Rollerblading Mission Bay Park

Christian, Bruno, Randall, and Andreas.

I try to be the guy with the camera so I don’t actually get in the picture, but sometimes they catch me.

Last night at Kicker’s Christian and Randall were talking about going rollerblading today and asked me if I wanted to go. Bruno was there so I asked him if we wanted to join us. So today, about 12:30 I put the top down and headed over to pick up Bruno by the Park. After picking up Christian in University Heights we drove to Mission Bay Park along the 5 to meet Andreas and Randall. Bruno braved the back seat of the convertible with the top down at highway speeds by holding onto his hat and leaning forward to hear us. With the windows up it's really nice in the front seat but the back is a little noisy and windy.

It was a beautiful day here in San Diego, if a bit windy by the ocean. After a cool, cloudy April lots of people were out enjoying the sun. Along the way we ran into Tim and Jae also out on rollerblades with their Jack Russell Terrier mix puppy.

Andreas has been really sick with mono for a couple weeks so he didn't rollerblade but he did enjoy being out in the warm sun. After we’d gone clear over to Sea World and back Christian was hungry so the three of us drove into Hillcrest for burritos in a bowl at Chipotlé. What a great day and an overall terrific weekend!

Solana Beach Sunset

Petco Park

Thursday, 4/16, Jennifer and I went for a walk through downtown, heading first to Petco Park, the new house of worship to all things baseball in SD. Even though I’m not a fan of city financed professional sports arenas, this one is very well-designed and the surrounding neighborhood is really nice. Next time I need to go around and get some pictures of the outside.

After leaving the baseball field we walked through downtown and stopped in a little place that just sells cupcakes. Not just any old cupcakes, but moist little cakes full of flavor topped with a light, exotic tasting buttercream frosting. I’m going to try to remember them next time I’m invited to a dinner party.

Then we walked a few blocks to Borders—Jennifer has the same weaknesses I do. And after that lunch at a very nice club/restaurtant in the Gaslamp.

Zanna, Don’t!

Thursday night at Kicker’s Ron, who’s normally pretty quiet and reserved, pulled me aside to tell me about a musical he’d produced and to ask if I wanted tickets. While telling me about it he lit up like a firecracker, got all animated, big smile, waiving his hands all over the place. I’d seen something about it in the GLT and after all that I couldn’t say “no”. So last night Keith and I headed to Roosevelt Middle School in Balboa Park for an evening of musical theater.

‘Zanna, Don’t!’ was originally produced off-Broadway and is an incredibly well-written, fun show with references ranging from The Rocky Horror Picture Show to A Tale of Two Cities. It takes place in a high school where all the kids are gay and the captain of the chess team is the most popular guy. This allows them to make fun of a lot things, like heterosexual fashion sense, and discuss controversies, such as Straights in the Military. I found it a bit of a cathartic hint to what high school could have been like if I'd felt the freedom to be all of myself.

In the second half the plot gets complicated when one of the guys realizes he really wants to take a girl to the Prom. Zanna, who’s been playing cupid, running around helping the girls connect with girls and guys with guys, decides that facilitating love is what’s really important. But when the straights reject him because he’s gay, he laments that they forget that he’s the one that taught them how to love.

I had a great time and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun evening out. It runs through May 10th. More information is at: http://www.zannasd.com/.

And Ron, as soon as the economy turns around, you need to quit your day job.

Jennifer & Lulu 04.08.09

This time Lulu joined us for a walk along the Embarcadero.

Back to Balboa Park

On the same afternoon I went back to Balboa Park to meet Terry & Allen to take advantage of the free museums on Tuesdays. We had a great time going through the Natural History Museum and especially enjoyed the large, interactive globe that animated the progression of the continents across the surface of the Earth and the advance and recession of the glaciers. Ater leaving the museum I took these pictures of the park in the early evening light.

Balboa Park

This morning I rode my bicycle over to Balboa Park and took the camera along. Arriving there I was surprised to find it crowded with people as if it were a weekend. Noticing the crowd to be lots of young kids I remembered that many area schools are on spring break this week. Balboa Park is large and beautiful and full of flowers and sculpture and interesting architecture. I made myself put the camera away and save it for other days. Otherwise I’d still be there. I just need to get there earlier to miss the crowds and catch the early light.

San Diego Embarcadero 03.25.09

Two weeks ago I met my friend Jennifer at her downtown apartment to go for a walk along the San Diego Bay. We headed south through Seaport Village towards the Convention Center, then back north to the Midway Aircraft Carrier before heading into the Gaslamp District for lunch. I’d forgotten about these pictures until today when I realized I’d better post them because we’re getting together to do it again tomorrow. Hopefully then I’ll remember to include a picture of her.

Christian’s Birthday Brunch at Café Bleu 03.22.09

Mission Hills View

Lately, my walks have taken me to this spot and this view as something of a reward. It’s one mile directly west of my house through beautiful Mission Hills. Yesterday morning was sunny and clear and the sides of the canyon were all in bloom with flowers and lush green ground cover. The view is looking west. It looks out over Highway 5 to Mission Bay and the open ocean beyond.

Jim’s Birthday Bash

Last night (Friday) I attended a party at the home of Jim, the DJ at Kicker’s, and his partner, David, to celebrate Jim’s birthday. They have a lovely home in the heart of Hillcrest with an incredible back patio that had room for a dance floor. We had Sangria and lots of delicious food and danced under the stars. With me in the photo are Allen, Marc, Terry, and Christian is in front.

Driving from Home Back to Work After Lunch

I took this video towards the end of January. I tried to up load it to Blogger at the time, but that doesn't always work. I did up load it to Facebook, which worked really well and was very fast, so the folks on FB have already seen it. And they responded very positively to it, which really surprised me since it's so rough.

One day at work they asked me to take some pictures for a proposal that was going out the next day. So for lunch I drove home to get my camera. It was such a nice day and I was having such a great time driving with the top down and enjoying the sun that I decided to see if I could capture any of it on video on the way back to the office. I raised up the headrest of my passenger seat as far as it would go and jammed the camere underneath it and just turned it on.

So imagine a warm breeze in your hair and the sun on your arms as we drive from Mission Hills through Hillcrest and Bankers Hill to Downtown. Look for the Statue of Liberty at the first stoplight.

Quote: Shakespeare

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

Shakespeare: Macbeth

I took the picture on my balcony.

The quote is one my roommate had to memorize in high school and still remembers to this day. It’s a little bit cynical, but it’s also a good reminder of everything’s relevance.