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How Many Flavors Have You Sampled?
How Many Flavors Have You Sampled?
Iam an eternal optimist, but I’m also a realist—and sometimes those concepts conflict.
It’s official: I’m a married man. On April 18th, I took the plunge and married the greatest man I’ve ever dated or been with. Lucas Kimm.
ION JUST JACK
We’ve been told all our lives that the holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year. As a kid, it was! No school, tons of delicious food, family, friends and unexpected moments of kindness. Fast forward to our adulthood, we work through the holidays, still enjoy food, see some of our family and friends-- but thanks to instant delivery and shopping on demand, some of the holiday magic of ‘giving’ has lost its spark.
So Lucas and I dated several people and been with many more. Which makes me think dating is like Baskin Robins ice cream store. My best friend Bill, my sister Linda and I all worked there when we were kids. At Baskin-Robins, you can sample as many flavors as you want. You had your standard vanilla, chocolate strawberry. But there were 31 other wonderful flavors every month. But we knew there were actually 1.200 plus flavors to sample throughout the years. So we sampled many of them until we finally decided which flavor we wanted for the rest of our lives. Lucas is my favorite flavor. And I’m his.
If you’re looking to reignite unique and thoughtful gift-giving, this month our beautiful queen Wilma Carstart from Stacy’s at Melrose showcases some of the hottest gift ideas for the person that has everything. Check it out on page 24.
Sometimes he’s my rocky road and sometimes my Superman. One thing Lucas is not is vanilla.
So will this holiday season be the most wonderful time of the year for you? In these rapidly changing times, sometimes it’s hard to ensure our happiness in the face of the unknown. Financial insecurity, federal budget cuts, global warming — it’s a lot. Are you optimistic about the future?
I want to thank Tracy Fox at Point Hilton Tapatio Cliffs, Cozi Phifer, Bryan Arietta, Todd Maple, Mark Porcher, Gary Guerin and everyone who helped create the best wedding one could ask for. In fact, we had many guests say it was the best wedding, gay or straight, that they have been to.
Truth be told, I think we live in one of the best places in the country — and I’ve loved watching Arizona grow and flourish. Sure, we have problems, but look around and see what other states are facing right now. Our challenges here in Arizona are minuscule by comparison to some of the insurmountable challenges ahead of other states.
Also, I wanted to personally thank my best friends, my groomsmen. Not only have they been there for me throughout the years, they gave me the best Bachelor party in San Francisco. Chris Tong, Bill Alcini, Thomas Durisek, Frank Castillo and Noah Stone. Thank you!
So… as we enter the most capitalistic and chaotic season of the year, how will you celebrate? Will you go out with friends and family? Attend dinner parties and events? Indulge in shopping and gluttony? I definitely know I will.
Bottom line, you’re never too young or too old to meet your soul mate. It’s OK to try different flavors your entire life or find your favorite and stay with it for the rest of your life. Enjoy your flavor journey!
Thank you for being there for the last 24 holiday seasons, and for supporting our growing community at ION Arizona. My best gift from all of you is that you keep reading, supporting your community, playing safe, getting tested — and being good to each other.
Jack M. Tesorero Delicious Husband
Happy holidays from all of us at ION Arizona, and to all a good month! I’ll see you in 2026!
Jack M. Tesorero Homo Holiday Lover
PHX ATTRACTIONS
ION Arizona Appy Hour
Sip, swipe, and slay—ION Arizona Appy Hour lands at Sazerac PHX (821 N 2nd St, Phoenix) on Friday, May 8, 2026 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM for a fabulous first look at the May issue. Hosted by ION Arizona Magazine and Arizona Broadway Theatre, this chic launch party treats the first 50 guests to free food, drinks, swag, and surprises. And because subtlety is overrated, expect a special guest Cher impersonator bringing the diva drama. Come mingle, celebrate, and toast to all things ION—because this is how you start your weekend right.
Fantastic
Clear your schedule and prepare to go all night— Fantastic by Land Entertainment takes over The Fillmore (2130 W Fillmore St, Phoenix) on Friday, May 8 into Saturday, May 9, 2026, from 10 PM–6 AM. This massive three-stage warehouse experience blends house, EDM, and circuit energy with GoGo dancers, fire performers, immersive lighting, and even a karaoke party bus stage for your popstar fantasy. With food trucks, vendors, and outdoor vibes, it’s more than a party—it’s a full-on community collision. Come dressed to express, dance till sunrise, and make memories that hit different. Tickets at Eventbrite.com
The Cher Show
Do you believe in life after brunch? Because The Cher Show is serving diva, drama, and decades of hits all month long at Arizona Broadway Theatre (7701 W Paradise Ln, Peoria) May 1–31, 2026. This dazzling musical follows three eras of Cher as she rises, reinvents, and reclaims her crown—featuring 35+ iconic songs and jaw-dropping costumes. Make it a full night with ABT’s signature dinner-and-show experience, or sip cocktails before curtain. Don’t miss the ASL & Audio Description performance on May 27. Tickets at azbroadway.org.
Bartlett Lake Bash
Pack the cooler, grab your floaties, and charge those speaker batteries—Bartlett Lake Bash 2026 is calling! Happening May 15–17, 2026 at Bartlett Lake in the Tonto National Forest, this free, anything-goes weekend is a beloved LGBTQ+ desert escape. Expect sun-soaked days filled with camping, boating, jet skis, and beachside socializing with your chosen family. It’s equal parts chill and chaotic in the best way possible—just bring your own everything and keep it respectful. For updates, check BartlettLakeBash.com or the Facebook group. Let the lake be your dance floor, babe.
EDC Las Vegas
Trade desert heat for neon dreams, babe—EDC Las Vegas is calling your name! This iconic festival transforms the Las Vegas Motor Speedway into a glowing playground of massive stages, world-class DJs, and jaw-dropping production that goes all night long. Think lights, lasers, art installations, carnival rides, and a global community dancing under the electric sky. It’s more than a festival—it’s a full-blown experience where music, culture, and connection collide. Pack your fits, pace yourself, and prepare to lose yourself in the magic. Tickets & info: https://lasvegas.electricdaisycarnival.com/
Camo Commando by W.O.R.K. Events
Lock, load, and serve—Camo Commando by W.O.R.K. Events storms into Hush Lounge (3304 N 27th Ave, Phoenix) on Saturday, May 30, 2026, from 9 PM–2 AM. This Memorial Day mission blends camo, leather, and after-hours couture into one high-energy night where the beats hit hard and the vibes stay hotter. With DJ Verenzuela on deck and goodie bags from The Adult Shoppe (while supplies last), it’s your call to action. Free coat check from 9–11 PM for early arrivals. No on-site parking—rideshare it, soldier. Tickets at Eventbrite.com. Enlist, indulge, and dance like you’re off duty.
What Salt Lakes Can Teach Us About Queer Life, Grief and Living Beautifully
Caroline Tracey explores the climate crisis and queer life through a meditation on imperiled ecosystems, grief and living with intention.
BYLINE: œJohn Washington
This story was originally published by LOOKOUT. It has been condensed for this publication. Sign up for LOOKOUT’s newsletter at lookoutnews.org
Arizona author Caroline Tracey’s debut, Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History, resists easy categorization. It’s both a work of environmental reporting — spanning Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Mexico City’s former Lake Texcoco and the shrinking Aral Sea — and a queer coming-of-age story.
Tracey traces the ecological importance of salt lakes and the threats they face from climate change and development, while also charting her own life: drifting from a longtime boyfriend, discovering queer culture and building a life with her now-wife.
The connective thread is “queer ecology,” a framework Tracey describes as threefold: recognizing non-normative reproductive practices in nature, valuing unusual or damaged landscapes, and integrating queer and trans traditions of mourning into scientific practice. As climate change accelerates, she argues, scientists — like queer communities before them — must contend with ongoing loss.
Queer traditions of mourning, rooted in the AIDS crisis, still shape how many people understand fragility and impermanence. While younger generations may not foreground grief in the same way, Tracey says there remains a deep awareness that political and environmental gains can be reversed — an understanding that informs how people move through the present.
Nature, she adds, offers its own lesson: diversity is fundamental. Across ecosystems, a wide range of reproductive strategies and family structures exist. “We want more biodiversity,” she says. “That’s also true in human life.”
Tracey also reflects on identity through unexpected spaces, including her time working as a cowboy. The role’s blend of masculinity and aesthetic freedom allowed her to explore queerness before naming it, inhabiting a space where gender could be both rigid and fluid.
Central to her thinking is what she calls the “queer quotidian” — an attention to daily life, sensory detail and chosen forms of commitment outside heteronormative milestones. Meaning, she suggests, comes not from constant forward motion but from how we inhabit the everyday.
That ethos extends to her environmental outlook. Saving salt lakes, she says, will require more than technological fixes. It demands political will — and a willingness to rethink entrenched systems of water use — that remains, for now, elusive.
Rest, Pause, Push: What Training Can Teach You About Life
By Rafael, Founder of Rafalogie Fit and Life Coach
ost people think progress comes from going nonstop. More work. More hustle. More pressure. But both in fitness and in life, constantly pushing without recovery usually leads to burnout. That is why I love a technique called rest
Rest pause training is simple but intense. Instead of doing one long set, you break it into three smaller subsets with short rest periods in between. You use a weight heavy enough that you can only perform about 10 to 15 reps initially. Once you hit failure, you rest for 10 to 20 seconds, then go again with the same weight. Rest again. One final push to failure. That entire sequence becomes one complete set.
It teaches something important: sometimes growth does not come from quitting. It comes from pausing, breathing, and continuing.
Honestly, life works the same way.
There are seasons where we feel mentally exhausted, emotionally drained, or stuck. Most people interpret that as failure. But what if you do not need to quit? What if you just need a rest pause moment?
A short reset. A breath. A weekend offline. A walk outside. A conversation with yourself about what actually matters.
8 Week Program Before & After
At Rafalogie Fit, I remind clients that recovery is not weakness. Recovery creates strength. The pause is part of the process.
Here is one of my favorite upper body restpause workouts:
Flat chest press dumbbell
Decline cable flys
Shoulder press dumbbell
Machine lateral bent arm
Incline chest press machine
Perform 3 sets of each exercise using the rest pause method. After reaching failure, rest for 10 to 20 seconds before continuing the next subset with the same weight. For the incline chest press machine, perform 2 subsets per set to failure.
The goal is not just intensity. It is focus. Presence. Learning how to stay calm under pressure and continue when your body wants to stop.
Because confidence is not built during easy moments. It is built when you pause, reset, and prove to yourself you can keep going.
�� Ready to train your body and mindset with intention? Book your free discovery call at rafalogiefit.com and let’s build strength that lasts beyond the gym.
RuPaul’s Drag Race
All Stars 11
ION STREAMING
(Paramount+ – Premieres May 8)
Start your engines (again), because All Stars 11 is about to obliterate the runway. This season brings back 18 fan-favorite queens in a high-stakes “Tournament of All Stars” format—split into brackets, stacked with drama, and dripping in charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. With a $200K prize and Hall of Fame glory on the line, expect gag-worthy lip syncs and looks that could kill a straight man. And yes, Phoenix’s own Joey Jay is back to represent. Arizona, we ride at dawn.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
(Apple TV+ – Unravels May 20)
Suburban mom? Try chaos detective with a side of existential crisis. Starring Tatiana Maslany as Paula, a freshly divorced mom who thinks she witnessed a crime and spirals into a juicy mess of blackmail, murder, and… youth soccer politics. With Brandon Flynn and Murray Bartlett adding some queer sparkle, this thriller balances dark humor with real emotional stakes. It’s giving “I just wanted custody” but ended up in a full-blown conspiracy. Relatable? Not exactly. Addictive? Absolutely.
Criminal Minds: Evolution
Season 19 (Paramount+ – Profiles return May 28)
The BAU is back, and baby, they’re still profiling like it’s their full-time personality. Criminal Minds: Evolution keeps the dark, twisted cases coming while leaning into its newer serialized drama era—aka more feelings, more stakes, and more time to spiral over unsub psychology. The core DNA is still intact: creepy killers, big brain deductions, and a team that somehow functions despite all that trauma. It’s not exactly light viewing, but if you love a good mind game with your murder mystery, consider yourself hooked.
RU PAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS
THE MELROSE ILLUSION:
Smoked Watermelon
“Bresaola”
In the Melrose District, we are masters of the “Modernist Twist.” We live in mid-century homes that feel brand new, and we cultivate lush desert gardens in the heart of a concrete city. This recipe is a nod to that duality. It’s a “Meat & Fire” dish where the fruit plays the lead role, transforming through smoke and dehydration into something that looks and feels exactly like high-end cured beef.
It’s the perfect light bite for a poolside mixer or a gallery opening on 7th Ave— sophisticated, inclusive, and just a little bit cheeky.
The How-To
The Components:
1 small seedless watermelon
2 cups fresh arugula
1/2 cup shaved vegan parmesan
Balsamic glaze (reduction)
Coarse sea salt & cracked black pepper
The Secret: Liquid smoke or a stovetop smoker (hickory or mesquite).
The Process:
The Slice: Peel the watermelon and cut it into uniform, rectangular blocks.
The Smoke: Lightly season with sea salt. Smoke for 15 minutes or brush with a thin layer of liquid smoke.
The Dehydrate: Roast at 180°F - 200°F for 4 to 6 hours until the exterior is dark and “leathery” and the flavor is concentrated.
The Chill: Let cool completely (overnight is best) to firm up the texture.
The Reveal: Shave paper-thin using a mandoline or a very sharp chef’s knife.
The Plate: Fan the slices, nest the arugula in the center, top with vegan parmesan, and finish with a balsamic drizzle.
Your Table, Reimagined
Joshua Preston | Chef of Melrose
Beyond the “Meat & Fire” of my residency events, I specialize in Bespoke Meal Prepping for those who value their time as much as their palate. Whether you are a single professional looking for healthy, chef-curated lunches or a busy family that prefers a home-cooked, artisan dinner without the prep work, I bring the restaurant experience to your refrigerator.
Customized Weekly Menus: Tailored to your specific dietary goals and tastes.
Single & Family Portions: Flexible scaling to fit your household needs.
Melrose Delivery: Fresh, sustainable, and ready to enjoy.
Connect with the Chef
Instagram: @JoshuaPreston21 & @ChefofMelrose
NAVIGATION
Use the ION ARIZONA APP for Google Maps turn-by-turn directions with links to UBER & LYFT! DON’T DRINK & DRIVE!
fezoncentral.com
flexspas.com
hulasmoderntiki.com
karambanightclub.com
kingpingrill.com
kobaltbarphoenix.com
mipatioaz.com
nutownebar.com
ozbarphx.com
therockdmphoenix
rorodogs.com
sazeracphoenix.com
stacysatmelrose.com
titleninesportsgrill.com
thunderbirdloungephx
walterstudios.com
walterwherehouse.com
ION FABULANCE
May glides in with Taurus season telling you to slow down, touch something soft, and maybe spend money you absolutely should not. Then Gemini season crashes the party, bringing gossip, chaos, and group chats that spiral out of control. The vibe is equal parts cozy and unhinged. Expect romantic distractions, impulsive decisions, and a sudden urge to reinvent yourself halfway through the month. Growth is happening—it just might look like flirting, spiraling, and calling it selfdiscovery.
♈ ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19)
You’re learning patience this month, whether you like it or not. May slows your roll, forcing you to think before reacting. Growth looks good on you— slightly uncomfortable, but good.
♉ TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20)
It’s your season, and you’re thriving in comfort, confidence, and maybe a little indulgence. Celebrate yourself, but don’t ignore reality completely. Balance luxury with responsibility, even if it feels rude.
♊ GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20)
Your season starts late May, and suddenly everything is louder, faster, and more chaotic—in a fun way. Just try finishing one thought before starting five new conversations. Focus is optional, apparently.
♋ CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22)
May softens your emotional edges but still keeps you in your feelings. Open up without overthinking. Not every vibe shift is a crisis. Sometimes people are just… busy.
♌ LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22)
You’re glowing socially this month, Leo, and people are noticing. Enjoy the attention, but don’t forget your real ones. Fame is fun, but loyalty keeps the spotlight steady.
♍ VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
May challenges your need for control, and honestly, it’s annoying. Let go a little. Not everything needs a plan. Chaos won’t destroy you—it might even teach you something useful.
♎ LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 22)
Romance, charm, and indecision— your usual trio is thriving. May asks you to choose something and stick with it. You can still be cute while making an actual decision.
♏ SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21)
Your intensity is magnetic this month, pulling people in effortlessly. Just be clear with your intentions. Not everyone enjoys emotional mystery games as much as you do. Communicate, please.
♐ SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
You’re craving movement, excitement, and maybe a little chaos. May says yes to adventure, but don’t abandon responsibilities completely. Freedom is fun until your consequences catch up.
♑ CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
You’re working hard, as always, but May reminds you to enjoy life too. Step away from the grind, socialize, and remember your worth isn’t tied to productivity. Relax.
♒ AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Your mind is full of ideas, but follow-through is questionable. May encourages action. Pick one plan and commit. You don’t need to reinvent everything at once to feel fulfilled.
♓ PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
May keeps you dreamy but slightly more grounded. Focus on turning ideas into reality. You can still romanticize life—just add a little structure so your dreams actually happen.
