2007 - Page 436 of 521 - The Santa Barbara Independent

Arts & Entertainment By Beth Taylor-Schott

Perie Longo Gets Invested as the New Santa Barbara Poet Laureate

Supposedly, everyone is detached from everyone else by no more than six degrees of separation. If you live in Santa Barbara, though, you’re probably only one or two degrees from Perie Longo. The poet, teacher, therapist, and mentor was invested as the new Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara by the City Council during a ceremony on April 3. She has been active in the community for more than three decades, inspiring thousands of students through her work as a poet in the schools.

Arts & Entertainment By Beth Taylor-Schott

Strip Show

What do you get when you combine cut up pieces of paper with made-up thoughts from your mind? Poetry. Don’t buy it? Then you should line up to participate in yet another Santa Barbara happening in celebration of April’s National Poetry Month.

Living By Virginia Hayes

Twisted Trees

If you are allergic to them, you are more than aware of them right now. The itchy eyes and runny noses attest that our native coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) are in full flower. They are blooming with a golden haze that makes them hard to miss.

Sports By John Zant

Being Tough Enough

The mothers were magnificent in the mother of all relay races.

Q-Angle, a team loaded with maternity-four of its five members are mothers with a combined nine children-outpaced all others Saturday in Santa Barbara County’s longest organized run. It goes by the challenging title, “Are You Tough Enough?”

Opinion By Kira McDonald

Joey De Alba 1984-2007

Joey De Alba was the love of my life, my best friend, and my soul mate. We knew we were made for each other. He even told me one night after a few months of knowing each other (and a lot of Jack Daniels) that he loved me since the day he met me. Our families introduced us with the hope that we would click, and we definitely did! I took him to my senior prom in 2004 at Dos Pueblos High School, and he spent the entire night beforehand in the airport because his flight was delayed.

Bottles & Barrels By Sao Anash

Silver Anniversary

When April arrives, wine lovers from all over Southern and Central California start planning for the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Festival, one of the most popular wine festivals in the state. In years past, the festival has been held at Firestone Meadow on Foxen Canyon Road.

Visual Arts By Beth Taylor-Schott

Age of Innocence

Many of us go through phases of being just a little bit overwhelmed by everything that has happened since, say, the start of the 20th century. Until now, our best refuge during such times has been BBC-style adaptations of Edith Wharton novels.

Opinion By

Education: The American Charter High School

On Tuesday, April 10, the governing board for Santa Barbara’s high schools will have a chance to approve a most innovative proposal: the American Charter High School. This new school offers a tremendous opportunity not only to help the significant number of high school students now falling through the cracks, but also to strengthen our whole community.

Columns By Rachel Wilkinson

K Is for Kabbalah

In this amusing face-to-face interview with Rachel Wilkinson, religious studies professor Richard D. Hecht compares Kabbala the ancient Jewish mystical tradition with Kabbalah the spiritual trend popularized by Madonna (the Hollywood celebrity, not Jesus’s mom).

Business By Sam Kornell

Bean Counting

When Dan Randall first started coffee roasting 15 years ago, it was with one intention-to create the kind of gourmet, organic coffee he loved. His girlfriend at the time was unimpressed. “She didn’t like my stuff,” Randall said recently. “Her idea of a good cup of coffee was Farmer Brothers. If it didn’t taste like a brown paper bag brewed through a gym sock, she didn’t like it.”

Year: 2007