The romance of swordplay has been a part of human history for centuries, particularly in the legends surrounding knights and samurai.
For those who have ever imagined themselves in a thrilling duel, or who simply crave a novel way to better health, the sword fighting disciplines of East and West are practiced for fun and fitness in downtown Santa Cruz every Thursday evening.
Each has its own style and history, attracting devotees in search of varied rewards. Both engage the mind and body, while the social aspect of group classes adds another dimension to the experience, building camaraderie and community.
And despite the outward gracefulness of swordplay, the constant movement and focus required during practice elevates the heart rate, for cardio exercise. And as the lessons progress, drills become more complex, demanding greater endurance.
At the Santa Cruz Todokai dojo, which hosts classes at the London Nelson Center, wooden bokken swords arc and swirl in meditative choreography, suggesting samurai of long ago. Atop the three-story River Front Parking Garage, members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) face each other with cold steel, like Old World duelists.
Wielding a sword requires precise coordination between eyes, hands and feet. Duelists practice balance and dexterity, learning to move with fluidity and precision.
UNLEASH THE INNER WARRIOR Tim Converse (left) with Kris Agerbeek at sword practice organized by the Society for Creative Anachronism. Photo: John Koenig
Tim Converse, 56—aka Juan Santiago when in character—is an SCA sword instructor.
“Many sword fighting styles we learn are Spanish,” he says. “The steps are very fluid and dance-like, and harken to flamenco in a sense.”
He explains that rapier fencing utilizes lunges and footwork as well, with the added weight of the sword serving to strengthen arms, shoulders and legs. In the SCA, the more rough-and-tumble fighters advance to melee combat with heavy armor and heavier swords, building even more muscle and endurance.
Iaido (ee-eye-do) is “The Way of Drawing the Sword,” taught by Merek Dorf at Santa Cruz Todokai. Its kata drills engage core muscles for stability as students perform powerful strikes and blocks.
The local teachers and adherents of each style are enthusiastic and welcoming toward beginners, and equipment is usually available for first-timers who are unsure about going all in. Instruction is slow and methodical, to maximize safety and progress.
Sensei Merek, 49, calls it “laying the foundation for being you within your body—feeling and understanding your body movements.”
Sword fighting classes welcome all genders, youth and seniors.
M. Latta (they/them) is an SCA novice with a rapier, experienced in mixed martial arts. They compare their experience as a newbie to “scaffolding” in preschool teaching—a way of learning basics toward progressively attainable goals.
Cindy Liang, 27, is currently the youngest and newest student at Santa Cruz Todokai. She loved how Sensei Merek explains the story behind the different movements.
“It’s not just exercise,” she says. “Each of the different forms has a different scenario behind it that gives a deeper meaning and beauty to what we do.”
Wielding a sword requires precise coordination between eyes, hands, and feet. Duelists learn to control their movements with fluidity and precision, improving overall balance and dexterity. This translates to better posture, injury prevention and increased confidence in physical abilities.
The added benefit to sword fighting is that it’s more than just physical. Iaido involves quieting the mind. A duel with the rapier is a mental game as well—anticipating your opponent’s moves, reacting quickly, and developing strategic thinking. Drills and sparring sessions demand laser focus and discipline, improving concentration and reaction time that can translate to other areas of life.
Practicing the breathing and body movements of the samurai or learning to move like a European duelist will challenge both body and mind, leaving participants stronger, sharper and more connected to history.
Santa Cruz Todokai, Thursdays, 5:45-7:45pm, at the London Nelson Center, Room 5, 301 Center St, Santa Cruz.
SCA sword practice, Thursdays, 7-10pm, at River Front Parking Garage, top level, 74 River St, Santa Cruz.
I am sitting at my home office desk, researching the local sound bathing scene, when a sudden blast of searing clatter makes my head swim. I reach for the ear plugs kept close for such occasions, knowing the neighbor’s gardeners will finish their auditory assault on errant leaves in 30 minutes or so.
In a world where the level of noise continues to rise, leaving our already overloaded senses in a terminal state of imbalance, a sound bath sounds like a very good remedy.
Sound has a timeless connection to meditation and healing, deeply rooted in cultures around the world. Australian Aboriginal tribes have been using the didgeridoo for more than 40,000 years as a powerful tool for sound healing. Meanwhile, Tibetan and Himalayan spiritual ceremonies have long featured the soothing tones of singing bowls. Today, sound meditation, particularly in the form of “sound baths,” is gaining popularity.
These immersive experiences use instruments like Tibetan singing bowls, quartz or crystal bowls, gongs and bells to guide listeners. They emphasize that sound is more than something you hear—it’s something you feel, resonating through tactile vibrations and frequencies.
Sound bathing has been described as stepping into a sanctuary of tranquility where time seems to slow, in a mystical experience that transports you to realms of deep relaxation, as waves of harmonic vibration wash over your body and allow access to the subconscious mind.
This may sound abstract and even exaggerated. Yet one recent study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that an hour-long sound meditation helped people reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being
And then, the terms sound bathing and sound healing are often used interchangeably, sometimes followed by claims extending beyond relaxation into larger promises of healing pain, disease and past life trauma. As I did research for this article, I went in with a curious mind. I was sold on the relaxation benefits, but wondered what one could expect from 45 minutes of surround sound beyond that.
My introduction to sound bathing came long before I planned to write about it. I was new to Santa Cruz County and loved the idea of combining sound and meditation in a relaxed group setting.
The session featured a combination of sound and reiki, a form of light-touch energy healing. Not sure what to expect, I walked into the quiet, softly lit room where 20 or so comfortably dressed people were lying down in yoga class style on mats, equipped with plenty of blankets, bolsters and eye pillows.
I followed suit and found a place at the back of the room in case I needed to sneak out early. As the session began, a young man sporting a long beard and even longer white robe began working his way through the array of instruments arranged at the back of the room. There were the ubiquitous crystal bowls, as well as chimes and gongs of all shapes and sizes, and the aforementioned didgeridoo.
I closed my eyes and let myself relax, absorbing the soft, deep notes that began to fill the room. As the instruments gently changed, the sounds seemed to waft in from all corners of the room. Lying there adrift in surround sound, I had to break the spell and open my eyes to see how this worked. Indeed, Emerson was silently weaving his way through the space, bathing the participants in a symphony of sound.
Not typically one to find solace in lying still, I was surprised to find the resonant notes transporting me to a state of calm relaxation. Meanwhile the reiki practitioner lightly touched my temples, furthering the meditative state I found myself in.
The hour passed quickly and I left in a state of tranquility. I was eager to learn more about the mechanics of sound bathing. Is it healing, or a great way to unwind? I interviewed three local experts in this newly trending art.
SOUND PRACTICE Carrie Arlah Burr draws on her background as a musician in her sessions at Breath and Oneness. Photo: Elizabeth Borelli
SURROUNDED BY SOUND
Carrie Arlah Burr is a co-owner (along with her mom, Leslie Warren) of Capitola yoga studio Breath and Oneness, where I teach a weekly vinyasa class.
I meet Burr at her studio, where she immediately takes a seat on the floor of the carpeted sound room, inviting me to follow suit. After a somewhat awkward start, I regain my composure and ask about her journey into sound and music, which she says is deeply intertwined with yoga.
“It’s difficult to discuss one without the other as they are so closely related for me,” she explains. “My experience with sound and music started early in my life. I was raised in a household where music was a constant presence. Both of my parents were classically trained musicians, and I started learning instruments at a very young age.
“My first instrument was the piano, and over the years, I expanded my repertoire to include a variety of other instruments and took up singing. I was part of a professional choir for most of my youth, and I received extensive training in music theory.”
She describes how her technical and formal training in music continued through college. She even released an album in her early 20s (Arklah, on Spotify). Then, after a decade of intense involvement in music, she took a break for about 10 years.
At Breath and Oneness she began integrating sound into practices, offering sound baths and incorporating live music into yoga sessions.
“While not everyone who practices or teaches sound healing comes from a musical background, for me, it was foundational,” says Burr. “My technical training in music deeply informs the sound healing work I do, as well as the training programs we offer.”
Recognizing that sound healing is deeply embedded in human history, Burr believes there is a resurgence of interest in using sound as an efficient way to bring bodies into a state of coherence and alignment.
“When we first introduced sound healing at our studio, we started with crystal tone bowls, which I believe are particularly powerful for this time. Crystal bowls are relatively new instruments, having been around for only a few decades, but their specific frequencies and vibrations seem to resonate well with the current needs of people,” she says. “They are among the most effective tools for consciousness work that I have encountered.”
But, I ask, who attends—and why?
“People come to our sound healing sessions for various reasons, but common experiences include relaxation, spiritual connection and meditation. The sound healing sessions act as portals, amplifying whatever intentions people bring with them. Whether it’s relaxation, meditation or seeking spiritual messages, sound healing enhances these experiences through its coherent and intentional vibrations. The benefits of sound healing are multi-faceted, encompassing physiological, spiritual and emotional aspects.”
She elaborates, “The instruments we use in our sound healing sessions are carefully selected for their quality and the specific type of healing they offer. For instance, the gong is an indispensable instrument in this art form due to its powerful and transformative vibrations. Other instruments like hand pans, tongue drums, and Tibetan singing bowls also play a crucial role. These instruments are sourced from reliable and trusted suppliers to ensure they are of high quality and produce the desired healing effects.”
ELEMENTAL Crystal Bowls make sounds that are considered holy
around the world. Photo: Nina Rath Shutterstock
PEERING INTO THE CRYSTAL BOWL
Fast forward to a Tuesday evening in June, where the scene unfolding on Moran Lake Beach in Santa Cruz resembles a Hollywood movie set. A silver-haired dude in a Hawaiian shirt is setting up to film a sound bathing session. His subject is a blond woman wearing a flowing white tunic, surrounded by large crystal bowls and dozens of seated spectators. I’m here after a Good Times colleague described sound bather Kim Molloy’s weekly sunset sessions as life changing. And the strong following of attendees growing steadily over the past 10 years would seem to agree.
Intrigued, I meet Molloy at the Farm restaurant in Aptos. In response to my questions, she describes her work as a transformative modality that harnesses the power of sound frequencies to promote physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. She says every sound practitioner brings a unique approach to this practice, shaped by their personal journey and development in sound healing.
Molloy’s introduction to sound healing began in 2012 with crystal bowls during a meditation session led by her teacher on the East Coast. The experience immersed her so deeply that when it ended, her teacher had to call her back to reality. This initial session ignited her curiosity and set her on a path to explore the potential of sound healing.
“I discovered that the energy body, which can be equated to the spirit, has the capacity to travel into higher dimensions and vibrations through sound,” she explains. “This revelation became a cornerstone of my spiritual practice. When I moved to California, I sought to continue my practice but found that the local crystal bowl practitioner had moved. My meditation teacher suggested that perhaps it was my turn to take on this role.”
She reached out to a clairvoyant and intuitive named Amira, who selected a set of crystal bowls based on her energy. Each bowl corresponds to a musical note that resonates with a specific chakra, aligning the body’s energy centers through sound.
Molloy says the magic of sound lies in its ability to bypass the mind and work directly on the body, clearing energy blocks, increasing energetic flow and promoting relaxation. Many people enter a theta brainwave state, associated with deep relaxation and meditation, during sound healing sessions. This state allows for a heightened sense of peace, creativity and spiritual awareness.
Group sessions, including her donation-based community event “Sunset Beach Bowls,” offer a collective healing experience. Held every Tuesday at Moran Lake Beach, these sessions attract 100-150 people. The event features a blend of crystal bowls, the sound of ocean waves and a bonfire, creating a healing environment that incorporates all four elements: earth, water, air and fire.
People bring chairs, blankets and sometimes even picnics. Despite the casual atmosphere, the core group of attendees is deeply engaged in the healing process, positioning themselves between the bowls and the ocean to fully immerse in the sound.
Molloy says sound healing works as a catalyst for personal transformation. It helps individuals move forward on their healing journey, whether they are dealing with trauma or seeking spiritual growth. The process can be likened to peeling an onion, gradually uncovering and releasing layers of deep-seated emotions stored in the cellular memory.
Kim Johnson, a client of Molloy’s since 2021, describes individual sessions where she relaxes lying down on an amethyst crystal pad, with one healing bowl near the crown of her head and others surrounding her in a cocoon of sound.
SOUND AND THERAPY
Shira Stone may be the original Santa Cruz sound bather.
“It’s a beautiful thing, but what I do goes even deeper into healing,” she says. “It’s not quite sound bathing, though I do sound baths. What I do is a deep dive into frequencies, emotions and trauma.”
She began with a thriving massage practice. Her 15 years in the business gave her a true hands-on approach to understanding how the body is connected to emotions. From there, she says, sound healing came into her life through a past life memory, unexpectedly.
“About 40 years ago, sound healing wasn’t really a thing. I was doing a massage on a friend, and he asked me to do something different. I opened up, trusting that unexpected things could happen. Suddenly, Tibetan bowl sounds started coming out of my mouth. I had never heard these sounds before.”
Stone saw herself “in an ancient amphitheater with everyone making the same sounds. There was a person in the center, and we were directing the sounds to them. I did the same with my friend’s throat, and it was like a revelation: This is your path.”
Stone began experimenting with sound healing, working both individually and in groups, discovering the profound impact it could have. It was consistently transformative.
This journey led her to psychotherapy, and she earned her license in 1988, leading to further training in somatic therapy, including a four-year bioenergetic program, all of which helped refine her approach.
In sessions, Stone guides people to give voice to the sensations in their bodies, particularly those linked to trauma, encouraging them to focus on bodily sensations and express these feelings vocally.
“If someone feels tightness in their chest, I guide them to vocalize this sensation,” she says. “Naming the emotion helps the brain relax, facilitating healing. This process is about reconnecting with buried emotions. Trauma often buries emotions in the body, disconnecting them from consciousness. By giving voice to these emotions, individuals can reconnect them with the rest of their being, restoring harmony.”
Group sessions are also a significant part of this practice. The collective voice in a group setting can amplify the healing effect. In these sessions, people sound together to heal one person in the center or participate in group sound baths and community healing sessions using their voices collectively.
When asked for an example, she explains how she helped a woman with unexplained stomach pains to vocalize the fear sensed in her belly, which she discovered was linked to unacknowledged childhood trauma. Releasing that fear brought relief.
Stone says people seek out her services when dealing with issues like low self-esteem, anxiety, depression or relationship troubles, often without realizing these problems are linked to trauma. Sound healing guides them to connect with their bodies and uncover hidden emotions. Sessions vary in format; sometimes they involve sitting and talking, focusing on bodily sensations, while other times she uses a massage table and sounding over specific areas of the body. Sessions always end with harmonious sounds to foster a sense of love and calm.
Stone’s approach goes beyond typical therapy by deeply integrating sound and somatic practices. It’s all about reunification and helping people reconnect with their authentic selves. By listening to and expressing their emotions, individuals find healing and harmony within themselves.
In a world that seems to be getting noisier by the minute, sound healing offers a sanctuary. Even if it only offers a subtle form of healing in the way massage or breathwork or yoga do, that’s enough for me. Beyond relaxation, it’s a gateway to testament to the timeless power of sound in human healing. Each session, whether enhanced by the vibrations of crystal bowls or the supportive energy of a group, offers a sanctuary for those seeking relaxation, spiritual growth or a means to navigate life’s emotional complexities.
Historians know “Shays’ Rebellion” as a late-1780s uprising of impoverished Massachusetts farmers. Bluegrass fans know it as a foot-stomping single from the Alabama band the Mountain Grass Unit’s Places I’ve Been album. The twanging trio, composed of Luke Black on acoustic guitar and banjo, Sam Wilson on upright bass and Drury Anderson on vocals and mandolin, has taken the bluegrass world by storm over the past few years. With their take on southern culture and superb musicianship, plus heroes ranging from Jerry Garcia to Billy Strings, they are set for a journey as epic as those they bring to life in song. ADDIE MAHMASSANI
First, calling Argentinian artist Juana Molina “indie pop” is a cop-out. While she does incorporate these elements into her music, “folktronica” covers her sound more precisely. Combining poppy, folksy vocals with soft electronic melodies, Molina forges her own path, making music for Bon Iver, Björk and Four Tet fans. The daughter of a tango singer father and actress/model mother, the entire family fled the ’76 Argentinian coup for Paris. Molina first gained celebrity as a comedian and television star throughout Latin America. It’s no surprise her music is so eclectic; familial ties give Molina the courage to create avant-garde art on her own terms. MAT WEIR
Nate Salman of Waterstrider lives to create immersive worlds of sound. The band began as an experimental dance group filling the rooms of Salman’s housing co-op over a decade ago during their time as a student at UC Berkeley, and it has gone through many evolutions since then. The Oakland-based singer’s latest album, Overturned, leans toward art rock, with cascading strings and intricate synths taking fans into new psychic realms. Salman has a knack for bringing the lessons of nature to life, merging ancient mythology with imagery of redwoods, ouroboros and the like—all in an unforgettable, ethereal falsetto. AM
The five-piece psychedelic rock band the Cohesion has been a chameleon of a band— a feat not all acts can pull off. However, this ragtag group of musicians is as malleable as they come, sculpting and changing genres, styles and time signatures, often within a single song. Led by Dave “The Drummer” De Leon (The Talking Drum podcast), the Cohesion has fluctuated over the years, sometimes as a trio, quartet or—like now—a quintet. Their live show is for jammers, and the proof is in the many live recordings floating around the internet. For anyone looking to dance and rock out without losing their head in a mosh pit, the Cohesion at Blue Lagoon is the perfect date. MW
INFO: 9pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
AMERICANA
CRISTINA VANE
Cristina Vane headed out onto the wide-open roads of the US at 18, playing whatever venues would host her. She steeped herself deep in American roots music, leaning heavily on classic blues and old-time rock ‘n’ roll. She grew up all over Europe, spoke four languages, and had a heritage in Guatemala, creating a sense of identity that felt much more fluid than the troubadours that came before her. In this exploration, she found herself and spilled it all over her sophomore record, Make Myself Me Again (2022), a deeply personal and sublime American roots album that tinkers with and revels in Americana genre conventions. AARON CARNES INFO: 8pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $14/adv, $18/door. 429-6994.
SATURDAY
ROCK
JAMES PATRICK REGAN
California-based singer-songwriter and guitarist James Patrick Regan may be best known as the founder and leader of the Deadlies, who describe themselves as Northern California’s “most dangerous surf band.” He also carved out a solid career as a well-regarded solo act and released the album Urban Slack in 2008. With the Deadlies and as a solo act, Regan has opened for a lengthy list of major touring acts, including the B-52’s, Blue Öyster Cult, the Mavericks, Lisa Marie Presley, Greg Kihn and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. DAN EMERSON
This band is basically a family; Hank and Ella are a married duo from right here in Santa Cruz, and the Fine Country Band is made up of their close friends. As a whole, they perform locally and can be heard on everyone’s favorite radio station, KPIG. Their songs are honky-tonk and Americana-inspired ditties suited to spinning around on sawdust-covered floors and whistling along to the tune. Hank is the singer-songwriter, Ella’s on the fiddle—the whole band has a background in bluegrass, which informs their sound. Plus, there’s a guy on the pedal steel! JESSICA IRISH
The ukulele is a beautiful, unassuming little instrument on its own, but it becomes something more in the hands of Jake Shimabukuro. It is not trying to sound like a guitar, but it will gently weep when Shimabukuro covers the great George Harrison. It will front an orchestra, cover a Disney song, and launch into an original composition alongside a cello. The breadth of this ukulele’s range is due to Shimabukuro’s talent and artistry; he’s clearly dedicated to discovering every type of sound a ukulele can create. One thing’s clear: Shimabukuro and the ukulele belong together. JI
INFO: 8pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $40. 423-1854.
MONDAY
JAZZ
CHRIS POTTER
CHRIS POTTER TRIO
Tenor saxophonist Chris Potter has the resonant tone and facility on his instrument that jazz players strive to achieve. Since launching his career in the early ’90s as a sideman for major names like Paul Motian, Dave Holland and Dave Douglas, Potter has become one of his generation’s most prolific, highly regarded saxophonist-composers. He’s won several DownBeat Rising Star awards and was named saxophonist of the year in 2013 by the Jazz Journalists Association. In March, Edition Records released his 26th album as a leader, titled Eagle’s Point. At Kuumbwa, Potter will collaborate with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Kendrick Scott. DE
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $42/adv, $47.50/door. 427-2227.
This week, we celebrate Juneteenth, the nation’s youngest federal holiday. Officially observed on June 19, Santa Cruz and other communities held their festivities last weekend. The holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced through all the southern states, effectively ending slavery after the Civil War.
Over almost two centuries, Juneteenth spread throughout the country and added new traditions, but what it signifies to the Black community has remained the core of this day: Freedom.
Santa Cruz’s iteration began 33 years ago when Raymond Evans, the assistant director of the then-Louden Nelson Center, founded it locally. Originally from Texas, where the first celebrations of Juneteenth were born, Evans was amazed that people barely knew about the holiday in this coastal enclave.
This year, organizers say that the celebration is the biggest in its three-decade run. Ana Elizabeth, who’s company, Sure Thing Productions, has been putting the event on for the last 25 years, says it’s a wonderful thing.
“Overall, I think it was our best Juneteenth ever. Think we had our biggest crowd we’ve ever had. And it really was just, it was a beautiful, beautiful day,” Elizabeth said in a phone interview.
Juneteenth 2024 was held at the London Nelson Center ( more on the name change later) and Laurel Park on a sweltering, summery Saturday. It’s been held at this location since its inception. The vibes were high as hundreds of revelers sprawled across the green grass, dancing to the live music acts performing on an outdoor stage.
Local artist Mak Nova was a standout, pumping up the crowd with their smooth Hip Hop and R&B set. Donning stylish sunglasses and flowing braids, Nova and her band added to the jubilant atmosphere.
A potato sack race between artist sets added to the playfulness, as ecstatic children jumped, tumbled and fell laughing over the grass in the middle of the park. Inside the center, local artists showcased vibrant pieces made of cloth that reflected African diaspora culture.
Oh, and the food.
Delicious barbecue was being plated up by members of Word of Life Church, while free hot dogs and a mole food truck rounded out the selections.
The event was dotted with informational booths for local organizations, including the Santa Cruz County branch of the NAACP. Local luminary and NAACP Santa Cruz Chapter President Elaine Johson said that her organization wants to make sure this celebration keeps going.
“This is a day of freedom, but the freedom doesn’t stop today. We have to keep the needle moving forward; healing and celebrating and loving one another,” Johnson said.
“I keep telling people, it’s so important to understand that it’s so important to understand what Juneteenth meant — and means — so that when people continue to go out throughout their day-to-day, they honestly know why they’re off [ on June 19],” Johnson added.
Although Juneteenth dates back almost two hundred years, it was not made a federal holiday until 2021, and the country as a whole is just now beginning to grasp the importance it holds for the Black community.
“In years past, when we’ve done Juneteenth, people didn’t know what Juneteenth was. But this year, it really felt like people were there because it was Juneteenth, not just because it was a free festival,” said Elizabeth.
Santa Cruz’s Black population currently hovers just over the 1% mark. In a county where over half the population is white and another third is Latino, organized celebrations of Black culture like Juneteenth have been historically few and far between.
However, for over a century, the legacy of Santa Cruz’s little-known Black pioneers had been literally buried underground, until a D.C, native took on the task of reclaiming that past. And it all started on Juneteenth.
Luna Highjoy-Bey had just moved to Santa Cruz when she was invited to speak at the Juneteenth 2020 event at what was formerly the Louden Nelson Center. It was then that she was informed of the hidden history of the center and its namesake
“They were like, ‘Do you know that Louden Nelson’s real name is London Nelson? Do you know he was a Black man?’” Highjohn-Bey recalled in an earlier interview.
After diving into historical records, Highjohn-Bey discovered that the bodies of Nelson and other, unnamed Black pioneers of Santa Cruz were buried together in Evergreen Cemetery. She took it upon herself to form a committee to not only identify the nameless buried, but also correct the name of the center.
Later that year, the London Nelson Center got a proper renaming.
At this year’s Juneteenth celebration, Donnie Veal was there to help create community for people that often feel disconnected from the greater Santa Cruz.
“Juneteenth means, to me, reconnecting with culture. So this is an opportunity for me to reconnect with my culture and my identity,” Veal said.
Veal was there tabling for Rising Scholars, a program he founded at Cabrillo College that helps formerly incarcerated individuals get into higher education and experience a support system.
Many people who are arrested and booked into Santa Cruz County Jail lose not only their freedom but also access to health care and mental health services.
Lack of staff and programs, improper usage of facilities and mistreatment of inmates, including the mentally ill, were all found during the report.
The investigation included tours of Santa Cruz County’s three jails: Rountree, Blaine Street and the Main Jail.
The report said the staff is “deeply dissatisfied” with the physical conditions of the jail and said the conditions negatively impact the mental health of both inmates and staff. Even for those in good mental health, merely being in the jail building was said to be “disturbing and stressful.”
The Main Jail houses mentally ill inmates without a certified mental healthcare facility.
Statistics in the report show 30%-40% of those incarcerated suffer from mental health disorders. This makes the jails the largest mental healthcare provider in the county, the report said.
Most mentally ill inmates either obtain psychotropic medication or require them. Further information provided evidence of overmedicating patients as well.
“Mentally ill residents should be cared for in health facilities, not housed in jail,” the report said.
The report also touched on the use of “safety cells,” also known as solitary confinement.
In California, safety cells are used when inmates pose a danger to themselves or others. They are typically used for short-term confinement.
But evidence provided to the Grand Jury revealed that inmates were held in safety cells for days.
Procedures required by California Title 15 section 1209 and the sheriff’s department state: “In no case shall the safety cell be used for punishment or as a substitute for Mental Health treatment.”
The Grand Jury discovered that inmates are put in safety cells for reasons including, but not limited to:
Breaking the rules.
Threatening to cause harm to themselves or others.
Having a mental health crisis.
The main concern was the misuse of the safety cell, according to a health inspector’s report.
The ongoing issues go beyond the Main Jail. There are staffing shortages at Rountree Jail, a medium-level jail housing medium-offenders.
Last year’s 2023 Grand Jury Jail report suggested reopening one of the two closed units at Rountree, which was previously closed for maintenance. But today, it is still closed due to staffing shortages. Reopening the second unit would offer more balance between the three facilities.
There are also staffing shortages at the Blaine Street facility for women, which dropped 10 positions.
The Grand Jury expressed concern about the shortage, given the high number of patients needing help. Wellpath, the outside agency supplying staff to the jail has high turnover since the pandemic and only provides coverage for 18 hours a day.
“We are currently in the process of thoroughly reviewing the report and look forward to addressing and correcting the misinformation included within it,” Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Ashley Keehn replied.
The agencies that are subject to grand jury investigations are not required to make any of the suggested changes. But they are required to respond within 90 days.
The Grand Jury suggested the investigation would have benefited from inmate interviews, as it would have provided insights on jailers’ experiences. However, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office denied this, saying it has never been done before and would set a bad precedent.
But according to Penal Code Section 916, jurors do in fact have the right to use two jurors for each individual interview with an inmate.
Keehn said that the Grand Jury has several methods they can use to contact incarcerated individuals that ensure the safety and privacy of all parties involved, including using subpoenas to obtain necessary information.
Anyone with further information, please contact ed****@*******es.sc.
Three years after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase the former West Marine building on Westridge Drive, a convergence of city and county officials gathered at the site June 11 to celebrate its new incarnation.
The 121,000-square-foot South County Government Center at 500 Westridge Dr. holds the Human Services Department, Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, County Clerk/Elections, Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office and a “floating counter” where other services can intermittently be found.
The new site consolidates several services, allowing South County residents to access needed services in one place. It will also make it easier for county employees who live there to get to work, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion on Highway 1.
“We recognize that it’s important for local government to serve the community, and make it easy to access the services, particularly in underserved populations,” said Supervisor Felipe Hernandez. “This is a key to equity.”
The county purchased the property in 2021 for $15.6 million. Renovations included seismic upgrades.
County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios said that, when he was city manager from 1996-2015, he saw that Watsonville did not receive the same services as North County.
“I had a deep feeling—a sense of, frankly, anger—at the fact that I didn’t feel our people were being served in the same way,” he said.
The new facility, he added, will make a big difference in addressing that disparity.
“It represents not only real services to the community to those who most need it, but it’s also a symbol of the county’s investment in south county and inWatsonville.”
And that investment, he said, will soon continue at the Freedom Campus with a new health clinic, dentist and public health services.
Central Fire Capt. Laurel Walters, the first female firefighter to be hired by Central Fire Protection District, hung up her helmet June 6 after 28 years of service.
As a farewell ceremony, fellow firefighters joined her and her family, including her husband, two teen boys and her teen stepdaughter and grandmother, for a final run across town in a fire engine.
“I’ve been reflecting a lot these last few weeks,” she said. “Thinking about my career as a firefighter, I feel I won the lottery. It’s such a lucky thing; I didn’t plan on being a firefighter—it kind of found me.
Walters said her career has been “a wild, amazing ride.”
“There’s been ups and downs,” she said. “The fire service is such a unique organization; there is this family aspect to it. I was born and raised in Santa Cruz, so being able to work here and drive the engine around, run calls and help people and wave to people has been incredible.”
Walters was hired by Central Fire Dec. 1, 1996 as a paid call firefighter, and then promoted to firefighter in 1998. She completed the firefighter/paramedic training in 1999 and was promoted to captain in 2007.
Walters was also a member of the department’s aquatic rescue team. and served as lead of Central Fire’s Explorer program that introduces high schoolers to the world of fire service.
“I did hear a lot about a woman not being able to do this kind of work,” she said. “There’s a funny story where we were all standing at Jade Street Community Center and I was standing in front of this one gentleman and all the guys in uniform were standing behind him and he looked at me and said, ‘So sonny, how long have you been doing this?’ And all the guys beyond him were laughing, but he couldn’t see them. And I just said, ‘You know what? I’ve been doing thas for a while now, sir.’ But overall, I got so much support. This department has been incredible.”
Whenever a foreign interviewer questions Alex Lora, the leader of Mexico’s oldest and most famous rock band, they ask the same thing.
“So, you are the Mexican Rolling Stones?”
“No,” replies the long-haired frontman, who has toured and recorded for 55 years and still fits into the clothes he wore in high school.
“The Rolling Stones are the British El Tri.”
There’s not as much hyperbole there as one might think.
El Tri began as a trio (hence the name) in 1968—the same year San Jose State athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously raised their fists at the Mexico City Olympics. In Mexico City that year, government forces gunned down scores of students in Tlatelolco protesting its spending on the international sports competition.
The political turmoil fueled a nascent Mexican counterculture that came into full expression at the 1971 Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro, Mexico’s answer to Woodstock. The event, which drew 650,000 people, launched El Tri to prominence.
El Tri still plays to stadiums around the world and releases new music yearly. Last year the group played to 200,000 people in Peru and 120,000 people outside Dodgers stadium in Los Angeles.
They are featured in the Rolling Stones’ last movie, Havana Moon, and guitarist Ron Wood shoots pool with Lora in Mexico City. They co-headlined a show with the Stones, and Keith Richards wore an El Tri shirt after El Tri got called back for an encore, pretty unusual at a Stones concert.
Their relentless touring schedule has them opening, on June 22, the 2024 season of San Jose’s Music in the Park, an event Metro produces through an affiliated company. No strangers to the city, they were the first band to play the newly remodeled San Jose Civic Auditorium in 2005.
Unlike the Stones, they can’t stop touring and putting out new music. They are road warriors as in love with rock as are their fans. They play more than 150 shows a year, which keeps them in tight form.
I didn’t realize just how skilled they were until I caught their sound check at San Francisco’s Fillmore, where they pulled out, for fun, tunes by the Allman Brothers, Sonny Boy Williamson and the Dead, sounding like carbon copies of the originals.
Two months ago, they played to 50,000 people at Los Angeles’ La Fiesta Broadway street fair. And this month El Tri released a new single,Yo Quiero Ser Tu Celular (I Want to be Your Cell Phone), with lyrics that reflect Lora’s tongue-in-cheek way of making ordinary observations extraordinary.
He sings in Spanish over hard rock music reminiscent of Van Halen:
I want you to worry about me
When you can’t find me
I want your life to revolve around me
And ask me for everything
I want to entertain you and make you laugh
And help you forget your sorrows
I want to direct you where you need to go
And clarify all your doubts
Bar Band Gone Big
The Washington Post says the band “remains rough-edged musically and intensely local in its lyrics, suggesting a neighborhood bar band gone big.” Is there a better definition for great rock and roll?
Lora’s early influences include the great Chicago bluesmen, and like the English rock stars, he took their Southern-based style and made it his own.
I came upon them 24 years ago when I was the music critic at the San Jose Mercury News and their manager at the time, Jason Garner, kept asking me to listen to them, promising me I’d like them.
Back then my job included previewing some 50 new CDs a week and having failed Spanish in high school, I didn’t think I could give them a fair shake, especially with so many competing albums in English.
But one day I finally popped on their disc, Fin de Siglo, which translates to End of the Century, and within two songs I was hooked. The crunchy guitars got me, as they weaved in and out like they were sewing a tapestry—and yes, they brought to mind the best days of the Rolling Stones, when Mick Taylor and Keith Richards made bulletproof music.
And then there was Lora’s voice, which brought to mind the scraping edge of AC/DC with the aching dirty passion of Howling Wolf. The whole sound was like the best DIY rock music of the ages, like the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Who or the Doors and ZZ Top, uncorrupted by commercialism.
They included a harmonica player, Rafael Salgado, who is instrumental to Lora’s blues roots, and a brilliant and seductive female singer: Lora’s wife, Chela, who met him when she was a journalist doing an interview. The current band also includes keyboardist Lalo Toral, who has been with Lora since the start; guitarists Eduardo “Lalo” Chico and Oscar Zarate; bassist Charlie Valerio and drummer Felipe Chacon.
Gained in Translation
Even before I understood the double and triple entendres in their lyrics, I was hooked.
The first song on Fin de Siglo, their 15th release, is “Todo me sale mal” (Everything I Do Comes Out Wrong). It has a beat like “Roadhouse Blues” but lyrics that mix the blues with humor, defying authority and expectations, which is Lora’s trademark. He challenges the strict conventionalism of Mexican society.
As I listened for the first time, I kept thinking, “Who are these guys— and how have I never heard them before?”
It was an awakening to a huge unnoticed world. I remember thinking, what if the Beatles had sung in Greek or the Stones in Portuguese? Would anyone who speaks only English have heard of them? How much rock history would have been lost?
I called their manager soon after hearing the disc and arranged an interview. The 20 minutes I was scheduled to talk to Lora turned into three hours and began a long friendship of shared music. After a night of jamming in their manager’s San Jose home, Lora invited me to play harmonica with them at Shoreline Amphitheatre in front of 25,000 people the next night.
Yikes!
Despite almost fainting when they handed me a microphone, it worked and taught me more about making rock music than anything I’d done before or since. I couldn’t sleep for days afterwards, and when I asked Lora what it felt like to do that night after night, his answer was “It’s like making love to 25,000 people at the same time.”
I get it now. I understand why so many great performers don’t ever want to stop. There’s no high like it.
Their music inspired me to go to Mexico and take immersion courses in Spanish, in large part so I could understand his lyrics.
One of the funniest moments was when one of my prim and proper teachers was too embarrassed to translate some of them for me. (In Todo me sale mal, he sings about a fart that left a present in his underwear.)
Rock Underground
But like everything about one of Mexico’s greatest songwriters (and one of the greatest in all rock and roll, a point on which Rolling Stone magazine publisher Jann Wenner, in an email, agreed), Lora loves contradictions. In most of his shows he has a traditional dancer in indigenous garb reminding la raza mas chida (the coolest race) of their ancient history.
Bucking some tradition, but paying homage to others. He sings raucous songs about pimps, Viagra, smoking weed and getting drunk. But he also has tender ones about abandoned children, the Pope and the Virgin Mary, and about people confined to wheelchairs. He slams the Mexican government, but he deeply loves the country.
In the 1974 song “Abuso de autoridad” (“Abuse of authority”), the government was openly criticized, a risky move back then
To live in Mexico is the worst
Our government is wrong
And nobody can go mad
Because they shut you up
Nobody wants to go out anymore
Nor do they want to tell the truth
Nobody wants to get in trouble
with the authority
On the tender side, he wrote a powerful song about the invisible victims of 9/11, the undocumented busboys whose families were offered no financial settlements for their deaths, while American citizens were given millions. After the song was released, those families were also paid.
The ironies abound in his work. In the song “Oye Cantinero” or “Hey, Bartender,” he sings about sitting in a bar celebrating all of his great drunken nights and asking for his glass to be filled. Only, at the end of the song, you realize he’s in a mental institution talking to his shrink.
Lora is a musical shock jock, managing to offend the politically correct whenever he can. He sings mostly for a working-class audience and loves to be rebellious.
In a recent interview I asked him what he thought of Mexico’s new president, not only the first woman but the first person of Jewish descent to hold the office. I figured he’d be excited at what looked like a major change.
“Different person, same shit,” he answered.
When you look back on the band’s history, you understand his skepticism. El Tri started in 1968, playing the grungiest clubs around the poorest parts of Mexico City. In 1971, after the government saw the rebellious nature of the music and felt threatened by it, even as it fueled movements in the States, it was largely banned and restricted after the big Avandero concerts.
“From 1971 to the middle of the ’80s rock and roll survived in the underground,” Lora says. “El Tri kept the light on in the underground.”
CHIDO AMIGOS Alex Lora and the author on the road outside Fresno heading toward a gig.
They played three shows on Sundays in clubs they called “funky holes.” The drums weren’t miked. The equipment was trashy. Shows weren’t announced in advance and fans had to be alert to find them.
One club was on the site of an old coal mine and when they played it, they were covered in coal dust. Everyone who saw them outside knew where they had been playing.
Chilangos Abroad
As they began to get popular, they got signed by an American record label and used an English name, Three Souls in My Mind. They released two albums and had a minor hit song called “Let Me Swim,” recorded in a Los Angeles studio owned by the Beach Boys.
It was enticing for them up to a point. Lora realized his real fans couldn’t sing along with the English songs, so they dropped the pretense and changed their name to El Tri, which was what their fans called them anyway because that’s how they pronounced three.
“In my mind, because if you knew English well you’d say these fuckers don’t speak English well. If they spoke it well, it would be Three Souls on my Mind. I put it in my mind on purpose to make the guys who really spoke English know we weren’t from the border, we were Chilangos and didn’t speak English as well as the guys from the border.”
Chilango is a reference to Mexico City residents, not always used flatteringly, but Lora says it proudly. In his 2002 song “Chilangolandia” he sums the city up:
“The most beautiful, the most dangerous
The most loved, the most contaminated
The most populated, the most rock and roll.”
Eventually, rock became more mainstream and dozens of bands followed their path, including Maná, Caifanes, Jaguares, Maldita Vecindad. Almost any Mexican rock band you talk to today credits Lora’s influence for breaking the barriers of rock in Spanish and making it as popular as its English counterpart.
Amazingly, the band has released 53 albums in its five-plus decades. You can track the Mexican diaspora along his tour routes. At first they played New York, Texas, Chicago and California. Now you can see them fill concert halls in Omaha, Atlanta and Minneapolis—anywhere hard work is being done and fans want to feel their homeland’s roots.
Working-Class Hero
To travel with El Tri is like joining the circus. At the Orange County airport, they shut down the McDonald’s so the workers could get the Tri members’ autographs. We’ve played the Nokia Theaters on both coasts; the L.A. Sports Arena (where Alex introduced me as Van Morrison’s brother); the Salinas Rodeo and the Hammerstein Ballroom, across the street from Madison Square Garden.
I’ve shared the stage with some famous musicians, including harmonica players Lee Oskar and Billy Branch, Sammy Hagar, Jerry Donahue of the Hellacasters, Seymour Duncan (who designed Jimi Hendrix’s effects pedals) and Javier Bátis (who taught Carlos Santana to play guitar). I also became friendly with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who is a Tri fan and talked about doing a tour as Tri and the Top.
I always wanted to lay back and tried never to step in front of Alex on stage, partly because I once read an article saying no one ever steps in front of Mick Jagger. Turns out Alex is the opposite. He always tells me to keep on playing and he pushes me out in front of him or puts his arm around me. He’s happy to share, which for me is the sign of a great and confident musician.
TAKING MANHATTAN Alex Lora and El Tri have a huge following in New York, where they played the Nokia Theater in Times Square. Photo by Brad Kava
Lora knows who made him what he is and spends hours signing autographs at each show. One night before a San Jose gig we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant at Oakridge Mall. Dinners with the band and friends are long, three hours at least. And when we got out there were some 1,500 people politely waiting in the parking lot. He spent hour after hour signing cars, photos and bodies.
The band’s favorite U.S. restaurant on tour is Denny’s because the minute they walk in it transforms into a gourmet experience. Chefs come out and ask Lora what he would want to eat and they come up with specialties not on the menu.
It says a lot about Lora, a rock star like few others. He treats his audience and the working people we meet on tour like they are the stars. At the annual NAMM music seller’s convention in Anaheim, he spends more time talking to the janitors than to the instrument makers soliciting him or the other stars wanting to chat. He makes the invisible people around us visible.
He also keeps ticket prices reasonable (Music in the Park tickets have been $35 and $40, and will be $45 at the door), so that unlike the Stones, whose prices have soared, his audience includes all ages, including kids. He puts people with disabilities up front. He did a song and tour to raise money for people in wheelchairs and the upcoming San Jose show will have deaf interpreters to help people who can feel and see the musicians understand what they are saying.
Lora wrote one of my favorite songs about overlooked people called “Nosotros Los Latinos” (“We the Latinos”), released when the entertainment world was swooning over Ricky Martin and J.Lo and calling it the “Year of the Latino.”
He sings, (translated):
We are the force that has made America
The greatest power in the world
Thanks to our work, to our clinging
To our effort and our desire to progress
Well, we are the workforce that has made them strong.
We the Latinos are hot
We are the raw material that has made them rich
And all they have and all they are
It’s thanks to us
We work their lands
We are the ones who fatten their cattle
And just as we want to learn English
They should also try to learn Spanish
When he started out, Lora never thought it would last. To what does he attribute his decades of success?
“We sing about things that are true,” he says. “And because I’m stubborn and I always keep going. We wrote some of these songs 50 years ago and kids 8 years old sing them like they were written a week ago. The song I wrote about the cell phone, in 20 years maybe people will still be listening to it, unless they’ve got some new device.”
El Tri opens Music in the Park’s 2024 season June 22, 5-10 pm, at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Tickets at eltrisanjose.com.
Clockwise from left: Kristine, Donovan, Brody, Crue, and Sailor
Donovan enjoys punk bands at live concert venues—the latest, Drain at the Civic Auditorium. Crue loves getting poke bowls Downtown. Sailor likes playing at the beach
Donovan, 18 (left), Crue 15, and Sailor, 3, with parents Kristine and Brody.
Clockwise from top Alli, Wes, and Cici
Wes had fun at The Boardwalk. Cici liked playing at Natural Bridges. Both loved getting ice cream at Penny Ice Creamery.
Wes, 7, and Cici, 5, with mom Alli.
Left to Right, Rumi and Candace
Rumi had a great time playing in the park with his cousins.
Rumi, 8, with mom Candace.
From left, Novina, Pancho, Bazinga
“The Barnyard” says: “We dress up all the time, we just go out in our own style. We’ll just talk to people going in and out of the theater, or a restaurant, and see what kind of interesting perspectives we discover. We believe you can be a kid at any age!”
I love being logical and reasonable! The scientific method is one of my favorite ways to understand how the world works. I am a big fan of trying to ascertain the objective facts about any situation I am in. However, I also love being intuitive and open to mystical perceptions. I don’t trust every one of my feelings as an infallible source of truth, but I rely on them a lot to guide my decisions. And I also believe that it’s sometimes impossible to figure out the objective facts. In the coming weeks, Aries, I suggest you give more weight than usual to the second set of perspectives I described. Don’t be crazily illogical, but proceed as if logic alone won’t provide the insights you need most.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
In their book Your Symphony of Selves, Jordan Gruber and James Fadiman propose a refreshing theory about human nature. They say that each of us is a community of multiple selves. It’s perfectly natural and healthy for us to be an amalgam of various voices, each with distinctive needs and forms of expression. We should celebrate our multifaceted identity and honor the richness it affords us. According to my analysis of astrological omens, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to exult in your own symphony of selves and make it a central feature of your self-understanding.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
In the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013, you launched a journey that will finally culminate soon. What a long, strange and interesting trip it has been! The innovations you activated during that time have mostly ripened, though not entirely. The hopes that arose in you have brought mixed results, but the predominant themes have been entertaining lessons and soulful success. I hope you will give yourself a congratulatory gift, dear Gemini. I hope you will luxuriate in a ritual celebration to commemorate your epic journey. The process hasn’t been perfect, but even the imperfections have been magical additions to your life story.
CANCER June 21-July 22
I suspect you may have metaphorical resemblances to a lightning rod in the coming weeks. Just in case I’m right, I urge you not to stroll across open fields during thunderstorms. On the other hand, I recommend that you be fully available to receive bolts of inspiration and insight. Put yourself in the presence of fascinating events, intriguing people and stirring art. Make yourself ready and eager for the marvelous.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
“It’s hard to get lost if you don’t know where you’re going,” said experimental filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. He’s implying that there’s potential value in getting lost. Unexpected discoveries might arrive that contribute to the creative process. But that will only happen if you first have a clear vision of where you’re headed. Jarmusch’s movies benefit from this approach. They’re fun for me to watch because he knows exactly what he wants to create but is also willing to get lost and wander around in search of serendipitous inspirations. This is the approach I recommend for you in the coming weeks, dear Leo.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Does any person or institution own a part of you? Has anyone stolen some of your power? Does anyone insist that only they can give you what you need? If there are people who fit those descriptions, Virgo, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to fix the problems. According to my understanding of life’s rhythms, you can summon the ingenuity and strength to reclaim what rightfully belongs to you. You can recover any sovereignty and authority you may have surrendered or lost.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
In ancient Greek myth, Sisyphus was a forlorn character punished by the gods. He was required to push a boulder from the bottom to the top of a hill. But each time he neared the peak, the big rock, which had been enchanted by the crabby god Zeus, slipped away and rolled back down the hill. The story says that Sisyphus had to do this for all eternity. If there have been even minor similarities between you and him, Libra, that will change in the coming months. I predict you will finally succeed—is this your fifth attempt?—in finishing a task or project that has, up until now, been frustrating.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Is it possible to reap spiritual epiphanies while having sex? Can intense physical pleasure be a meditation that provokes enlightened awareness? Can joy and bliss bring learning experiences as valuable as teachings that arise from suffering? Here are my answers to those three questions, Scorpio, especially for you during the next four weeks: yes, yes and yes. My astrological ruminations tell me that you are primed to harvest divine favors as you quest for delight.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Your animal magnetism and charisma could be wildly potent in the coming weeks. I’m worried that as a result, you may be susceptible to narcissistic feelings of entitlement. You will be extra attractive, maybe even irresistible! But now that you have received my little warning, I hope you will avoid that fate. Instead, you will harness your personal charm to spread blessings everywhere you go. You will activate a generosity of spirit in yourself that awakens and inspires others. Do not underestimate the electrifying energy pouring out of you, Sagittarius. Vow to make it a healing medicine and not a chaotic disruptor.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
I’ve had thousands of crucial teachers. There would be no such thing as me without their life-changing influences. Among that vast array have been 28 teachers whose wisdom has been especially riveting. I feel gratitude for them every day. And among those 28 have been five geniuses who taught me so much so fast in a short period of time that I am still integrating their lessons. One of those is Capricorn storyteller and mythologist Michael Meade. I offer you these thoughts because I suspect you are close to getting a major download from a guide who can be for you what Meade has been for me. At the very least, you will engage with an educational source akin to my top 28.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
In one of my previous lifetimes, I was a bricoleur—a collector and seller of junk who re-used the castaway stuff in new ways. That’s one reason why, during my current destiny, I am a passionate advocate for recycling, renewal and redemption—both in the literal and metaphorical senses. I am tuned in to splendor that might be hidden within decay, treasures that are embedded in trash, and bliss that can be retrieved from pain. So I’m excited about your prospects in the coming weeks, Aquarius. If you so desire, you can specialize in my specialties.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Some people imagine that being creative means having nonstop spontaneous fun. They think it’s primarily exuberant, adventurous and liberating. As a person who prizes imaginative artistry, I can testify that this description is accurate some of the time. But more often, the creative process involves meticulous organization and discipline, periods of trial-and-error experimentation, and plenty of doubt and uncertainty. It’s hard work that requires persistence and faith. Having said that, Pisces, I am happy to say you are now in a phase when the freewheeling aspects of creativity will be extra available. You’re more likely than usual to enjoy spontaneous fun while dreaming up novel ideas and fresh approaches. Channel this energy into an art form or simply into the way you live your life.
Homework: If you’d like to give me a gift for my birthday on June 23, consider signing up for my newsletter: Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
For those who have ever imagined themselves in a thrilling duel, or who simply crave a novel way to better health, the sword fighting disciplines of East and West are practiced for fun and fitness in downtown Santa Cruz
Sound has a timeless connection to meditation and healing, deeply rooted in cultures around the world. Australian Aboriginal tribes have been using the didgeridoo for more than 40,000 years as a powerful tool...
