An inside look at body image and eating disorders. PLUS: Why ‘fat’ is not a feeling.

My earliest memory of “feeling fat” was when I was about 12 years old. Up until that time, I was not all that aware of having a body; I was pretty much just in my body, doing the things that kids do. I had not yet learned that I was supposed to look differently than I did. I had not yet downloaded the program that some foods were “good” and others were “bad.” I did not yet have exercise and movement linked up with calorie burning or self-worth.

On the eve of Cyndi Lauper’s Mountain Winery gig, we dissect the woman, the icon, the creative beast. Plus: Her thoughts on the music industry, equal rights and those sparkling ‘Kinky Boots’

Few performers possess the kind of fierce, she-bopping tenacity Cyndi Lauper has become famous for. Equal parts free spirit, civil rights activist and Grammy-winner, Lauper is one of the few creative artists able to successfully marry her cutting-edge verve with a heart-of-gold panache. It certainly has helped fuel the remarkable career resurgence she has been experiencing lately.

Mechanic, programmer, acrobat, builder, tinkerer.

Corbin Dunn's 1969 Volkswagen Beetle is a fully electric vehicle. It has an electric motor powered by 48 stacked squares of Lithium-ion battery cells under the hood in place of the 50 horsepower gas engine that it was built with. He calls it, affectionately, “the Plug Bug.”

Dunn, who was born in Hawaii, raised in Corralitos, and now lives in a large, old A-frame house near the summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is a 35-year-old programmer for Apple in Cupertino, where he helped develop the iPhone and works on the framework for the Macintosh operating system. But his aptitude for intricate technical work is not limited to computers. Dunn is a tinkerer.

From unique children’s playhouses to full-fledged homes, we take a look at impressive treehouses that call Santa Cruz County trees home

On a recent evening, after a wrong turn led to a precarious drive up a bumpy, rock-strewn dirt road, I arrived at the idyllic Corralitos property of Mary Jane Renz.

Catty-cornered from a traditional red and white barn and past a chicken coop was the trailhead that would lead me to my destination: the family’s cozy studio, which happens to be a dozen feet off the ground and supported by three second-growth redwoods.

Political activist and UC Santa Cruz Professor Emerita Angela Davis commands the spotlight in a riveting new documentary.

PLUS:  UCSC’s Bettina Aptheker opens up about the political upheavals of the ’60s and ’70s—and today.

Angela Davis is not a human being who can be easily summed up in several sentences or paragraphs—books maybe, but, even then, capturing the political activist, scholar and author in the most comprehensive light is downright complex. That’s because Davis is an undeniably unique political creature, one who should be seen and heard to be fully absorbed and downloaded. Which is what makes Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, the new documentary about Davis and the turbulent political upheavals she faced during the late-1960s and ’70s, so inviting. In it, filmmaker Shola Lynch marks the 40^th anniversary of Davis’ acquittal on charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy with a historical vérité style of filmmaking to illuminate a side of Davis few may have seen (or can recall), and captures the events that thrust the woman into one of the most fascinating orbits of notoriety and political intrigue of the 20^th century.

In celebration of Beck’s solo acoustic show at The Rio, GT explores Song Reader, the alternative rock icon’s most ambitious interactive art piece yet.

Here’s an odd little paradox of the digital revolution: The more sophisticated our technology gets, the more our musical milieu begins to resemble that of a bygone era, when song ideas were passed around from musician to musician, perpetually taking on new twists. Dozens of different YouTube users might try their hand at setting somebody’s rant about cats or double rainbows to music, or you might hear the Belgian musician Gotye turning the many and varied covers of his song “Somebody That I Used to Know” into a virtual orchestra (see below).

More than 200 years ago, Santa Cruz was inhabited by peoples who had lived here for millennia. They spoke a different language, called Awaswas, and they called the place Aulinta. The coming of Mission Santa Cruz in 1791 nearly destroyed them. In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, “Santa Cruz Is in the Heart—Volume II,” Geoffrey Dunn explores their culture, their near genocide, and the tenacity of their human spirit.

It was in 1890 that an aging and articulate gentleman—identified as “a Mission Indian” from Santa Cruz named Lorenzo Asisara—consented to an interview for Edward Sanford Harrison’s “History of Santa Cruz County,” scheduled to be published in 1892, just in time for the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America. Asisara’s interview was something of an anomaly in Harrison’s expensively gilded and leather-bound volume that generally celebrated the “prominent” rung of Santa Cruz County society and culture. 

The fourth annual NEXTies celebrates inspiring movers and shakers in Santa Cruz County. Meet this year’s honorees ...

When it came to selecting the four honorees of the 2013 NEXTies, Santa Cruz NEXT—a non-partisan group committed to providing a fun, hip and diverse environment to discuss issues affecting the next generation of our community—had 29 nominations to choose from. Their hope was to recognize community members whose work has national impact, while being inspirational and unique. Most importantly, their work has the power to act as a catalyst for greater action by our community to tackle issues and inequalities on the Central Coast.

The 2013 Santa Cruz County Readers' Poll and Critics’ Picks

It’s our biggest issue of the year, and in it, your votes—more than 6,500 of them—determined the winners of The Best of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll. New to the long list of local restaurants, shops and other notables that captured your interest: Best Beer Selection, Best Locally Owned Business, Best Customer Service and Best Marijuana Dispensary. In the meantime, many readers were ever so chatty online about potential new categories. Some of the suggestions that stood out: Best Teen Program and Best Web Design/Designer. But what about: Dog Park, Church, Hotel, Local Farm, Therapist (I second that!) or Sports Bar—not to be confused with Bra. Our favorite suggestion: Best Act of Kindness—one reader noted Café Gratitude and the free meals it offered to the Santa Cruz Police Department in the aftermath of recent crimes. Perhaps some of these can be woven into next year’s ballot, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the following pages and take note of our Critics’ Picks, too, beginning on page 91. A big thanks for voting—and for reading—and an even bigger congratulations to all of the winners. Enjoy.  -Greg Archer, Editor
Best of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll INDEX
| Shops | Food & Drink | Arts & Entertainment | Health & Fitness | Professionals | The Rest |

Category: Winner
Adult Store: Camouflage
Antiques: Mr. Goodie’s
Arts & Crafts: Palace Art
Auto (New): Toyota of Santa Cruz
Auto (Used): Toyota of Santa Cruz
Auto Repair : Specialized Auto           
Bank (local): Santa Cruz County Bank 
Beachwear: O’Neill Surf Shop
Bicycle Shop : The Bicycle Trip
Bookstore: Bookshop Santa Cruz
Butcher Shop: Shopper’s Corner

Category: Winner
Açai Bowl: Cafe Brazil
Appetizer: Hula’s
Bagel: The Bagelry
Bakery: The Buttery
Bar: 515
Barbecue: Aptos Barbecue
Beer Selection: 99 Bottles
Bloody Mary: Harbor Café
Burger & Fries: Betty Burgers
Burrito: Tacos Moreno
Bread: Companion Bakeshop