Tag: happy

Creative fun outside the Fringe Festival!

All sorts of creative fun can be experienced during the annual San Diego International Fringe Festival. I found some of that fun today on a patch of grass in Balboa Park!

When I happened to walk by, a puppet show was being enjoyed on this particular patch of grass near the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater. Artists who aren’t officially part of the festival are encouraged to “bring your own venue” and that’s what I had stumbled upon!

Steve Sanders with his The Wandering Umbrella’s puppet was reciting powerful poetry. Steve would later break out two additional dancing puppets, delighting surprised kids.

When I arrived, his audience was composed of other Fringe Festival performers: those folks with the furry, colorful hats. They are the theatre group GUMBO. They’ve come all the way to San Diego from Japan! Later this week they’ll be performing Forest of Truth at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.

As I watched, smiling Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater puppeteers came along carrying their happy puppet named Melody.

Wonderfully creative people and puppets! What fun!

…

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.

Smiles and Irish green in the big parade!

This morning the big annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in San Diego!

Almost a hundred separate entrants in the parade would entertain thousands of people lining sidewalks in Bankers Hill.

Can you believe it? Over the course of almost eleven years, this is the seventh (lucky?) time I’ve taken photos of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. And this year it was just as wonderful as ever!

What is it like before the parade begins, as smiling people gather for the joyful green spectacle?

These photos provide a glimpse…

…

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)!

Little Girl with Fishes at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

A little girl plays among fishes in front of Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. A book lies by the fountain in which she plays. The pages are open to a poem titled The Secret. It begins:

The fish had a secret he wanted to share with the girl on the beach who had nary a care to catch her attention and beckon her out he leapt from the water and twirled about.

His scales were golden his fins were like wings when the little girl saw him, she started to sing “Oh fishy, my fishy, come play with me!” and into the water she ran with great glee…

To learn all about The Secret, visit the happy child and the fishes, and read the long poem in the open book.

This wonderful bronze sculpture and its fountain are part of the Wolfstein Sculpture Park, which is located all around Scripps Memorial Hospital and its nearby medical buildings. The art is titled Little Girl with Fishes.

This public art was created by T.J. Dixon and James Nelson, whose incredible sculptures can be found all over San Diego.

I plan to blog more about the amazing Wolfstein Sculpture Park in a few days.

…

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)!

K-pop dancing in the rain in Balboa Park!

An unexpected K-pop dance party in San Diego’s always surprising Balboa Park?

Take a look!

This afternoon the PRISM4TIC’S Pajama Party had dozens of K-pop fans dancing in the Plaza de Panama. Visitors to Balboa Park who watched or wandered nearby were invited to join!

The dancing brought a community of local K-pop lovers together. Many immediately recognized the randomly played songs and jumped onto the outdoor dance floor.

PRISM4TIC is a San Diego-based Kpop Dance Cover Group.

Every walk through Balboa Park brings new surprises. Even on a drizzly January afternoon!

…

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)!

New dreams, same Normal Heights corner!

Dreams live in Normal Heights on the corner of Felton Street and Adams Avenue. These dreams are given life by artists.

But dreams are fleeting. They eventually fade; new dreams appear.

I photographed different dreamlike street art on this San Diego corner almost seven years ago. The group of electrical boxes has been decorated for as long as I can remember. Some of the past artwork was nightmarish. See those old photos here.

New, happier dreams have been painted since then.

…

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)!

11 Short Stories About New Beginnings.

It’s true: time flies. Soon another New Year’s Day will have passed us by.

Every year, on January 1, many people vow to make positive changes in their life. Of course, every day, every hour, every moment provides us with a new beginning.

Cool San Diego Sights readers might know that I also write short fiction. Occasionally I’ll post a blog concerning stories that I’ve written. The approach of New Year’s Day provides an opportunity to share eleven inspiring short stories about new beginnings.

If you enjoy reading, you might explore the following links:

An Unexpected Sunflower is a short story about changing lives with generosity.

The Firefly is about friendship, hope and a moment of forgiveness.

One Strange, Shimmering Dream is a magical story about a dreamlike transformation.

A Half Dozen Odd Things concerns elements of a past life gifted to the future.

Night Walking is an odd tale about renewal.

The Wheel concerns creativity. Is there no end to beginnings?

The Hand of Fate is about mysterious human acts that change the world.

A Secret Junkyard is about the despair and hope of those who create.

The Ghost Ship is about unexpected bright moments that can change a life.

Every Butterfly is New shows a world that is always beginning.

Here We Go is full of eagerness for life ahead.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Richard

Merry Christmas from Cool San Diego Sights!

It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the perfect time to gather with loved ones, and create meaningful, lasting memories.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Here are some fun photos that you might enjoy. I took these while walking around San Diego the past few days.

I spotted lots of Santas greeting passersby from shop windows. I found Frosty, Woodstock and some ugly sweaters, too! And a magical unicorn that doesn’t mind the chilly North Pole!

Cool San Diego Sights will take a pause tomorrow. I’ll be mostly offline. Perhaps we can all put our phones down for the day and experience life as it should be.

We remember warm Christmas experiences for the rest of our lives–not moments on small screens.

…

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)!

Photos at the Pacific Beach Holiday Parade!

Here’s a collection of photographs that might make you smile!

Minutes before noon today, participants in the 43th Annual Pacific Beach Holiday Parade were busy around Garnet Avenue, getting ready for the big Christmas parade.

The event’s theme in 2023? Ugly sweaters! I photographed a few!

Groups from all around Pacific Beach had gathered for the occasion. Many were getting their festive floats, golf carts, lowriders, fire engines, buses, canoes, scooters and bikes (!!!) ready by applying tinsel, ornaments, wreaths and bows. And don’t forget all the cheerful inflatables!

Elves and Santas were milling about everywhere. I spotted the Gingerbread Man, too!

…

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)!

Balboa Park Carousel bewitched for Halloween!

Has someone cast a magic spell on the Balboa Park Carousel in time for Halloween?

Most of the carved wooden animals are suddenly wearing witch hats!

I’m wondering… Was this beautiful menagerie cursed by a jealous witch? Horse, ostrich, giraffe, chicken, cat and dog–they’ve turned into witches, too!

There seems to be no horrible after effect, however. Everyone riding the carousel was laughing, smiling and having a splendid time!

Perhaps that’s the magic of Balboa Park!

…

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)!

Smiles at Camp Snoopy during Comic-Con!

Comic-Con might be a little too intense for some very young people. The big crowds . . . sometimes scary costumes . . . monsters, aliens, weird stuff . . . But there’s one place that is certain to delight everyone, from the very youngest to old-timers like myself. Camp Snoopy!

Every year Peanuts has a great activation outside the San Diego Convention Center. This year, Camp Snoopy can be found along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade–exact same place where the Peanuts offsite was located last year. The theme for 2023? The 50th Anniversary of the Beagle Scouts, a favorite recurring theme of the Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip.

Visitors get a passport that can be stamped, can pose at a campfire and marshmallow roasting photo-op, learn how to use a compass, watch Beagle Scouts cartoons featuring Snoopy, Woodstock and other bird friends, and buy themed goodies. There are also fun displays outside that will put a smile on your face!

…

I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!