corts only recently joined the board of Oceana, they have already taken many of the organization’s global initiatives and applied them locally. Oceana encourages people to reduce their waste and rely less on plastics and Styrofoam; Dan recently banned Styrofoam in Pacific Grove and hopes other small towns will follow suit. “We want to make PG a model that other towns and cities can emulate,” says Dan. “If we don’t tackle it in our own communities, then change doesn’t happen.”

One need only look at pictures of an island of trash twice the size of Texas swirling off the coast of Hawaii, called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, to see the impact of our consumption on the ocean. Roberts says that “less use of plastics will undoubtedly help our oceans.”

While Oceana has an impressive list of politicians and celebrities, you don’t have to be famous to get involved with the organization — it’s for anyone who wants to protect the ocean. Roberts says there are multiple ways to help:

1. Use less fossil fuel to slow global warming — Global warming is causing ocean acidification and putting our underwater ecosystems at risk; crustaceans can’t create their shells when ocean waters become too acidic.

2. Buy sustainable seafood — Oceana, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, has a sustainable seafood reference card that helps consumers make ocean-friendly choices.

3. Eliminate use of Styrofoam and excess plastics.

Roberts says taking care of the oceans is a big job. If you are interested in helping out at Oceana, they’ll be happy to take you. “We’re certainly busy, so any help from volunteers is always welcome,” says Roberts. With that, he returns to his small office by the sea to continue to crusade to save the oceans. °

For more information and to learn how you can help visit www.oceana.org

Hipster Bike Lesson 2: Your Bike is Too Big!

2008-10-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Published on The Village Bicycle

Fall 2008
By Kristin A. Smith

Dear San Francisco,

You lured me in with your painted ladies, your suspended bridges and steep hills. You wowed me with the wiggle, pleased me with the Panhandle and made me giddy with Golden Gate Park. Your streets are teeming with cyclists; your festivals abounding with bikes. But the closer I looked, the more baffled I became: not only were your cyclists pushing single speeds with single brakes, but 1 in 3 bikes I saw was TOO big!

It’s easy to look cool with a bike- bikes are sexy, bikes are hot, bikes look good with anything outfit. And of all the bikes out there, it is the vintage steel frame that is the most pure and sexy. But there’s a problem…. Your bike is TOO big! And that, my two-wheeled vixens, is not hot.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Is your seat perched right on top of the frame?

2. Do you have to tip your bike horizontally to touch the ground?

3. Do you stretch out like Superman to reach your handlebars?

4. Are you 5′4″ and riding a 56cm?

4. Do you find yourself walking your bike more than riding it?

If you answered yes to any of the above, I have news for you…

YOUR BIKE IS TOO BIG!

So trade it in. Put it on Craigslist with the other 61cm frames and find one that fits. If you’re riding a fixie, know that it should be smaller than your road bike. I am 5′11″ and my fixie is a 56cm- it’s compact, it’s agile, and best of all, I don’t hit my lady parts on the top-tube.

An easy way to measure: Take your height minus 5 and get your bike. I’m 5′11″ and I ride a 56. My partner is 5′9″ and rides a 54. It’s not an exact method, but it’s a rough rule of thumb.

Go get ‘em tigers–weave that compact frame through the tourists’ Blazing Saddles. And when you get to a light, relish in firmly planting your feet on the ground with plenty of clearance between the cold steel of your top tube and your family jewels.

KIN Proves They CAN Rock the Mic

2008-10-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Curve Magazine
July/August 2008
By Kristin A. Smith

In the golden age of hip-hop, women wore the pants—baggy, belted with oversized tee shirts, and the only thing tight were their rhymes. There was Queen Latifah, Bahamadia, MC Lite and Salt n Pepa, just to name a few. Fast forward fifteen years and you can add KIN to the mix of powerful ladies who own the mic.

While KIN is not the first female rap group to bust into the primarily male dominated world, they are the first openly queer female duo to enter the scene. Nor and IQ, best friends since elementary school (not dating, as is often assumed), have been crossing genres, crossing the country and changing minds with their music for the last ten years.

Born and raised in Mt. Vernon, NY, a small city known for its contribution to hip hop (Heavy D was born there and P. Diddy lived there for years), Nor and IQ hope to restore hip-hop fame to their hometown. “We definitely represent our city; we got that Mt. Vernon sound,” says Nor.

KIN’s sound is reminiscent of the old-school days of rap. “We are definitely influenced by the past, and hopefully we can bring that era back and make our own lane from 2008 and into the future,” says IQ. Nor adds that KIN is “not talking about rims, hoes and ice,” they are talking about their own experiences.

And it’s their own experiences that make KIN stand out both personally and musically. As openly lesbian, African American artists, KIN has had to overcome serious obstacles. “Every day that I wake up I’m a woman and I’m African American and I’m a lesbian and I have to deal with all three at once…and then I have to do it on the public stage in the music industry,” says IQ. Nor agrees that the process has been challenging at times, describing coming out to the black community as a “journey unto itself.”

The journey of coming out publicly was a gradual and conscious decision for KIN. In the beginning, they kept their sexuality separate from their music, and even today their sexuality is not the center of their songs, but neither is it hidden. “It wasn’t a forced decision,” says IQ, “we didn’t decide okay, now let’s be out. It was a growing process—how we grew with our sexuality, how we grew into our music and how we grew into women. It all happened at the same time.”

It is this mix of maturity, confidence and skills that are winning over fans across the country. KIN has developed a devoted following, especially among young women who look to Nor and IQ as role models for both the hip hop and queer movements. “We just hope that in putting ourselves out there, we continue to get the letters we get now saying that we’re affecting people who look at us and say, ‘I can relate to you,’” says Nor.

It’s not just the queer community that is packing KIN performances; the group has fans from all walks of life. While IQ concedes that most of their fans are women, she says, “it is not based on sexuality. It’s just female—straight, lesbian or anything in between.”

KIN’s popularity even extends beyond the hip-hop community. In 2005, they promoted their album, “Rock Star” to a number of events, including Ladyfest in New York. Because of the album’s name, the promoters of Ladyfest assumed KIN was a rock band and booked them for a show. KIN arrived at a venue filled with bands and packed to the brim with musical instruments, and all they brought were two mics and themselves. “So we decided then that we had to show them we belonged on their stage. And we rocked out,” says IQ. The promoters invited them back next year.

This is a typical story for KIN who are making connections outside of hip-hop venues. The duo regularly performs at The Knitting Factor, one of New York’s underground rock venues. Usually performing as a duo, KIN has added a backup band for some performances, completing the image of a “Rock Star.”

Despite their cross-genre appeal, the band has yet to acquire a major record deal. Currently publishing under their own label, NorIq (pronounced Nor-eek), the band has released three albums. Right now they are working on a new mix tape titled, “Street Rock,” a term KIN coined to describe their amalgam of R&B, rap and rock.

With little budget, KIN has managed to deliver three albums, but the work is not as polished as many mainstream albums. The songs are at times thoughtful, witty and comedic, but the quality of recordings doesn’t match their live performances, which are pure energy. The duo begins a Pride Festival tour in June, and has a smattering of performances on the East Coast this spring. See www.kin4life.com for more information.

KIN”s lack of national success could be attributed to the current role of women in hip hop and the industry’s fear of the powerful woman. Gone are the days when women wore what they wanted, said what they wanted and danced how they wanted. While there are a few female lyricists who represent the smart, sassy side of womanhood, the industry seems to have regressed since the early 90’s. KIN could be a group to help create a revival, but they’re going to need a lot more money and a little more experience to bring about a full resurrection of the golden age of female rap.

Mile High to Sea Level

2008-10-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

65 Degrees
Fall 2008

Kristin A. Smith

Some people come to Carmel for the sun; others the sea. The Momo family came for the altitude, or lack thereof.

Anthony Junior, also known as Little Anthony, has a serious congenital heart disease. At six years old, he has already had four operations and will eventually need a transplant. With only one ventricle instead of the normal two, his heart has to work extra hard to pump blood through his body. At Denver’s high altitude, even fully functioning hearts struggle to oxygenate the body. Little Anthony’s single ventricle was pushed to its limit.

Upon doctor’s orders, the Momo family packed up their established Colorado life, where they owned and operated multiple restaurants, and headed west, to lower ground. Their journey began in Southern California, where Anthony Senior continued to commute to and from Denver from 2003 until 2007. But when they learned that Bahama Billy’s, a local Carmel restaurant at the Barnyard, was up for sale, they jumped at the opportunity to buy it.

With its low altitude, proximity to Stanford’s renowned Children’s Hospital, and booming restaurant scene, Carmel was an ideal place for the Momos to plant their roots.

“Moving here has been a really good experience for our family,” says April Momo, Little Anthony’s mother. “The schools are terrific, Stanford is less than an hour away, and the community is great. People really look out for each other here.”
April and Anthony bought Bahama Billy’s as a turnkey operation, keeping the name and menu but adding their own twist to the food. Everyone in the family has a role at Bahama Billy’s. Anthony Senior, a first generation Italian American, is the head chef. He uses his Italian background to liven up the menu. April and their two sons act as concierge for the restaurant and April handles private parties. Little Anthony and his younger brother, Gian Carlo are, of course, also official tasters.

“When we work events, the boys help by serving food to the attendees. The crowd loves it because the boys always give extra helpings,” April chuckles. “But really, they are a huge help. They come to the restaurant with me and help by greeting customers at the door. They are our little maître ds and are always more than willing to taste new dishes.”

But Little Anthony wasn’t always cut out for a job as a taster. For the first few years of his life, he was too weak to eat and required feeding tubes to get the nourishment he needed. Slowly, and with the help of a feeding clinic, he learned to eat by himself. Today he is an active six year old, who loves to play golf and dreams of one day being a tennis star.

Running the restaurant as a family unit has allowed the Momos to adjust more easily to the Carmel lifestyle. And although being restaurateurs is a large responsibility, it’s nothing the Momos’ aren’t used to and the pros outweigh any cons.

While Anthony will eventually need a transplant, life for the Momos is pretty normal right now. The restaurant is a success, the boys are happy, and Little Anthony only needs to go to Stanford every six months for regular checkups—an easy routine compared to the consecutive months he spent in hospitals as a baby.

While the Momos initially came to Carmel for the altitude and business, they are staying for the community.

“I’ve made the best friends of my life here,” says April. “And the boys love their preschool.” All in all, she says, “life here is really good.” °

Hipster Bike Lesson 1: The Fixie vs. The Single Speed

2008-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Published on The Village Bicycle

Fall 2008

By Kristin A. Smith

Image by Harry Campbell, NYT

I love that biking has become cool. This month’s Paper Magazine features a spread of some of Brooklyn’shottest hipster cyclists. And to be one of those lanky, scraggly two-wheeled riders, you have to have the token hipster bike…the fixie. Only problem is that many of the citie’s “fixies” are actually single speeds disguised in fixie clothing.

There’s no shame in riding a single-speed. Your legs have to be extra tough to summit SF’s hills without the power of the ever-revolving cranks of a fixie and the bikes are still pure and beautiful looking. But there is danger. Serious danger.

So many of the single speeds dresssed as fixies have only ONE BRAKE. The single brake is helpful on the fixed gear, but DEADLY on the single-speed. Hipsters, don’t allow your ego to put you at risk of sailing over the handlebars.

Either flip that hub around and ride it like a fixed gear, using the front brake as a rescue or aid in the steep grade, or apply another brake. In a city where cyclists are killed annually, don’t put yourself at excess risk.

Don’t worry, you’ll still look just as hot with two brakes. Better yet, the messengers won’t make fun of you for posing with a single brake and limp cranks when you wheel it into Zeitgeist.