Archive for the ‘Opinion/Messina’ Category
December 17th, 2009
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Author: Members of the Community Gardens of Tucson have green thumbs year-round
by Irene Messina
As outdoor temperatures drop, certain activities are popular. Skiing at Mount Lemmon? Yes. Snowboarding in Pinetop? Sure. Gardening in Tucson? Absolutely. For people used to frozen ground, it may come as a pleasant revelation that, in the desert Southwest, you don’t have to pack away your gardening gloves—ever. This fact is well-known by members of Community Gardens of Tucson, an all-volunteer nonprofit in its 20th year. I met with CGT members George Brookbank, Darlene Schacht and Gene Zonge on a…
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Using an unorthodox method, Dale Strong turns inexperienced students into painters
by Irene Messina
Spooning takes on a whole new meaning with artist Dale Strong. The 78-year-old landscape painter uses a unique tool to create his works: iced-tea spoons. Strong uses the flattened, shaped spoons instead of brushes or palette knives to paint Western landscapes. I learn about Strong’s life on a sunny Wednesday morning at his home in the foothills. I’m greeted warmly and given a tour by his wife, Joan Morris. We talk art, music, accomplishments and memories. Strong’s backstory is as…
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Transgender people face the challenge of matching mind and body
by Irene Messina
Imagine this scenario: You wake up tomorrow morning and realize your body has changed overnight. If you were male, you are now female. If you were female, you are now male. What would you do? “While you might be a little fascinated and a little curious, it would wear off pretty quickly,” says Alison Davison. “You’d probably do whatever it took to get back to being yourself.” Davison, the program director for the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, speaks from experience.…
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Tucson needs to look in the mirror and see its true size
by Irene Messina
Review some of the Old Pueblo’s rankings in various surveys, and the picture isn’t pretty. In February of this year, Tucson was no. 18 in BusinessWeek’s “America’s Unhappiest Cities.” This summer, we ranked no. 12 in the Old Spice “Sweatiest Cities” survey. And in October, the folks at The Daily Beast rated Tucson a mediocre 17 out of 36 on their “Best (and Worst) Cities to Meet Men” list. Yes, our high suicide rate is a serious issue; it’s hard…
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Tucson’s Benedictine Monastery offers rose-colored serenity in the heart of the city
by Irene Messina
Glance at most Tucson travel literature and you are sure to see St. Augustine Cathedral and “The White Dove of the Desert”—San Xavier del Bac. Both are featured prominently in Tucson: A Pictorial Guide. Absent from the glossy pages is another place of worship worthy of mention. The Benedictine Monastery on Country Club Road—referred to as “The Pink Rose of the Desert”—is in its 70th year. This quiet, soothing sanctuary is a reminder that peace can be found in spiritual…
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Members of Vanishing Tucson reminisce and strive to save the city’s past
by Irene Messina
During my first trip to the Las Vegas strip, I didn’t gamble, see a show or eat at a buffet. I wanted to see signs—big neon signs with cowboys and cowgirls, flashy wedding chapel signs and famous signs like those at the Golden Nugget. Alas, I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and dancing waters. Those are great sights, but where was the Las Vegas of yesterday? As the city modernized, many of the old signs were discarded,…
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