Our local daily used a helicopter to photograph the waves pounding our shores. "No one rode [the waves because they were so big]," says surfer/shaper Steve Scatolini, who was in his early teens. "I heard …
October 18, 2007
La Jolla Stories
La Jolla Cove, December of 1969
A Marine in Iraq Remembers La Jolla
My neighborhood is a memory. I’ve been gone so long I can’t remember what’s real and what’s invented. It doesn’t matter much, I’m in a very Forrest Gump state of mind, fighting a war most …
October 4, 2007
To Be Hip One Must Be Square
Thirty Years Ago Shotgun Tom Kelly, voted the nation's number-one Top-40 DJ last year by Billboard Magazine, is almost a parody, a flesh-and-blood caricature of what a disc jockey is supposed to be. At some …
To have witnessed terrible wipeouts
Name: Rene Escalante Vehicle: 2004 Nissan Xterra Lives: Imperial Beach Surfing: Hospitals, La Jolla Rene Escalante is an Imperial Beach native who's been surfing and bodyboarding nearly all his life. This morning, Rene strapped his …
September 20, 2007
La Jolla Liberal Learns Tolerance from Clairemont Republicans
Editor's note: More than 600 San Diegans submitted stories for the Reader "My Neighborhood" writing contest. Ocean Beach led all communities with over 20 entries. Writers 10 to 87 years old sent pieces from as …
September 13, 2007
Surfing Hospitals, La Jolla
Name: Eli Humphrey Vehicle: 1996 Toyota Tacoma LX Lives: La Jolla Surfing: Hospitals, La Jolla Eli Humphrey grew up in South Carolina but moved to San Diego ten years ago and has been surfing ever …
September 13, 2007
Windansea, La Jolla
Chris served as a Navy SEAL until last November. "I hit the 20-year-mark," he says. "And I figured that was good, I'd retire. I'd spent more time here in San Diego than anywhere else, so …
August 23, 2007
UCSD's anytime art-walk highlights campus sculptures large and small.
UCSD's Stuart Collection of outdoor sculpture seeks to enrich the cultural and intellectual life of the campus and the surrounding community. The current 16 works in the collection are sprinkled throughout several hundred acres of …
August 16, 2007
San Diego homicides from the first half on 2007
Shocked shoppers see a woman fall to her death from a parking structure at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon. Was she pushed? In Chollas View, a mother loses the second of her two sons to …
Windansea Beach, La Jolla
Name: Larry Davis Vehicle: 1995 Toyota pickup Lives: University City Surfing: Windansea Beach, La Jolla "Not born here, but raised here," Larry Davis said. "Moved here from Memphis, Tennessee, when I was two or three. …
July 19, 2007
Free at Last!
The search continues apace for "view restaurants" with cuisine to equal their eye-candy appeal. California Modern, the newly remodeled former dining room at George's at the Cove, is another winner. As soon as the decor …
June 28, 2007
The Congregational Church of La Jolla
"This song, 'Joyful, Joyful,' comes from Beethoven's Ninth," said a man to the woman next to him as he perused the bulletin before the service began. Apparently, she had sung the Ninth before, in another …
June 21, 2007
Everybody Loves Romaine
The Lynnester was saying, "I used to go to Piatti all the time with my friend Marsha, but she moved, and now I never get there. I really miss their lemon ravioli." "Hey, I'll be …
May 31, 2007
Classic San Diego: Whaling bar, Rancho Guajome, Mt. Woodson Castle, Big Kitchen
Most-Filmed Wild West Main Street Don't look yet. Turn off Woodside onto Maine and behold a li'l old Wild West street that'll knock your spurs off. It huddles beneath a perfect movie-set backdrop of towering …
St. James by the Sea Episcopal Church, La Jolla
Swaths of rough white stucco surrounded the stained-glass windows at St. James by the Sea. The windows -- saints above and the life of Christ below -- were tastefully small, yet rendered dramatic through their …
February 22, 2007
Around Town New Year's Day
On the first day of the year, the roads are empty and most televisions are tuned to the Rose Parade — some for the flowers, others in anticipation of the Rose Bowl (USC against Michigan …
December 28, 2006
Congregation Beth Israel, La Jolla
"I'm not Jewish," I said to a man near the basket of skullcaps just outside the sanctuary. "Should I wear one anyway?" "Either way. Don't worry about it," he shrugged, a little amused by my …
December 21, 2006
A guide to San Diego's guided tours
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 …
October 26, 2006
Two Mondays
When Melissa invited me to a Fourth of July party, she said we'd be able to see fireworks shot from four different locations. She failed to mention, however, that her fiancé would be shooting some …