Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Bonus Blog: Classic YouTube Moments, Part 2
Keep these coming, lasses. They are pretty much the only things that make me laugh at the moment--the dumber the better! Keyboard Cat is god!— December 6, 2009 10:13 p.m.
Tiger's Wood
Awe, what's wrong with a little gossip now and then? Grant and I moved it to somewhat of a higher ground, didn't we? And MsG, yes, I meant what you responded to in #12, writing: "I doubt a single celebrity thinks about when they are asked to spearhead." I thought immediately of the crassness of a celeb who poses nude for an anti-fur campaign, and then *forgets* this means she can no longer wear furs herself. Ugh. But back to Tiger's *other* "Action Plan": http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/tigers_action… "Defining goals and achieving them while giving back to the community is what Tiger's Action Plan is all about. A character development program for youth 8-17, Tiger's Action Plan addresses three priorities: character education, volunteer service and career exploration." Character development... They should include a component on PR stop gap damage strategization :) More on the "Action Plan" for kids. It's just sad. http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/actionplan/— December 6, 2009 7:39 p.m.
Tiger's Wood
BAAAAAAHHH. A-hem. Sorry, just clearing my throat ;) MsGrant wrote: "That's what happens when you become an icon. You are indebted to Gatorade or Nike or Wheaties. You sold your soul to the corporations that sponsor the tournaments that pay you the big bucks to be a perfect athlete, family man, a spokesperson for their products." I understand what you are saying, MsG, but what of organizations like United Way, or Boys Club of America, etc., that athletes tend to sponsor themselves? He may have chosen to donate rather than sell his soul to nonprofits, generously lending his image, serving as titular figurehead? Here is some sizeable responsibility that perhaps some of these athletes understand less well than the politicians do, and so these worthwhile organizations suffer losses along with them? Millions in cancer research, or after school programs, etc., because an athlete screwed around on his wife? I guess it does, since they are often marketed in similar ways. “…are both sounding like rather typical female-blaming females, here. With men, it's "bros before hos." With women, it's never anything of the kind. Females can't wait to make negative judgments about other females, while making excuses for male behavior.” This sounds just as reductive of women, AG. I will take my non-female-judging self and forgive you, because you wrote this punny little gem: “I'll bet her lawyer finds a whole new place to stick that driver, but that's another blog entry.”— December 6, 2009 12:34 p.m.
What Is It, South Park, That Porn Did to You?
Love the title of this blog, Adam. But for the love of all that is good and fair and provocative in your blogs--please please please refrain from using this phrase, if you can: "But I digress." Whew, I said it. Thanks. It has nothing to do with you, btw., though a few bloggers will understand. So to the topic at hand...looks like CF knows more about zoning than we do, so I'll say that I'm just glad we don't have a porn shop anywhere near us. We already have two liquor/deli stores across the street from one another, and a number of often belligerently drunk homeless guys parasiting upon them. If you bring in the porn shop, you are going to attract a pervy seedy element. I have nothing against porn, and see that it is a perfectly legitimate accessory to one's sexual wardrobe, but hell yes, NIMBY. I used to have a teaching job in Kearny Mesa, after which I'd have to wait for the bus at a stop in front of a porn superstore; I got very tired of suffering the stares and pervy eye-maulings from its stream of clientel, not to mention the occasional shout or whistle, as if I'm going to walk over and say "Hi, how are you? Whatcha doing this fine afternoon? Oh, going in for the film booths, or just picking up some reel?" ;)— December 6, 2009 7:57 a.m.
Stairway to Heaven
I second all motions ;) Loving that last paragraph especially, Cuddle--it's really tight! I'm sure you've been told that you should chronicle this stuff--a Spoon River Anthology kind of approach would be fun--or better yet, using your narrative strengths, all seen through the eyes of a young girl? Of course I'm dying to know the identity of the boy who kissed you, but understand that you will likely never reveal this particular source. ;) Great stuff!— December 6, 2009 7:35 a.m.
I'm Worried I See My Face In Theirs
...and on a lighter note: Of grand theft as a potential career change, Adam confessed: "Besides, knowing my luck I'd attempt to rob a bank on a Sunday." Hey, if this guy can do it, you can too! http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/sep/15/ox…— December 6, 2009 5:36 a.m.
I'm Worried I See My Face In Theirs
(cont.) There is a slight to pronounced childlike affect in many homeless men I’ve met or just observed. To describe it, I think of this “Peter Pan syndrome,” I read about long ago in some self-help or relationship book. This is characterized by a generalized rebellious attitude towards the world and society’s rules, and a refusal to grow up and take responsibility for one’s place in all of it. Many homeless have fallen prey to the kind of self-pity from which few recover, and ends up hating those who help them as a self-defense—if they demonizes them, and say the world is full of a-holes, then as perpetual victims, they have no responsibility toward the world or anyone, and don’t have to deal with the pain they have caused others. In fact, the world owes them a living, in order to make up for what uncaring a-holes live in it. It also provides the excuse to drink or drug more, and do nothing to help themselves get off the street. I’m sure there is a little Peter Pan in all of us, but most of us still manage to keep ourselves housed, clothed, and fed. Adam, again, I see nothing of imminent homeless for you in your writing—or Stella’s ;) I do see an extraordinary sensitivity toward the pain of others, however; Stella’s blog about the legend of “Toes” says it all. AG’s suggestions in #1 are probably just repeating what you already know to do, and I wish you the strongest frame of mind with which to do it. You will pull through for you and your sweet cat. xoxoxo SD ;)— December 6, 2009 5:27 a.m.
I'm Worried I See My Face In Theirs
Adam, if you were after advice, I would just completely echo AG’s practical ideas in #1, so will only add a couple of thoughts about homelessness, since your fears are taking this shape. You talk of mistakes that you keep repeating, and this seems to be connected to the idea of becoming homeless. It sounds as though you are being too hard on yourself, whatever the situation may be. Whatever mistakes you’ve made or tend to make, you seem fully aware of the consequences of your actions, and of their potential effect on others. We all have to repeat life lessons, some over and over and over, as you remark. It’s been said in many ways that we need to acknowledge this as reality or necessity, and try to repeat them a little differently each time. I don’t think this is just funny or ironic; making mistakes differently each time can help us to learn something new, too. Your type of earnest self-awareness, self-questioning, and generous capacity for empathy is not at all typical of folk who end up and stay on the street. Lately, I have been in ongoing contact with a couple of homeless folk, and have talked to quite a few in my time. I began to do so with the chicken-and-egg question of whether these people landed where they are because of drugs, drink, and mental illness, or if these things happened as a way of coping with homelessness. I don’t know if I’m much closer to understanding the answer, as there doesn’t seem to be a definitive one, but I’ll share with you a little of what I’ve observed. As we know, many homeless drink heavily; though some try to keep it somewhat under control, at some point they cannot drink even small amounts without getting immensely drunk (livers shot). Many suffer from serious attendant health issues, but are generally apathetic about treating them; I know a homeless woman who does pursue filling and taking needed medicine regularly for chronic conditions (not all due to drink) but she often takes it incorrectly.— December 6, 2009 5:27 a.m.
I'm Worried I See My Face In Theirs
re: #4, 5, 6: I'm not sure a couple of you guys read Adam's blog. How is "Anarchy in the USA/UK supposed to cheer him up? :(— December 5, 2009 10:22 a.m.
The Clerk Smirked
re: #3: Ooh! Ooh! I wanna hear some guy brag for two hours straight about how wasted he used to get, and how people just didn't get his pain, or recognize the monkey on his back! No, you CAN'T beat that! ;)— December 5, 2009 7:11 a.m.