Sunday Reads: ‘Barbie’ takes over, parting with a treasured surfboard and cake at Cabrillo

Barbie movie: Wallace Baine and two high schoolers on how the iconic doll resonates across generations

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

One is back on the Barbie bandwagon after abandoning a girlhood favorite. One knew Barbie only from the toy store. One tripped over Barbies while raising two daughters. Now, with “Barbie” taking movie theaters and social media by storm, high schoolers Izzy Brandon, Henry Bellevin, both 16, and Wallace Baine (slightly older than 16), put the summer blockbuster movie under a microscope. Their post-film discussion touches on issues of gender, race, and why Barbie remains such a pop-culture behemoth 64 years after the anatomically impossible doll first hit the shelves. Here’s what they had to say.

➤ MORE FROM WALLACE: Will Santa Cruz County be open to what RFK Jr. is selling?

I left my board with a Malagasy surfer: How I learned to let go of what I cherished

(Via Evan Quarnstrom)

Santa Cruz native Evan Quarnstrom left his favorite surfboard halfway around the world — on purpose. He gifted it to a surfer in Madagascar he had met who needed it more than he did. But he misses it. In a Community Voices opinion piece, he reflects on the bond between a surfer and board and the memories and surfer friends he made from Brazil to Indonesia to Madagascar during his almost two-year travel adventure. Read it here.

➤ ANOTHER SURF JOURNEY: Kevin Reed’s radical ride: Legendary anti-hero of Santa Cruz surf, skate scene getting his belated due

Inside the final exam in Cabrillo’s Art of Creating Wedding Cakes class

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Whether they’re looking to take the next step professionally or wanting to show off for friends and family, the students in Anne Baldzikowski’s Cabrillo College class learn to assemble wedding cakes from the bottom up. Laura Sutherland sat in on the final exam, where there’s extra credit for cutting up your cake and letting classmates take a bite. Get a taste here.

➤ MORE FOOD NEWS: Checking in on Venus Beachside post-remodel, Soif 2.0 coming to Perg & chili crisp

(United Way of Santa Cruz County)