Clouds of hairspray were being shot every which way, cameras were flashing and frantic girls and boys were scrambling around a tightly-packed room to line up for preliminary judging. This was the scene in the backroom of Barcode Nightclub at the finale round of the Hair Games 2009 charity fundraiser last night. The chosen recipient of funds for this year is Auburn-based Village Care International (VCI), an organization focused on empowering African widows and around 30,000 orphans that have become victims of the AIDS/HIV pandemic. Beginning on April 25 and continuing for four consecutive Saturdays, 12 top salons from around the Sacramento region have been competing in four separate semi

 In my previous article, "Have You Been to Mt. Shasta Naturals," I talked about a unique little store on 10th street that I stumbled into one day, while researching non-traditional spirituality (you can read that article by clicking the Storyline tab to the right). After browsing the store for a bit, I spoke with owner Susan Stream about her own spiritual background. Turns out that Stream does much more than sell homeopathic remedies: She is also a Reiki Master and a healer who conducts workshops for interested community members. In an interview with Stream, she shared with me a little about how she came to this type of spirituality, and the changes it has made in her life thus far. "Thi