I am surrounded by papers and books at 10:30 at night. I am trying to concentrate on writing a rhetorical masterpiece on the financial recession of 2008 that will hopefully get me an A in …

Last week the Sweetwater Union High School board voted to have an independent audit of Scott Alevy, a public relations professional. The board's choice of an auditor has raised this question: can an attorney who …

Apparently, one of the other mothers at "drop off" -- where Jane drops her daughter Bella off at school -- was shocked by my sister's two-toned hair. As Jane relays it, her friend said something …

The La Jolla Heights Open Space clings to a patch of chaparral-clad hillside overlooking the village of La Jolla. Pottery Canyon is essentially a secluded ravine, right off busy Torrey Pines Road. Both are small …

Radio says they’re expecting 10,000 to 15,000 people here ­— here being Livermore, a town of 80,000 known to Bike World as Stage 4 start line in this year’s Tour of California. I’d been birding …

Established in 1984 by restaurateur and bullfighter Paul Dobson, La Gran Tapa was the first dedicated Spanish tapas bar in San Diego. Seven owners later, the Sicilian proprietor of the Turquoise Café in Pacific Beach, …

Picking an Ethiopian restaurant presents a draconian choice: you can head for one of the cramped little places in City Heights (Asmara and Red Sea) for authenticity or choose more spacious places (Muzita or the …

You can’t make this stuff up: Acrassicauda, a Saddam-era Iraqi thrash band, survived the war but lost their equipment — and the entire building they practiced in — to a missile strike. They suffered death …

We sail into the Sargasso Sea of summer, where movie sequels trawl for box-office kelp. But then, off to Paris! Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Having taken in way over two billion, even …

“I couldn’t do it anymore.” After eight years, owner Jason Nascimento closed the doors to Portugalia, his Portuguese restaurant on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. The last Live Wednesday was held there on May 18, …

San Diego’s Crawdaddys are reforming for a pair of shows this year. On June 10, the band will headline the sixth annual “Go Sinner Go” festival in Spain. Then, on September 2, the band will …

“Our music intertwines upbeat reggae riffs with fist-pumping, melodic rock,” says Jet West singer/guitarist Scott Floquet. “We pull influences from blues, funk, country, and we’re even starting to experiment with techno.” Jet West’s debut Dropping …

I’ll never forget the time, probably somewhere in early 2003, when Holy Molar played their first and only show at the Ché Café. Like most present, I was a high school kid whose primary release …

South ParkWednesday, February 168:45 p.m. The sign painted on the building reads Delicious Food, Great Beer, Philanthropy, but I won’t notice this until I leave. For now, I dart from my car into South Park …

One practical use I’ve found for the embarrassing character flaw of romanticism is applying that wrongheaded screwiness to being broke. I’m probably more strapped than I need to be (I’m paid very fairly), as I …

If you’re a squirrel reading this, I have a great restaurant for you: Brent Fogwell’s six-acre macadamia tree farm in Spring Valley. He just lets the nuts drop from his 300 trees. But better hurry. …

Thirty-Five Years Ago<br>[Jerry] Brown is viewed as one of the shrewdest, most ambitious politicians of the century, so dedicated to power that some wouldn’t be surprised if, dissatisfied with the mere Philosopher King role, he …

What are you reading? “I’ve just been re-reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It’s about four women from China who are immigrants to America trying to wrap their heads around their American-raised daughters …

“I don’t stay in touch with Mike as much as I probably should,” Texas blues guitarist Anson Funderburgh says by phone from Dallas. “You just never know where Mike is,” meaning Mike Judge, UCSD grad …

Former Dragons frontman Mario Escovedo has expanded his Requiemme Management to include a record label of the same name, distributed digitally by music publishing giant Bug Music. On May 24, the label will release its …

In 1938, a monument in front of Lakeside Grammar School on Woodside Avenue was dedicated to the memory of Hugo “Otto” Marcks. Marcks was a longtime resident of Lakeside and operated one of the only …

Loma Square Shopping Center is losing another tenant; in recent years, large spaces leased by Circuit City and a discount shoe store have gone vacant. The Everything a Deal clothing store at the intersection of …

When subsidizing businesses to move to an area, paying $100,000 per job is generally considered quite high. But in wooing biotech-research facilities and companies, Florida has been paying much more than $1 million — repeat, …

The convention-dependent business of Katherine Stuart, wife of GOP city councilman Kevin Faulconer — said to be interested in running for mayor to succeed termed-out fellow Republican Jerry Sanders — is doing better than ever, …

"It’s starting now. Do you hear it?” Henry asks. The raspy chirp of a motorcycle engine intrudes upon the morning’s stillness, muffling songbirds in the avocado grove on the slope below Henry’s house in Rainbow. …

Attorney Julie Dubick, chief of staff to mayor Jerry Sanders, reported a few tourist-related assets of her own, including a tidy stock holding in Hilton Hotels valued at between $2000 and $10,000 and an interest …

“Paragliding?” I asked. “Like when they pull you behind a boat?” “No,” replied Patrick. “That’s parasailing. Totally different. This is freedom, man.” John Ryan, owner of the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Center in La Mesa …

Listen, Kids Thank you for the wonderful story about Dep Tuany (“Love Well,” Cover Story, May 19). Wow, what a man. He is to be admired. How do I contribute to his trip to Sudan …

I offer my sacrifice and homage to thee, the Fire, as a good offering, and an offering with our hail of salvation, even as an offering of praise with benedictions to thee, the Fire, O …

Contact: Mira Mesa High School, 10510 Reagan Road, San Diego, 619-699-5950; harborpc.org Membership: 57 (attendance 115) Pastor: Bob Klein Age: 58 Born: Baltimore, Maryland Formation: Hope College-Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan; Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, …

Even after the murder of the child Muhammad on Rosh HaShanah, the paper didn’t go black. In the same water in which the snipers wash their uniforms, I prepare my pasta, and over it pour …