Public sculpture and mosaic creations inspired by nature have been the specialty of local artist Kathleen Crocetti. Her colorful murals adorn walls, sidewalks, plazas and buildings throughout Santa Cruz County. After a 30-year career teaching art in middle school, Crocetti embarked on community collaborative projects that keep her busy all year around. Q: Did you grow up wanting to make art? A: Kids tend to become what they see as possible. I was lucky because my mom is an artist and so was my grandmother. I grew up in a house full of art and artmaking, in my young mind being an artist was just something that women did, akin…
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Is Local Railroad Track Already Off Course Before It Starts?
I need you to tell me the truth about something. If the county follows through and builds a half a billion dollar train line from Watsonville to Davenport, will you take it regularly? Will you commute on it? Will you send your kids to school on it? Will you go shopping on it? Please let me know that if we reach deep into our overtaxed pockets to come up with a boatload of money it will in fact take cars off our miserably crunched roads. My own take is that I don’t believe it will take any cars off the road, or a few at best. And keep this in…
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Festivals Inspire Santa Cruz Symphony
The exciting March program begins with the Matsuri Overture. Named for the Japanese word for festival the Matsuri Overture was composed in 2017 by Spain’s José González Granero. Now based in the Bay Area, Granero has been principal clarinet for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 2010. The composer recalled that he was inspired by a trip to Kyoto, Japan, during which the Ebisu Festival at New Year’s made a powerful impression on him. During this Festival participants pay their respects and pray for success, using special branches of bamboo grass they hope will bring good luck. Granero’s Overture captures the feel and excitement of both the ancient Japanese festival…
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Tips for the Teen Years
It wasn’t that long ago that I was riding the wild, twisty rollercoaster called Raising Teens. I remember countless tense discussions with my son in particular, who often felt the rules and schedules at home and school didn’t apply to him. It was stressful and exhausting to stay calm and find a balance between setting age-appropriate limits and fostering independence. I’ll admit I wasn’t always successful, but we made it through the turbulent teen years and now enjoy seeing the independent, responsible, and insightful young adult he’s become. In fact, we’re celebrating him getting his first full-time job in the field that he studied. I’m beaming with pride (and relief)…and…
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Prepare Your Kids for Careers in an AI-Driven Future-World
Many parents today never experienced a world where computers weren’t a standard household fixture, let alone a world without the Internet. When the World Wide Web first became available to the public in 1991, it was archaic compared to today. Yet at the time, it was quite the phenomenon. But the rapid speed of technological progress over the past couple of decades will resemble the crawl of a tortoise in another decade or two as technology continues to advance at an exponential rate. In fact, according to Ray Kurzweil, a world-renowned inventor, thinker, and futurist, “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be…
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Reaching the Heart Before Reaching the Head
When you became a parent, did you say to yourself, “I’m going to love my child only under certain conditions”? This is called Conditional Love. I’m guessing this was not your goal. I’m guessing your thoughts align with wanting your child to feel loved at all times. Through all the challenges and mistakes we make, we all want to know we are loved. “I love you no matter what.” This is called Unconditional Love. How to Love Unconditionally The theory of parenting is the easy part. How to put it into practice is the challenging part. Let’s begin with the theory, the easy part. To set the groundwork for children…
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Child’s Play
Before I had a grandchild, much of my internet searching started with a headache that quickly escalated to the most common symptoms of a brain tumor, or the discovery that one of the side effects of a new medication is death. Now that I’m a grandmother, my searches and the results are a bit more cheerful, but they can still send me down a rabbit hole. The rabbit hole is where I learned that there is a condition called Obsessive Grandmother Syndrome and a style called Coastal Grandma. And where I learned that I might have Obsessive Coastal Grandma Style Syndrome (OCGSS). And yes, my granddaughter’s big head does mean…
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Exploring California’s Wildlife Through Printmaking
Stephanie Martin is a well known painter and printmaker based in Santa Cruz. Her beautifully hand-colored etchings depict the wildlife of her native landscape. Martin’s illustrations are part of many Bay Area collections and publications, including Fruit Trees for Every Garden: A Organic Approach, by her husband, Orin Martin, manager of UCSC’s Alan Chadwick Garden. How did you discover etching? SM: I fell into etching by pure chance: it was offered in the evening! I was in my mid-40s, working as an elementary school teacher, and interested in a new challenge. I enrolled in Introduction to Drawing at Cabrillo, and the following semester found an Intaglio Printmaking (etching) class offered…
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Can You Trust College Rankings When Choosing Where to Apply?
Ever wonder how the US News and World Report select which university is the best in the nation? You would hope that the researchers would create algorhythms to consider a wide range of factors to fairly determine this elite ranking. But no. Critics in the past two decades have exposed just how ratings can be easily manipulated by the colleges themselves. In order to boost their rankings, colleges simply increase the volume of students who apply. To do this, many colleges target applicants who are unqualified students and entice them with free application fees. Stanford University, Reed College, and others have openly criticized ranking colleges based on the fact that…
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Disconnect to Reconnect
In a world where mostly everything we do is ONLINE, how are we making space to connect within and with each other in our community. It is no surprise that the mental health crisis is on the rise. In 2024, San Mateo county declared state of emergency for loneliness – the first county ever to do so. The impacts of isolation from the pandemic in 2020 are still on the rise. Not only is it affecting adults but having a massive negative affect on our children too. What does this mean for you reading this? How have you been impacted by the pandemic isolation and how has it affected your…
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Coloring Contest
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Vote to Save Watsonville Community Hospital for All of Us
When my 5-year-old son gouged his head on a park bench, we sat outside Dominican Hospital’s emergency room for four hours waiting to be treated. I’m not complaining. I understand things take time and there were higher priorities than a face that needed seven stitches. But as I waited, I would have paid anything to jump ahead of the line. I think of that when I see that the struggling Watsonville Hospital is asking for a $116 million bond measure to keep its emergency room and bring its services to the highest level possible. The money will come from South County homeowners at a rate of $24 a year for…
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Expressing Love Through Quality Time
I loved celebrating Valentine’s Day as a child. My favorite memory is of the Valentine’s “mailbox” that appeared every February. It was a big box that my mom decorated with colorful paper, hearts and lace, with a large slot in the lid. My siblings and I loved “mailing” our cards to each other and trying to guess what was inside the box. Even though we knew it contained cards and candy, the anticipation and curiosity made the Valentine’s celebration feel special. Before I had kids, I vowed to create a Valentine’s mailbox and holiday rituals that would make my own kids feel that special. However, once I became an exhausted…
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Celebrating Detective Teamwork with Laurie King
Fans of the Russell & Holmes series will gather at the downtown MAH for a celebration of 30 years of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (the first in the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series with a huge YA and adult community of admirers all over) on Feb. 17. This event in Laurie R. King’s hometown commemorates this charismatic Russell & Holmes partnership, but also the publication of The Lantern’s Dance, the latest King book featuring the intrepid mystery-solving duo. In her latest Russell & Holmes adventure, King explores the 100-year-old puzzle of Sherlock Holmes’ ancestry. Don’t miss the Bookshop Santa Cruz launch of The Lantern’s Dance at 7pm on Feb. 16.…
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Joaquin Is a Warrior And So Are His Fans
Joaquin Aluffi was just shy of his fifth birthday when he had a major allergic reaction playing in the grass. His lungs shut down and his throat swelled and he was rushed to the emergency room. After doing tests and finding hugely high protein counts later at Stanford, doctors found he had Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, a terminal disease with a life expectancy of 16-24 years old. A happy, sports-minded, adventurous kid, Joaquin began to be robbed by the disease of his ability to walk and ride a bike. Over time for its victims, the disease strips their ability to smile or wave a hand. But it hasn’t robbed him of…
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Implementing Routines Improves Family Harmony
Imagine your children leaving for school in the morning and getting ready for bed at night without needless hassles. Imagine your children showing you what they need to do each day and taking the steps involved without the need for constant reminders. The good news is that when adults and children work cooperatively together to establish and implement routines, they experience a greater sense of harmony and ease. Having routines provides many benefits: • improves children’s sense of connection, security/safety, and trust • eases transitions • develops time management skills • fosters teamwork and a sense of community • builds capability, responsibility, and creativity • encourages goal setting/achievement • creates…
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The Times They Are a Changin’
The thing about “the times” is that they’re always changing. It’s their nature. I want it to be my nature too. I want to be the kind of grandmother who adapts to new ideas. Not the old person in the room complaining how everything has changed or rejecting out of hand anything that isn’t done the way it used to be done. Why? Because I believe a lot of things have changed for the better, but mostly because I want to embrace the things that my children and grandchildren are embracing, so that I can truly be a part of their lives and have deep connections with them. It’s harder…
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Securing Our Health, Keeping Our Commitment
Our community stands at a pivotal juncture. Access to life-saving, local healthcare for tens of thousands of residents throughout the Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz County, and North Monterey County is on the March 5, 2024 ballot Measure N is not just a bond; it is a lifeline for our community’s health and an investment in future generations. As we approach the March 5, 2024 election, we are faced with the opportunity to fortify and expand the capabilities of Watsonville Community Hospital, solidifying our dedication to a future where quality healthcare is a cornerstone of our local community and ensuring that our friends, families, and neighbors have access to the care…
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Buchanan Turns Childhood Passion Into Full Time Profession
Santa Cruz painter Noah Buchanan began his studies in classical drawing, painting and anatomy at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. After taking a BFA from UCSC, he received a Masters of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art. Buchanan lives in Santa Cruz and teaches painting and drawing at several colleges and universities in the Bay Area. And his paintings are featured in private and public collections in the US and Europe. Q: How you decided that painting was the career for you? NB: I enjoyed drawing since I was very young, it was always my primary source of entertainment as a child. I…
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Providing Healthy Smiles for Children
February is Children’s Dental Health Month and the perfect opportunity to write to you, amazing parents, about why your kids’ oral health matters and how to ensure healthy smiles for your children. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions that we get: Why do baby teeth matter? Don’t they just fall out? Baby teeth matter because kids need healthy teeth to chew, smile, talk, and have good self-confidence. Cavities in baby teeth can cause pain and infection, lead to missed school days, inability to pay attention in school, poor self-esteem, difficulty eating and many more problems. Also, baby teeth save the space for permanent teeth so it’s important to…
