At SubRosa and around town this week!

Free Skool Santa Cruz's 

Songwriters Showcase
This Saturday @ 7:30pm

And more! read through this email for further details!! (so many exclamation points!!!  So exciting indeed!!!! There is a lot going on!!!!)

Songwriters were given the prompt "the ocean", and now after a few weeks will performing the songs they created! Instrumental, a cappella, solo or big band, electronic, it could be anything. Saturday November 30th at SubRosa at 7:30pm.

Come hangout, grab a cup of tea or coffee and bask in the creativity of our community. This Showcase is the first of a series of three, so if you wish you were performing you can next month!  Check the Free Skool website and calendar for more info.

Go to the Free Skool website: calendar here and read Winter schedule online and/or print your own copy.  And there are also calendars around town.  Let's have an active and inspiring fall and winter together.  You can also go to our in-your-face-book thingy at https://www.facebook.com/freeskoolsantacruz

Also, at the bottom of this email check out some of the offerings being presented by the Forest Walkers, who also have some classes in the Winter Free Skool calendar.  You can check out their in-your-face-book thingy at https://www.facebook.com/saveuppercampus and see the complete schedule.

And there are many. many more great classes in the Winter Free Skool calendar, which goes through January!
For instance check out these classes...

Women/Trans/Fem Workshop                                                             

The Bike Church, 703 Pacific Ave

with BC WTFers                                                             831-425-2453

Bicycle maintenance has traditionally been an overwhelmingly male-dominated area. It is our goal to provide time for individuals who may have been marginalized or intimidated in this setting to be supported in being knowledgeable and confident in cycling, mechanics and tool use. This workshop provides a safer space for women and trans identified folks to work on their bikes and learn new skills. Taught by women/queer mechanics. Requirements: Women/Transgender/Feminine Identifying Folks Only Directions: Entrance on Spruce Street

       Sun Dec 1st, 15th – Noon-3pm

Natural Dyes                                                                                          

Contact teacher for location

with Summer                                                 summerthyme@riseup.net

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you stuck your old wool sweater in a pot of boiled fungus? Me too! Let's explore

together the colorful possibilities of using natural materials to dye our tired clothes.This class makes a great follow-up to Drop Spindles. Requirements: Bring (preferably lighter-colored) garments/yarns/etc. made of natural fibers that you want to transform and any materials that you would like to dye with.

    Sun Dec 1st – 3pm

Oresteia Discussion Group                                                                   

Firefly Coffee House, 131 Front St

with Michael                                                            oresteia@gmx.com

If you liked A Game of Thrones, you'll probably like the Oresteia. Kinslaying and vengeance in ancient Greece...surely there will be something to discuss. Who do you think was justified in killing whom? Each class will focus on one of the plays (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides) that comprise Aeschylus' trilogy. Disclaimer: I am not an expert on either ancient Greek language or culture, or on the text itself. If you happen to be any of the above, you are welcome to teach the class (seriously). The texts of the plays are available for free from the library or online, and can be purchased at any decent bookstore. Requirements: Please read some portion of the text we will be discussing, and perhaps select a passage or two to discuss. Bring a copy (or copies) if you can; the more different translations the better.

    Mon Dec 2nd, Jan 6th – 3:30-4:45pm

iPhone Apps for Anyone!                                                                     

877 Cedar St #150

with Todd Anderson                                           todd@civinomics.com

Anyone can make (or tinker with) an app that can run on the iPhone, or iPad. We will be working with the Corona SDK (your homework: find it and try it out) - this is a powerful development kit that makes iOS app programming very accessible to people of all ages and skill levels. I'm a software engineer with the local startup, Civinomics. I will be available for assistance by email outside of class times. Requirements: Wi-fi enabled laptop or computer with Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Windows XP or later. iPhone NOT required Directions: Come to the front door of the Cruzio building between 7:15 and 7:30.If you arrive late ring the doorbell.

     Mon Dec 2nd, 16th, Jan 6th, 20th, 27th – 7:30-9pm

And from the Forest Walkers:  As the season turns and redwood needles drop, we invite you to set foot in the amazing forest that is threatened by UCSC expansion. Walks are free and hosted by volunteers, with no university sponsorship.  https://www.facebook.com/saveuppercampus

Sunday December 1st: Forest Awareness Walk- 3:00-5pm, N. Remote
We’ll do a little bit of tracking and some plant ID, we’ll practice sensory awareness skills and using them to move through the forest in an integrated, receptive way. This will require periods of silence and listening, so please come with this intention. Bring a journal and pencils for sketching.

Thursday, December 5th: Poison Oak Appreciation Walk- 4:00pm-6pm, N. Remote
Poison Oak is probably the most maligned native plant in the western United States—yet whether in the form of a shrub, towering vine, or tree, it plays vital and unique roles in wild ecosystems throughout its range. We’ll cautiously visit some of Poison Oak’s strongholds in Upper Campus, while discussing its ecology, sharing lore and stories, and exploring what this plant can teach us about building effective resistance to UCSC expansion.

Saturday, December 7th: Forest Renewal for Students- 12:00pm-2pm, N. Remote
As finals approach, let this be an opportunity to take a little break, slow down and be filled with gratitude. We will have lunch together in the forest, encourage each other, and let the beauty and complexity of our natural world give us perspective, renew our minds, and restore the stoke in our hearts.

Since SubRosa is an infoshop we have information on a variety of community going-ons...you can also find out more info by going online to Santa Cruz Indymedia at  https://www.indybay.org (for instance there is a posting about the "Problematic "Public Safety" Recommendations to be Presented to City Council 12/3" https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/11/26/18746864.php)

Hooray for Bay Nuts!

Today three friends and I harvested more bay nuts, each of us has already been out collecting, either together or with others (one of my friends is eight years old, and I am glad to have this special time with her in this context).  In Santa Cruz, the California Bay Laurel tree is very abundant in the wild spaces around this area.  From where I live, it is a ten minute walk to the river where redwood trees, sycamore trees, bay trees (and more) share the land.  In other seasons, nettles can be found, and soon mushrooms will be popping up like hidden treasures.

For me, harvesting these foods is a way for me to connect to the land, and to do that with friends creates a special kind of bond between us.  In a small way, we are meeting our needs for basic sustenance, and in a larger way we are also bypassing the capitalist alienation of how we get our food.  It is also important for me to mindfully do this gathering, as this also involves a kind of relationship, one with the trees and nuts and land from which they grow.  I also give back, gratitude and tend to these areas.  This attention to how I relate, to myself, to others, to the land is an important aspect of anarchism for me, where I embody my theory in the how-I-am in the world.  And the bay nuts are really tasty (and have a caffeine like effect).

Here are some links that give some directions on how to process bay nuts.  There are two primary methods, roasting in the shell and roasting outside of the shell.  I have tried both, and you can too.  Whatever the method you use, be sure to not over-roast the bay nuts.

-Baynutting: Tips for Harvesting, Storing and Using California Bay Nuts in the Shell
-Handout on Harvesting and Roasting Bay Nuts Out of the Shell

Also see the article posted on the Meristem Health Distro blog about Ethical Harvesting.

Yup, stuff going on...

Thursday (and more) at SubRosa!

Guitar Skills:  Basic to Advanced, 5-6pm  
(a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Let's learn how to read tablature, play scales, play chords and basic strumming patterns, fingerpick, tune your guitar by ear, make a capo, string your guitar, and jam with others.
    

Women/Trans/Queer Open Mic- 7:30-10:30pm-

Every 3rd Thursday of the month we reserve the stage for Women, Trans, and Queer folk though everyone is invited and encouraged to come enjoy the show.  Donations to support SubRosa are accepted and as always NOTAFLOF!

These Open Mics are always special and this one you can expect at least one accordion!  Open mic is a space for you to share yourself in anyway that feels right to you. You can read a story, poem or journal entry that feels important to you. You can sing or play a song you are excited about. You can make other people act out weird or funny things you think of. You can ask questions you need help answering. You can rant about things that piss you off. And you can just come and soak it all up.  

While I appreciate living in the fullness of the present moment, I also value being aware of and honoring a larger sense of history and continuity for what-we-are-doing in the here-and-now.  For instance, SubRosa's Open Mic, while it's own unique entity, also has a relationship to another open mic harkening back to the mid-to-late 1990s in Santa Cruz.  At that time an open mic was held every Wednesday night at a performance and art space called What Is Art? that existed at the other end of Pacific Avenue.  What Is Art? was also very much a space where a community of folks got to know each other, come together regularly, and support each other, creatively and socially.  The space was run by a collective and in some ways is also a predecessor to SubRosa.  Although it was not an anarchist project, it was radical.  You can read a bit about What is Art? by going to the Santa Cruz Art page.

Sneak preview of what is upcoming...a show on Sunday Nov. 24th with THE LIMES//BAD VIIIBES// MORDRAKE//BESIDE THE SKY...(bring a donation for the touring bands NOTAFLOF)

and of course come on by during out open hours... 

Choices Upon Choices This Week and Beyond at SubRosa and Beyond!

For the next many days ahead there are a lot of great happenings at SubRosa that range from a variety of Free Skool classes to special events to the general open possibility of our open hours.  And there is a lot going other other places in town as well.  So much to choose from...

And two of the choices include a couple of beautiful calendars that friends have created.  One is a calendar that depicts the moon phases, as another way to connect to the passage of time and the seasons.  The other calendar is themed around saving upper campus and features animals that would be threatened by UCSC expansion.  Both calendars are available at SubRosa right now.

And below are more details about events happening at SubRosa:
(and a bit about some other stuff happening in town)

-Friday Nov. 15th-
    Open Hours- 2-7pm  The space is only as vibrant as we make it to be, so come on down and add your sparkle...
    Self Knowledge for Anarchists, 5:30-6:30pm (a Free Skool offering)- from the teacher- "Do I know myself well enough that my desire for change in the world translates into meaningful action? One approach is to begin from the ancient Socratic saying “Know thyself” -- if self- knowledge is the aim, then self-observation is one direct approach. In my life I have studied and attempted to apply the approach to self-observation brought to Europe and America by George Gurdjieff, and his student PD Ouspensky. It is non-authoritarian, and a-religious, and begins with the admonition to “Believe Nothing.” We will read and discuss selections from the Gurdjieff literature."

-Saturday Nov. 16th
    Open Hours- 12-6pm  So much will be going on during the open hours and great folks to connect with...
    Really Really Free Market, 12-3pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)- No money. No trades. Everything is free. This market is based on a gift-economy and thinks capitalism sucks. Bring food to share. Bring your special items that you don't use but can't throw away (ex. clothes, toys, art supplies, instruments, books and zines...your free box). Bring your special talents to offer people (ex. haircuts, message, reiki...). Come and take what you can use and say thanks! We will have folks to check in with as you arrive. First come first served, space may be limited. At the end, please take away left over items that you brought with you.
    Radical Mycology, 4-6pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)- Build the world we want on the substrate of the old! The mysterious fungal kingdom plays an essential role in maintaining soil health, cleaning and distributing water, allowing for biodiversity and helping all plants to grow. There is vast potential for collaboration between humans and fungi to protect and restore our planet—from creating gardens to cleaning up toxic waste. This workshop looks at ways we can work with fungi help us with ecological restoration, permaculture and movement building. After the workshop we'll talk about specific projects we can work on in the Santa Cruz area, and having a Radical Mycology group here.

-Sunday Nov. 16th
    Open Hours- 2-7pm  Come read a book, have a great conversation, drink coffee or tea, buy a calendar and so on and on...

-Tuesday Nov. 19th

    Birth Attendant Basics, 6-8pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  This class is intended for any of the following: 1) those generally interested in the ways humans naturally birth, 2) those who can imagine attending the birth of a loved one at some point and would like to be helpful/supportive of the birthing mother/family, and 3) those that might like to someday give birth themselves and would like more info than is often given in the dominant culture about childbearing. Topics will include the physiology of labor and birth as well as the needs of the mother during this time. An emphasis will be placed on things that make a good birth attendant.

-Wednesday Nov. 20th
    Huff (Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom) Meeting, 11am-1pm HUFF is Santa Cruz's oldest and most stubbornly persistent grass roots homeless advocacy group.
    Open Hours- 11am-3pm  Come on by and check out the Meristem Health Distro or pick up a new Winter Free Skool Calendar or meet a friend and have coffee in the garden courtyard...

-Thursday Nov. 21st
    Open Hours- 2-7pm  Come on down and find out...
    Guitar Skills:  Basic to Advanced, 5-6pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Let's learn how to read tablature, play scales, play chords and basic strumming patterns, fingerpick, tune your guitar by ear, make a capo, string your guitar, and jam with others.
    Women/Trans/Queer Open Mic- 7:30-10:30pm   Every 3rd Thursday of the month we reserve the stage for Women, Trans, and Queer folk though everyone is invited and encouraged to come enjoy the show. These Open Mics are always special and this one you can expect at least one accordion!  Open mic is a space for you to share yourself in anyway that feels right to you. You can read a story, poem or journal entry that feels important to you. You can sing or play a song you are excited about. You can make other people act out weird or funny things you think of. You can ask questions you need help answering. You can rant about things that piss you off. And you can just come and soak it all up.  
 
Sneak preview of what is upcoming...a show on Sunday Nov. 24th with THE LIMES//BAD VIIIBES// MORDRAKE//BESIDE THE SKY...

SubRosa is many things...a community space...an infoshop, and in that capacity we have information about events and happenings going on in town that do not take place at SubRosa...and here are a few of those.

Saturday Nov. 16th Community Dinner and Storysharing in Support of Families on Black Mesa, 5:30-8pm at the Depot Park Freight Room (on Center St. downtown Santa Cruz)-  This dinner is an opportunity to understand more about what these people are going through and therefore, what we all are going through. We will explore our experiences of ancestry, home, grief and joy for our world as we weave our stories together in efforts to create unity and movement around our collective journeys. You are invited to bring a dish from your family traditions(whatever that means to you) and to come and share a bit of yourself with others. There will be a short film and slideshow with updates and food, stories, and song.  This is also a benefit and donations are accepted at the door.  Go to Santa Cruz Indigenous Solidarity for more info on this and other struggles.

And from the Forest Walkers:  As the season turns and redwood needles drop, we invite you to set foot in the amazing forest that is threatened by UCSC expansion. Walks are free and hosted by volunteers, with no university sponsorship.  These are just a few of the upcoming walks and more info is at https://www.facebook.com/saveuppercampus

Friday, November 15th: Night Mushroom Walk is now an Owling Walk‏ (due to lack of rain)
w/ John Garrett - 6:00pm @ N. Remote
Look for owls! And just generally moon about. Bring warm clothes and liquids and a headlamp.

Saturday November 16th: Fall Time Forest Walk
w/ Lindsay - 12:00pm @ North Remote
California bay nuts, acorns and berries. We feel the wind gust through the trees as raindrops begin to appear. Such a splendid time to walk into the forest! On this walk we’ll discuss gathering and preparing wild edibles and medicinal plants, and give information about the environmental impacts of proposed university expansion.

Sunday, November 17th: Radical Art for the Forest
w/ Irene O’Connell - 3:00-5pm, N. Remote
Art can be a vehicle of resistance, even in the forest! We will visit the water tank murals in the Upper Campus to discuss how the art might impact those who are part of the community it exists in. That means you! We will have the chance to design and even paint directly onto the tanks. Please bring some brushes and water-based paint, lots of water, and creative ideas. Please no aerosol spray cans.

The new Winter Free Skool Calendar is out...go to http://santacruz.freeskool.org and click on the winter calendar to see the full offering of classes and to print your own calendar.

And there are also discussions held at UCSC from PROJECT REGENERATION - Creating Consent Culture: A series of interactive discussions examining power dynamics and the involvement of consent within five relevant topics.  UCSC College Nine and Ten Recreation Lounge, 6:30-8:30 pm!

11/18 : Immigration & Economic Justice:  This will be a discussion exploring how the implications of immigration status and policies affect financial situations. We will hear an academic explanation and a myriad of community stories. We will focus on the reality of limited access for certain communities and whether or not they have a choice.

11/25 : Orange is the New Jim Crow–Rights of Incarcerated Individuals in the U.S.:  Orange Is The New Jim Crow will illuminate the multiple harms that incarcerated women and gender variant people face behind bars, as well as their dynamic resistance to everyday systemic control. We will highlight the absence of informed consent in prison and refuse to let women prisoners remain unseen and unheard. This discussion will encourage participants to think deeply and critically about our own responsibility to redesign a social landscape in which coercion and confinement--and especially punishment for profit--will be replaced with alternatives that make our bodies and communities truly safe.

And of course there is much much more going on as well... check https://www.indybay.org/santacruz/ for news and info, look for flyers, talk to folks...

Possibilities Manifest at SubRosa this week and beyond!

*Friday Nov. 8th:  An Evening of Performance and Magic at 7:30pm-  On this night we will explore the darkness that is inside of us. Not without celebration we will examine what is invoked through three performances and what we always carry within ourselves. Together, we will endeavor to name and honor the darkness and let it shine with us until spring.

With performances by:

Jessie James (spells dreams and heartstrings)
Sasha Rose the Legendary Poet (heavy truths/witness)
and Gabriel Saloman (political/magical noise!) on tour from Vancouver BC

$5-10 notaflof (in-your-face-book-thingy at https://www.facebook.com/events/224479167728032/)

*Sunday Nov. 10th:  Singing Together! 6-8pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Sing your heart out! Come together for an afternoon of tapping into your voice and releasing your melodic truth. We will dive in with singing exercises to free up our vocal folds and explore ways to let our anxieties around singing melt away so that we can sing at our full potential. Then we'll share songs that remind us of our communal strength and wisdom, and play creatively with sound through guided and free form improvisations. No singing experience or skills are necessary; all are welcome!

*Tuesday Nov. 12th:  Build a Website With Wordpress, 5:30-7pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Build a website with WordPress! Bring your ideas and come ready to work; this class is project-based. If you can send an email, you can learn to make online contact forms, event registrations, photo slideshows, mobile friendly sites, and more. In this class we will be creating a self hosted WordPress website (not a WordPress.com blog). Topics will include: hosting, installation, themes, plugins, and an overview of important features. Visit the website for more info and class location: www.hubshare.co/wpbootcamp/

and a Folk Punk Show! 7-10pm-  I don't know much about it but it is on the SubRosa events calendar.

*Wednesday Nov. 13th:  Huff (Homeless United for Friendship & Freedom) Meeting, 11am–1pm-  HUFF is Santa Cruz's oldest and most stubbornly persistent grass roots homeless advocacy group.

*Thursday Nov. 14th:  Guitar Skills: Basic to Advanced at 5pm–6pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Let's learn how to read tablature, play scales, play chords and basic strumming patterns, fingerpick, tune your guitar by ear, make a capo, string your guitar, and jam with others.

and later that evening is the Open Mic, sign-ups at 7:30pm, show at 8pm.  Come express yourself!  Donations accepted to support the space (NOTAFLOF)

*Friday Nov. 15th:  Self Knowledge for Anarchists, 5:30-6:30pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Do I know myself well enough that my desire for change in the world translates into meaningful action? One approach is to begin from the ancient Socratic saying “Know thyself” -- if self- knowledge is the aim, then self-observation is one direct approach. In my life I have studied and attempted to apply the approach to self-observation brought to Europe and America by George Gurdjieff, and his student PD Ouspensky. It is non-authoritarian, and a-religious, and begins with the admonition to “Believe Nothing.” We will read and discuss selections from the Gurdjieff literature.

*Saturday Nov. 16th:  Really Really Free Market, 12-3pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  No money. No trades. Everything is free. This market is based on a gift-economy and thinks capitalism sucks. Bring food to share. Bring your special items that you don't use but can't throw away (ex. clothes, toys, art supplies, instruments, books and zines...your free box). Bring your special talents to offer people (ex. haircuts, message, reiki...). Come and take what you can use and say thanks! We will have folks to check in with as you arrive. First come first served, space may be limited. At the end, please take away left over items that you brought with you.

and a bit later...Radical Mycology, 4-6pm (a Free Skool Santa Cruz offering)-  Build the world we want on the substrate of the old! The mysterious fungal kingdom plays an essential role in maintaining soil health, cleaning and distributing water, allowing for biodiversity and helping all plants to grow. There is vast potential for collaboration between humans and fungi to protect and restore our planet—from creating gardens to cleaning up toxic waste. This workshop looks at ways we can work with fungi help us with ecological restoration, permaculture and movement building. After the workshop we'll talk about specific projects we can work on in the Santa Cruz area, and having a Radical Mycology group here.

And come on down for our open hours...Thursday-Sunday 2pm to 7pm.  We are closed Monday and Tuesday, expect for special events, and we are open Wednesdays mid-day for some hours.

Upcoming Happenings at SubRosa!

Greetings friends,

As the days grow shorter we're keeping busy here at SubRosa. Here are some upcoming events down here at 703 Pacific Ave, hope to see you soon!

Every Wednesday - 11am to  1pmish HUFF Meets
HUFF is working to fight efforts by the merchants and City Council to further a police crackdown on youth, homeless and counter-culture folks downtown. In the last decade, City Council passed a variety of new laws, strengthening the anti-homeless "Downtown Ordinances". These changes gave police greater powers of selective enforcement downtown against poor and homeless people, political activists, street performers, and others. Meet to talk and scheme against the yuppies! Coffee provided!

This Thursday! Oct. 17th - Women/Trans/Queer Open Mic 7:30 sign ups/8pm show
Every 3rd Thursday of the month we reserve the stage for Women, Trans, and Queer folk though everyone is invited and encouraged to come enjoy the show. These Open Mics are always special and this one you can expect at least one accordion!

Open mic is a space for you to share yourself in anyway that feels right to you. You can read a story, poem or journal entry that feels important to you. You can sing or play a song you are excited about. You can make other people act out weird or funny things you think of. You can ask questions you need help answering. You can rant about things that piss you off. And you can just come and soak it all up.                                                                                          Donations appreciated NOTAFLOF

This Saturday! Oct. 19th - Really Really Free Market    12 - 3pm
Every month SubRosa holds a RRFM which is part swap-meet, part free-box, part buffet and part mystery.
 A place where everything is FREE! No trades, no money. Gift economy at its simplest. Let's not let Capitalism get in the way of meeting each others' needs and sharing what we have.

Stop by bring your unused books, sweet treasures, clothes, sports equipment, food and anything else you feel like giving away (like free haircuts or tarot readings) and look for your new fall outfit!

Saturday Oct. 26th - Eclectic Post Punk! 7pm SHARP!
Wild Moth's (San Francisco's post-punk)Tour Kick-Off show! The band will be supporting their debut full length LP, "Over, Again" http://wildmoth.bandcamp.com 
 
Also playing are!

Plume (San Jose emo)

Halt Citizen (Sludge-tinged hardcore)    http://facebook.com/haltcitizen

$5 NOTATFLOF