Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, but the former may prove challenging – especially when you need financially friendly ideas. Even when it’s the thought that counts behind a gift, you still need to look like you’ve thought about it, and socks don’t always leave that impression. To make this Christmas challenge a bit easier, The Sacramento Press looked at local stores in Midtown that have some fun options, each of them under $20. The Beat Location: 1700 J St. Store hours: Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. The Beat is an independent music store that sells all genres, new and old. Here, a unique gift can be bou

Clive Matson is more than a legendary Beat poet. He's a little bit younger than the Beats, and a lot more honest and raw, which he'll tell you himself. He's a nature lover, a teacher and a father. And on Monday, June 15, he will be teaching a free public workshop entitled "Let the Crazy Child Inside Write" at the Sacramento Poetry Center. Poets Q.R. Hand and H.D. Moe will also be reading at the event, which begins at 6 p.m. Matson plans to read from his heralded 1966 poetry collection Mainline to the Heart, along with some more recent works. When Mainline was published, it was described by one reviewer as "more edgy than the Beats," a critique Matson agrees with. "I'm carried away eith