Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
“I can’t believe this is actually a place to review, but alas, here it is!”
—J.B.
There are reviews online for just about any space you can be in. Not only for the ones you’d expect, like restaurants or hotels, but also for places like parking garages — and parks. Sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes the reviewer just needs to vent, and sometimes they get a bit absurd.
The weird ones are the best.
Case in point: Amberwood Park in Chandler.
Continue reading “People’s Peculiar Park Opinions”
Imagine that you’re 12.
It’s the beginning of summer 1990, and you’re growing up in San Diego. You’ve got a Walkman, a neon green fanny pack, and annual passes to SeaWorld.
Then your mom effectively cancels all your summer plans when she tells you she’ll be sending you to stay at your grandma’s house on a sheep ranch in rural Arizona instead. [Record scratch.]
That’s the beginning of Benny’s story in the film Frybread Face and Me.
Benny, portrayed by Keir Tallman, is a sweet, Fleetwood-Mac-loving preteen, who marches to the beat of his own drum.
His Aunt Lucy drops him off at the home of his grandmother (played by Sarah Natani, who is a Navajo master weaver in real life, as well as in the movie).
It’s the first time in years he’s been on the reservation, and it is a bit of culture shock for the city kid. Although he’s Navajo (Diné), he doesn’t speak the language and has grown up away from the traditions that weave their way into the life of many of his relatives.
Grandma Lorraine only speaks Navajo. When it is just the two of them, her words are not subtitled. So unless you speak Navajo, you are as in the dark as Benny is.
His Uncle Marvin, who also lives on the ranch, speaks English but doesn’t have a kind word to say to Benny.
Although Grandma Lorraine’s house is so remote that it doesn’t have running water or electricity, it is actually the hub that connects his extended family. It’s where they always return – especially in times of transition or difficulty.
Things begin to turn around for Benny with the arrival of his 10-year-old cousin (played by Charley Hogan), who everyone calls “Frybread Face.” Not only is she able to translate the Navajo language and culture for him, she can give him the scoop on their relatives, as well. The two cousins bond while working together to take care of sheep, fix fences, and find time to just have fun and be kids.
Throughout the film, Benny is trying to understand who he is and how he fits into his culture and his family. He also learns that the adults don’t have it all figured out either.
The film is beautiful with plenty of moments to both make you smile and to tug at your heart strings.
It was written and directed by Billy Luther, who is Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo. While he has made documentaries (including the award-winning Miss Navajo) and television shows, this is his first feature film! It was filmed on location in New Mexico with shots that capture the wide open spaces and stark beauty of the high desert.
Frybread Face and Me is being released on Netflix and in select theaters today (November 24, 2023) in honor of Native American Heritage Day.
Film preview and photos courtesy of ARRAY.
We’re right smack dab in the middle of Sonoran Restaurant Week, when around 100 (!) restaurants in Tucson and surrounding cities offer special prix fixe menus for $25, $35, or $45 (plus tax and tip). The price often includes several courses that would regularly cost more.
The idea is to encourage diners to try restaurants they haven’t been to, as well as revisiting old favorites. You many need to ask for the Sonoran Restaurant Week menu if you’re at a participating place and don’t see one. Find participating restaurants and menus on TucsonFoodie.com.
I’ve paired 7 of these Tucson restaurants with something fun to do (relatively) nearby that complements them.
Continue reading “Sonoran Restaurant Week Pairings”
In case you’re not familiar, you can think of a quilt shop hop as kind of like a pub crawl, only with less alcohol and a lot more fabric.
Different quilt shops in a region will participate with demonstrations, prizes, and fun activities. You “hop” around to the different ones. Instead of tickets or admission, you can purchase a single passport that allows you to join in the extra festivities at each shop.
The Northern Arizona “Beat the Heat” Shop Hop is actually going on across northern Arizona through today (Saturday, July 29).
To join in, you just start in any of the 6 participating shops and buy a passport for $5. That gets you entry into prize drawings and a 10% discount on merchandise, as you visit the rest of the shops (or as many of them as you’d like).
My mom wanted to go check out that Northern Arizona Shop Hop, so we hatched a plan to make a day trip while I was visiting her recently.
The plan was to time our two-hour drive from Phoenix so we’d arrive as the shops were opening. We wouldn’t get to all of them, but we might be able to go to 3 or 4 out of the 6, and then get back to her house in time for Phillip and I to drive home to Tucson (two hours in the opposite direction).
What actually happened was a different story – more on that in a minute.
While the day did not go as planned, I had looked up a bunch of stuff about the shops ahead of time. And had done some deep dives into Google Maps street views of our destinations, because even map apps can be confusing!
In case you’d like to plan your own Northern Arizona quilt store expedition (during a shop hop or not), I wanted to share the information I found about the shops I was planning on going to.
Before you drive across the state, it’s always a good idea to check AZ511 for road closures because of construction, weather, wildfires, etc.
In case you’re not familiar with the area, yes, Prescott Valley is a different town than Prescott, which is almost 100 years older!
Open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm / Sat 10am-4pm
Contact quiltn@quiltnsewconnection.com / Facebook / (928) 775-9580
Find them at 6546 E. Second St., Suite A, Prescott Valley
In their words:
“A great selection of quality quilting fabrics, battings, books and supplies,” as well as “a passion for batiks!” On the home decorating side, they carry an assortment of upholstery fabrics for both DIYers and pros – and (heads up, cosplayers!) they also have an entire foam department.
Open Tue–Sat 10am-5pm
Contact: bill@clothplus.com / (928) 772-5010
Find them at 6479 E. Copper Hill Dr., Prescott Valley
Prescott’s Courthouse Plaza is home to craft fairs, festivals, and lots of other outdoor events! It’s surrounded by a town square full of quirky shops and restaurants, historic hotels, and old-timey saloons. We were hoping to be there by lunchtime.
A new full-service quilt shop with “a curated selection of both traditional and modern fabrics, patterns, and supplies.” Their goal is “to inspire and help you create your vision while having fun from start to finish.”
Open Tue, Thr-Sat 10am-4pm / Wed 10am-6pm
Contact hello@prescottquiltworks.com / Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest / (928) 515-2276
Find them at 1781 E. AZ-69, Suite 29, Prescott
If we had time to squeeze it in, this would be our final stop of the day.
In their words:
“This store has been a dream of mine for over 30 years and to see it come to fruition has me beyond words. Our goal is to provide a one stop shop for all your basic sewing needs.”
Open Mon-Sat 9am-6pm
Contact yoursewnsew@yahoo.com / Facebook / (928) 636-3769
Find them at 1120 S. Hwy 89, Suite E. Chino Valley
The other two participating shops that we knew we wouldn’t be able to fit into our day trip…
5. Quilter’s Quarters, Cottonwood
6. Odegaard’s Sewing Center, Flagstaff
Usually, going to Northern Arizona in the summer means cool weather instead of Phoenix heat.
However, as the shop hop got closer, the whole state seemed to be scorching. Even in the high country, they were expecting temps of 98-100, which is not cool. But cooler than Phoenix by about 20 degrees, so that’s something.*
I checked in with Mom.
Me: If it’s hot up north, do you still want to go?
Mom: Sure!
Mom remembered she had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for the morning of our trip. It would mean heading north a bit later, but we could make it work if the appointment didn’t go too long.
Me: If we leave straight from your doctor’s office, do you still want to go?
Mom: Sure!
The appointment went too long. It was midday before Mom finally reappeared in the waiting room. We started talking about if it made any sense to try to drive up just for the afternoon. Then Mom had an idea.
Mom: Instead of making a long drive, do you want to visit a couple nearby quilt shops and then go see the Barbie movie?
Me: Sure!
That was a plan that worked out perfectly. The Barbie movie was great! And I’ll fill you in on the Phoenix-area (East Valley) stores we visited in the next few weeks.
*Temperatures were around 37 Celsius in the normally-much-cooler northern Arizona region. Hot. But slightly less hot than the Phoenix area, where it was 47 C!
“We … find our way on canoes as we travel across the ocean where there are no street signs.”
Even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no land in sight – and no GPS – Lehua Kamalu knows where she’s going.
I learned about Lehua through an interview on the Overheard at National Geographic podcast. As part of the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS), she has learned to find her way across the waves by employing ancestral knowledge and constant, keen observation of her surroundings.
“Wayfinding for us really is the idea that with the naked eye, with all of your senses, [you] immerse yourself into the signs of the natural world around you.”
The Polynesian Voyaging Society was founded in the 1970s, part of a Hawaiian cultural renaissance of pre-colonial arts, language, knowledge, and skills. They re-learned how to build the large, ocean-going canoes that had originally brought Polynesians to the Hawaiian islands centuries ago, as well as the navigational methods that guided them.
“Waves create regular, readable patterns in the ocean that are long range and very consistent, particularly in the tropics, particularly here in Polynesia, and are very reliable to find your way.”
The first voyaging canoe PVS built was the 62-foot long Hōkūleʻa, which was launched in 1975 and has since traveled over 140,000 nautical miles! The next canoe, Hikianalia, was built in 2012.
In 2018, after years of honing her navigational skills, Lehua Kamalu became the first woman to captain one of these canoes on an extended voyage.
It was fascinating to hear her describe what it’s like to sail across the Pacific Ocean without present-day navigational equipment.
“The navigator’s job is to spend as little time sleeping as possible. And as much time watching for consistency, watching for patterns in the sky and in the ocean, and also for changes and comparing what’s going on between the two.”
Currently, she’s one of the 400 crew members of two Polynesian voyaging canoes (Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia) that are circumnavigating the Pacific on the 43,000-nautical-mile “Voyage for the Earth,” Moananuiākea.
You can track their progress on the Polynesian Voyaging Society site and see maps and updates of where they are.
A podcast episode recommendation for you…
Overheard at National Geographic
Episode 19 from May 9, 2023
“She Sails the Seas Without Maps or Compasses”
All quotes are by Lehua Kamalu, from her Overheard interview with Eli Chen. All photos courtesy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.