The poem ‘Wild Pear Tree’ by Kaveh Akbar begins with the line “It’s been January for months in both directions.” And boy has it, even though it’s now technically February, a month absolutely bedazzled with hearts and glitter (until after the 14th). And as cynical and annoying as I want to be about Valentines Day, it is a good reminder that love does indeed beat hate. Love of your neighbor, your community, your family, and your special someone(s) will give you something to fight FOR, which has always been more powerful than having something to fight AGAINST (which we have in abundance).

The Tuesday on or before before February 14th has been “Date Night” themed since I started doing this back in 2017, and this year is not much different. Except I’ve done half a dozen of these and, just like me, it’s getting weirder, sexier (and gayer) with every passing year. A grab-bag night of sex, romance, and dating trivia, from real life to the many and varied screens, test your knowledge for prizes and glory. Trivia starts at 6PM, 2/10 at Calapooia Brewing.

I need a slightly silly one, so f**k it, let’s do some trivia about cartoons! Specifically those cartoons ostensibly made for children but enjoyed (sometimes too much) by adults. Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Phineas & Ferb, Bluey, and more! Trivia starts 6PM, 2/24, at Calapooia Brewing.

Fun Fact: The practice of reading queer subtext in not-explicitly-queer stories is about as old as fiction (especially Shakespeare). However, several character have been “outed” as queer by either their writers or the folks who portrayed them. Patrick Warburton asserted that Kronk was gay while hosting a panel at a convention. Similarly, Matthew Lillard revealed that himself and Skeet Ulrich referred to their characters from Scream, Stu & Billy, as “the first husbands of horror.” And in a live reading of a script by one of the original writers, Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Conner, as Xena & Gabrielle respectively, acted out a wedding proposal between the two characters.