The Weekly Free

It’s time to rev up those credit cards — the summer semester starts this week, and new classes mean new books … why aren’t you jumping for joy? In any case, while the textbook industry continues to leech away your Benjamins each semester, the Lobo can help stymie the bleeding with this latest round of weekly freebies.

All Week
Caffeinate Your Brain

Summer courses range between one and eight weeks in length, so you’re going to need every bit of awake time you can get during lecture to keep up during this super-condensed semester. Good thing the new Downtown coffee shop, Hartford Square, is celebrating its grand opening with free coffee and tea. Mention “Duke City Fix” to get your fix, be it a mug of specialty roast from Michael Thomas Coffee or a cup of tea from NM Tea Co. Limit one per customer, and you have to buy something to pair it with, but hey — close enough.

Friday and Saturday
Please Your Ears

Time to impress your date with both your cultural savvy and your thriftiness. Bring you significant other to Keller Hall this Friday at 7:30 p.m., or to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History on Saturday at 2:00, for a free classical music concert. Featuring 14 students from Albuquerque and abroad, the festival will feature two piano quartets, two piano trios, a string quartet, and some other harmonic configurations thereof. Rock out with your metronome out.

Friday
Discover Your Soul

Time to get in touch with your spiritual side with the Spirit Winds Café Metaphysical Fair. Partner with psychics, energy healers and astrologists to find out what the mystic energies won’t tell you to your face. The fair will also feature vendors selling on-theme knicks and knacks, but admission is totally free. Plan to arrive at Nativo Lodge on San Mateo and I-25 (6000 Pan American Freeway NE) on Friday at 6:00 p.m., and don’t forget to bring your qi.

Saturday
Entertain your Eyes

This Saturday marks the second weekend of Bernalillo County’s “Movies in the Park” series of family-friendly flicks in the fields. If you’re keen on enjoying the pleasures of the indoors … outdoors, find yourself at Mile High Little League at Lomas and Juan Tabo (725 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE) at dusk (roughly 8:15 p.m.) to watch “ParaNorman.” Make sure you’re outfitted with blankets, lawn chairs, food and drink. And, if nothing else, bring your love for stop-motion animation.

Saturday
Green Your Life

The Albuquerque Mennonite Church hosts the “More With Less Fest” this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Interested patrons should be willing to de-emphasize their material possessions as they incorporate more communal values into their lifestyle. Lots of hands-on info and workshops will help you become familiar with an organic lifestyle. Here are some examples of what you can learn: micro-gardening, raising chickens, making rag rugs, bicycle maintenance, upcycling, meditation, natural prairie lawns, creating bird habitats, “dirtbag” camping and wood-carving. Sound keen? It’ll be at Burton Park on Carlisle and Kathryn south of Lead.