I had taken eight or nine guided tours of San Diego in two weeks when a friend asked if I was tired of sightseeing. I had to say no. Being out on buses and boats …

Sitting at the child's classroom desk I use at home, allowing my eyes to find focus where raindrops bash themselves against the screen to dissolve dirt into rivulets and make archipelagos of gritty islands against …

"It has to be fresh, you know," the receptionist tells me over the phone. "You can drop it off anytime after 1 o'clock." At 12:59 I'm standing at the counter. Let's get this over with. …

The more you know about an event, the more tainted it will get.

Pride of Baghdad WHAT THE PUBLISHER SAYS: From one of America's most acclaimed comics writers -- a startlingly original look at life on the streets of Baghdad during the Iraq War inspired by true events. …

Thirty Years Ago Contreras's headquarters is the Centro Medico del Mar in Playas de Tijuana. After waiting an hour or so, I was ushered into a small office where Dr. Contreras greeted me. I learned …

For better or worse, eucalyptus trees from Australia have become a major component of San Diego's contemporary "urban forest." More than a century ago, in locales such as the UCSD campus, Rancho Santa Fe, Scripps …

At the Mass's opening, Father Felix Shabi's voice sounded from behind the red curtain concealing the Sanctuary. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." The curtain hung …

This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. -- Dorothy Parker It's not fair to say I was dragged here. The embarrassing truth is that I came …

Financially, the City of San Diego is going down a rat hole. Make that a pothole. That's because years of infrastructure neglect -- both the shirking of maintenance duties and the shelving of critical construction …

The San Diego Police Department is either resuscitating affirmative action or its promotion practices are meant to reward "team players." So thinks Sergeant Mark Sullivan, whose highest possible promotional rating of "exceptionally qualified" the department …

Last year's Halloween festivities involved policemen of the wrong sort: instead of water guns and plastic badges, we got the real thing. My dear friend Bernice was summoned down to the station to pick up …

The partisan infighting that has marked this year's school board race between nominal Democrat Katherine Nakamura and the GOP's Michael McSweeney was ratcheted up considerably last week when the AFL-CIO's San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council …

Big-name Washington lobbyists have been chipping in to Brian Bilbray's congressional campaign. Fellow-GOPer Susan Molinari, the former New York congresswoman, now a lobbyist and TV commentator, gave $500. Another donor was Jean Denton, who at …

Two weeks ago it was incorrectly reported here that county retirement fund chief Brian White received gifts from financial-services firms doing business with the fund. The actual recipient of those gifts, according to a financial …

“But if it’s so bad for you, how come every single Mexican hasn’t died of a heart attack?”

Ball Foot "So what is this ball foot you are talking about then? Is it some kind of game? We don't have any games where we're from." Was this man kidding? I looked over at …

4th & B opened for business in 1995. Since then approximately 1900 shows have taken place, and almost two million people have walked through its doors. Through it all there was "Dutch," Doug Schultz, who …

I had to interview a bartender in PB for an article that I was working on, and as I walked back to my car around 9:00 p.m., I overheard a group of people talking about …

'Log homes aren't just built in the woods or in the country -- I've talked to people in Southeast San Diego who wanted to put one down in Logan Heights," says Pam Churness. "You either …

'We really work on making sure that the soil is active and healthy and living.'

Often, when national sporting events take place (Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series), the Box goes to the people for analysis and commentary. And if there was ever a time to have …

"This is party central," says 20-year-old Jim Portinga of Ramona. "Everyone you talk to says, 'Where's the party?' There is a big drug epidemic up here. I would say 70 to 80 percent of the …

John Monteagudo spent four years and $10,000 on ...at the street level, a documentary of San Diego's music scene between 1996 and 2000. The interviews and performances feature P.O.D., Sprung Monkey, the Dragons, Buck-O-Nine, Ghoulspoon, …

"We had the practice place for about a year," says drummer Josh Arend of Morning Riot, a four-man punk-rock band based in Encinitas. "We couldn't afford the single room for $500, so we split it …

More local performers with content on their MySpace sites some might find objectionable: Bands with misogynistic names include "Dig a Ditch and Bury the Bitch" and "Snuff That White Bitch" (the latter band featuring photos …

Steven Kendrick, tuba player, local comedian, and host of Winstons Friday-night Ocean Beach comedy shows, was stoked to hear that Banyan would be performing at the club on October 14. Kendrick had filmed the jazz/funk/rock/experimental …

Jimmy Buffett, who appears at Coors Amphitheatre tonight, requires in his dressing room a case of Coronitas beer and four Balance Bars. He wants another half case of Corona at stage left, and the band …

Hey, Matt! Why is it that most service stations around here don't offer free air and water? Isn't it California law that gasoline retailers must offer free air and water? Pissed I have to pay …

Heymatt: This week our local paper had in its sports headline something about the Mets and a New York minute. What is a New York minute? Are there only 58 or 59 seconds in their …

Hey, Matt: I was paying bills and realized that because I had a bad cold, maybe I'd be giving my germs to people on the receiving end. Can my bad germs affect them after a …