THE
SBHS
FORGE
VOLUME 97, ISSUE 10
PHONE: (805) 966-9101 ext. 332
EMAIL: STAFF@SBHSFORGE.COM
April 29, 2011
The ones we overlook
Daniel Solis Staff Reporter
Heavy drunken joy fills the darkening downtown air as a homeless traveler strips down until all that is left on his pale and unwashed body is socks. Some people look at him in dismay from across the circle in which we all sit. Children can be heard about and passersby are not scarce. Why he did it? Who knows. To prove something perhaps. But that doesn’t matter. There he is. Naked. People laugh, people stare, people turn their heads and all of it is one big farce to this man. And yes, this is a man. An adult in his late twenties who is purposely lost in his own intoxication. The id incarnate. After that night, I never saw him again. A few days after this, I asked a few questions and got to talking with a couple of homeless people, one of whom was a fifty-seven, soon to be fifty-eight, year-old man named Barry. The other was a twenty-five year-old young man who answers to the name “Shmitty.” I wanted to learn from these people and maybe form an idea of why they live this way. I know everybody’s story is different, but the views and attitudes of these two men will have to do, if only to form a general idea. Despite the fact that both of these men are homeless, they each characterize a distinct type of homelessness. One of them is youth-filled, with a spark of adventure in him yet. And
the other not wanting, weary, of this lifestyle, living day to day with just enough energy to keep going. Perhaps the most obvious example of their differing attitudes is this: When I ask the two to tell me what their living conditions are, the old man says without hesitation, “homeless,” and made it very clear that living this way was “damn near impossible.” But the youth told me with a goofy grin on his face that his living condition is “great outdoor livin’,” never allowing it to be referred to as homelessness, but rather, as “houselessness”. The two of them have lived on the streets for years. Shmitty three years, and Barry eight or nine, he can’t really remember. There is a great difference in their age and it shows. Experience cannot be hidden and experience cannot be feigned. This is very apparent. Barry has an interesting past. He used to work and travel with carnivals, the circus and rock festivals, which took him all over the US and most of Canada. I ask him what he occupies his time with now, and he responds, “I read a lot...and the writing project that I’m working on. I’m trying to write a musical.” That statement made the sign that he uses to get money make more sense. The peculiar sign has written, “NEED $$ FOR ©OPY®ITE.” Shmitty is very young. Not without experience, but with less so than the old man. He talks about the future
Homelessness continues to be a huge problem in the Santa Barbara County. while Barry focuses on the present. Shmitty focuses on the things that can be changed and the ability to do so, “It would be cool if there was some kind of thing set up for people that was, like, affordable, you know? Like, if you could pay five bucks and you have a campsite. They don’t want people to not work, because
if people don’t work, then people do things like art and music. These things politically are going to eventually take down the existing system.” These words want change like the youth of every generation. The gap in their age becomes even more CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
VADA show: all types, all kinds
Santa Barbara High School’s student artists put their best work on display at this years VADA show.
Ellen Wirth-Foster The SBHS Staff Editor Visual Arts and Design Academy opened their annual art show this past week at the Ridley Tree Education Center, an off-site facility of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Students from 9th to 12th grades had the chance to display their year’s accomplishments in a professional art show with extensive gallery space, refreshments, and many friends and family to appreciate the event. Mr. Barnett, the head organizer of VADA, estimates that most, if not
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100% of VADA students were represented in the show, from the room of self-portraits, to the dramatic displays of Seniors’ collections, such as Melanie Davis’ in the main Luria Gallery. Other participating teachers included Ms. Van Der Kar, and Ms McKee, along with English teachers Ms. Guss and Ms. Richter. Their English classes integrated art into their academic curriculum with projects like Book Art, in which students used media of their choice (from CONTINUED ON PAGE 3