Devotion, by Jessie Ware
Mtume Salaam 8:43 a.m., May 24
Stories for November 2003
Wednesday, November 26
100 Grateful San Diegans
Diane Jones30Marketing DirectorMarriedCollege AreaInterviewed at the Natural History Museum, Balboa Park I’m grateful that my father — he’s 63 — is healthy and happy. He had an accident last year; he had a flesh-eating bacteria ...
A Metabolife Death
On November 15 at 8:54 p.m., certified public accountant Michael Compton died of a gunshot wound to the head. The county medical examiner's office ruled it a suicide. Compton, who lived in Spring Valley, was ...
Unnecessary Seal Harassment
While waiting for public discussion later this fall of a Parks and Recreation Department plan to make Children's Pool available for swimmers, some of La Jolla's residents are busy trying to make precedent out of ...
Like daughter, like father, like Pete Wilson
When 36-year-old San Diego native and longtime Pete Wilson operative Margita Thompson was named press secretary to new Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger two weeks ago, nothing was said in local media about her father, Barnard ...
Oh rats!
Hey Matt: The other day I popped open the hood on my Mitsubishi Montero gas-guzzling SUV, which I park outside, and found about 6 to 8 somewhat intact snail shells. The shells weren't smashed but ...
Dog-paddling armadillos
Mr./Ms. Matthew/Alice: Perhaps you could resolve a lingering dispute between a friend and me. He insists that armadillos cross streams by holding their breath and walking along the bottom until they reach the other side. ...
Explore palm groves and trickling streams in the upper reaches of Anza-Borrego's Bow Willow Canyon.
Winding fjordlike through the boulder heaps of the arid In-Ko-Pah Mountains, Bow Willow Canyon promises -- and delivers -- solitude. During a weekday-morning's exploratory venture into Bow Willow's moist upper recesses, no one disturbed my ...
Thursday, November 20
The Fix Is In: How the Sheriff got his Man on the Airport Board
For years, Helen Copley, her son David, and the other powers that be at the San Diego Union-Tribune have wanted to replace Lindbergh Field, no matter how much money it might cost, no matter how ...
Widespread Wink and Nod
In 1999, a vice president of San Diego's Peregrine Systems, holding out an envelope containing between $25,000 and $50,000 in cash, approached the president of a small reseller of Peregrine software. The loot would go ...
Party's Over
What is it that we have a civic duty to keep, that has its own justices and corps, that boasts its own individual hand sign, and that, finally, in the end, we are said to ...
Official exposure
It's no secret that officials from many agencies of local government are cracking down on taxpayer access to public information. The latest evidence is the refusal by departing San Diego city attorney Casey Gwinn to ...
Disney's orphans
Oh wise one: Why does Disney kill off one or both of the main character's parents? Or a parent is presumed dead/missing at the beginning of every story? Snow White's mom is dead, dad marries ...
Thanksgiving eggs
Hey Matt: I always look for the biggest eggs I can buy in the store. I was wondering, with all the turkeys raised to feed our once-a-year habit, why don't poultry producers make turkey eggs ...
Cockroaches come home
Okay, Matt: Everyone has heard those incredible stories where someone's pet cat or dog wanders 3000 miles to find their home again, but I discovered something fascinating right here in Clairemont. Not liking to crush ...
Hike to Paradise Falls at Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks.
Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks is Ventura County's most scenic suburban park. The scenery here has been imprinted in the minds of many in the over-50 age group: the area was once an outdoor set ...
Thursday, November 13
When Your Hair Is Gone, You'll Be Surprised How Tiny Your Head Is
I begin, sounding very much like a ticket agent, by saying, “Let’s see, we’ve got bald men, chemo people, people who cross-dress, and transsexuals. Who else?” “Well, there are also women,” says Donna Good, “who ...
Smoke Blowers
As politicians, real estate developers, and other sharks know, voters will fall for con jobs about creation of jobs. That's why, as the post-fire rhetoric heats up, we must discern who is blowing hot air, ...
Tijuana's Big Bus Quandary
For the legions of nondriving workers who live in Tijuana's eastern colonias, the commute into downtown can be made one of three ways. One is route taxis, also known as collective taxis. They are the ...
A bit about bikes
Heymatt: Why is it that I can balance myself on a bicycle when it's moving, but I can't when it's stopped. When you think about it, that doesn't make sense. Or does it? -- Bikeman, ...
Where wildfires have gone in San Diego, wildflowers will follow.
Now that San Diego County's historic megafires are extinguished, outdoor-oriented folks — and the just plain curious — are anxious to get out there and do some sightseeing. The full recovery of the natural landscape ...
Thursday, November 6
B-Ball
Listen. I’m a basketball extremist. Maybe it’s the rhythmic, elastic whump (ring)s, whump (ring)s — thuds resounding echoing overtones — leading me into reverie every time, the odd expectant tempos, down the block, passing my ...
The Looting Was Done Long Before the Fire
The fire next time is likely to be more devastating than this time. Politically, culturally, and journalistically, San Diego appears incapable of rectifying the scandalous inadequacies that contributed so heavily to the recent inferno. Where ...
Bathhouse Quagmire
Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest operates one of the largest AIDS clinics in San Diego County. On any given day, some of its patients can be seen milling about in green hospital gowns near the paths, ...
Vice as a virtue
The man who ran San Diego's vice squad during the Cheetahs undercover operation that netted this summer's indictment of three city councilmembers, along with guilty pleas from Cheetahs' owner Mike Galardi and manager John D'Intino, ...
Starving student vs. the Man
Mattdog: As a starving student, I always hate withdrawing money from the ATM because I hardly ever need the entire $20 but feel compelled to spend it anyway. Any reason as to why ATMs only ...
Mammoth farts
Hey Matt: I went up to Mammoth a few weeks ago and experienced the same thing I and most everyone I go up there with have experienced every time we go. We call it the ...
Applying to electoral college
Heymatt: How do I get to be a member of the electoral college? -- Smokeless, the net Good SATs and four years of glee club? No�let's try a $2000 suit, $500 shoes. Plenty of friends ...
Chase a rainbow this coming rainy season -- and don't forget this Saturday's colorful lunar eclipse.
For half a year now, rainbows have been conspicuously absent from San Diego skies. This will surely change within a few weeks as we encounter the first of several winter storms spinning out of the ...
