comedienne
SANDRA VALLS:
By Mika McCurry
It’s a lovely day in West Hollywood, California and I am at the Abbey restaurant with the
beautiful, clever and brilliant Sandra Valls. On stage, behind the camera, in front of the
camera, chanting, singing and the list goes on. No matter what she does she does it is
with pure heart and grace. Her witty humor and kind nature had me from the moment I
spoke with her. I now give to you my interview with Sandra Valls.
Mika - Where did your comedy career begin?
Sandra - Where? In Boston. It was after a girlfriend broke up with me and signed me up for a comedy
class. This is really a true story! I have always been goofy and funny and her friends said to me “You're
so funny you should make money off that. You should make a career of it!” I thought “Really?” She had
signed me up for a night time comedy class at an adult education center as a surprise. We were going
through troubles so we were going to couple’s therapy, of course, then she dumped me. Yeah, then she
said, “What about the comedy class? I already paid for it.” My friend Chris from L.A. says to me, “Dude!
You better go! She took all your friends.” So basically I went to make friends and then I ended up making
it a career. Yea, it was funny. I didn't want to be out at first. I was thinking I would talk about things that
bother me or something. My friends told me, “No! You're funnier when you bitch about your girlfriend.
You're just funnier when you’re yourself.” So I started talking more and more about my life. It was
therapeutic because I bitched about her.
Mika - Did you begin your acting career on stage in the theater?
Sandra - Yes. I was in a lot of musicals and I went into studying musical theater first because I thought
“How am I going to combine music and acting? Musical theater of course.” Yes, I know how to score
script, the intention and the motivation and the key words and all that in a musical script is very technical
and I did all of that.
Mika - How do you feel about Shakespeare?
Sandra - I don't like Shakespeare. I got to tell you, I really don't. I think I have seen such bad
Shakespeare I just don't like it! Really good Shakespeare is hard to find. (Interviewer’s note: I think
Sandra needs to check out the Old Globe in Balboa Park) When I read Shakespeare it's beautiful but
when you start acting it? It's so pretentious and poorly acted. One of the times I was visiting L.A. my
friend took me to Shakespeare in a park or something. He thought that I would be excited about it! First of
all it's outdoors! Okay! That’s ridiculous! I don't like being outdoors, number one. Number two, it’s really
bad Shakespeare. Number three, we had a little bit of Jack&Coke to loosen up because I had had a long
flight. So, I was a little bit too uninhibited shall I say? So, I'm sitting there, outside and his friend who is
doing a terrible job (acting out Shakespeare). So I say really loud, “Oh my god! What the hell?” I turned
around and apologized to the people around me. Now, I'm getting sun burnt and the mosquitoes were
out, I had to get out of there! The whole thing was wrong. It was bad Shakespeare.
Mika - Were you trained to do Shakespeare?
Sandra - I was trained where I had to do Shakespeare and all that. I even took a class called “Sweaty
Shakespeare”. That was fun because we had to act out Shakespeare while we ran around. This was the
concept; if you ran around and got yourself tired out the words come out naturally. The words come out
like you are really speaking the language. The words don’t come out all stupid. All of a sudden you have
a fake accent out of nowhere. I just don't like bad Shakespeare!
Mika - Not only are you a trained theatrical actress, you are a comedian, writer, singer, producer and
director. Do you find one easier to accomplish over the others?
Sandra - Singing is easy for me. I could be depressed and still sing and still feel the song. I think music
is universal even if you don't understand it. I think singing is easier to for example; if you had a gig at a
bar or at a pride somewhere people don't really have to hear you, they can jam to the music but they can
still be talking and having their conversations. It’s very difficult to have people’s attention because your
jokes require people to pay attention and to look and process the information. Sometimes when you are
at a bar and everyone is drunk no one is going to process any information. So singing is still just easier
for me. Even if I was depressed or on my frickin’ period or something horrible I can still sing the song
and sound good. Trying to deliver a joke is another genre all together. Acting of course is very different.
It's harder; you have to wait for it to come to you. You can’t just go acting anywhere you want. There isn’t
an open mic for acting unless it’s horrible spoken word which I can’t stand either! (Laughing) Dude! I hate
spoken word. I know people are going to hate me but I cannot stand bad spoken word. When it’s really
good spoken word, just like really good Shakespeare which is hard to come by, but the spoken word
that is like, “I woke up this morning and blah, blah, blah!” I'm allergic! I can't do it! (Laughing) It’s sing
songy, I can’t do it. (Laughs)
Mika - Will there be Original Divas of Latin Comedy 2?
Sandra - I hope not because I am the “Diva”. I'm just kidding! The producer is very innovative and he is
always creating and doing things. That is why he called us the “Originals”. We are the “Originals” and then
he's going to do it with somebody else. But I don't know, I wasn't part of the production process but I'm
not worried I feel I have my own career and my own track.
Mika - Many of your fans want to know about Buddhism and how it became apart of you. Buddhism
is in every aspect of your being and it is very important to you. Can you tell us a little bit about your
personal journey on your spiritual path?
Sandra - Buddhism was always around me. I just wasn't ready to hear it. My first two girlfriends were
Buddhist. I thought “What is with all the lesbians and Buddhism? Jesus! Are we all Buddhists?” and I
thought “It’s just stupid!” I cut them down; I was very closed minded because I came from a very catholic
background. I just wasn't ready to hear it and I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I was very judgmental.
All my friends were Buddhist and little by little the more I opened up myself to a kind of a different
spirituality is when I heard them and I understood them. It wasn't until my mom got very, very sick that I
was searching for some sort of meaning of life. “What am I doing here now?” and “How am I going to take
this?” Then I started reading a bunch of books about how to heal the soul and reincarnation and anything
that was spiritual. I read on anything and everything that was different from Catholicism. After my mom
passed away I was talking to a good Buddhist friend of mine who is also a fellow comic. I talked to her
about what happened and how I felt and my feelings after my mom passed away. My feelings were that I
really just wanted to live my life to the fullest because I wanted to be an example of her. I wanted to be a
representation of something that kept her going. I told my friend Jill about how I felt and how it made me
have a mission in life. My mothers’ illness really brought out an amazing side of me that I didn't know I
had which was very strong. My mother was so sick and Laredo, Texas is so backass in health care that I
had to figure out ways to make her more comfortable. If I know more than the health care in Laredo,
Texas well, that’s not good! (Laugh) I would go and research and it brought out an amazing side of me I
didn't know I had. My friend told me that I already had Buddhist concepts and I thought, “Here we go
again with the damn Buddhist thing!” She told me I should really go to a meeting with her. She told me I
was already changing “poison into medicine” meaning “changing a bad situation, into a good situation.” If
you change yourself, you change your environment and that is what we call Buddhism. I told her “No it's
not! You people are weird!”
Mika – What was the meeting like?
Sandra - I went to the meeting just to shut her up so she could stop bugging me. I go to the meeting and
everyone is in a good mood. I'm thinking “You all are fake!” Like all thirty people faked it just because of
me walking in the room. (Laughing) I'm sitting there and I think, “I don't want to be in any sort of meeting.”
Because if I started to cry I felt like I would never stop. I felt I had to hold it all in. They were chanting
these funny words and they were telling me that these funny words just like Harry Potter’s “Cloak of
Invisibility” its going to make me happy. I thought “You’re full of it!” Then this man comes up to me
afterwards to talk and I'm still in my negative space and he says “Well, you know, it seems to me that you
are very convinced that it won’t help you or anything but that’s okay. Why don't you just try it? Just try
chanting Nam-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo for a week, 20 minuets a day?” and I said “20 minuets a day? That’s a
lot.” Then he says “I want you to come back and tell me what happened or what didn't happen.” And I
kept thinking “You’re on! I am going to come back and tell you are full of shit!” I was so excited to be right
and bitter rather than enlightened or happy. I was like “Yeah, I'm going to come back and tell him it's a
crock! How stupid, right?” But whatever! Then he says, “If you miss a day you have to go back and start
again. So you have to do it every day.” So I said, “What, just these words? What?” He gave me a card,
“Okay, I'll go and chant these words.” I knew what the words meant, the words meant “I believe in the
mystic laws of cause and effect through sound” which I already do but “Yeah, sure, whatever!” So I sat
there and I chanted for 20 minuets and I broke down crying. Now I’m thinking “Great! Now I'm going to
cry? This is ridiculous! This thing is going to make me cry!” What I chanted for was clarity in a certain
aspect of my life and I got it almost right away. The more I read the more I believed and that is exactly the
way I felt and feel. It’s exactly what it is! I didn't go back to him after the first couple of weeks and say
nothing happened. I went back and I said, “Well, I feel for the first time I can truly handle anything that
comes my way and I truly believe I have found something that I whole-heartily believe in. I believe in
each others’ happiness. I believe that we are all equal. I believe that we are all Buddhists. I believe that
we all have the jewel inside of us; we just need to find it. I treat everybody as an equal. I believe that we
get back what we put out. I really believe that we attract what we need to work on the most. Cause and
effect is really very strict, what you put out you are going to get back. It is what it is and for me, I believe
that happiness comes from within not the outside. I believe that we are both good and bad.”
Mika - There are many types of Buddhist faiths out there. Which one is your Buddhist faith?
Sandra - Mine is Nichiren faith. Nichiren Daishonin is you chant, you make a commitment and you say
these words repeatedly because they are your life condition. They are the world and the universe. It’s
very hard to explain. Basically you are repeating over and over that you believe in cause and effect.
Mika - Can you explain what the chant translates to?
Sandra - When you say Ren-Ge-Kyo. Ren-Ge is cause and effect. Ren-Ge is also a lotus flower. When
you say Ren-Ge it’s the translation of the lotus flower. The lotus flower is symbolic because it grows in the
worst conditions in the swamp but it’s this beautiful flower it’s the same with us. We are brought up in the
swamp of life but we are a beautiful flower. The leaves of the lotus flower are waxy and nothing sticks to it.
Not even the mud sticks to it. It self pollinates so it’s always blooming and pollinating. It’s not like any
other flower. In our life we are self sufficient and what you put out you get back. Ren-Ge is a whole slew
of things so when we chant to the GoHanSen which is the scroll. Myo-Ho means to open and revive it
doesn't mean to live; it means to relive, to revive that inner Buddha nature.
Mika – What causes are important to you?
Sandra - Some of us have causes in life and one of my causes is domestic violence. Not that I have
lived it or anything it's just one of my causes as is recovery and sobriety. Not that I am sober. I am
Mexican how can I be? I'm just kidding (laughing) but many of my good friends are and I see their
struggle and I see any sort of addiction is hard. I'll tell you why I have not tried any drug or anything
because when I was in New York City I used to smoke cigarettes a lot. I smoked so much that I used to
smoke in the shower. Okay, how stupid and how embarrassing. I had it all rigged dude! First of all how
long are my showers that I couldn't wait ten minuets to smoke a cigarette? How stupid! I used to have the
ashtray right outside the shower with a towel to dry my hand because I didn't want to get the cigarette wet.
So I would dry my hand, take a puff, and continue showering. I have an addictive personality so I
stopped smoking and have not tried anything else because how the hell do I know? I was smoking in the
shower!
Mika – Are there any new projects or performances we should be aware of? I know you recently did a
benefit. Can you tell us about that?
Sandra - The benefit was for the “Friendly House”. I got involved in doing benefits for sobriety. For two
years in a row I produced a show called “One Gay at a Time” at the GLBT Center. Some of the comics of
“One Gay at a Time” put together the “Friendly House” so I did that. Then I'm doing Sweet. It's very
important. I'm cruising with Sweet Cruise Lines in November. This will be the first cruise of my life. My
girlfriend and I are looking forward to it. I'm going to perform on the cruise with Suzanne Westenhoefer.
It's going to be great I love Sweet! I'm doing Provincetown, Massachusetts the last week of August and
the first week of September at the Art House and women's week in Provincetown as well.
Mika – Does Sandra Valls have any relationship advice? You have been in a relationship for six
years. Lesbians are not known for having a relationship for six years! What is your secret to keeping
your relationship healthy and happy?
Sandra – A lot of sex. (Laughing) we both have a lot of sex. With each other! (Lots of laughter) That’s the
important part. Honestly, I think we are very honest and communicative and we laugh a lot and we like
hanging around each other but when it starts becoming not fun as in “You’re bugging me dude!” which
happens a lot more from her to me because I bug her (laugh) we take space; it's really cool. This is
important because as lesbians we hang out more with the same people all the time. Lesbians tend to
have the same group of friends. We have our own friends, we do our own thing and then we come back
together. It's very important to have your own world rather than be so enmeshed. We are always keeping
it fresh that way with a lot of talking, a lot of talking. Mostly on my end cause I talk a lot and no one’s
listening (laughs) mostly on her end! (Laughing)
Mika – Thank you for this wonderful interview. You are amazing!
Sandra – And she tells me to shut-up!
Mika – (and I’m laughing some more as I turn off the recorder.)
I want to thank Sandra Valls and the wonderful staff at the Abbey in West Hollywood, California for
providing us with space, food and drinks. This interview would not have been possible without you.
THE MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE, AS ALL OTHER MATERIAL ON ORIGINAL THELAVENDERLENS.COM PAGES AND IN THE LAVENDER LENS PRINT MAGAZINE IS
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PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION GIVEN BY THE PUBLISHER.
SANDRA VALLS:
By Mika McCurry
It’s a lovely day in West Hollywood, California and I am at the Abbey restaurant with the
beautiful, clever and brilliant Sandra Valls. On stage, behind the camera, in front of the
camera, chanting, singing and the list goes on. No matter what she does she does it is
with pure heart and grace. Her witty humor and kind nature had me from the moment I
spoke with her. I now give to you my interview with Sandra Valls.
Mika - Where did your comedy career begin?
Sandra - Where? In Boston. It was after a girlfriend broke up with me and signed me up for a comedy
class. This is really a true story! I have always been goofy and funny and her friends said to me “You're
so funny you should make money off that. You should make a career of it!” I thought “Really?” She had
signed me up for a night time comedy class at an adult education center as a surprise. We were going
through troubles so we were going to couple’s therapy, of course, then she dumped me. Yeah, then she
said, “What about the comedy class? I already paid for it.” My friend Chris from L.A. says to me, “Dude!
You better go! She took all your friends.” So basically I went to make friends and then I ended up making
it a career. Yea, it was funny. I didn't want to be out at first. I was thinking I would talk about things that
bother me or something. My friends told me, “No! You're funnier when you bitch about your girlfriend.
You're just funnier when you’re yourself.” So I started talking more and more about my life. It was
therapeutic because I bitched about her.
Mika - Did you begin your acting career on stage in the theater?
Sandra - Yes. I was in a lot of musicals and I went into studying musical theater first because I thought
“How am I going to combine music and acting? Musical theater of course.” Yes, I know how to score
script, the intention and the motivation and the key words and all that in a musical script is very technical
and I did all of that.
Mika - How do you feel about Shakespeare?
Sandra - I don't like Shakespeare. I got to tell you, I really don't. I think I have seen such bad
Shakespeare I just don't like it! Really good Shakespeare is hard to find. (Interviewer’s note: I think
Sandra needs to check out the Old Globe in Balboa Park) When I read Shakespeare it's beautiful but
when you start acting it? It's so pretentious and poorly acted. One of the times I was visiting L.A. my
friend took me to Shakespeare in a park or something. He thought that I would be excited about it! First of
all it's outdoors! Okay! That’s ridiculous! I don't like being outdoors, number one. Number two, it’s really
bad Shakespeare. Number three, we had a little bit of Jack&Coke to loosen up because I had had a long
flight. So, I was a little bit too uninhibited shall I say? So, I'm sitting there, outside and his friend who is
doing a terrible job (acting out Shakespeare). So I say really loud, “Oh my god! What the hell?” I turned
around and apologized to the people around me. Now, I'm getting sun burnt and the mosquitoes were
out, I had to get out of there! The whole thing was wrong. It was bad Shakespeare.
Mika - Were you trained to do Shakespeare?
Sandra - I was trained where I had to do Shakespeare and all that. I even took a class called “Sweaty
Shakespeare”. That was fun because we had to act out Shakespeare while we ran around. This was the
concept; if you ran around and got yourself tired out the words come out naturally. The words come out
like you are really speaking the language. The words don’t come out all stupid. All of a sudden you have
a fake accent out of nowhere. I just don't like bad Shakespeare!
Mika - Not only are you a trained theatrical actress, you are a comedian, writer, singer, producer and
director. Do you find one easier to accomplish over the others?
Sandra - Singing is easy for me. I could be depressed and still sing and still feel the song. I think music
is universal even if you don't understand it. I think singing is easier to for example; if you had a gig at a
bar or at a pride somewhere people don't really have to hear you, they can jam to the music but they can
still be talking and having their conversations. It’s very difficult to have people’s attention because your
jokes require people to pay attention and to look and process the information. Sometimes when you are
at a bar and everyone is drunk no one is going to process any information. So singing is still just easier
for me. Even if I was depressed or on my frickin’ period or something horrible I can still sing the song
and sound good. Trying to deliver a joke is another genre all together. Acting of course is very different.
It's harder; you have to wait for it to come to you. You can’t just go acting anywhere you want. There isn’t
an open mic for acting unless it’s horrible spoken word which I can’t stand either! (Laughing) Dude! I hate
spoken word. I know people are going to hate me but I cannot stand bad spoken word. When it’s really
good spoken word, just like really good Shakespeare which is hard to come by, but the spoken word
that is like, “I woke up this morning and blah, blah, blah!” I'm allergic! I can't do it! (Laughing) It’s sing
songy, I can’t do it. (Laughs)
Mika - Will there be Original Divas of Latin Comedy 2?
Sandra - I hope not because I am the “Diva”. I'm just kidding! The producer is very innovative and he is
always creating and doing things. That is why he called us the “Originals”. We are the “Originals” and then
he's going to do it with somebody else. But I don't know, I wasn't part of the production process but I'm
not worried I feel I have my own career and my own track.
Mika - Many of your fans want to know about Buddhism and how it became apart of you. Buddhism
is in every aspect of your being and it is very important to you. Can you tell us a little bit about your
personal journey on your spiritual path?
Sandra - Buddhism was always around me. I just wasn't ready to hear it. My first two girlfriends were
Buddhist. I thought “What is with all the lesbians and Buddhism? Jesus! Are we all Buddhists?” and I
thought “It’s just stupid!” I cut them down; I was very closed minded because I came from a very catholic
background. I just wasn't ready to hear it and I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I was very judgmental.
All my friends were Buddhist and little by little the more I opened up myself to a kind of a different
spirituality is when I heard them and I understood them. It wasn't until my mom got very, very sick that I
was searching for some sort of meaning of life. “What am I doing here now?” and “How am I going to take
this?” Then I started reading a bunch of books about how to heal the soul and reincarnation and anything
that was spiritual. I read on anything and everything that was different from Catholicism. After my mom
passed away I was talking to a good Buddhist friend of mine who is also a fellow comic. I talked to her
about what happened and how I felt and my feelings after my mom passed away. My feelings were that I
really just wanted to live my life to the fullest because I wanted to be an example of her. I wanted to be a
representation of something that kept her going. I told my friend Jill about how I felt and how it made me
have a mission in life. My mothers’ illness really brought out an amazing side of me that I didn't know I
had which was very strong. My mother was so sick and Laredo, Texas is so backass in health care that I
had to figure out ways to make her more comfortable. If I know more than the health care in Laredo,
Texas well, that’s not good! (Laugh) I would go and research and it brought out an amazing side of me I
didn't know I had. My friend told me that I already had Buddhist concepts and I thought, “Here we go
again with the damn Buddhist thing!” She told me I should really go to a meeting with her. She told me I
was already changing “poison into medicine” meaning “changing a bad situation, into a good situation.” If
you change yourself, you change your environment and that is what we call Buddhism. I told her “No it's
not! You people are weird!”
Mika – What was the meeting like?
Sandra - I went to the meeting just to shut her up so she could stop bugging me. I go to the meeting and
everyone is in a good mood. I'm thinking “You all are fake!” Like all thirty people faked it just because of
me walking in the room. (Laughing) I'm sitting there and I think, “I don't want to be in any sort of meeting.”
Because if I started to cry I felt like I would never stop. I felt I had to hold it all in. They were chanting
these funny words and they were telling me that these funny words just like Harry Potter’s “Cloak of
Invisibility” its going to make me happy. I thought “You’re full of it!” Then this man comes up to me
afterwards to talk and I'm still in my negative space and he says “Well, you know, it seems to me that you
are very convinced that it won’t help you or anything but that’s okay. Why don't you just try it? Just try
chanting Nam-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo for a week, 20 minuets a day?” and I said “20 minuets a day? That’s a
lot.” Then he says “I want you to come back and tell me what happened or what didn't happen.” And I
kept thinking “You’re on! I am going to come back and tell you are full of shit!” I was so excited to be right
and bitter rather than enlightened or happy. I was like “Yeah, I'm going to come back and tell him it's a
crock! How stupid, right?” But whatever! Then he says, “If you miss a day you have to go back and start
again. So you have to do it every day.” So I said, “What, just these words? What?” He gave me a card,
“Okay, I'll go and chant these words.” I knew what the words meant, the words meant “I believe in the
mystic laws of cause and effect through sound” which I already do but “Yeah, sure, whatever!” So I sat
there and I chanted for 20 minuets and I broke down crying. Now I’m thinking “Great! Now I'm going to
cry? This is ridiculous! This thing is going to make me cry!” What I chanted for was clarity in a certain
aspect of my life and I got it almost right away. The more I read the more I believed and that is exactly the
way I felt and feel. It’s exactly what it is! I didn't go back to him after the first couple of weeks and say
nothing happened. I went back and I said, “Well, I feel for the first time I can truly handle anything that
comes my way and I truly believe I have found something that I whole-heartily believe in. I believe in
each others’ happiness. I believe that we are all equal. I believe that we are all Buddhists. I believe that
we all have the jewel inside of us; we just need to find it. I treat everybody as an equal. I believe that we
get back what we put out. I really believe that we attract what we need to work on the most. Cause and
effect is really very strict, what you put out you are going to get back. It is what it is and for me, I believe
that happiness comes from within not the outside. I believe that we are both good and bad.”
Mika - There are many types of Buddhist faiths out there. Which one is your Buddhist faith?
Sandra - Mine is Nichiren faith. Nichiren Daishonin is you chant, you make a commitment and you say
these words repeatedly because they are your life condition. They are the world and the universe. It’s
very hard to explain. Basically you are repeating over and over that you believe in cause and effect.
Mika - Can you explain what the chant translates to?
Sandra - When you say Ren-Ge-Kyo. Ren-Ge is cause and effect. Ren-Ge is also a lotus flower. When
you say Ren-Ge it’s the translation of the lotus flower. The lotus flower is symbolic because it grows in the
worst conditions in the swamp but it’s this beautiful flower it’s the same with us. We are brought up in the
swamp of life but we are a beautiful flower. The leaves of the lotus flower are waxy and nothing sticks to it.
Not even the mud sticks to it. It self pollinates so it’s always blooming and pollinating. It’s not like any
other flower. In our life we are self sufficient and what you put out you get back. Ren-Ge is a whole slew
of things so when we chant to the GoHanSen which is the scroll. Myo-Ho means to open and revive it
doesn't mean to live; it means to relive, to revive that inner Buddha nature.
Mika – What causes are important to you?
Sandra - Some of us have causes in life and one of my causes is domestic violence. Not that I have
lived it or anything it's just one of my causes as is recovery and sobriety. Not that I am sober. I am
Mexican how can I be? I'm just kidding (laughing) but many of my good friends are and I see their
struggle and I see any sort of addiction is hard. I'll tell you why I have not tried any drug or anything
because when I was in New York City I used to smoke cigarettes a lot. I smoked so much that I used to
smoke in the shower. Okay, how stupid and how embarrassing. I had it all rigged dude! First of all how
long are my showers that I couldn't wait ten minuets to smoke a cigarette? How stupid! I used to have the
ashtray right outside the shower with a towel to dry my hand because I didn't want to get the cigarette wet.
So I would dry my hand, take a puff, and continue showering. I have an addictive personality so I
stopped smoking and have not tried anything else because how the hell do I know? I was smoking in the
shower!
Mika – Are there any new projects or performances we should be aware of? I know you recently did a
benefit. Can you tell us about that?
Sandra - The benefit was for the “Friendly House”. I got involved in doing benefits for sobriety. For two
years in a row I produced a show called “One Gay at a Time” at the GLBT Center. Some of the comics of
“One Gay at a Time” put together the “Friendly House” so I did that. Then I'm doing Sweet. It's very
important. I'm cruising with Sweet Cruise Lines in November. This will be the first cruise of my life. My
girlfriend and I are looking forward to it. I'm going to perform on the cruise with Suzanne Westenhoefer.
It's going to be great I love Sweet! I'm doing Provincetown, Massachusetts the last week of August and
the first week of September at the Art House and women's week in Provincetown as well.
Mika – Does Sandra Valls have any relationship advice? You have been in a relationship for six
years. Lesbians are not known for having a relationship for six years! What is your secret to keeping
your relationship healthy and happy?
Sandra – A lot of sex. (Laughing) we both have a lot of sex. With each other! (Lots of laughter) That’s the
important part. Honestly, I think we are very honest and communicative and we laugh a lot and we like
hanging around each other but when it starts becoming not fun as in “You’re bugging me dude!” which
happens a lot more from her to me because I bug her (laugh) we take space; it's really cool. This is
important because as lesbians we hang out more with the same people all the time. Lesbians tend to
have the same group of friends. We have our own friends, we do our own thing and then we come back
together. It's very important to have your own world rather than be so enmeshed. We are always keeping
it fresh that way with a lot of talking, a lot of talking. Mostly on my end cause I talk a lot and no one’s
listening (laughs) mostly on her end! (Laughing)
Mika – Thank you for this wonderful interview. You are amazing!
Sandra – And she tells me to shut-up!
Mika – (and I’m laughing some more as I turn off the recorder.)
I want to thank Sandra Valls and the wonderful staff at the Abbey in West Hollywood, California for
providing us with space, food and drinks. This interview would not have been possible without you.
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