Watercolor Portrait - "Keith"

My first attempt at a portrait in watercolor.  I worked from the picture and am very happy with this!  :)

This portrait is of Keith - someone I loved a long time ago.  He passed away last year and there are many that miss him dearly.. 

-- Kristin

Frisbee Girl

I've been taking my camera with me everywhere and actually using it.  I pulled it out yesterday while Gregg, me and Sara were at Highlands Park in Ben Lomond.  I took this pic of Sara swimming in the river with her frisbee... she has just fetched it and is swimming back to shore and to Gregg.  She LOVES to play frisbee with Gregg, especially if she gets to get WET!  Since we lost our other golden, D.O.G., back in July, we've been spending lots of time with Sara... she goes everywhere with us.

I had time to do some sketching and watercolor while at the park in my pocket Moleskin.  I also did a watercolor and ink of this pic of Sara today as a quick study - I love the softness of this pic and think it is just perfect for a watercolor - don't you? 

I'm happy with this watercolor in general, though I do like the bottom half of the water better than the top.  I love how the rippling over Sara's body came out and the reflection.  The top of the water was great until I got heavy handed at the end with the darker blue... I have to remember to tell myself "that's enough - put the brush down"...  :)

Talk soon...

-- Kristin

Daisies for D.O.G.

One of the sympathy cards we received when D.O.G. died had these beautiful painted daisies - I was really drawn to them... ended up sketching and painting them myself. This is in my pocket Moleskin sketchbook with Cotman student watercolors and water brush and pen.

This is the first post of my art that is scanned - the few pics previously posted I took with my digital camera... but I also want to experiment with scanning my work as I can see a definite advantage with scanning: more control over the light and exposure... I'm excited about scanning! :)

What do you do - scan or pic?

Well, this Sunday I will speak at a completely new church. This one is "over the hill" in San Jose - a completely different place than my mountain church in Boulder Creek! And it will be a building full of strangers as I don't expect anyone I know to attend services. I'm nervous and excited all at once. My message is entitled, "Who Me Lord? Are You Sure?" and centers on the role of doubt in our faith and lives. This is the first run with this message - I will give it again at another church in Santa Cruz August 31. That event will be taped and I hope to share a copy on the blog sometime in September. Wish me luck!

Talk soon..

-- Kristin

McCain Video and the need for 3rd Party Candidate Win

I recently received an email with a link to this YouTube video about John McCain:



This is a good video and shows just how much career politicians will say whatever it takes to get elected. Sadly, I'm sure someone could put a video together that shows the same of Obama. The most recent item Obama has flip-flopped on is public campaign finance. For more than two years, Obama claimed he would use and support the public campaign finance system, which would provide his presidential campaign with $84 Million dollars to use for the general election. Obama has gone on record numerous times stating that politicians need to support the system and, when they do, the system works to level the playing field of public campaigns.

Unfortunatley, a month ago, Obama has now declined use of the public finance funds and calls the system "broken", yet his voting record clearly shows he supported the system for practically his entire tenure in the senate. His campaign will be the first campaign since Watergate to not use public finance money....

The bottom line is that whether you vote for Obama or McCain, it will be "Washington as usual".

I read an article today about how Obama is the better candidate because he is so "compassionate" and has been "in the trenches" with the middle class. Well, unfortunately, compassion and "in the trenches" experience is NOT what is needed in a politician.

what is needed is a politician that will uphold his oath to serve and protect the US Constitution, the supreme rule of law this nation is founded on. Neither Obama or McCain have a voting record that shows their unwavering support for the US Constitution and, thus, neither should get your vote in November.

So the question becomes - who do you vote for?

Well, there are three other parties with enough ballot access across all 51 states to mathematically win the election in November. But you won't here about any of them from the national media and if you ask anyone about them, the common response you will get is that you are "throwing away your vote" when you give it to one of these 3rd party candidates. This is of course proproganda that is used against Americans to brain wash them into thinking just that - so they take the lower road and vote the lesser of two evils: a Democrat or a Republican.... (not all of the Dem's and Rep's are bad - there are a few that are staunch supporters of the US Constitution - unfortunately, none of them are still in the race for President)

The fact of the matter is if enough Americans knew about these 3rd party candidates and actually voted for them, they could win and a win by a 3rd party candidate for the Presidency is the EXACT kind of shockwave needed to reverberate through the Democratic and Republican parties that the American people are taking Washington back.

I'm personally going to support Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. He is a strict constituionalist with a conservative mindset about our country.

There is also Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee and, as I write this email, the Green Party is in the process of selecting their candidate at their national convention in Chicago. I'm hoping they pick Cynthia McKinney, a two-time congresswoman from Georgia who drew national attention with her stance for ethics reform legislation in Congress... of course, she was promptly defeated on that initiative.

The bottom line is that every American needs to understand that voting for either Obama or McCain is a vote for the "status quo". Every American needs to understand the truth behind getting elected and how their vote for a candidate works, and, finally, every American needs to understand they have more than two choices for President when they go to the polls in November....

Read more about ballot access issues and how to get involved in ensuring our nation has free and open elections at these sites:
http://www.cofoe.org/
http://www.ballot-access.org

Unfortunately, candidates in Iraq actually have freer and easier access to getting on the ballot than American candidates!!

Read more about 3rd party candidates running this year here.

And read more about the mathematical chances of a 3rd party candidate winning the election here.

Also, turn off ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC and other major news affiliates. Seek out independent news sources that offer full, objective coverage of the elections, ALL the candidates, international issues including Iraq, Iran, China, Russia the US and global economies and other hot topics in our world. My personal favorites are

News With Views
Democracy Now
The Media Research Center
The Financial Times (UK publication)
The Economist (UK publication)
Prison Planet
Jim Sinclair's JSMineset (Financial Market news and Gold Market news)
Open Democracy

Finally, to understand just how critical a part the national media is playing in all of this, you should read

"Fighting For Air: The Battle to Control America's Media" by Eric Klinenberg

and

"The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein

God Bless America!

-- Kristin

Saying Good-bye Is Never Easy...

On July 4th, our beloved pet, D.O.G., passed away. His death was sudden and unexpected and everyone in our family feels deep grief in the loss of this wonderful dog. D.O.G. came into our lives eight years ago and touched us all with his playfulness and loyalty. He would do the "crab walk" forever wanting "butt scratches" and would roll outside in the dirt and sunshine all day if allowed. Forever a puppy, D.O.G. filled our home with carefree happiness and unconditional love. He will be missed by everyone.

D.O.G. was lovingly buried yesterday at the base of a beautiful oak tree in our backyard where he will forever be in the shade in the place he loved the most - OUTSIDE!

Rest in peace, big puppy...

-- Kristin

More Watercolor Journaling... My Schmink Set

Here is another quick drawing done in yet another spiral bound sketch book with watercolor paper... I found a little Schminck set while I was in Florida recently and am really enjoying it... decided I should capture that little set!

I like how this turned out.. :)

-- Kristin

Watercolor Journaling and Happy Mother's Day!

This weekend has been splendid! It started on Friday night and dinner with Gregg at Scopazzi's - the local Italian Restaurant in Boulder Creek. We can be seen there at least twice a month.

Saturday was my long awaited Watercolor Journaling class... I've been signed up since February and it was everything and more that I've been expecting! Pic above is of my most recent watercolor journal page entry, completed today after church..

It was a great day at church this morning and today marks one year that I've been attending. I wanted to remember the feeling... this page does just that for me - it brings back that warm feeling I had this morning at church!

My own mom is off in St. Augustine this weekend having fun... I was able to speak to her before she left. There are some other "moms" I reached out to today, also... there are so many in my thoughts and heart!

Happy Mother's Day!

--Kristin

New Speech Video

Our Toastmaster club at Seagate recently hosted an Open House. This speech was given as part of that event and I think it is my best speech ever!

Let me know what you think!

-- Kristin

Rockin' Out in Boulder Creek!

Our neighbor, Mark, invited us over for movie night, rock band and brownies. We watched "I Am Legend" in his AMAZING home theatre (and it's a REAL theatre, not just a big TV)... and then after brownies and ice cream, we played ROCK BAND!

The video below is our last "performance"... and is the end to a REALLY fun night! Thanks, Mark!

Enjoy!




-- Kristin

Great Pic of Mom and I with Sophia

This was taken in Tallahassee during my visit to Florida. It's a great pic of me, mom and Sophia..

-- Kristin

Four Generations of Women

This pic was taken this past weekend and is of me, my mom, my daugther, my niece and my niece's baby daughter and represents four generations of women!

Girl power - woo hoo!

-- Kristin

This November 5th - Ron Paul Makes History!

Were you there? Did you donate? Can you believe it?

Well, you need to believe it because the numbers don't lie! Check it out here!

Finally, I see the MSM is picking up on our candidate - ABC, FOX, CNN - they all have front-running articles describing the success of today's fundraising...

Make a note - the trend will continue as freedom is a message that cannot be kept down.

Support Ron Paul for President - donate today!

For Freedom,
-- Kristin

French President Nicolas Sarkozy Snubs Lesley Stahl and CBS's 60 Minutes

Finally, an international, political figure that stands up to the ridiculous and inappropriate questions of an American reporter (and I use "reporter" loosely here while referring to Lesley Stahl).

Read the article here. Watch the video here.

What amazes me in this video is the expression on Ms. Stahl's face when the President removes his earpiece and leaves. She seems surprised, as if she fully expected the French President to answer and discuss personal aspects of his life, even after his Press Secretary had stated "no comment" to questions of this sort.

This degradation of our 'news' in America is a national epidemic. We seem as a society to be more interested in the personal aspects of our Leaders than we are their actual professional acts. Case in point: Hillary Clinton is currently under investigation with a pending case in the state of California for campaign finance fraud, but has the American public been given any details on this matter? Of course not - that's not 'news'. But what does fill the headlines of magazines and newspapers across our nation are details of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolene... as if details of these people's personal lives somehow enrich that of the average American. Sadly, most Americans thrive on gossip headlines such as these as many Americans are morons and dweebs, seated before their television every night watching criminals play football in the NFL or watching imbeciles on 'Survivor' degrade and humiliate themselves before an international audience... and somehow we are lead to believe that this enriches our lives?!?

A Message to the American People: You need to get a life! And that life should be outside of your television set and national sports affiliations. Any of you actually read a book this year? this decade?

Here's a suggestion for an alternative activity: Try finding out what your elected officials are voting on in Washington. You might just stumble onto this fact: last week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved HR 1955, a bill that GROSSLY impedes on our constitutional rights as American Citizens... don't believe me? Read the text here and look to see which of your House Members voted in favor of the bill here. Now if the passing of this bill isn't news, I certainly don't know what is. Yet there was not one peep from the mainstream media on the passing of this bill. Makes you wonder why, doesn't it?

Bottom line: American's have come to believe that they have the right to delve into the personal matters of anyone they want: Presidents, Celebrities, Public Officials - anyone in the eye of the public. But on matters of true interest, things that actually impact our lives, we know very little, if anything at all, and don't seem to care that our mainstream media provides no substantive content to its viewers.

I'm almost ashamed to call myself an American given the facts of our degrading societal whims and pleasures. We place our trust and faith in NFL and MLB stars that use drugs and break the law yet we care not when a Presidential Candidate is being accused of fraud in a state court.

I'll once again repeat my suggestion to boycott the mainstream media by seeking out independent news sources such as NewsWithViews.com and FreeMarketNews.com. And for some real perspective, check out PrisonPlanet.com... if you check out these sources along with others, you'll finally get a chance to read REAL news that has the ability to greatly impact your life as a free citizen of the USA...

It's time for change in America. Be a part of that change - don't accept the status quo regarding the mainstream media's lack of providing clear, objective and relevant news. Demand something different; settle for nothing less.

For Freedom,
-- Kristin

Ron Paul Treated Unfairly at the CNBC Debate - Proof From the Transcript

Read the full article here.

This reaffirms my last blog post - the Republican Party does not want their own candidate to win... what a disgrace.

Band together America - and let the big guys know you aren't taking their CRAP anymore...

Support Ron Paul for President!

For Freedom...

-- Kristin

NBC Fails the American People in GOP Debate

Last night, watching the GOP Debate on CNBC/MSNBC, I felt a deep sense of despair growing in my heart. The candidates obviously did not get equal face time on camera or direct questions. Senator McCain hit the nail on the head when he made his comment about the “cheap seats” on stage. He couldn’t have been more right. This was simply a propaganda display for the elite, mainstream candidates, with Senator Thompson, new to the campaign trail, featured front-and-center.

Everyone now knows who NBC, or better GE, wants the Republican Candidate to be – either Fred Thompson, Rudy Guiliani or Mitt Romney, and they will be the only candidates you'll see on NBC and its affiliates.

Given my tireless work to support candidate Ron Paul, I feel I’ve been slapped in the face by GE, a company that regularly touts in their TV ads “We Bring Good Things To Life”… oh really? And what good things would that be? It’s not factual reporting or fair and equal time on national television.

And why do you think a company like GE would own one of the major broadcasting stations in our country? I don't think it’s because they want to bring fair and balanced news to the mass audiences they “serve”… no, I wager a bet that the reasoning is more in the lines of their wanting to manipulate the information that is presented to their audiences. The GOP Debate last night on CNBC/MSNBC is a clear example of that.

Don’t believe me? Then grab a stop watch and a note pad, just like I’m going to do and (re)watch the debate. Record how many direct questions were asked to each candidate; record how much face time in minutes/seconds each candidate was given; record the time given to each candidate for rebuttal. When complete, review the results and decide for yourself if it was really a "debate".

Finally, if you really want to see GE’s bias provided via their owned and operated affiliates of NBC, watch the post-debate interviews. As I watched Chris Matthews make his comment “I won’t be voting for you” to candidate Ron Paul, I knew in my heart I could never trust the national news to let me make my own decision about what is best for our country.

And you shouldn’t either.

I highly encourage you to find alternate and independent sources of news both for domestic (local/national) and foreign interests. I’ve been surfing independent news now since I experienced the news in Europe several years ago, where the coverage seemed more objective, less “emotional” and provided more obvious presentation of facts. It was refreshing and I’ve searched for the same in America ever since. I’ll be posting some of my favorites in my Links section in the very near future.

The bottom line is this: If you want accurate, unbiased, objective and relevant facts presented to you that enable your ability to make a clear and educated decision, do not watch NBC, CBS or ABC. Don’t watch any of their affiliates on broadcast, cable or Internet. Avoid them completely. This will be hard at first, but once you get into this habit, it will become easier and easier to find REAL news and I promise you, you’ll never go back.

Finally, write to your Government representatives and tell them you don’t think it is good for our national broadcasting to be monopolized by three multi-national corporations and they need to do something about that or you’ll be voting for their opponent next election.

For Freedom…

-- Kristin

Do you YouTube?

Been out to YouTube lately? I have and to say I'm hooked, well, that's just a plain understatement. And as if the planets and stars aligned, my Toastmaster club recently purchased a video camera to tape our meetings. Can you say "instant content"? I can, and wallah, I'm a YouTuber!

My first speech captured on video is below... unfortunately, our new club members are learning how to operate the camera and my introduction and first 30 seconds of the speech were not captured... this makes the beginning seem abrupt.



I'm already planning for my next YouTube "production"...

Stay tuned... :)

-- Kristin

Welcome to Seagate!

Today marks four weeks that I have been employed by Seagate Technologies (http://seagate.com)... and what a wonderful employer they are turning out to be already. It is as if the good Lord above went inside my head and took note of all the attributes I need in an employer and placed them in Seagate.

In taking this new job, I've also reduced my commute to work by more than one-half! An exciting prospect considering I was driving 2+ hours everyday round trip to Network Appliance, my last employer.

I've also taken a promotion by moving to Seagate in accepting an IT Program Manager position. So with all this good news, I'm having to pinch myself each day to remind me that I'm not dreaming -- this is indeed my professional life now. Great!

It's an exciting time in all areas of my life with Joyce off to FSU next weekend and Patrick settling in in CA and Joseph getting ready to start in high school.... so much is going on.

Hope your world is just as bright...

Talk soon,
--Kristin

My 9th Grader

It seems impossible that my youngest child has finished middle school and will enter the 9th grade in the fall. Impossible, my mind reverberates... it was only yesterday he was two and wanting his "blankey" as we cuddled together on the couch for nap time. I was finishing my bachelor's degree then and as soon as he would fall asleep, I would, oh so carefully, rise from the couch and go study. Now how I wish I would have stayed still and lingered in those moments that are now just wistful memories in a longing mother's mind.

Tomorrow he leaves for ten days to enjoy a trip with his 8th grade class and I'm sure the thought of napping on the couch when he was two will never enter his mind, yet I can think of nothing else as I check his packed bag for the third time.

What I would give to have one day with all my children young again, reaching up to me with their arms outstretched, just waiting to be lifted into my arms. The innocence of their youth seems lost forever in their ever unfolding, maturing lives and I could lose myself completely in the melancholy of remembrance.

But to have my children live forever in their youth would deprive them of their lives as adults, never knowing the joys of independence along with the gut-wrenching throws of responsibility and circumstance... oh, how we learn from life as adults. Yes, I want my children to have all that life has to give, I just wish I could protect them from the hurt they will inevitably suffer.

Life does hurt and there are moments when we think that's it, I can't take it anymore! We think we won't live through our misery. But those are the moments where, at the end of ourselves, we find something else...

For me that has meant finding and developing a deep and revealing relationship with God. I pray that my children will have this, too. My biggest hope is that in my living the example, my children will learn how to accomplish the same and in that, will find peace in this life of bumps and bruises.

I'm sure they will have their fair share of joy, laughter and smiles, as well. And, maybe, one day, they'll have children of their own and the cycle will begin again with new life and new experiences and more afternoon naps.

But for now I'll just think about my own time with my youngest back in the days of Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine and afternoon naps on the couch ... before I walk downstairs to check his packed bag yet again.

--Kristin

66 Words or Less

Panic
by: Kristin Cohn

Panic swallows me as my toddler crawls into a narrow drain pipe opening. Lunging to grab him, I miss and he disappears into the pipe.

I try coaxing him back with my words. He only giggles.

Seconds now become eternity.

I remember I have his pacifier. Holding my breath, I offer it.

Manipulated by desire, he takes the bait and crawls out.

Holding him, I weep.

My First Poem

I recently attended a writing workshop and from that I was inspired with this idea for a poem. I finished it on the plane to Florida to attend my daughter's high school graduation.


Where I'm From

I am from spirit and light
And dust and breath
Sewn with threads of time
To become flesh

I am from heart and soul
And thoughts and dreams
Fed with rivers of emotion
To become life

I am from the past and the future
The beginning and the end
Viewed through the eyes of the soul
To become the present

I am from husband and wife
And daughter and sons
Grown with laughter and tears
To become family

I am from smiles and joy
And sorrows and grief
Woven with virtue and choices
To become memory

I am from notes and keys
And voices and song
Matured with practice and patience
To become music

I am from intimacy and desire,
Needs and insecurities
Sifted with instinct and love
To become woman

I am from sunshine and sand,
Palm trees and blue water
Torn apart by mountains and heartbreak
To become home

I am from knowledge and books
And classes and lectures
Molded with experience and time
To become wisdom

I am from heaven and hell
And from Eden and the cross
Sacrificed with blood and thorns
To become salvation

I am from verses and scripture
And Psalms and the Word
Folded with worship and prayer
To become peace

I am from all that there is
And all that will be
Carried in the hands of God
To become eternity