The Julia Child of gardening “Chickweed is the main winter weed of my garden, and in a way I don’t mind because it’s edible.” She pulls up the tiny plant, its leaves not so feathery …

What Greater Curse Than Life Without Verse Theobald opened a correspondence with Ezra Pound that lasted for years. Throughout this time, the poet was an inmate at St. Elizabeth’s mental hospital in Washington, D.C., having …

If I’d been born a woman Ask any man you know if he’d like to be a woman, you get an automatic “No.” Too messy. Too emotional. Too hard. Most men can’t imagine going through …

Triumph of the Swill “Schwarzkopf’s got a hard-on for special ops. He and General Stiner, who commands SEALS and Special Forces, can’t stand each other. Then there’s the rivalry between Army line officers —artillery, infantry, …

Where We Were “Tell them there’s been a terrible tragedy and lots of people have died and that we need to pray for the victims and for their families and for the horrible people who …

Josie Scripps She reports that the county, for its size, is second only to an area in Africa. Larger areas like Brazil and Ceylon contain greater quantities of gems, she says, but none has the …

Clang, clang, clang In the summer you could get a fifty-cent pass for the whole week. ” She recalls passing her ticket out the window to a friend to squeeze two rides for the price …

Here to Clean Up Bruce’s departed tenant had left telltale signs of the "young bachelor" — a floor so encrusted with dirt in places that I had to chisel it off with a knife, a …

A Quiet Street and an Old Hotel He smeared my whole body and face with mineral oil and began rubbing it around with a machine that whined and felt warm. A cord led from his …

Truths and Consequences We absolutely didn’t have a clue about what we were doing, but each one of us were self-motivated. It was like if you want it done, you do it yourself. That’s kind …

Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog San Diego covens. Force claimed he had played a role, witchwise, in the indictment of San Diego's former Mayor Curran and his staff, in the Yellow Cab scandal. By …

Low Tide at OB Today, although drug traffic is still heavy, the overall crime rate for serious offenses – including rape and other sex crimes, assault, burglary, robbery, grand theft, auto theft, and petty theft …

Clinton-and-Brown-Loving, Rich Texas Liberal Seeks Date with Padres Most of the money Moores gave to the Clinton camp came through the Democratic National Committee. “Federal law limits individual gifts [to presidential candidates] to $1000 per …

My Son the Tube When the Tubes appeared on the Cher TV special in April of the next year, I was almost overcome by a fit of the whips and jingles as I waited for …

Never Say Retreat "Almond ordered the Marines north behind Faith to the Chosin Reservoir. Winter had now arrived, and things were getting weirder and weirder — irrational. It was on November 15 that General Oliver …

SD’s Top 10 High Schools “I think my eyes were opened freshman year [at Torrey Pines]. People think that when you go here, you’ve got this, like, perfect life made out for you, and, you …

Beaver Trails to San Diego Governor Echeandia of San Diego “looked upon the Americans as being worse than thieves and murderers.” He tore up their passports and put them in a dungeon. One of Pattie’s …

A Cast of One In spring in the surf, you are thinking of halibut. Everybody loves halibut. Fished for from shore, halibut offer all that is sporting in angling: a certain elusiveness, the confident strike, …

Ten Grand a Dance One trouble with gold digging is that a girl only has ten years or so to make a go at it, and if she hasn’t struck a bonanza by then, or …

The Oak Lady Ryan noted that she has also planted Engelmann oaks at Guajome County Park in Oceanside and at Felicita County Park just west of Escondido, at the Wild Animal Park, the Palomar College …

When men went under water “It started with the sharks who used to gather in the caves area in the southeast corner of what is now the underwater park in La Jolla. The war effort …

If I Had a Sledgehammer for a Nose, What Havoc Would I Wreak? I bought a pig because I wasn't ready for children. I wanted something small and helpless but something that wouldn't require college …

What the Ghost in White Shoes Knows Burnt-out nurses seek revenge. Burnt-out nurses move slowly and resentfully through the hospital halls when a patient’s call light flickers on. Perhaps the patient’s IV bag has run …

A Curse Upon This Place J. Downey Harvey could now legally remove the Indians. There were five settlements: Agua Caliente, Puerta de la Cruz, San José, Puerta Ignoria, and Mataguay; about 215 Indians lived in …

Mind Game Everett Boyer, a twenty-four-year-old computer programmer, controls a character of some renown in San Diego, the powerful Elrond. (The character appears originally in Tolkien’s The Hobbit.) This blond and sturdy elf has acquired …

Larry Lawrence and the Greening of American Politics Much of the San Diego money that went into the Clinton campaign’s coffers was collected May 17 at a $1000-per-person party for Clinton at the Coronado home …

Mission Hills vs School Originally, a strip of public street called Plumosa Way, which runs 100 yards from Randolph Street to the edge of the canyon, was the northern boundary of the school. The street …

How San Diego Took Care of its Wobblies Jack Whyte was one of the last wobblies to be convicted: “If the people of the state are to blame for this persecution, then the people...are to …

All Summer, All Winter Is the Sound of the Sea “There have been remarkably small changes in the San Diego shoreline. Where you do see big changes is by the harbors where there was a …

La Jolla Gentlemen and the Party Boy One of Cunanan's patrons has been identified as Lincoln Aston, who once owned the Pepita Way house that Blachford now has title to. Records show that in 1995, …

Read more voyages in the Reader: bike ride to Milwaukee aborted, hitching with CBers, quest for San Diego River source, Dad and I in La Paz, who rides the Greyhound, scary sail from Newport Beach, …

Why I Hate Football Working bars in New York, I had to keep the nightstick ready during Giants' games. I pried sports fans apart, called cops and ambulances. In Coronado years later, tending bar, a …

And on This Farm They Had Some Fish It can get wet out there in the desert, especially when you're raising tons of fish. Like most people involved in aquaculture, Engler’s interest in the biological …

Mr. San Diego: Born with the CenturyAnd Solar Aircraft — there’s another institution that we made. And that damn Herb Kunzel. He was president of Solar at the end, and he would eventually be appointed …

More Treacherous Than Vietnam "Several weeks ago, there was a story about a SEAL that supposedly fell out of a helicopter. His name was Neil Roberts. The helicopter took a few hits. He flipped out …

Pier Group "They set seven to eight tiny hooks on a very fine line, put a small weight at the end, and tie tiny feathers to each hook. No bait. You drop the line in …

Sweet, Wet, Ugly, and Tough Culbertson fished out of La Jolla for years. “I was born in La Jolla; that was my home. I rented a two-bedroom house there for $75 a month. I fished …

The Most ideal of Provinces Rancho Santa Fe proposed an alternative plan, which called for preserving Del Dios as a two-lane road and, instead, extending and expanding San Dieguito Road (Route 728) such that it …

Read more voyages in the Reader: trek with trail wizard Jerry Schad, San Dieguito River hike from Volcan Mountain to Del Mar, bike ride from San Diego to Minnesota, Amtrak from Oakland to New Orleans, …

The Boot For 30 minutes he puts me through the old tortures — Chinese Thinking Position, Elbows and Toes, The Chair — and ones of his own invention. Hanging from the top of a bunk-frame …

Who gets burned? Although accidentally starting a fire is a misdemeanor violation of the state health and safety code (section 13001 — "causing a fire" — maximum penalty $500 and one year in jail), no …

Houses and Homes He was on the verge of asking her to marry him, because she loved him more than anyone. He'd admitted that he was hooked on her loving, and then had extended the …

Your Mind Might Think It's Flyin' Stories from the Meth Capital “Most of the time when I was doing meth, we were always eating fast food, because you don’t want to cook. Your kitchen’s always …

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Donuts Crullers require very hot water in the mixing, 120 degrees. The mix is sensitive, and many shops do not carry these miniature snow tires. But Ben prides …

What do Leroy Smart, Haile Selassie and Dave Allard Have In Common? Allard moved to Rainer's, on Broadway in downtown San Diego, and before long he created a store within the store. Mr. Ratncr had …

Speedy Claims Lomas, the Law Claims Speedy “Me and my homeboys were hanging around the hood [neighborhood] when some of my homegirls came up and told us they wanted to jump out [the gang ritual …

My high school days with Lester Bangs Lest anyone think that I have a few bones to pick myself, let me make clear that I wish neither to trash Lester’s personal or literary reputation nor …

The Archive “During the war, film was rationed and there were many prohibitions placed on photographers for security reasons, so a general lack of photographic material from that time is to be expected. That’s when …

A Whole Different Story If I'd Been White "When I first lived on Logan, it was nice and then it turned bad. I lived right on the corner, and the cars would zoom on by, …

Camp without Joy Vietnamese have been brought to Camp Pendleton. The Camp Pendleton that sent Marines to Danang in the first place, just 10 years ago. With little imagination, you could think it's sort of …