Stories | Cover Story
The King and Queen of San Diego
By Matthew Lickona, Published March 10, 2010
November 21, 2009 — A gold-rimmed sea serpent undulates around a trident along the end of the narrow blue flag as it ripples in the morning breeze that blows across the gopher-pocked green of Lakeside’s El ...
Filipino Rules
By Maecel Rejas, Published March 3, 2010
I look at my boyfriend with such anger, but I feel a little sympathy too, as I notice a part of his chin dripping with blood. Tears stream down my face. I am scared out of ...
Freeway Close
By Moss Gropen, Published Feb. 24, 2010
“It’s not for most people; I wouldn’t recommend it.” I asked Johnny and a selection of other freeway-side dwellers around San Diego County: With all the choices available in “America’s Finest City” (and outskirts), why the ...
Home Owner Association Horror Stories
By Bill Manson, Published Feb. 17, 2010
We put out the call, “Tell us your HOA horror stories,” and you came back in your millions. Okay, your dozens. Okay, nearly a dozen. ... More Comments (17)
Pour Me a Drink and Tell Me a Love Story
By Matthew Lickona, Published Feb. 10, 2010
The stucco-and-tile façade of the Chee Chee bar glares blackly out onto Broadway; inside, the stale air is tinged purple. A half-dozen men hunch over ... More Post a comment
Mysterious Danish group builds exotic compound on Baja Coast
By Michael Waterman, Published Feb. 3, 2010
In the early 1970s, my late grandfather, an artist and retired San Diego State art professor, took me camping to a beautiful and remote setting ... More Comments (7)
Global Warming Is Crap!
By Bill Manson, Published Jan. 27, 2010
“Global warming?” says Steve Wampler. “Crap!” This is unexpected because Steve trained as an environmental engineer at UC Davis. But he’s serious. “There are 100,000 ... More Comments (30)
I Seek Knowledge of the Real World
By Adam Case, Published Jan. 20, 2010
I’ve been restraining an emotionally disturbed teenager for an hour. It’s midnight and I’m sore. All I can hear are feral screams. According to the ... More Comments (39)
I Just Found Bigfoot
By James A. Snyder, Published Jan. 13, 2010
On an overcast January day in 2002, I plunged into the backcountry of East County, carrying a half-full pack and weathered walking stick. Hiking into ... More Comments (22)
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
By Elizabeth Salaam, Published Jan. 6, 2010
Poverty does not become me. I’m sure it doesn’t become anyone, but it really doesn’t become me. I was supposed to be somebody by now, ... More Comments (76)
The little pills that sent me on my journey
By Taylor Restaino, Published Dec. 30, 2009
I take my chances with a bottle of small blue pills. They’re intended for my grandfather, but since he isn’t here anymore, he won’t mind ... More Comments (8)
This is Christmas, damn it! What happened?
By Matthew Lickona, Published Dec. 23, 2009
I’m sitting here looking at a photo taken shortly before Christmas 2008. It’s a very good photo: dramatic and sharply focused. It’s a December afternoon ... More Comments (3)
I Had the Rocket Launcher, He Had the Chain Gun
By Evan Bradshaw, Published Dec. 16, 2009
I stay in open hallways where I can see Rocketboy coming. I hear a single footstep, so I dart off in the other direction. He ... More Comments (3)
Gompers Takes a Bow
By Ernie Grimm, Published Dec. 9, 2009
"I remember my first encounter with a student here. I was wearing a suit, and a student comes up to me at lunch with a ... More Comments (20)
Nuts and Bolts
By Matthew Lickona, Published Dec. 2, 2009
December 2, 2007: During his radio broadcast of the San Diego Chargers’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, announcer Hank Bauer gave a shout-out to ... More Comments (13)
Annual Dysfunctional Family Thanksgiving Dinner
By Various Authors, Published Nov. 24, 2009
To Be Thankful Requires Humility To be thankful for anything much at all requires humility, I believe. I have little enough of it; in fact, ... More Comments (10)
Obama taps Alan Bersin to oversee the border
By Matt Potter, Published Nov. 18, 2009
There is the curbside view of the Mexican border: severed heads on nightclub floors, migrant corpses in the mountains, fingers lopped off, armies in pursuit ... More Comments (96)
Mexico
By Ed Bedford, Published Nov. 11, 2009
Why Tijuana? That’s what everybody asks me these days. I know. These days, the headlines about Tijuana feature murder, mayhem, and misery. But here’s the ... More Comments (8)
Ex Pros
By Thomas Larson, Published Nov. 4, 2009
If ever there were a San Diego Charger whose postcareer success has matched his years spent on the field, it’s the great Ron Mix. Mix’s ... More Comments (3)
An Execution in the Hills
By Various Authors, Published Oct. 28, 2009
MISSION HILLS An Execution in the HillsBy Scafidi, March 24 “Hello, Zack. What’s up?” “Uh, hi, uh, Fred? It’s me, Zack.” “Yup.” “My cat’s got ... More Post a comment
Another Perfect Day
By Various Authors, Published Oct. 21, 2009
BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting ... More Comments (13)
Foul Ball
By Matthew Lickona, Published Oct. 14, 2009
It’s six o’clock in the evening on July 21, and the brilliant blue of the late-afternoon sky over San Diego is bleaching at the edges ... More Comment (1)
Please Don't Tell Anyone That Old Surfers End Up Here
By Steve Sorensen, Published Oct. 7, 2009
Not long after the New Year, my friend and neighbor here in Zacatitos, Marilyn Z, sent me an email saying that, at 81 years of ... More Comments (14)
Soon There Won't Be a Barrio Logan
By Bill Manson, Published Sept. 30, 2009
Barrio Logan?” says Dave. “I tell you, soon there won’t be a Barrio Logan. It’ll be swallowed up by downtown.” Dave and Tennessee and I ... More Comments (18)
San Diego became a beautiful blonde
By Siobhan Braun, Published Sept. 23, 2009
I always pictured myself in California. After my boyfriend Aaron received job offers in Oklahoma City, Topeka, and San Diego, we decided we would head ... More Comments (258)
I’m King of This Alley
By Alex Finlayson, Published Sept. 16, 2009
Xavier Nuez photographs alleys. His candy-colored images of urban decay have been exhibited internationally, including here at the San Diego Art Institute, and featured on ... More Comments (14)
Pedicab Wars
By Bill Manson, Published Sept. 9, 2009
Roll 'em! Straight-to-camera, Guy Harinton yells, “Why can’t I kill one of them little fuckers?!” He’s frothing. Here, at the Embarcadero’s Coronado ferry landing, a ... More Comments (15)
Puppeteers: Eight powerful San Diegans who don't want to tell you what they do
By Thomas Larson, Published Sept. 2, 2009
The tenth floor of San Diego city hall is like a submarine in the sky. Behind sealed windows and an electronic-buttoned security door are the ... More Comments (2)
Yay for American Cars
By Matthew Lickona, Published Aug. 26, 2009
As I write this, Transformers 2 has just finished taking in over $200 million in five days. One of the main characters in that film ... More Comments (13)
I Was a High School Teacher Dropout
By Alex Finlayson, Published Aug. 19, 2009
High school is a lot like the reality show Survivor. Mismatched people are plunked into a one-way-out lawless arena where they form alliances, learn from ... More Comments (14)
Hope for the Hopelessly Drunk
By Joe Deegan, Published Aug. 12, 2009
Paul Bacon had long since advanced from detox to stints in jail. It was 2002 and he was incarcerated again, looking at 90 days. One ... More Comments (4)
No Cover Charge
By Matthew Lickona, Published Aug. 5, 2009
I am old, I am old. I shall wear my trousers rolled. At 36, I’m a good two years out of the demographic sweet spot, ... More Post a comment
Do You Live Close to Snoop Dogg?
By Victor Rice, Published July 29, 2009
In late May 2008, I woke up in my sister’s house in Indianapolis. I was getting ready to leave for the airport, and I saw ... More Comments (36)
Tiffany is Tall
By Matthew Lickona, Published July 22, 2009
Tiffany is tall; her chunky red heels — dark red, bordering on purple — make her taller. Red seams run up the back of her ... More Post a comment
They Carry Guns
By Rosa Jurjevics, Published July 15, 2009
It’s a beautiful day in Pacific Beach as Nate approaches the bronze pelican statue on the boardwalk. He’s slight and blond, spectacled and clad in ... More Comments (153)
What's so funny?
By Matthew Lickona, Published July 8, 2009
“This is a joke,” says my three-year-old as she thumps into the kitchen. Patches of red dot her pale cheeks, and I can see nearly ... More Comments (6)
Ok, this is Tuesday, but where is everybody?
By Bill Manson, Published July 1, 2009
Let’s say you’re a redhead. Duck, that is. Or a scaup. Or a falcon looking for rabbits. Or a coot, ruddy duck, bufflehead, or — ... More Comment (1)
If We Didn't Advertise We'd Go Broke Treating the Poor
By Thomas Larson, Published June 24, 2009
Many of us watched the Chargers’ season-ending run this past winter and, amid the cheers and groans, saw a 30-second TV ad starring LaDainian Tomlinson. ... More Comment (1)
The Restaurant Issue
Published June 17, 2009
It’s Hard to Eat With a Paper Bag Over My Head by Naomi Wise I arrived in San Diego nine years ago, a well-spoiled food ... More Post a comment
Please Don't Be a Weirdo
By Rosa Jurjevics, Published June 10, 2009
“Single mom seeks same to share my home,” Christine Bevilacqua’s Craigslist ad reads. “$700 includes all utilities, laundry, internet, [satellite] TV, master bedroom and bathroom. ... More Comments (2)
Stay Away From Pinto Canyon
By Robert Marcos, Published June 3, 2009
"There’s some petroglyphs over in Pinto Canyon," Frank said as he passed me on the trail. Frank Johnson, a handsome 75-year-old man, with flowing white ... More Comments (13)
You're standing right next to me but you're not there
By Bill Manson, Published May 27, 2009
“I couldn’t believe it,” says the veteran San Diego lifeguard. “A kid shouted, ‘Hey, look!’ And I saw two of them with their parents, and ... More Comments (4)
Bless this crew of visionaries, joy-bringers, and nutcakes!
By Thomas Lux, Published May 20, 2009
Before visiting San Diego’s Zirk Ubu, the last time I’d gone to the circus, I’d walked out with 50 pounds of elephant dung in a ... More Comments (5)
Who is the Union-Tribune's new owner?
By Matt Potter, Published May 13, 2009
Almost 60 years ago, Tom Joubran immigrated to the United States from the town of Nazareth, once part of Palestine, and began a new life ... More Comments (11)
The whole world sleeps on my couch
By Rosa Jurjevics, Published May 6, 2009
“Don’t,” says my stepmother. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” Her voice is tinny through the speakers of my cell phone. “Why not?” ... More Comments (7)
Searching for San Diego's Sea Turtles and a Job
By Nasreen Atassi, Published April 29, 2009
I’ve been gone a long time. When I wake up in the morning and look out my window, the deep topaz sky over Carmel Valley ... More Comments (16)
Our Favorite Drinks and Where We Drink Them
Published April 22, 2009
There are times, sometimes in the midst of otherwise polite conversation, when it comes out that I make my living writing for the Reader. The ... More Comments (36)
San Diego's Superhero
By Ollie, Published April 15, 2009
A baby wails its first song in an unexceptional San Diego hospital. Doctors notice nothing special or unusual about the child. No clerics have wandered ... More Comments (9)
Church on Sunday?
By Matthew Lickona, Published April 8, 2009
He looks like a regular young guy — maybe late 20s or early 30s. Head shaved to mask a receding hairline, a black goatee to ... More Comments (45)
"Mommy, why are they shooting at us again?"
By James Iverson, Published April 1, 2009
Life in Tijuana goes on. The buses run, people go to work, kids go to school, traffic still jams the city’s arteries. But something has ... More Comments (28)
My Gender Is Bunny
By Ernie Grimm, Published March 25, 2009
I’m sitting on a leather couch in the middle of a darkened black-walled, black-ceilinged room talking to a man who, at taxpayer expense, takes hormones ... More Comments (63)
Borrowed music. Borrowed look. Borrowed fame.
By Jay Allen Sanford, Published March 18, 2009
In the 2001 film Rock Star, former rapper and underwear model Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg fronts a tribute band that pays sonic homage to his ... More Comments (22)
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