MY CENTURY, YOUR CENTURY BOBO OLSON'S CENTURY Century’s short but centuries long should be limited. — "Microwave," William Carlos Williams [It ended abruptly around 1970, or slightly earlier. ’69 would be a good likely date. …

Hard-to-reach Sheep Canyon, secreted in the remote middle reaches of Coyote Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, features some of the most rugged yet beautiful terrain in San Diego County. The canyon has two main …

If you ask Vicente Calderón, San Diego TV news is mushy. "It tends to be extremely superficial," says the veteran Mexican television journalist. "You [in San Diego] feel you have to connect with the people, …

'Subjected to the rational teachings of others, the child only buries his 'true knowledge' deeper in his soul and it remains untouched by rationality; but it can be formed and informed by what fairy tales …

“They don’t have enough money to take care of the baby or they’re not married to the baby’s father or they’re very young and don’t know how to take care of the baby at all.”

You know the drill -- #2 Ticonderoga, no cheat sheets, no whining, no prizes, so don't even bother to ask. Wisdom is its own reward. This is all stuff you didn't know a year ago. …

Three years ago in a letter to the San Diego City Council and city attorney dated December 24, 1996, Bruce Henderson warned that the council had made a grave mistake in May 1995 when it …

Turn the knob, open the screen door… Wham! A roiling ball of shelties hurtles against it and slams it shut. Yipyipyipyipyipyip! Jumpjumpjump. Yip. Yip. Jumpjumpjump. Yip! “Scat, Jazz, Riff. Hey, guys. Quiet down.” Yip. Yurp. …

Crystalline skies are here again, as Santa Ana winds swoop down intermittently from the northeast, as cold winds blow from the north, or as high pressure invades the county and lingers here for a day …

When you start getting the baby urge, remember the heartburn and the breathlessness and the fact that for six or seven months your husband doesn’t want to touch you with a ten-foot pole. Remember.

I've been thinking about brave young men and ship takedowns since that Marine helo crashed into the Pacific off Point Loma last week. Six marines and a sailor died. During my 16 years as a …

San Diego-based Sempra Energy is in big trouble with New Jersey utility regulators. Energy America, a joint-venture between Sempra and Direct Energy Marketing Ltd. off Calgary, Canada, has been accused by the New Jersey Division …

Dear Matthew: During a nearby nuclear accident (like the ones recently in Japan and Korea), is it safer to stay in your house until the authorities say it's okay to leave, or should one skip …

Matt: In the event of a disaster like an earthquake, what would happen to legal records, financial records, etc.? If a bank were destroyed, would records of my balance be destroyed along with it? What …

Hola: This subject came up in casual conversation. Is there really such a thing as spontaneous human combustion? -- A.V., Golden Hill Like, if we survive Y2K maybe there's still a chance we'll be sitting …

This is exactly the room I’ve been afraid of all my life. A place where I have landed in middle age. Somehow I have failed, this time thoroughly. I find myself on a hard mattress …

A story shared between men, both in their 20s, both fathers: “I’m coming up Montezuma, and I see a pickup truck in the left-turn lane with its hazard lights on. I pull over to help …

When late-autumn Santa Ana winds blow across San Diego County bringing 80- to 90-degree temperatures to the coast, people visiting the 5000- to 6000-foot elevations of the Laguna Mountains are surprised to find the temperatures …

At the doctor, Lucy sat quietly and read a book while Dr. Gross snipped the Frankenstein stitches from Johnny’s head. A quick peek in Johnny’s ears revealed an ear infection left over from a cold.

HA, WET CLIMATE (a Matthew Alice anagram): To settle a bet, I called the INS to see if there is such a thing as dual citizenship for a U.S. citizen. Ha ha ha. Hope the …

Yo, Matt! When I was a kid, for $2 we could rent a leech from Gregory Peck's dad, the pharmacist at Ferris & Ferris, Fifth and Market, stick it on your black eye, and voilá, …

On a clear November morning, Judge Dick Murphy can see most of San Diego from the corner of his backyard. On a hillside in the saint-named streets behind St. Therese Catholic Church in San Carlos, …

When Martin Luther invented Protestantism, he created anarchy. Luther's unmooring of Christianity from centuries of Church practice and teaching generated ironies and contradictions that remain unresolved. Reverend Cindy Witt is a recent orphan of the …

Padres slugger Tony Gwynn is shooting it out in court with Seltzer, Caplan, Wilkins and McMahon, one of the town's most well-connected law firms. According to a legal malpractice claim Gwynn and wife Alicia filed …

Jesse may not talk about what he did as a SEAL in Nam because he doesn’t have anything to talk about. Why does the media let Jesse get away with this?

He pointed out the apartment where, in 1992, two Hmong boys had been shot by Crips. With his finger Vang traced the path across the lawn that one boy had taken as he tried to escape.

At 6:00 a.m. it’s light enough to see across the field in front of us, even though the sun hasn’t yet risen. A shotgun report rings out 50 yards to our right.

Oh, Matthew Alice: My gears turn in wonder when I see ants and one of them has a dead fellow ant in its jaws. Why do they carry away these dead ants? Where do they …

Dear Matthew Alice: Please activate your criminal mind to answer this: What if I am deaf, blind, and in a wheelchair and for some reason I end up getting 10 to 20 at Sing Sing. …

The San Diego Convention Center board of director's vote was tied Friday, November 19, three for Nancy Rubins's proposed Harbor Drive sculpture -- the 102-foot-high, 100-ton arch of 60 cabled-together fiberglass boats -- and three …

If any artist could be considered rough and tough enough to take on San Diego's city hall, it's probably big, bad Chris Burden. The famed L.A. performance artist and sculptor first made his name back …

Could Democratic congressman Bob Filner be brought down by a Playboy centerfold? Apparently, state Republicans thought so. No, not that way. The plan, however implausible, was to import ex-Playmate Patricia McClain, a 43-year-old legal secretary …