Santa Cruz Hot spots and other notables you need to know about
Motiv, Mad House, Jalisco, Parish Publick House, Britannia Arms, Boulder Creek Brewery

In downtown Santa Cruz, Motiv is hot and happening. The nightclub’s  owner, 39-year old Mike Pitt, said the root word motiv in many languages means purpose. Purpose is fueled by inspiration.

“We’re an art venue,” says Pitt, “we’re a political forum, we’re music, we’re food. What all those things have in common is inspiration. That was my goal, to bring together all this inspiration.”

Born and raised in Santa Cruz, Pitt graduated from UCSC. Once a competitive surfer, he’s a sales rep for O’Neill, managing 100-plus accounts. And he’s no stranger to nightlife. In 2005 he purchased Castaways, a seedy Live Oak bar.

Local event helps veterans, amputees go surfing
When Chris Lopez was an infantryman stationed in Iraq in 2003, his father would go out surfing and sit on his board to send him prayers across the ocean. Today the 27-year-old, who retired from the service and returned to Santa Cruz with an injured lower back and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), assists fellow veterans through his work at the local Veterans Affairs office. Taking a cue from his father, he also picked up surfing as a source of relief from the memories of war, and the stresses of the everyday. Now, he’s helping other veterans—and amputees—do the same.

Laura Davis uncovers the magic of the memoir

Writing can be a powerful, healing tool. Laura Davis knows that to be true. She’s written a handful of popular non-fiction books on just that—finding the ‘courage to heal.’ And for Davis, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, the writing process itself was her own healing tool.

Her past, and her future, came into focus around the same time—as a child, and then again as an adult. “I’ve been writing since I was a little girl as a means for self-expression, what I thought, felt, and believed, as a way to educate and inform, and provoke,” says Davis, a longtime Santa Cruz author, who teaches writing classes in town. “Writing has been a critical way I’ve processed with my life and coped with my life.” This has included blogging when she was ill with cancer recently, to writing seven books with topics ranging from sexual abuse to parenting to reconciling relationships.

A new book reveals the history and beauty behind the humble postcard

One of my most vivid childhood memories is that of my mother writing postcards. Whether we were simply on a weekend getaway a few towns over or we had traversed across one or more oceans, my mom’s idea of a vacation was to commemorate it by sending a postcard to everyone she knew. The following ritual is ingrained in my psyche—stop at every souvenir stand, drug store etc. that may sell the small works of art and purchase as many as possible. Then, return to the hotel and stay up late into the night writing rough drafts (my mom is an incurable perfectionist known to take hours selecting a suitable birthday card for a friend). Finally, and with much deliberation, she would select the postcards best suited for each person and commence to write lovely little messages that illuminated the highlights of our trip thus far. Sometimes it would take us entire days to find a post office, where my sister and I would risk our lives licking the backs of third-world stamps to allow my mom’s scrawled messages to reach friends and family back home.

Christopher Durang’s witty work hits the Actors’ Theatre

Theater director Gerry Gerringer sits in a tiny office, and we talk, like therapist to patient, which is ironic, since he’s directing a play about such things, with Christopher Durang’s “Beyond Therapy,” opening up at the Actors’ Theatre on Feb. 25 and running through March 19.

“It's really a clever, funny script,” Gerringer says. “It was kind of a play for its time, and now as time has elapsed since the ’80s when it was written, it becomes kind of a satire that’s relevant today. Though all of the characters in some ways have their strangeness, the two therapists who are in this play are so out there and eccentric that it's almost going beyond therapy to think that they can help these people. Comedy is very therapeutic. I think humor connects people and provides access to dialogue about different political issues. Laughter is one of the best things you can do on a regular basis.”

Carl Weiseth finds a surprise ‘jewel’

About a year-and-a-half ago, Carl Weiseth was hiking Central California’s coastline. It was a gorgeous day—perfect sunset, flowers everywhere, hummingbirds buzzing around, and the clouds were rolling in. As he descended to head back to his campsite, Weiseth happened upon something that would change the entire course of his life: a pinecone. “It was big, perfectly symmetrical, and spiky,” Weiseth says. “I could barely hold it in my hand.”

It was as if it were sitting there waiting for him right in the middle of his path. He carried it back home with him to Santa Cruz, after his camping trip, and set it on a windowsill. Months passed, and over time, the sunlight hitting it “cured it.”

Two writers launch The Monterey Bay Writers Studio
Rumor has it that long ago, Santa Cruz had a raging literary ‘scene,’ where local writers gathered at pubs, exchanged ideas, and developed their own sub-culture. It seems that that electricity has dimmed somewhat over the years, with writers falling back into their solitary ways. Granted, there are plenty of writing groups in town, including famous poets, acclaimed novelists, steadfast journalists, and the like, but when was the last time they all got together and rebuilt that ‘scene?’

Editor’s note: In this week’s Poetry Corner, we feature the work of Catie Rosemurgy, the author of two poetry collections, “The Stranger Manual” (Graywolf 2010) and “My Favorite Apocalypse” (Graywolf 2001). She teaches at The College of New Jersey and lives in Philadelphia.

Cirque du Soleil's delicious new "eggs"stravangza is a winner

Hold the fly swatter! "Ovo," Cirque du Soleil's fascinating new outing, is more than a headturner. It's simply outstanding.

A memorable, often spellbinding frolic from beginning to end, the show, which opened in The City last fall, has settled into its San Jose digs. But in a fun turn, the outing takes audiences inside the inner workings of the ecosystem. More specifically, a place where a bountiful universe of  bugs—all kinds—engage in great mysteries. Here, Cirque's clever creatures fret over the arrival of a mysterious egg--by a neurotic fly (fittingly)--which forces everyone to question the egg's existence and perhaps their own. In other words: This is the best eye-candy of the season!

Inside the the fascinating mind of Disney animation legend Floyd Norman

Since Walt Disney first put pen to paper and created that cute little mouse in 1928, America has had a perpetual love affair with all things Disney. Animation has come a long way since the early days of artists drawing sketch after sketch to create a continuous story, but there’s something about the classic art of animated cartoons that has thoroughly captured the hearts and imaginations of both young and old.

Cartoonist Floyd Norman, who will be the guest of honor at Atlantis Fantasy World on Saturday, Feb. 13, has played a major role in creating many of the animated features that are synonymous with the Disney empire.