On Sunday, January 5, 2025, the public has the rare opportunity to meet professional children’s book writers and illustrators. The free event takes place in the Community Room of the La Jolla-Riford Library from 3 to 5 pm.
If you can’t make this very special event, swing by La Jolla’s library during its open hours to see artwork by these creators. They’re all members of the San Diego Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Dozens of their pieces are now displayed on the walls of the Community Room.
You can view this wonderful library exhibit, which is titled Stories Imagined, through February 24, 2025. All of the pieces can be purchased, too!
I checked out the imaginative art yesterday and took photos of several pieces I liked…
Orb Weaver’s Tightrope Dance, by Cheryl Boeller.Beaver Hydrologist, by Michelle McCunney.Distracted, by Livna Genchel.Parental Unit (Betty Builds It), by Julie Hampton.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
It’s hard to believe another year has sped by. We’re almost a quarter of a century into the 2000s! How did that happen so quickly?
I think I’ll take the next couple weeks off from blogging. To relax a bit, recharge. After the New Year, Cool San Diego Sights should be back–in its 12th year–with more cool photographs from more walks! That’s the plan!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May our adventures next year be better than ever!
I was considering what photographs to post here, and I decided to share old Christmas photographs taken about ten years ago with a lesser camera. But these half dozen photographs somehow made it into a great book written by historian Bill Swank: Christmas in San Diego!
Bill Swank for many years played Santa Claus at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion during Christmas on the Prado and December Nights. He’s an award-winning author and leading authority when it comes to the history of the San Diego Padres. Learn a little more about him and his many merry endeavors here!
Anyway, the six photographs you see in this blog post appear in the pages of Bill’s 2015 book Christmas in San Diego. I feel very honored that they were selected.
San Diego is a city full of surprises. Here’s to more great memories!
Richard
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Did you know that the holiday season television animated classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas received a censored edit due to “inappropriate” language? And that the Grinch’s green color was likely inspired by a rental car?
Those are just two of many fun facts you’ll learn about the Grinch should you visit The Chuck Jones Gallery, which recently relocated to San Diego’s Seaport Village!
The surprising “Did You Know?” display stands next to works of collectible Grinch art created by Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as beloved children’s author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss.
I happened by the gallery today and enjoyed viewing a wide variety of classic pop culture art, and learning some surprising Grinch history!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
When you self-publish, it can be difficult selling your book. Friends, coworkers and relatives are potential buyers, but reaching new customers in this great big world can be daunting. Author websites are numerous and precious few rise to the top of general search engine results. Most people scrolling through social media have short attention spans, and few are interested in purchasing a book. Conventional marketing requires money, and the result might be less than satisfying. So what is one to do?
Well, I met indie author Daniel X Ostenso (D X O) this weekend while exploring Balboa Park. He was strolling through the crowd wearing an advertising sandwich board!
What a great (albeit unusual) idea! Signed books for sale, a special offer, an outgoing personality, and the sheer novelty of his sandwich board immediately caught my attention.
His gumption in getting out there while appearing a bit strange is commendable. And you never know how gumption might be unexpectedly rewarded.
Check out the science fiction novels and other works authored by Daniel X Ostenso by clicking here.
He has traveled extensively with a beloved dog. Check out his YouTube video Kaylee’s Life in Five Minutes by clicking here.
Daniel donates money to animal shelters with every sale.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
In San Diego, during Comic-Con 2024, you can run but you cannot hide from Big Brother! That’s because he’ll be watching you from the latest Comic-Con trolley wrap that promotes Audible originals: George Orwell’s 1984 and The Safe Man!
Both popular adaptations offer Audible listeners top voice talent, such as Andrew Garfield, Tom Hardy, and Jack Quaid.
Who isn’t familiar with the dystopian, authoritarian future presented in the classic novel 1984? In our current age of digital surveillance, the story’s chilling warning seems more pertinent than ever. The nicely timed photograph above is thought-provoking, don’t you think?
The Safe Man is an eerie supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Dare you listen?
I captured these photographs this afternoon after a visit to San Diego’s very cool Comic-Con Museum. Comic-Con 2024 is coming up in a few weeks! Stay tuned!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Weather and the elements are damaging to any ship. That’s especially true when the ship is made of wood.
If you’ve been by the Maritime Museum of San Diego lately, you’ve probably seen how one side of their tall ship HMS Surprise is being repaired. The starboard side, which for many years faced south toward the harsh sun, had seriously deteriorated.
Fortunately, the world-famous Maritime Museum of San Diego has the expertise required to undertake complicated projects such as this, as shown by the beautiful deck restoration of HMS Surprise. But funds are also required, which can be a challenge for any nonprofit organization.
Would you like to help?
Perhaps you love the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which starred Russell Crowe and beautiful HMS Surprise. As I did a little research this morning, I noticed that author Michael Eging, who also loves the critically acclaimed movie and the Patrick O’Brian novels it’s based on, has created a GoFundMe fundraiser for the restoration of HMS Surprise. A fair amount of money has already been raised, but there’s more to go.
To learn about this effort, and perhaps make a contribution, click here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A pleasant day in Balboa Park, sitting, walking, daydreaming. Sudden inspiration.
That’s how certain stories were born in my mind before taking life on paper.
As a writer of short fiction, I occasionally share some of these stories. If you’re a reader, you might enjoy clicking the following links:
The Highest Seat was inspired by my friend Mitchell who plays didgeridoo in Balboa Park. He once worked in the planetarium at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
Are you a fan of science fiction, horror, comic books or graphic novels? You don’t want to miss Collaboration(s)! A Journey with John Jennings, a fantastic new exhibit that opened last week at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park!
John Jennings is an Eisner Award–winning and New York Times best-selling artist, designer and author who has worked in comics for over twenty years. He’s also a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside and the director of the Abrams ComicArts imprint Megascope, which publishes graphic novels focused on the experiences of people of color.
Jennings was introduced to comics by his mother at a young age, and fell in love with the medium, whose possibilities are limited only by human imagination. Since then he has made many notable contributions to the popular culture.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the new Marvel character, Ghost Light. Jennings was the creator! He is the author of the 2023 comic series Silver Surfer: Ghost Light.
The African American character Ghost Light actually began his life as Al Harper, a physicist and friend to Silver Surfer, who sacrificed his life to save the world in a 1969 story titled And Who Shall Mourn for Him? That was back in Marvel’s comic book Silver Surfer #5.
Jennings brought the character back in a way that represents the modern African American experience. Ghost Light also reflects John Jennings’ artistic collaboration with co-creators and his love of Afrofuturism, which can be observed throughout this new museum exhibit. He has helped to create thousands of images that have been enjoyed in art shows and diverse publications.
As my few photos demonstrate, you’ll be dazzled by the bold, very colorful comic artwork produced by this prolific artist. You’ll see familiar Marvel superheroes, monsters and dark horror, images filled with symbolism and mythological and historical references, and futuristic wonders that might blow your mind!
Visitors to the exhibit can also “collaborate” with the artist by writing a story or coloring a sketch, and then share it on a wall in a Comic-Con Museum gallery. Very cool!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Readers who fondly remember the old Blue Door Bookstore in Hillcrest will enjoy viewing a new exhibit at the San Diego Central Library.
Several glass display cases contain photographs, store flyers, art, a newspaper clipping . . . even one of the bookstore’s bags with its image of an ugly, scrunched-up face!
The Blue Door Bookstore once stood in the heart of Hillcrest at 3823 Fifth Avenue. Founded in 1961 and first owned an operated by Bill and Mary Peccolo, the store was purchased in 1988 by retired high school English teach Tom Stoup. Working hard, he grew the business, doubling its clientele and inventory in just four years.
The Blue Door Bookstore would become a favorite destination in San Diego for lovers of literature, culture and progressive politics. It would host up to 80 authors a year at a series of Wednesday and Friday poetry and literature readings and book signings. New authors were included with those who had achieved international fame. In one of my photographs, you can see Tom Stoup standing next to Gore Vidal.
The store with its blue door would finally close in 2001, largely due to the advent of e-commerce.
The Blue Door Bookstore exhibit can be viewed on the San Diego Central Library’s First Floor, in the wide area in front of the building elevators.
Are you both a San Diego resident and lover of books? To one side of these display cases you’ll find shelves of books by local authors!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
It’s now possible to go “back to the future” in San Diego. A newly opened exhibition at the Comic-Con Museum, POPnology, takes visitors back in time, demonstrating how fantasies in the popular culture have often predicted future technology!
Artificial intelligence, smartphones, robotics, 3D-printing, virtual reality . . . many technological developments were first depicted in science fiction (including pulp magazines, novels, television, movies) long before they became real. POPnology celebrates how fantasy can become reality!
Do you know that author Jules Verne, in the 19th century, dreamed up videoconferencing, moon rockets and electric submarines? And that H. G. Wells predicted genetic engineering, lasers and automatic doors? And that Ray Bradbury anticipated earbuds, self-driving cars and ATMs, long before they existed?
This extensive exhibition is loaded with nostalgic artifacts, models and interactive displays. If you’re interested in the history of technology, there’s plenty of information for your brain.
And for fun? There’s a Back to the Future DeLorean, complete with flux capacitor! (Will time travel be in our future?) Kids can remotely manipulate a robot arm to transport dinosaur eggs. (Jurassic Park!) There’s an honest-to-goodness 3D-printed automobile. There are lots and lots of cool robots–a sure kid-pleaser. And much more!
There are surprising new discoveries at every turn!
POPnology is certain to fascinate both the young and the old, as it transports curious minds from the past (and present) to the future.
I took a few photographs at the Comic-Con Museum to provide a small taste….
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 