Sometimes I feel as if we’re the bugs, a colony of cockroaches, and Suite C is our secret lair. Every morning, I exit the freeway at Miramar Road, coil my way through the traffic, then …

On January 21, at 10:00 a.m., upon hearing loud, repetitive knocking at her front door, a Torrey Highlands resident looked through the peephole and saw a man outside. She assumed the person might be a …

Conditions were optimal for a brief, mild hailstorm in Spring Valley on Monday, February 10. A series of rapidly moving clouds headed east had caused off-and-on rain throughout the day. At 4:19 p.m., a sudden …

The operators of the South by Southwest annual music fest have had to sue to keep others from using their name. “We have to deal with people wanting use East by East West and any …

The president of the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has shown up on a 162-page list of apparent customers of accused Ponzi-scheme swindler Bernie Madoff. The revocable trust of John Todd …

The state’s economy is seeing hard times, but legislators and state officials can always count on lobbyists for a free meal, golf, and sometimes even a decent concert, according to recently filed lobbying disclosure reports. …

Democratic assemblywoman Lori Saldaña is already raising money to run for her next office, which she currently identifies as a seat on the state Board of Equalization. A November 8 fund-raising event at Hillcrest’s Terra …

Thirty Years AgoMay we introduce you to Burl Stiff, bon vivant, man-about-town, who’s sitting at the moment in the Whaling Bar at La Valencia Hotel? You recognize the face, which tops Stiff’s Union society column …

Pann, singer-guitarist with circaNow, says the musicians who rented space at Universal Sound rehearsal complex near the Sports Arena were not happy when they found out they had to vacate the property. “We got notices …

“Two of us are lab-coat-wearing PhDs at Scripps Institute of Oceanography,” says Guava Belly bassist James Traer. “Mike [Pritchard, singer-keyboardist] works in the climate research group, building computer models to simulate cloud formation and understand …

"Goodbye,” by the City Limits Band, was the most downloaded MP3 from SDReader.com during the month of January. Follows is an interview with songwriter Les Allen. This is obviously a “love lost” song. I like …

The easy-going, mostly descending (450 feet of elevation gain/1200 feet of elevation loss), east-to-west, one-way walk or mountain-bike ride on the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail near Ramona is fine for a cool day in February, …

Natalie WalshSenior producer, KPBS-FM’s These Days, kpbs.org I’m a history buff, and I loved the series John Adams so much that I was sad when I finished the last episode. As I watched the inauguration …

Pastor John Ettore crouched down by my seat to welcome me, his hand heavy upon my shoulder, granite intensity in his face as he told me about Alan Vincent, an Englishman-turned-American and the guest preacher …

This is a good day for Jose Canseco. Three of the four lead actors in baseball’s steroid melodrama — baseball commissioner Bud Selig, union boss Donald Fehr, and former senate majority leader George Mitchell — …

One recent Friday your columnist started out from San Marcos after five days with his disturbed son — maybe ten hours’ sleep, total. The whole five days. Fear and heartbreak inform the ride to Carlsbad; …

“Spare change?” says the guy sitting on the sidewalk. Must know I just cashed a paycheck. It’s Friday night, around 6:00, at Sixth and C. Me, I’m staring at a sandwich board in front of …

This is the winter of my discontent, following the autumn of my growing grouchiness, and the summer of my increasing reservations. It’s the economy, stupid — the stupid economy. For seven months, I’ve been trying …

Years ago, when I was trying to decide where I wanted to go to college, I took one look at UC Santa Barbara and said, “This isn’t going to work.” How on earth would I …

I’ve had to revise my first impression of Susan Tedeschi. Over a decade ago, when she was touring the country via chick band tours (e.g., Lilith Fair), I thought Tedeschi was just another out of …

What is it about the ’80s that keeps us looking back? Michael Mahin, guitarist for San Diego–based Neon Nation, an ’80s cover band, has a theory. “Most ’80s music was utterly escapist,” he says. “It’s …

As an explanation of romantic incompatibility, the catchphrase title, He’s Just Not That into You, is stunningly unilluminating, no matter which of its six words is stressed. (On screen, the third one stands out in …

Disease is somatic; the suffering from it, psychic. — Martin H. Fischer It began on Sunday morning. From my first bite of oatmeal, whatever I put in my mouth turned bitter on my tongue — …

Barack Obama was predicted to win the presidency. Nobody was surprised when he did. I was surprised at how many inauguration parties there were. I don’t recall any presidential race ending with so many parties. …

‘Fat girls need love too!” crooned Barbara as she sashayed into my kitchen, waving the ring on her left finger. “Oh, hush — you’re not fat,” I chided her before offering my congratulations on her …

Matt: Why do humans produce so much sperm if only one will fertilize an egg? And why are they in competition with each other? It would seem simpler to have fewer with less competition. — …

I am from Hawaii, so most of the slang words that I use are pidgin. Choke means that you have a lot or a bunch of something, like I have choke Christmas presents to wrap. …

In early September, Ian Campbell, general director and artistic director of San Diego Opera, was in London to discuss a possible coproduction with the prestigious Royal Opera, known as Covent Garden. He then went on …

It’s an inconvenient time for titans of industry and commerce to be caught luxuriating in the cabins of their executive jets. Late last month, Starbucks became the latest behemoth forced to try to unload its …

Shame On You, Don BauderShame on you, Don Bauder! I have loved reading your reporting/opinion pieces/ columns, however you characterize them, since you left the U-T. However, the article about Fiesta Island (City Lights: “Battle …

Local alt-country singer John Meeks says he searched long and hard before he found the female vocalist to accompany him on his country duets. He had two songs ready but no singer. He looked all …