.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Features

  • It's about moments...

    Two weeks ago, a friend and I drove to Santa Fe to see “Cloverfield.” The movie is about a monster that attacks New York City, killing many unsuspecting victims, including every important character in the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t be angry with me. Just believe me when I say I haven’t ruined it for you.

  • Melanie Yazzie's glittering...

    The Din emerged from three previous underworlds into this, the “Glittering World,” through a magic reed. The first beings from the other worlds were not like the people of today - they were animals, insects, the masked spirits seen in Navajo ceremonies, the mix of predator and prey, heaven and solid ground that forms reality. Melanie Yazzie captures the stories of her people through her own magic reed, the tools of an artist.

  • Going on an enchanted Disney journey

    Come and see the splendor and magic of Belle dreaming about something more. Be a part of the drama when Aladdin discovers the genie in the lamp. Listen as the Little Mermaid laments over love.

  • These are the things we remember

    I was on my way to class when I saw Leigh, Jazzmine, and Ashley leaving the building where our next class was. “Don’t go in there,” they said, very seriously. “Why not?” I asked, though I wasn’t complaining. “We’re going to get donuts.” With that, I felt an intense amount of happiness well up inside me. School is important, but it’s things like this we will always remember.

  • Local musicians win awards

    The New Mexico Hispano Music Association recently hosted their 17th Annual Awards Show at the Ohkay Casino Event Center. The event took place Jan. 19, in Espaola and featured performances by several New Mexico artists including, El Gringo, 45, Candace Vargas, Steve Chavez, Jenna, Mathew Martinez, The Blue Ventures, Al Hurricane Jr., our very own Mariachi Paisano del Valle and Gonzalo.

  • Winter/Spring film series comes to...

    The student technical crews managing Ilfeld Auditorium at NMHU know what it’s like to work under pressure. Studying theater arts trains students in the areas of communication and human relations skills, and gives them experience as members of a team working toward a common goal.

    Donna Martinez, manager of both Ilfeld and the KEDP student radio station, understands how to motivate her work study students, how to push them in ways that expand their abilities.

  • Watching the Miss America Pageant

    Last weekend, I did something I’ve never done before. I watched the Miss America pageant in its entirety.

    A friend of mine hosted a party for the occasion, complete with flashcards on each contestant. Upon arrival, guests were given piles with about six flashcards. The guest whose pile contained the flashcard of the winning contestant was given a plastic tiara at the end of the night.

  • What the wind blew in

    The Salvation Army Thrift Store holds secret treasures —cobalt blue depression-era glass, old 45’s engraved with Elvis’ finest, faded leather couches, and enough chipped knick-knacks to line every mantel in town.

  • Images of travel and transformation

    Beyond the seemingly childlike forms and curiosity in Melanie Yazzie’s artwork lies a confident statement.

    Yazzie, a Navajo/Dine of the Salt Water Clan and Bitter Water Clan of the Dine, blends imagery from native cultures around the globe into a palate of relaxed color.

  • Cooking for family

    “I like to think of my customers first,” is a statement that often comes out of business owner’s mouths, yet few actually practice it. Raising prices, competition, and a high employee turnover are common in the restaurant world. What happened to focusing on the food?

  • Being a senior

    I never imagined that this was what it would be like to be a senior. I spent all of my high school years waiting for this to come.

    When I was a freshman, I looked up to the seniors as if they were so old, but now I look at myself and I’m not that old at all. When I had to go to school to take some standardized test while the seniors stayed at home sleeping, I couldn’t wait till that would be me. And now it is. Next week, while sophomores are taking the Competency Exam, I’ll be sleeping in. Ha!

  • Love and sugar from El Salvador

    Beatriz Gibbs travels in early morning darkness, in the bitter winter cold, to open the doors to the kitchen of bakery.

  • A night at the silent movies

    Filmmaker Romaine Fielding fell in love with New Mexico’s endless sky, with her territorial bustle. At the turn of the last century, residents of Las Vegas reported seeing him roam the dusty Plaza dressed in an expensive wool coat, his mustache carefully clipped and waxed, the epitome of Hollywood glamour. Fielding wrote and directed some of the first movie Westerns, some of them filmed in San Miguel County.

  • The Nature of Bronze

    Jane Lumsden lifted one of her sculptures, a bronze bat, his wings extended in flight. A centipede dangled from his mouth, life-like, arched in surrender. Lumsden ran her hand over the bat’s head, across his back.

  • Time and fortune

    UWC Theatre Instructor Tim Crofton handed me a wrapped fortune cookie last Saturday night. I pierced the cellophane with my teeth, let the cookie tumble into one hand. Sixty pairs of nervous eyes watched as I cracked the brittle treat and read the message out loud.

    “Look at the moon. Show only your bright side to the world.”

  • Lost in translation...

    Last summer, I bought a copy of Rilke’s Duino Elegies translated into English from the original German. I read it, enjoyed it, and stored it away in my brain until sometime last week, when I happened to see it sitting on my bookshelf. I began rereading it and was enjoying it a second time when I temporarily misplaced my book. I wasn’t terribly worried about it, because I knew that this particular series of poems was pretty famous and could be found online without much hassle.

  • 24 hours in the Write Lane

    This weekend, the Kluge Auditorium at the United World College will swell with frustration, laughter, and time-driven panic as 60 students and members of the Las Vegas community stare at blank sheets of paper, willing words to coalesce from the high altitude, from a few props and sheer hope. Theatre Arts Instructor Tim Crofton maniacally grins as he explains the 24-Hour Playwriting Project.

  • The Bluebird Whisperer

    A bird gripped the delicate stem of a chokecherry bush, his back the color of unbroken sky, his chest the rust echo of New Mexican twilight. He flitted to a small wooden box fixed upon an old propane pipe. Claudia Daigle, a Western Bluebird expert based in Eldorado, smiled as she described her love for her small backyard creatures.

  • McCutcheon performs at local benefit

    A bearded man lightly plucks a deceptively simple arpeggio on his guitar. His voice carries a coat of cannon oil, carries the echo of guns set aside for one December night. The melody is vintage John McCutcheon — tight, rhythmic, with gentle curves around minor corners. The lyrics are poignant, peaceful, the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 on the Western and Eastern fronts of World War I.

  • Time Travel

    Don’t people get tired of saying “hi” to each other every day? It’s like a replay, over and over again, except you’ve changed clothes, your hair might or might not be different, and you’ve aged. The aging isn’t necessarily noticeable, maybe at most, you’ve lost a few more hairs that will never grow back, or a couple of extra wrinkles have inserted themselves on your face. Subtle changes which are only noticeable over time.

Copyright © 2013

The Las Vegas Optic is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in San Miguel County and Las Vegas, NM, and the surrounding area.