‘This is the world that we’re leaving to our children, which gets back to why I think
environmental education is so important. We are handing our children a planet, and
along with that I think we need to hand them a user’s guide.’
some of the best tasting water, it’s relatively abundant —
at least it is now. But with climate change, the snow pack
in the Cascades is forecasted to diminish substantially.
One of the reasons that I’ve chosen to live in this
part of the world is that the Northwest fares much better
than most other areas of the world under climate change
models. [Even so], we’ll get drier. We will have more
severe weather storms — just look at how cold it was
during those ice storms this past winter.
And so, what does sustainability look like? What does
energy usage look like? Energy production is one of the
main sources of greenhouse gases and yet here we have
tremendous potential for solar energy, a tremendous
potential for wind energy. Our utility will have to adapt.
Eugene will have to adapt. Oregon will have to adapt.
This is the world that we’re leaving to our children, which
gets back to why I think environmental education is so
important. We are handing our children a planet, and along
with that I think we need to hand them a user’s guide.
As you’ve developed the way you’ve run for SLUG
queen over several years, what have you learned
from old queens?
I think when I first ran I wanted to do it for my own ego
and self-aggrandizement, and over the years I’ve moved
beyond that to where I wanted it because I really believed
that I had something to offer the position of SLUG queen.
I feel like I’m in a unique position as SLUG queen here in
2014 given the uncertain future of the Eugene Celebration.
I’ve been in contact with the organizers of the Festival
of Eugene and I hope that it moves forward. Definitely we’ll
have a presence there at the Festival. Then I’d like to use my
platform as SLUG queen to help create a vision for something
new and different for Eugene in the years to come.
So you see Eugene Celebration as a pretty meaningful
institution to Eugene?
I don’t see the Eugene Celebration per se [as
meaningful], but I do see some kind of end of summer
festival that’s for us. Throughout summer there are all
these other events: There’s the Bach Festival, OFAM,
there are track meets, there are all of these things that
Eugene does to promote itself to the rest of the world.
And here, when all of that is all over and done with
at the end of summer, we have a weekend where we
can celebrate ourselves and celebrate what a wonderful
and vibrant city we live in, both culturally and counter-
culturally. That end of summer festival celebration party,
whatever you want to call it, that’s what as SLUG queen I
am committed to preserving.
What are some things that you’ve bribed judges
with?
Oh, I’ve bribed the judges with chocolate; last year I
bribed the judges with a cartoon that Dan Pegoda did for
the Something Eug! comic strip in EW. This year, though,
I think I finally understood the true meaning of bribery. A
couple of weeks ago I had a SLUG queen meet and greet at
[a local] winery and I invited the old queens and I invited
all the other contestants this year.
We just had a delightful time — having a winery
tour, sampling all of the wine and figuring out who were
going to be the designated drivers. And I realized the
true meaning of the bribes is it’s a way to get to know the
queens. The best bribes were ones in which you didn’t just
give something to the old queens — although that might
be nice, and as the old queens before me I will create an
altar in my home as a place to put all things slug-related
and slimy — but the bribes are really a way of connecting
with the old queens and letting them know who you are.
After all, there have only been 32 of us, and now we are
the ones who get to decide who we want to let into our
circle next year, and so we want to know if this is someone
who we’re going to enjoy hanging out with, enjoy making
decisions with, enjoy partying with.
Are you committed to wearing your Bulbus Slime-
bledore robes year-round?
Oh, it’s kind of bulky. I’m going to keep it through the
parade weekend. But after that I have some lighter weight,
less bulky costumes in the works. The [British] accent is a
fixture, as is the purple velvet with slime green trim.
What about the boots?
And the boots — I will not get rid of those boots. You
will have to pull my cold and decomposing body from
them. And you may quote me on that. ■
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 21, 2014
13