Stories | Feature Stories
Tinsel on a Palm Tree
By John Brizzolara, Published Dec. 23, 2008
Christmas is on my mind. As a season in San Diego it is to me as cruel as April was to the poet T.S. Eliot. New Year’s, I maintain, does not matter so much. My complaints ...
New Virus Killer at the Zoo
By Matt Potter, Published Dec. 17, 2008
When a 12-year-old polar bear at the San Diego Zoo died of unknown causes a year ago last July, a team of investigators, led by Dr. Mark D. Schrenzel of the zoo’s Center of Research ...
Saved by Commander Bell
By Al Bell, Published Dec. 3, 2008
An old nautical joke is that the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story is that the former begins “Once upon a time…” while the latter begins “Now this ain’t no BS!” Also, ...
Can We Create New Life? Published Nov. 25, 2008
Across the boulevard from the fountains of Balboa Park, there’s a splash of color that catches my eye: the 2500-odd flowers of the park’s rose ... More Post a comment
I Feel My Liver Donor's Presence Published Nov. 12, 2008
“I had a feeling that something was wrong for a long time.” Fifty-six-year-old David Clark says as he lies recovering at a friend’s home from ... More Post a comment
Five Years on the Street Published Oct. 29, 2008
I was up north for 26 years. I came back to San Diego by invitation from an ex-wife. Two of my grown sons were in ... More Comments (2)
Time to Walk the Goat Published Oct. 15, 2008
Both Scott Carhart and Helen Flaster are undoubtedly animal people. Their family pets number 26: seven dogs, seven cats, three horses, two goats, two tortoises, ... More Post a comment
Heroin Chronicles Published Oct. 1, 2008
I arrived in San Diego on the 4th of July, 1979, on a Greyhound bus I had boarded in Louisville Kentucky after two previous bus ... More Post a comment
The Friendship Hotel Published Sept. 17, 2008
“Everybody in the hotel read The Little Dog Laughed, everybody; a story to make you die holding the page and it wasn’t about a dog, ... More Post a comment
Unforgettable: On Love and Loneliness in Long-Ago San Diego Published Sept. 10, 2008
MISS VICTORIA’S IN LOVE On Friday, June 13, 1856, Maurice Franklin invited Victoria Jacobs to join him for a picnic. Even though 17-year-old Victoria suffered ... More Comments (3)
Unforgettable: Liberty Published Sept. 3, 2008
LIBERTY: SCENES FROM SAN DIEGO’S SHORE-LEAVE HISTORY DANA TOURS SAN DIEGO “A sailor’s liberty is for a day,” writes Richard Henry Dana in Two Years ... More Post a comment
If He Goes, I Go Too Published Sept. 3, 2008
It seemed as if everyone who worked at our local hospital knew Jake. A self-proclaimed “recovered hater of doctors,” he became a fixture, volunteering in ... More Comment (1)
We'll See No More of Giants Published Sept. 3, 2008
By now, huge portions of San Diego’s literate and book-buying public know that Chuck Valverde, owner of Wahrenbrock’s Book House on Broadway, downtown, died on ... More Comments (4)
Unforgettable: American Icarus III Published Aug. 27, 2008
AMERICAN ICARUS: LINCOLN BEACHEY LOOPS THE LOOP (Part Three) “Aviators are not born like poets,” said Lincoln Beachey, who claimed that anyone could fly a ... More Comment (1)
Unforgettable: American Icarus II Published Aug. 20, 2008
AMERICAN ICARUS: BEACHEY COMES TO SAN DIEGO (Part Two) “Death was always my opponent,” said Lincoln Beachey at a celebration in his honor, “and I ... More Comments (2)
Life Under the Flight Path Published Aug. 20, 2008
On average, Lindbergh Field (also known as San Diego International Airport) performs 620 operations a day: 310 departures and 310 arrivals. All 620 of these ... More Post a comment
Unforgettable: American Icarus Published Aug. 13, 2008
AMERICAN ICARUS: LINCOLN BEACHEY LOOPS THE LOOP (Part One) Lincoln Beachey was one of America's first superstars. By 1915, the daredevil stunt pilot had performed ... More Comments (7)
Beach Booze Banter Published Aug. 13, 2008
"January 9, 2008, is a day that will live in infamy," says Terry Brickman, a beachgoer I talk to in early April about the day ... More Comments (6)
Pretty in PB Published Aug. 13, 2008
I'm wearing a denim skirt that shows off my legs, the one part of my body I actually like. I'm doing my best to walk ... More Comment (1)
Unforgettable: The American Invasion Published July 30, 2008
THE AMERICAN INVASION: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF APOLINARIA LORENZANA (Part Six) On July 29, 1848, the USS Cyane navigated through the thick kelp outside ... More Post a comment
She Really Was a Fashion Plate Published July 23, 2008
In 1930, the San Diego yellow pages were as yellow as an egg yolk, the white pages listed the occupation of every customer, and the ... More Post a comment
Unforgettable: Rampage Published July 23, 2008
RAMPAGE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF APOLINARIA LORENZANA (Part Five) Apolinaria Lorenzana lived for around 90 years. Born in Mexico City in the early 1790s, ... More Post a comment
Unforgettable: La Beata: The Sisters’ Sad Fate Published July 16, 2008
LA BEATA: THE SISTERS' SAD FATE (Part Four) By the time she was 45, Apolinaria Lorenzana had nursed numerous cases of syphilis at the San ... More Comment (1)
What a Drag It Is... Published July 16, 2008
“We’re 52%!” the sign read. It was being held aloft by a very young man with unkempt hair grown past his ears and a sparse ... More Comment (1)
Unforgettable: The Jamul Incident Published July 9, 2008
THE JAMUL INCIDENT: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF APOLINARIA LORENZANA (Part Three) In the spring of 1837, Apolinaria Lorenzana left her duties at the mission ... More Post a comment
Unforgettable: La Beata Published July 2, 2008
LA BEATA: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF APOLINARIA LORENZANA (Part Two) September 1, 1834: the Mexican brigantine Natalia makes an unscheduled entry into San Diego ... More Post a comment
I Was Hoping It Would Come to Fists Published June 25, 2008
March 11, 2008 — It’s past noon at the Round Table Pizza in the Price Center at UCSD, and there are three groups of young ... More Comments (2)
Unforgettable: La Beata Published June 25, 2008
LA BEATA: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF APOLINARIA LORENZANA (Part One) In the spring of 1878, Thomas Savage went to Santa Barbara to record recollections ... More Comment (1)
If You Sue Me, I Can't Be Your Physician Published June 11, 2008
“The pain is in my heart. I want you to send me to a heart specialist so that I can have an angiogram and have ... More Comment (1)
Vocabulary Published May 28, 2008
Vocabulary is a word I rarely use. When I do, it is usually in the context of a word not in someone or other’s vocabulary, ... More Post a comment
I Was Speeding, But... Published May 21, 2008
People always talk about fighting traffic tickets in court. But what does it really mean to “win”? It’s not as if you won a trip ... More Comments (16)
We Love the Game of Beer Pong Published May 21, 2008
The fluorescent light from the Budweiser lamp made the cigarette smoke appear as if it were dancing in the back room of McMurphy's Pub in ... More Post a comment
Less Dense, Fewer Homeless, More Sky Published May 7, 2008
Having lived in San Diego since 1980, one would think that I would have long ago gravitated to residence in the northern portion of the ... More Comment (1)
San Diego's Urban Explorers Published May 7, 2008
DOWN IN THE DRAINS: It’s on the first sunny day after a string of rainstorms when Robert R. slides his blue SUV to the side ... More Comment (1)
The King of the Casbah Published April 30, 2008
Art Brut and the Hold Steady both want deli trays. Casbah owner Tim Mays and his manager Andrew review the contract from each band’s management ... More Post a comment
They'd Think I Had 'Roid Rage Published April 16, 2008
A friend of mine saw a guy walking two dogs downtown. He had the biggest arms she had ever seen. The guy is Paul-Jean Guillaume: ... More Comments (6)
Go Greased Lightnin' Published April 9, 2008
Paul Patrzalek’s house in La Mesa is impossible to miss: Outside in the front yard sits a 10,000-pound truck with a camper shell that looks ... More Post a comment
How Sam Became the Cooking Guy Published March 26, 2008
Sam Zien is a regular guy. He’s a husband, he’s the father of three teenage boys, and he has two dogs, an orange Labrador and ... More Comments (4)
Couldn't Be Better Published March 19, 2008
“We never had speed down here,” Verne Dodds remarked. I nodded, agreeing with my former JV basketball coach, going back 40 years and more to ... More Comment (1)
It's Not Really Ink Published March 12, 2008
I walked into Body Marks Tattoo and Piercing on El Cajon Boulevard, a few blocks from the 805 and right next to a strip club. ... More Comments (4)
After They Shot Juan Published Jan. 30, 2008
Tijuana: Valentine’s Day, 1938. In the most notorious crime in the young city’s history, an all-night search by relatives, friends, and authorities ends at dawn ... More Post a comment
The Native Published Jan. 23, 2008
It was a little over a year and a half ago. I left my old, faithful, beat-up Karmann Ghia stowed in a garage in La ... More Post a comment
Bushwhacked Published Jan. 16, 2008
The Louis Almeida case should be closed. During a seven-year period in the ’80s, he took San Diego art collectors for hundreds of thousands of ... More Post a comment
Cattery Published Jan. 16, 2008
A cloud of fog hangs over the mountains as morning begins at the Friends of Cats shelter in Flinn Springs, a small community just west ... More Post a comment
Up on the Hill Published Nov. 15, 2007
Del Cerro, which is Spanish for “of the hill,” is located just off I-8 at College Avenue. Turn north onto College and there it is, ... More Post a comment
It’s Fairly Easy to Get Bored Around Here Published Oct. 18, 2007
Bonita lies in the Sweetwater Valley, nestled inside three freeways--I-805 to the west, 54 to the north, and 125 to the east. To the south ... More Comment (1)
A Marine in Iraq Remembers La Jolla Published Oct. 4, 2007
My neighborhood is a memory. I’ve been gone so long I can’t remember what’s real and what’s invented. It doesn’t matter much, I’m in a ... More Post a comment
City Heights Hell Published Oct. 4, 2007
On July15th, 1991, we moved into this house. After the last of the boxes had been delivered, we went to sleep with the windows open ... More Comments (3)
Intuition Led Her to Encinitas Published Oct. 4, 2007
The 100-degree days and the half-hour minimum commute to anywhere was beginning to suck the life out of me. I’ve always said, “Life’s too short ... More Post a comment
Borrego Springs, 92004 Published Oct. 4, 2007
Sure it was 117 degrees a few days ago and we have to drive more than an hour to buy organic vegetables or underwear. We ... More Post a comment
Everyone Plays in Pacific Beach Published Oct. 4, 2007
People here see how it all fits together — earth, sea and sun; spirit touching flesh. Where I grew up, they just hope they can ... More Comment (1)
Valley Center Name-Dropping Published Oct. 4, 2007
Eleanor Roosevelt. Betty Crocker. Wyatt Earp. Those are some of the famous names associated with my neighborhood. And then there are the celebrities: Fred Astaire, ... More Post a comment
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