Desert Lady Diaries

DLD | Blanca S. Villalobos

DLD| Darlene Morris |Ep 150

DLD| ShaWanda Gatson |Ep 149

DLD| Lauren Kane |Ep 148

 Valcine Brown remembers trips to Las Vegas with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins as her first experience with desert.   Valcine describes a recent drive through the Mojave Preserve and what it was like to witness the destruction of the 2020 summer wildfires up close and personal.   Valcine moved to the lower desert in the 90’s. While thinking about leaving Los Angeles county, her husband at the time received a timely promotion that brought them to the low desert. Some time after moving, the couple divorced and eventually Valcine came up to the hi-desert looking to purchase her next home,   Having lived in both the low and hi-deserts, Valcine shares her perspective on the differences between the two places.   Valcine didn’t really know ­anyone when she moved here, but when you love to sing karaoke, it’s easy to find friends in a place filled with musical talent. One night at karaoke, a woman who enjoyed Valcine singing approached her, gave Valcine her phone number and introduced her to Lisa Rae Black (Ep 95) who invited Valcine to join hi-desert band, The LP’s.   Valcine grew up singing, starting in her church choir at the age of 15 and participating in the opera theatre in college. Valcine says her perfect life would be teaching during the week and singing on the weekends.   6:22 Saloon – karaoke   In this episode, Valcine talks about transitioning to teaching online during the pandemic and the challenges around building a rapport with new students when the school year began in the fall of 2020.   A self-proclaimed nerd, Valcine has earned two MFA’s, and is currently working toward her Doctorate.   Valcine discusses her independent publishing company, La CrisaAnd Productions, and her inspiration for starting it.     

DLD | Valcine Brown | Ep 147

DLD| Susan Henry |Ep 146

DLD| Cindy Daigneault |Ep 145

 Jessica Bennett's first desert experience was a program in her Washington State high school called ‘desert school’. Growing up in lush Seattle presented allergy challenges for Jessica and she immediately took notice of a change while visiting the eastern Washington desert climate.   A series of bachelorette parties brought Jessica to Palm Springs and some of those trips found her coming up to the hi-desert to experience Joshua Tree National Park. The more time she spent in this part of the desert, the more she found to appreciate. The landscape, the ‘hippie vibe’, the people inspired her to continue exploring.   After continuing to visit and spending money on vacation rentals, Jessica suggested to her husband they just get a place of their own here in the desert. Like many, the house was purchased site unseen, with a friend from Los Angeles riding out to perform due diligence. After the purchase, Jessica and her husband experienced some of the challenges new property owners in the desert inevitably face. Break ins, theft and contractors who misrepresent themselves or fail to show up.   As an aspiring journalist, Jessica left Seattle, attending college in Boston -interning at the Boston Globe - then heading to NYC to pursue work in journalism. While interning in NYC, she also 'did time' waiting tables. Having grown up on the west coast, raised by a father who was raised in NYC, Jessica didn’t realize how much of his ‘city attitude’ was embedded in her until arriving in NYC and feeling like she’d found her people.   Jessica landed a staff job at Newsweek and she’s been there ever since. Jessica explains her role as gender editor with the NY Times and why the role is necessary in today's journalism landscape.   In this episode, we touch on the toxicity of the new ‘cancel culture’, the future of analog magazines and newspapers and the vital role of local newspapers.   Jessica also shares the inspiration for her two books, 'Feminist Fight Club' and ‘This is 18: Girls' Lives Through Girls' Eyes'. We also talk about her inspiration for championing women and how her role as a journalist gives her a platform to speak out.   Learn more: Jessicabennett.com Twitter: @jessicabennett Instagram: @jessicabennett   

Jessica Bennett | Ep 144

 Elena Yu started making trips to the desert with her pre-school classmates and their climbing dads.   She recalls loving their regular trip to Coyote Corner to pick out rocks. Placing them in a little velvet back made it seem like rocks were something important to collect.   A competitive swimmer in her youth (discussed in the Diary Unlocked portion of the interview), Elena studied various mediums of studio art at UCLA from 2012 to 2016. After graduating in the spring of 2016 with her summer internship in the arts ending, Elena came across a job listing to work for Joshua Tree non-profit High Desert Test Sites (HDTS) and artist Andrea Zittel in Joshua Tree. As a one year paid internship with housing, Elena felt this would be the perfect way continue her work in the art world and to re-connect with Joshua Tree and explore it in a deeper way.   All of the sudden, she was in a house in 29 Palms w/out any neighbors and a mountain for a backyard. At that moment, she never expected she would have stayed for four years - and has no current plans to leave.   In this episode, Elena gives us a brief overview of HDTS (a non-profit formed by artist Andrea Zittel and others), A-Z West, Andrea Zittel’s personal practice and the roles Elena continues to play in the various organizations. Early on in her first year, Elena recognized that though she had a great deal of interaction with the HDTS resident artists, she hadn’t really inserted herself in the local community. After about a year, Elena said she started to feel a bit lonely and began to make a conscious effort to reach out to folks in the community who were pursuing similar interests to form deeper connections.   One of those activities was rock-climbing. Elena recently had the opportunity to go out and climb again with some folks she hadn’t connected with in a long time. The art and climber community doesn’t typically intersect in the desert. This recent experience has motivated her to reach out to a few folks she knows in the arts community that do climb and perhaps tag along with them to renew her skills and make more intimate friendships.   We also talk about the economic advantage of living here, particularly for folks in her age group who also work in the arts. 

DLD| Elena Yu | Ep 134

Mining creative opportunities in the desert

DLD| Turiya Autry |Ep 142

 Born and raised in South Orange, NJ - in the shadow of NYC - Merilee Kuchon’s early life was very suburban and urban.   Merilee was about five or six when she had her first desert experience. Aunt Franny and Uncle Pete, who lived in Encinitas, put Merilee in the VW Bus and drove down to Anza Borrego. Merilee says, “It blew my mind.”   In 2004 Merilee was working at High Times Magazine in NYC. Though the job had some perks, Merilee was tired of sitting behind a desk. Having experienced 9/11 up close and personal, she realized that experience had not only changed NYC, but also changed her.   Merilee convinced her then boyfriend to quit his job and go with her on a year long road trip of the Southwest and Mexico. Before heading out on that trip, a former punk-rock friend from Jersey wrote Merilee, inviting her to come visit him in Joshua Tree while she was traveling.   Merilee stayed in JT for about a month – back and forth to Mexico, playing music, eating and playing poker.   She made her way back to NJ, continuing to make trips back out to Joshua Tree in the four years that followed. While back in NJ she met her love, Doug. They lived in Texas for five years, playing in a band and operating a co-op deli before making the move to Joshua Tree. Life in Austin was not fulfilling.   In making the decision to move to Joshua Tree the first time, Merilee knew she needed to work and decided it would be cooking. Years earlier, while still working at High Times, Merilee went to French Culinary Institute on the weekends just for fun and to learn. After getting settled in Joshua Tree, Merilee put a 'private chef' resume up on craigslist and immediately got a response from a drug and alcohol rehab facility down the hill in Indian Wells. While in Texas, she had a job as a deli manager for a food co-op, adding management skills to her culinary training. This all worked together to help Merilee – and her business partner Rosa Ficara (Ep 128) - to open Roadrunner Grab + Go deli in Joshua Tree.   In this episode Merilee shares the experience of applying for the deli space- adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park Visitors Center - preparing to open, the menu, the staff and the good feeling of being able to employ local folks.   Follow Roadrunner Grab + Go on Instagram: @roadrunner.grabandgo 

DLD| Merilee Kuchon |Ep 141

DLD| Adriana Lopez-Ospina |Ep 140

 Michelle Castillo is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, and community organizer living on Cahuilla Land, also known as Coachella Valley, CA. Michelle founded the feminist creative collective, Wyld Womxn and socially engaged food + art + memory project, Lola's Kusina, and is one of the co-founders of Bayanihan (buy-uh-nee-hahn) Desert. Through social practice, alternative spaces, and meaningful exchanges, she uses the arts as a tool to cultivate, bridge, and create more inclusive communities. Michelle uses her leadership and voice to serve and uplift marginalized communities. In 2018 Michelle was honored as one of six female community leaders by Palm Spring Life’s ‘Women Who Lead’, women who benefit the community and serve as role models in business and life.   In this episode, Michelle talks about growing up close to extended in an inter-generational household and how that inspired her Lola's Kusina project. We also talk about the inspiration for Wyld Womxn, which began when Michelle returned to the desert, having left to grow and find an arts and culture community, as well as a community where the leadership was more diverse. On returning to the desert Michelle found many of her peers, who had also left for similar reasons, seemed to also be finding their way back to the desert, to give back to the community and make the spaces they'd experienced that weren't yet available in Coachella Valley.   We discuss the importance of honoring those who came before us in this desert, the indigenous peoples whose land this was before the white man came and colonized it and taking time to understand who those people were and educating ourselves about their culture and customs.   Michelle shares her experience with micro-aggressions, macro-aggressions and provides some guidance around what white people can and should do to encourage and lift up marginalized minority voices.   Michelle also provides some advice for folks who are multi-passionate and shares suggestions on getting all those projects in their heads and hearts up and running and out into the world.     Engage with Michelle:   www.instagram.com/lolas.kusina   www.instagram.com/wyldwomxn   www.wyldwomxn.com   www.instagram.com/bayanihandesert   

DLD| Michelle Castillo |Ep 139

DLD| Rosa DeFelice Ficara |Ep 138

 With turtle as her spirit animal, Supinda Sirihekaphong says wherever she is, is home. She was in awe of the colors and the sky on her first trip to the desert.   Born in southern California and raised in New York City, Supinda has also lived in Thailand, Philadelphia and studied abroad in Australia. Supinda says living in all these different places has helped her learn to appreciate wherever she is, allowing her to put down roots and call where ever she is home.   While living in the Bay area, Supinda worked in the sphere of higher education. A change in the leadership of that institution, left Supinda without a job after 10 years. Supinda interviewed at many other institutes of higher education. Interviewing without new offers coming her way, Supinda began to think perhaps her time in the academic world was over. She thought about what other paths might be interesting to her, eventually giving it up to the universe to bring her a sign. The next morning she awoke from a dream in which she was supporting someone in labor. She called friends – those trying to get pregnant and those not trying, and none of them were.   Supinda took this as the sign she requested.   While continuing to interview for roles in higher education, Supinda completed a doula training program. While in the program, Supinda was getting opportunities to support doula clients. When all three of her clients went into labor on the same weekend, Supinda was able to support each of them.   Looking for a yoga class over the last Thanksgiving holiday, Supinda walked in to a local studio, Instant Karma. The studio owner happened to be there that day and Supinda introduced herself as a registered yoga teacher, who could perhaps fill in for the studio's regular teachers during the upcoming holiday. Supinda was invited to do a yoga demo and was brought on board to teach. When the studio was forced to close for Covid, Supinda was able to assist the studio in putting classes online without skipping a beat.   In this episode, Supinda says even while serving as a doula and yoga instructor, it's important to her to be involved the community. Which is why running for a Trustee position with the local community college appealed to her. Supinda believes her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Social Justice is particularly useful in this role at this time.   Follow Supinda's campaign on Facebook: @supindasiri4cmccdtrustee   Donate to Supinda's campaign: https://www.crowdpac.com/c/drsupinda4cmccdtrustee   Volunteer for the campaign: https://forms.gle/C1s3VGfJT1g3wiQT6 

DLD| Supinda Sirihekaphong |Ep 137

Desert Lady Diaries is a weekly 30-minute conversation with women who live in the desert. Find out why they came, what they do here and why they stay.