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I want the backwards clock to go forward and the forward clock to go backwards Outside the barbershop, the street is usually sunny. Cars stop for the light and move past us, windows down, arms …
San Diego recruit fought in bloodiest 76 hours of World War II – Tarawa "They assured us that we were going to hit the Japs with the heaviest naval gunfire in the history of the …
Do you make these embarrassing mistakes when you cuss in Mexican? The exact same rhythm of “shave-and-a-haircut” translates in Spanish as chinga tu madre (“fuck your mother”). If we add the pleasant “two-bits,” it’s an …
Too many mansions Boyer's 1400-square-foot house sits on 50th Street, immediately to the east and uphill from the proposed development, where bulldozers are currently grading the land into terraces on which will sit 25 new …
I'd never marry a pale girl "I don't really think about skin cancer too much. I'm not really worried about it. I've had a bad sunburn before. I couldn't put any lotion on or anything. …
The freeway is nobody's home We pass the merge, the infamous junction of I-5 and 805, and paradoxically the traffic slows down even heading south, where four lanes become eight, as we all change lanes …
All the Mayor's men Though White does not often use the term, he defines himself as Wilson’s chief-of-staff. “That’s the working title.” White objects to journalists who frequently credit him with being Wilson’s closest confidant, …
How they fought 2004 Campo fire After it crested, the fire started "running pretty hard" east along the ridgeline. "We were coming along holding it with engines," Scully says, "and we were actually being very …
When friends say good-bye Faye’s biggest news was that she had married Chris, the one who first introduced her to Scientology. He divorced his wife, whom he and Faye see, along with his children, every …
Lester Bangs and me on Altamont the day the music died "We’re getting word that the free Rolling Stones concert planned for San Francisco is on,” the radio DJ said after spinning some platter. “The …
Eric Show, thinker with a sinker “I know that I sealed my fate by going public about joining the John Birch Society in 1984.1 understand that, and I accept that. I’m not going to be …
What’s going on in City Heights’ Waldorf School? It attracts freethinkers who would call themselves spiritual, not religious. It attracts those who want alternatives to hospital births, circumcision, vaccinations, allopathic medicine (the kind prescribed by …
Coronado Cays villages have a distinctly nervous feel When you turn off the road, past the uniformed fellow in his guard house and through one of the several wide gates, you have the impression of …
Decent life led by ordinary man He loved Lincoln, above all, and was word-perfect as to every facet of the assassins’ lives, especially Booth’s. Of special interest to him was the Battle of Bunker Hill, …
The 200% Americanization of Aleksandr Gibalevich “For Russians there are three symbols in San Diego,” he continues. “Avocados, tequila, and beaches. For us the avocado symbolizes home; tequila is our symbol of relaxation; the beaches …
What If We’d Been Named Edward? Patrick Daugherty of Escondido. Patrick lives in a comfortable, suburban ranch house tucked behind a snatch of well-kept lawn. I park, walk up his newly swept concrete driveway, and …
Slow fall from Foxhill They lived in a six-bedroom house in La Jolla with an informal as well as a formal dining room, a large library, and several dens, one of which was known as …
A shirt for a surf hero For the last 10 years Rusty Preisendorfer has been one of the surfing world's dominant figures. Not because he’s such a great surfer, but because he designs and builds …
For better or worse: the late-night Cali burrito I'm not sure who first came up with the California burrito, but I'm pretty sure that's what they were going for – stuffing a cheesy burrito with …
Water polluted by tossed bikes That’s a reef shelf at Sunset Cliffs and Hill Street,” Proctor said. “The area the bikes were in is inaccessible without a waist deep wade around one of the points …