Recent Stories
Offbeat Occupations: Doula wants positive experience for moms
One day when Sara Wornock and her husband were visiting their obstetrician, they spotted a brochure for Complete Doula Services. It was a serendipitous moment, as the Wornocks wished to have their first baby naturally but had determined home birth was not for them.
Offbeat Occupations: Bartender shakes things up by creating cocktails
On a Sunday night in April, Katy Wade, 29, works behind the bar of 715, at 715 Mass.
Offbeat Occupations: Artist’s creations fueled by positive energy
Now 80 years old, Jack Ozegovic is still creating art.
KU student documents Brazilian shanty town
Sarah Stern, a Lawrence native and Kansas University junior, still thinks about Rocinha. It’s been a year since her trip to the Brazilian favela, but her memories are still clear and unshakable.
Offbeat Occupations: Auctioneer starts the bidding
When Mark Elston was a boy he would attend auctions with his father, then come home and pretend to host his own. He would rattle off prices, selling his farm animals to imaginary bidders. “I could do it since I was knee high, but I was always scared of getting in front of the public,” said Elston.
Offbeat Occupations: Arrangements now second nature to florist
On a recent Friday afternoon, a woman walked into Englewood Florist, 1101 Mass., with a big order: she needed seven centerpieces, plus a really large one, by 10 a.m. the next day.
Offbeat Occupations: Photographer's work evokes pin-up era
Wearing a teal dress and a pair of heels circa 1950, Emmalee Schaumburg eases into a chair in the lobby of her photography studio in North Lawrence. The sound of a woman’s voice croons over a crackly clarinet from a stereo tucked in back. Schaumburg’s dark hair is tied back, and her lipstick is bright pink, all vestiges of the era she seeks to revive through her photography.
Kids can experience, not just watch, 'Farfalle'
Dancers in bright green suits twirl, tuck and roll to the whimsical sounds of a xylophone. Popping noises resound through the room: it sounds sort of like a bunch of giant soap bubbles bursting at once. Then there are the crackling noises, a shell breaking.
Offbeat Occupations: Surgical technician familiar with tools of the trade
Elizabeth Pekrul spends her days peering inside people’s bodies. She has watched surgeons pluck out appendixes, tonsils and gallbladders. She’s seen hernias repaired and knees replaced.
Offbeat Occupations: ‘Almost anyone could benefit from dance therapy’
How one woman teaches therapeutic ways to cope through yoga, breathing and meditation.
