When he broke, it was hammerlike. It almost hurt my ears: a terrific crack! The colorful balls caromed and danced and spun everywhere.Nothing went in, though, lucky for me. So I lined up my first …

The song that played during 19-year-old snowboarder Hannah Teter's gold-winning halfpipe run at the 2006 Winter Olympics -- "Communicate" -- is by local band Strive Roots. Singer/guitarist Eli Lieberman is Hannah's boyfriend. "We got 150,000 …

Thirty Years Ago Some 15 years ago, I appeared in a San Diego courtroom as witness for Lawrence and Geraldine McGilvery, on trial for selling obscene material, Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Prior to my appearance, …

At the corner of Rosecrans and Pacific Highway, 1923. In 1911, three factories fired brick in San Diego; they produced 13 million bricks and grossed $100,000 in revenue. To order this photo please contact the …

In the midst of what is regarded as one of America's hottest and driest deserts, it seems a bit surprising to find a place where mosses, ferns, sycamores, and cottonwoods flourish around a sparkling waterfall. …

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it. -- Sydney J. Harris When we first met, David thought my neurosis was "cute." He toyed with my anxiety-induced OCD as if it …

I knew Christina in high school, and we've kept in touch over the years. As the years passed, some of the old crowd began to wonder if she would ever marry. But she did, and …

Title: Cat Dirt Sez Address: http://catdirtsez.blogspot.com Author: Cat Dirt, CDW From: Golden Hill Blogging since: May 2006 Post Date: February 17, 2007 Post Title: Friday Night in San Diego Here are my thoughts on Stingaree: …

I can't say I have women figured out, but one aspect of them I understand. I got invited to a party to which I had the perfect outfit to wear. I ran to my closet …

"I'm here once a week. Rehearse with the San Diego Symphony, then straight up here."

I should have known anyone calling himself Alexander the Great might be a narcissistic psycho maniac or the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Heed the warning, ladies. Dating is like learning to fish. Know when …

Mike Soul, a local DJ who has appeared at and/or organized events at Olé Madrid, On Broadway, and Aubergine, points out that 2005 census figures indicate 30 percent of San Diegans are Hispanic. "There are …

New Zealand supermarkets are devoid of the range of TV dinners and pasta sauces that are the staples of their British counterparts. I didn't know this until my husband Warren and I sold everything and …

Local performers whose MySpace sites include references to illegal drug use: Cheez and Mac Jabronie from El Cajon post songs with titles such as "Big Phat Bluntz" ("Grab the fire and burn one down"), "Stoner …

"We recorded the whole thing straight to tape," says Vinyl Radio front man Matt Binder. "This is how the Beatles and the Stones did it." Two years ago, however, two-inch studio recording tape was not …

"We manage to sneak some humorous covers in, even if people rarely notice," says Paper Moon guitarist Daniel Dever. "The theme from Borat works great in a Gypsy jazz format, and nobody in the crowd …

'One of my pet peeves right now is the school educational system," says Susan Walter, education chair for the National City Living History Farm Preserve (informally known as the Stein Family Farm). "Kids are taught …

"I wanted to get out of Brick By Brick [because of problems with] one of the partners," says former Brick co-owner Chris Heaney. "He wouldn't let us buy him out, plus we always had to …

Mojo Nixon quit KGB/101.5 two years ago to work for Sirius satellite radio. (His weekday-afternoon country-rock show, Outlaw Country, originates from his home studio in Coronado.) With the planned merger of XM satellite radio with …

When the Who plays ipayOne Center tonight, Roger Daltrey's private dressing room requires six bottles of tonic water, a bottle of Belvedere vodka, a jar of honey, two packs of Throat Coat lozenges, and a …

When Christina Aguilera appears at ipayOne Center tomorrow, March 2, her dressing room should have an assortment of Power Bars, Cliff Bars, and Balance Bars, a half-pint of fat-free small-curd cottage cheese ("Knudsen or Clover …

"Flavor, in terms of wine quality, is secondary. It is important, but it is secondary."

What I am not is a loud ass in the morning. I am a morning person. When most people are slapping their alarm clocks and begging God to let them sleep, I'm cartwheeling to the …

The stained-glass windows of the Immaculata church showed black against their creamy stone frames as congregants gathered for the evening Mass on Ash Wednesday. Bare, twisted tendrils rose up from the vases placed on pedestals …

Which one of the following three events is least likely to happen? (a) meeting Santa Claus, (b) winning the British Open by six strokes, (c) becoming head coach of the best team in the NFL …

The IHOP Papers by Ali Liebegott. Carroll & Graf, 2007, 256 pages, $14.95. ABOUT THE BOOK: Francesca, a disgruntled 19-year-old lesbian, tries desperately to pull together the pieces of her scattered life. This novel opens …

This is a rare occasion; it really is. I am sitting at my desk, where I have produced tens of thousands of words in just a few months since I bought the desk; I'm staring …

In its advertising, Las Vegas boasts that "What happens here, stays here." But that's not true if you are a well-known San Diego biotech executive who went through a quickie marriage in mid-2005, a week …

The Mission Bay Park Master Plan of 1994 presented a vision of Fiesta Island's future that was general enough for different decisions to fill in the picture. Recently KTU+A, a local "land planning and landscape …

There's no need to ask why a black man of that generation would not immediately call the police.

Time again to check up on the doings of that growing corps of lobbyists working the corridors of power down at San Diego's city hall to get contracts and permits for their well-heeled clients. Year-end …

Former lobbyist and appointed San Diego city councilman Scott Harvey was once executive director of the San Diego County Disposal Association, a trash haulers' group. About two years ago, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named him as …