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Welcome, dear reader, to this website dedicated to exploring pop culture through an equity and inclusion lens…
I hope you’ll find a home here. I hope you feel like you belong. Continue reading Welcome to The Defiant Curtsy
If you sit in the first few rows of a stand-up comedy show, you might end up the butt of a joke. Or you might have a funny and profound interaction with the comic. All photos by Kat Valdez unless otherwise noted. by Kat Valdez/The Defiant Curtsy My friend Basil and I attended a show at The Comedy Fort, and since we arrived at 6:30 … Continue reading Close Encounters with Comedian Ali Sultan
All photos ©2025 Kat Valdez unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. by Kat Valdez Men in kilts were the main draw. But there’s so much more to the Longs Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park. With enthusiasm (and a yawn or two), Lore, Macy, Delilah, and I met in Loveland at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 and drove up Big Thompson Canyon. Macy was … Continue reading Feats of Strength by Men in Kilts (and Other Attractions) at the Long’s Peak Scottish-Irish Highland Festival
In SWEET & LUCKY: ECHO, you’ll follow performers through a warehouse of memories, where vignettes of a couple’s life materialize out of thin air — like pages of a scrapbook springing to vivid life.
In the space between love and loss, remembering and forgetting, we’ll uncover their most tender moments. Falling in love. Building a home. Weathering storms.
Together, we’ll remember. Continue reading A walk down memory lane proves enchanting in world premiere of SWEET & LUCKY: ECHO
The band promoted inclusion, belonging, and community at their sole 2025 Denver concert date.
The first time I listened to Coldplay’s new album “Moon Music,” I was driving from Fort Collins to Denver International Airport, in the early morning hours before sunrise.
It was peaceful. Magical. An epic journey.
It was exactly how you want to experience this album on the first listen: in the dark before the world wakes up.
…A couple months later, I realized another truth: the other “best” way to experience this album? At Empower Field at Mile High, with 76,124 other cheering Coldplay fans. Continue reading The Speed of Love*: Coldplay on June 10 at Empower Field at Mile High
One anecdote focused on grapefruit and how people eat them.
(See my one-minute video on how Dr. Cori Wong strongly recommends and encourages everyone to eat grapefruit.) Continue reading For the Love of Grapefruit
No Other LandA Film by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, and Hamdan Ballal1 hour, 32 minutes Logline: A film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance that develops between the Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. (IMDb) by Kat Valdez (she/her) As the closing credits rolled for … Continue reading The Movie They’re Scared to Show You: NO OTHER LAND
Prologue: It’s a sunny April morning in Orlando, and this Gen-Xer is leaning over a toilet in a Jurassic World restroom, losing her breakfast.
Thinking about how I could’ve made different choices that morning. The protein bar would’ve been sufficient. It’s the chicken breakfast sandwich that pushed me over the edge. Continue reading Dramamine and Other Essentials for Adults Visiting Theme Parks
Some of these films are brilliant, but…they will depress the hell out of you.
They will break your heart. Haunt you for days. Weeks. Months.
Make sure you’re in the right frame of mind before proceeding with a viewing. You may need a walk at the park and a rom-com to cheer you up afterward.
Continue reading Top 10 Most Depressing Movies I Wish I’d Never Seen
WARNING: Major spoilers. Go see the film first, then return here. Logline: A woman named Sam finds herself trapped in New York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing. (IMDb) by Kat Valdez The teenage girl sitting next to me sobbed as the credits rolled for A Quiet Place: Day One, starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn. Was … Continue reading Escape from New York (a.k.a. A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE)
My friends and I met in Denver on June 1 for Alex’s high school graduation party that turned into a wonderful, whimsical Alice In Wonderland journey.
The funny thing? We had never met Alex.
Because Alex (they/them) is the protagonist of Impossible Things, The Catamounts’ latest immersive theater production. Continue reading Explore the space between childhood and adulthood in “Impossible Things”
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