Asked what it was like to be  a photojournalist for LIFE magazine during its 1960s heyday, Bob Gomel does not hesitate to answer. “It was the mecca,” he says with a combination of excitement and nostalgia.

Three times a week, Micah Ortega becomes a donut.

“I’m ready, man!” he exclaims in a deafening, raspy, Randy “Macho Man” Savage baritone as he enters Whoo’s Donuts on a recent Wednesday. “I need to kinda get the mojo going—you know, turn up the engine,” he says, making a revving motion with his hands.

Ortega says he gets his mojo from “L-O-V-E, baby,” after donning a glittery, Michael Jackson-style glove.

Helen and Charlie Sharpe are used to gawks, the sound of tires screeching and strangers constantly knocking at their door. The reason? Their picturesque garden—chock-full of statues, sanctuaries and figurines.

With the success of his indie film Sleepwalk with Me, which he co-wrote, directed and stars in, it’s been a whirlwind year for comedian Mike Birbiglia; though he’ll be the first to brush off the “movie star” title. “My agent always tries to knock me down and say I’m not a movie star, but rather a movie starrer—which means I was the star in a movie, but I’m not an actual star,” Birbiglia tells SFR.

One glance at 55-year-old Kenneth Bennett, and it’s not hard to tell that he’s led a rough life. He’s sitting at a table outside Ecco Espresso & Gelato, meticulously carving a wood figurine, cedar chips landing on his long, scraggly beard.

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 was a day local author, activist and photographer Lisa Law will never forget. “It was just…amazing," she says.

“I was not expected to grow up to be a biologist. I was supposed to study Home Ec. and marry a doctor. My mom is still not quite over it…you’d think she would be,” Linda Wiener says.

“Maybe it’s like a calling,” Tim Foster says. He’s talking about a need to create and sell 100 handmade meditation pillows, a project he recently launched on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with the intention of attracting more people to the Zen-like practice.

He’s not necessarily what you’d call a looker. He’s scrawny, big-mouthed, feeble and bug-eyed. Then there’s the hair…don’t even get me started on the hair.

A woman of contrasts, she’s dressed in a delicate black slip paired with army boots; possesses both supermodel looks and Diego Rivera technique; and, though soft-spoken, creates artwork that speaks volumes.