How I Learned to Make Money Playing Video Games By Ricky Chavez Many people grew up idolizing movie stars, rock stars and super heroes, but kids today are idolizing an entirely different group of people: gamers.  Because of the outstanding success of a video game streaming website called Twitch, watching people play video games has never been easier and it’s inspired many people, including myself, to play video games for the people to watch, and even make money doing it. The superstars of Twitch like Ninja average around 30,000 viewers per stream, making a full time job out of streaming usually streaming longer than eight hours a day. Ninja has…

Shop Local, Give Local By Natalya Dreszer The Holiday Season is just around the corner, and just because we’re going through a cultural shift trying to question our relationship with excess material possessions doesn’t mean that we can’t indulge in the joy of gift giving! Here are 9 holiday gift ideas that support local artists, local businesses, and sustainability: Pacific Edge  Looking for the perfect gift to tire out a ball of energy for a day? Pacific Edge is a rock climbing gym that is fun and safe for any rock climbing levels, from first timers to world-class professionals (Chris Sharma started at Pacific Edge)! A day pass, 10-time pass,…

Yes, Virginia, There are Faeries and They are Magic By Natalya Dreszer Faerie Cricket brings face painting, giant bubbles, and general whimsy to events of all kinds. She is a “Ground Faerie,” brought to life by Santa Cruzan Haley Brown, 29, a visual and performing artist who addresses disability with her work with children.  “I imagine a ground faerie is any faerie that can’t fly for whatever reason,” Haley says. “It’s an allegory for disability or difference or limitation of any kind.”  Haley has finished the text of her first children’s book, The Ground Faerie. It’s written as a letter from an older ground fairie to a child ground fairie.…

Forget Broadway, Catch Some School Plays By Brad Kava We used to think that you had to handicap school plays, measure them on a different standard, then, say, something you would see in a professional theater. These are just students, after all. Well, two plays we caught last month in Aptos changed our minds about that. When we saw “Carrie” at Cabrillo College, all through the play we assumed it was done by the professionals at Cabrillo Stage. Camrynn Ford as Dora Bailey in “Singin’ in the Rain.” Not so. Most of the actors were students, and we only found that out at the end. It was as tight and…

Kids Navigate the Rails During Winter Break By Suki Wessling One of the highlights of Santa Cruz holiday season is the ginormous train set at the Museum of Art & History, where kids can run the trains themselves. The set has been put up for 15 years by a group of devoted train lovers, the Golden State Toy Train Operators.  “I’ve always enjoyed trains,” says Eric Child, 75, one of the group’s founders. “When I was about 6 or 7, I got my first toy train set. As a very small child in San Anselmo I can remember taking the train to catch a ferry over to San Francisco. I…

Jacob’s Heart Beats for Santa Cruz “You Can Handle Anything if you Don’t Have to Handle it Alone” by Kevin Painchaud Every parent’s worst nightmare is finding out that your child has a life-threatening illness. Your entire world is turned upside down. Where do you turn? What do you do? Your child becomes the only thing that matters.  Things like food and bills become secondary. And for those thousands of residents in our community that do not have the financial means to take time off work to focus on their child, life seems insurmountable. Teacher T. Jesse Rile. Photo by Jules Holdsworth. This is the reality for many folks in…