Tag: heart

This musician will put a smile on your face!

Fast Heart Mart sings smart, memorable music on San Diego's Embarcadero.
Fast Heart Mart sings smart, memorable music on San Diego’s Embarcadero.

For a few minutes this afternoon, during my walk along the Embarcadero, I relaxed on a bench with a smile on my face. I was tapping my toes listening to some really smart, folksy, bluesy, heartfelt singing accompanied by banjo and harmonica. I was enjoying a performance by Fast Heart Mart!

Please check out Martin’s website. He’s toured all over the world and has opened concerts for a wide variety of musical acts. He has ten albums!

I listened to his original composition titled “Good Lordy, I’m Forty” and laughed out loud. The lyrics are intelligent, humorous and strike a chord! And his voice has a distinctive, edgy but pleasingly authentic sound that I could listen to all day.

You can find many samples of his music on his website. I urge you to pay a visit!

Fast Heart Mart strikes a chord and produces smiles!
Fast Heart Mart strikes a chord and produces smiles!

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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!

How you can help beat leukemia and blood cancers!

Generous young ladies have a bake sale in Point Loma to collect donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Generous young ladies have a bake sale in Point Loma to collect donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

During my walk around Liberty Station on Sunday I passed some young ladies with a table set up at an intersection near The Rock Church. They had baked lots of treats and were trying to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

If you enjoy my photographic treats, perhaps you’ll consider visiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s website, which shows ways you can help beat cancer!

More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with, or are in remission from, a blood cancer. You can help!
More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with, or are in remission from, a blood cancer. You can help!

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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!

Are you a blogger? Do you want to help make the world a better place? You might want to join Bloggers Lifting Others Generously.

Volunteers paint lampposts in downtown San Diego!

Volunteers in downtown San Diego add a coat of paint to a metal post. A wonderful community project put together by the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
Volunteers in downtown San Diego add a coat of paint to a metal post. A wonderful community project put together by the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

A busy morning! I’ve got lots of fun photos coming! First, check out something really fantastic. The Downtown San Diego Partnership arranged for a bunch of generous volunteers to help beautify the city! The resident volunteers converged this morning at Eighth Avenue and B Street, were given paint and brushes, and were then shown lampposts in the area that need a coat of paint!

Thank you Downtown San Diego Partnership for working to keep the heart of our city in tip top shape! I was told this sort of event might occur in the future on a regular basis. Hopefully this blog post helps to raise awareness a bit!

Around 150 volunteers had signed up to paint lamp posts. Many had gathered at Eighth Avenue and B Street just after nine o'clock when I walked through the area.
Around 150 volunteers had signed up to paint lamp posts. Many had gathered at Eighth Avenue and B Street just after nine o’clock when I walked through the area.
Getting the paint ready at the center of the parking lot where all the volunteers gathered in downtown's Core district.
Getting the paint ready at the center of the parking lot where all the volunteers gathered in downtown’s Core district.
The base of a downtown lamp post has been primed and is ready to be painted by volunteers. Hundreds of posts would be painted today!
The base of a downtown lamppost has been primed and is ready to be painted by volunteers. Hundreds of posts would be painted today!
A worker for the Clean and Safe program beautifies downtown San Diego.
A worker for the Clean and Safe program beautifies downtown San Diego. As a resident, I thank you all.
These nice volunteers were painting their third lamp post as I walked back through the area later in the day!
These nice volunteers were painting their third lamppost as I walked back through the area later in the day!

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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!

Help children in San Diego beat serious diseases!

It's a rainy morning. San Diegans walk through Mission Valley to work and to school.
It’s a rainy, gloomy morning. Young and old walk through Mission Valley to school and to work.

Be someone’s sunshine!  You can make a big difference!

During my walk to work, I saw some unselfish people at a busy San Diego intersection collecting donations for Rady Children’s Hospital. They were trying to fill their bucket with love! The rain couldn’t stop them! I saw nothing but smiles!

Rady Children’s Hospital has saved thousands upon thousands of young lives. It’s where kids with the most serious, life-threatening diseases go for a good chance at a full life. It’s one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation.

Would you like to help these good people out? Please visit the Rady Children’s Hospital donation page!

Out in the middle of a busy intersection, a volunteer in the rain collects donations for a good cause.
Out in the middle of a busy intersection, in the rain, one of several unselfish volunteers collects donations for a good cause.
A smile in the rain. Please support Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, where very sick kids get better. Everyone should have a full life.
A smile in the rain. Please support Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, where very sick kids get better. Everyone should have a full life.

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Are you a blogger? Do you want to help make the world a better place? You might want to join Bloggers Lifting Others Generously.

WE EMPOWER HER fights domestic violence, sex trafficking.

The generous people of WE EMPOWER HER offer free food to anyone passing by. Their mission is to help create a compassionate world.
The generous people of WE EMPOWER HER offered free food today to anyone passing by. Their mission is to help create a compassionate world.

Please give these good people a moment of your time. I learned about the WE EMPOWER HER effort during my walk this morning along San Diego’s Embarcadero. The organization fights domestic violence and sex trafficking by planting seeds of kindness and compassion in the world. They also offer free mentoring and counseling. As their literature states: You have the Right to be treated with Respect.

Unfortunately, San Diego has a very big human trafficking problem. I suppose it’s our proximity to the world’s busiest border crossing.

The modest event today near Seaport Village had the theme of feeding the hungry. Their Facebook event description states: Let us inspire each other and create a compassionate world.

Sounds wise to me!

Please check out the WE EMPOWER HER Facebook page, and possibly help these people in your own way to do good and help others!

Together we can create a world full of love--a world without violence.
Together we can create a world full of love–a world without violence.
Human generosity, inspiring courage and confidence. The good people of WE EMPOWER HER, setting a wonderful example for us all.
Human generosity, inspiring courage and confidence. The good people of WE EMPOWER HER, setting a wonderful example for us all.

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Are you a blogger? Do you want to make the world a better place? You might want to join Bloggers Lifting Others Generously.

A writer . . . almost struck by lightning!

lightning

What is it like to be almost struck by lightning? If you’re a writer, the answer to others might sound a bit strange.

Well, I was almost struck. On Longs Peak, coming down from the summit, about 20 years ago. That one flash of lightning stabbed so near my heart, and electrified my mind with something so majestic and indefinite, that I had to write something down. In the form of a story.

That short story is titled A Dance in the Lightning, and I just finished it this morning. Or perhaps it’s finished. I have a tendency to periodically change the fiction in my blog Short Stories by Richard.

The lightning at times is close, but more often it’s miles away. And it’s only glimpsed for a brief instant.

A heartwarming Christmas tradition in San Diego.

A very special Sunday organ concert in Balboa Park. Today ordinary residents of San Diego and random visitors from around the world joined together to sing Christmas carols!
A very special Sunday organ concert in Balboa Park. Today ordinary residents of San Diego and random visitors from around the world joined together to sing Christmas carols!

I wish you could have been there. At the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, this afternoon at 2:00. Your heart would’ve been warmed by the most amazing spectacle.

Young and old, residents of San Diego and random tourists visiting Balboa Park from around the world–all came together spontaneously to sing beloved Christmas carols. Right up on the stage, all together, as one.

What a sight. What a wonderful yearly tradition.

There is hope for this old world.

The holiday season at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion includes candy canes, Christmas cookies and gingerbread men.
The holiday season at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion includes candy canes, Christmas cookies and gingerbread men.
The free organ concert the Sunday before Christmas began with classical and unique organ music composed for Christmas.
The free organ concert in Balboa Park this afternoon began with classical and unique organ music composed over the years for Christmas.
Spreckels Organ Curator Dale Sorenson smiles as he turns pages for San Diego Civic Organist Emeritus Robert Plimpton.
Spreckels Organ Curator Dale Sorenson smiles as he turns pages for San Diego Civic Organist Emeritus Robert Plimpton.
The fancy organ music is over. Time for the public to come up on stage to sing familiar Christmas carols!
The more fancy organ playing is over. Time for the public to come up on stage to sing familiar Christmas carols!
A crowd heads up onto the Spreckels Organ Pavilion stage. Anybody could join in the happy singing.
A crowd heads up onto the Spreckels Organ Pavilion stage. Anybody could join in the happy singing.
A heartwarming San Diego tradition in Balboa Park. Young and old, everyone and anyone--together people sing many beloved Christmas songs.
A heartwarming San Diego tradition in Balboa Park. Young and old, everyone and anyone–together people sing many beloved Christmas songs.
Ross Porter, Executive Director of the Spreckels Organ Society, leads the proceedings with unabashed zest.
Ross Porter, Executive Director of the Spreckels Organ Society, leads the proceedings with unabashed zest.
A small sample of humanity singing Christmas carols with joy.
A small random sample of humanity singing Christmas carols with joy.

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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!

I wish you all Happy Holidays and best wishes in this coming New Year!

A special holiday food drive in La Jolla!

Many people in San Diego County, unfortunately, are hungry. Food collected during this holiday food drive will be distributed to soup kitchens, pantries, shelters and schools.
Many people in San Diego County, unfortunately, are hungry. Food collected during this special holiday food drive will be distributed to soup kitchens, pantries, shelters and schools.

If you’re in or around La Jolla, today I learned about a holiday food drive with nearby drop-off locations. The Heart to Hands Food Drive San Diego is run by Candi DeMoura, who has raised 2776 pounds of food in the past 3 years. Wow!

Please visit her San Diego Food Drive website. It lists the types of food that are accepted. There are several places to drop off food, including the La Jolla Farmers Market and Coldwell Banker on Prospect Street.

Together we can work to beat hunger in San Diego!

Heart to Hands Food Drive San Diego supports people in need. You can help! Visit the website to learn how! (Click this image to read the flyer.)
Heart to Hands Food Drive San Diego supports people in need. You can help! Visit the website to learn how! (Click this image to enlarge the flyer so that you can read it.)

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Are you a blogger? Do you want to make the world a better place? You might want to join Bloggers Lifting Others Generously.

Gratitude expressed by random people in a park.

What are you grateful for? Random people write their thoughts. They are grateful for life, family, school, warm socks, waking up to sunrises, and people who smile for no reason.
What are you grateful for? Random people in Balboa Park write their thoughts. They are grateful for life, family, school, warm socks, waking up to sunrises, and people who smile for no reason.

I stumbled upon a heartwarming sight in Balboa Park–just a few days before Thanksgiving.

A couple named Gratitude Gal and Gratitude Guy were greeting people who were walking down El Prado. The smiling pair carried a dry-erase board. People were invited to write down a few things in life for which they were grateful. Many of those random people did.

Thanksgiving is three days away. But it seems to me that every single day is an appropriate time to give thanks.  Happiness is a choice.

A random person walking along happily writes down a few reasons why they are thankful.
A random person walking along happily writes down a few reasons why they are thankful.
Gratitude Gal and Gratitude Guy collect messages of thanksgiving on a dry erase board in Balboa Park.
Gratitude Gal and Gratitude Guy collect messages of thanksgiving on a dry erase board in Balboa Park.

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

Powerful symbols of love for bridge crash victims.

A large memorial remains in Chicano Park, almost four weeks after a tragic accident here took the lives of four people.
A large memorial remains in Chicano Park, almost four weeks after a tragic accident here took the lives of four people.

Almost a month after a tragic accident in Chicano Park, a large, spontaneously created memorial remains. It was created by many hands and hearts in the Barrio Logan community.

The memorial contains flowers, candles and other tokens of love, along with photographs of the deceased. Four were killed on October 14 when an automobile driven by a drunk driver plummeted from the Coronado Bay Bridge.  Remembered are Annamarie Contreras, Cruz Elias Contreras, Andre Christopher Banks and Francine Denise Jimenez. Also remembered is Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, who recently passed away. He was a beloved musician and inspiring leader in the local Chicano community.

Many candles are kept lit.

Candles, flowers and other expressions of love stand beside a Chicano Park mural. They memorialize Cruz Elias Contreras, Andre Christopher Banks and Francine Denise Jimenez.
Candles, flowers and other powerful expressions of love stand beside a Chicano Park mural. They memorialize Annamarie Contreras, Cruz Elias Contreras, Andre Christopher Banks, Francine Denise Jimenez and Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez.
Potent symbols of love, grief and memory.
Traditional symbols of love, grief and memory.

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