A statue of China’s unifying First Emperor. It stands at the front entrance of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Extension of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.
From time to time I walk through San Diego’s historic Chinatown, which is located in what is officially called the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District. The area is bounded by Market Street, 2nd Avenue, 6th Avenue and J Street. You’ll find it downtown right next to the Gaslamp Quarter.
Over the years, I’ve learned a bit about San Diego’s early history during these walks. And I’ve accumulated a few photographs. Here are some cool sights that you might enjoy. I’ve provided interesting information in the captions.
The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum in the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District. The Chinese Mission Building, built in 1927, was moved in 1995 to its present location at 404 3rd Avenue.The California Mission Revival-style Chinese Mission Building, dated 1927, was designed by Louis Gill, nephew and protege of renowned architect Irving Gill.Banners along side of downtown’s San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.Looking through the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Gate on Third Avenue. Behind the museum is a small Asian garden.Ornate front of the San Diego Chinese Center, a community resource located in the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District.A century ago, Quin Produce was located here on Third Avenue. Ah Quin ran a family produce business and was once considered the unofficial mayor of Chinatown.The Chuang Archive and Learning Center of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.Display in window explains Feathered Beings Iconography. Feathered beings were frequently seen motifs in artifacts of the Han Dynasty.Three bay windows at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Extension display historical photographs and common artifacts from San Diego’s old Chinatown.Photographs in this outdoor exhibit show various aspects of Chinese culture.A view of San Diego’s Third Avenue a hundred years ago, and the family of influential businessman and civic leader Ah Quin.Items from daily life in old Chinatown include kerosene heater, iron, and a grocery scale.Scale manufactured by National Store Specialty Company, circa early 1900s.Display includes various articles used for food preparation and cooking in San Diego’s old Chinatown.Beautiful, artistic and historically interesting objects from daily life long ago in Chinatown.A walk through San Diego’s Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District provides many cool sights!
The Aliens, an award-winning play by Annie Baker, is now playing at the Ion Theatre in San Diego.
Yesterday evening I experienced something completely unexpected. Out of the blue I received a powerful jolt, as if struck to the core by a hammer.
What happened? I went to see The Aliens at the Ion Theatre. The Ion Theatre Company produces cutting edge live theater in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood. The Aliens is a very unusual and surprising play that won the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play. It was written by Annie Baker.
I wasn’t expecting such power.
The Aliens is well performed by three great actors: Brian Butler, Tyler Oakley and Reed Willard. The characters they portray are absolutely human–slightly absurd and terribly broken. They are troubled in ways that are disturbing, heart-wrenching. They are frustrated, uncertain, in pain, alienated, almost hopeless.
But they aren’t hopeless.
Each character possesses awkward warmth and connection. And humor.
Then, like a bolt from the blue, at the very end, the emotional hammer strikes. I won’t tell you what happens. You’ll have to find out for yourselves.
Here’s a hint. In everyone there is unique genius. And while some people might not go far in this world, that genius–that yearning outflow from each individual heart–never stops. Life’s path might be unexpectedly short, but genius does not die.
Thoughtful adults should see this play. Check out the Ion Theatre’s website. The Aliens runs through December 12.
Two gulls take a nap in the San Diego sunshine the day after Thanksgiving. Many people were enjoying a pleasant, easy stroll along the waterfront.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I just took a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 12,000 words that hint at why I’m thankful every day to live in this beautiful city. I could write volumes and volumes.
A sleepy sea lion doesn’t care what sort of crazy, wild-eyed antics his buddy is engaged in.The Maritime Museum of San Diego’s historic Pilot boat crosses the bay as white clouds glow gloriously in a blue sky.This seagull was watching me taking a walk around Tuna Harbor. I wonder what she thought I was up to?A couple snuggled on the rocks by Seaport Village watch a gull take flight from the nearby wall.A busker magician comedian mime guy gets tied up in inescapable rope during his funny routine at Seaport Village.Mrs. Claus greets a child and mother at the Seaport Village’s East Plaza Gazebo.A guy carrying a skateboard ambles past outdoor diners at Sally’s Seafood on the Water.A helpful tot picks up a photographer’s tripod after a photo shoot at Embarcadero Marina Park North.A snowy egret checks out a small stone in the Marriott Marina on San Diego’s waterfront.Magnificent clouds the day after Thanksgiving on San Diego’s Embarcadero. Visible is a Dole cargo ship at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.Taking flight in the sunshine.
A photography blog concerning “Cool San Diego Sights” probably isn’t the best place to post unrelated works of fiction, so I started a new writing website! It’s called Short Stories by Richard. That’s where I’ve published my new story.
Unlike my other writing blog, Foolyman Stories, which is mostly just silly nonsense, Short Stories by Richard contains thoughtful pieces that are meant to challenge minds and touch hearts. I’d be honored if you checked it out!
What lies ahead? I don’t know! Come along for the ride! Perhaps we’ll be surprised!
French flag and the Eiffel Tower turned into a peace sign. Part of a touching memorial for the victims of the Paris terror attack.
A candlelight vigil was held last night at the House of France in Balboa Park. The House of France is a member of the peace-loving House of Pacific Relations International Cottages.
During the vigil, the victims of Friday’s ISIS terror attack in Paris were remembered, and loving support was displayed in San Diego for the good people of France.
I walked by the House of France early this morning. The candles were still lit.
A candlelight vigil was held last night in front of the House of France in San Diego’s Balboa Park.Candles remain lit the morning after the vigil. Signs, messages, flowers and letters show support for France and love for those who died during the Paris terror attack.Pray for Paris.Je suis Paris.Personal sentiments are written down by San Diegans, many with ties to France. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.Sending our love to Paris and the rest of the world.La France est la joie de vivre. A memorial for the innocent victims of the Paris terror attack. Hope, love and beauty cannot be conquered.
Close-up photo of one tile panel in a long mural, which is located on a wall near the Cesar Chavez Park playground in Barrio Logan.
Relatively few people know about a fascinating mural in Barrio Logan. Dedicated art and history lovers can find it at the very edge of San Diego’s beautiful bay, between the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal and the base of the Coronado Bridge.
The mural is located in Cesar Chavez Park, on a long wall just north of the playground. Created by Dale Marsh/Tile Artisans, it consists of eleven ceramic tile panels depicting half a century of local history–from the 1900s to the 1950s–through the use of vintage photographs. Images fondly remember the day-to-day life many San Diegans in this predominantly Mexican American neighborhood experienced while growing up and working on our busy waterfront.
A brief description of each panel is contained in a nearby plaque also composed of tiles. I’ve transcribed most of the words and have used them in my photo captions.
Looking north past the Cesar Chavez Park playground at an interesting public mural that depicts local history.Descriptions of the eleven panels in the mural, which depicts Logan Heights in its Golden Years, 1900 through 1959.Aztec Brewery Art Ensemble adorned the ceiling and walls of the Rathskeller and Beer Tasting Room of the brewery in the early to mid 1900s on Main Street.Hoop skirts, 1932 Model T car with rumble seat and white 1936 Ford, Metro Theater usherette twins, model parents of the era, neighborhood Rhythm and Blues bands and their followers.Papa Chuey founding proprietor of Chuey’s Restaurant cashed checks and provided credit accounts for fishermen and cannery workers in hard times.Nifty Fifties teen scene in “The Heights” spotlights Physical Education class, jitterbug dancing and positive socialization. Friendship was a true binding factor among teenagers.Tuna boats filled with tired fishermen arrived at the tuna canneries bringing work for hopeful dockworkers and cannery workers. Their arrival meant livelihood for countless families.This 1948 Cannery Workers group photo depicts the numbers and spirit of the work force of the various canneries of San Diego’s Cannery Row.The “Leona C – San Diego” fishing crew portray the faces of the hard working men who in turn provided for numerous jobs for entire communities.Logan Heights landmarks include the street car at 5 cents per ride . . . the beautiful earlier architecture of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Las Palmas nightclub . . .Community social groups fostered a healthy and happy neighborhood where age gaps did not exist. Neighbors watched out for each other and provided a safety net for the youth.Teen social clubs such as Los Gallos, Los Chicanos and the Drifters comprised the Southeast Youth Council, which was sponsored by the Old Neighborhood House.Neighborhood House provided many community programs including Rondalla musical groups for women. Lupita, far right first row, is a legend in Logan Heights.
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A traditional Dia de los Muertos altar in Sherman Heights summons ancestors and loved ones who have passed from this world.
I went for a long walk this morning. My feet carried me through Sherman Heights, a neighborhood directly east of downtown San Diego. I was hoping to see some of the community Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) altars. These outdoor altars, distributed about a few residential streets, were the focus of yesterday’s popular Sherman Heights Muertos Festival, which I missed.
Heading down 24th Street, I spotted one elaborate altar near the sidewalk and was struck by the rich, heartfelt symbolism.
Loved ones who’ve “passed to the other side” are remembered with reverence on Dia de los Muertos, and their spirits are enticed back among the living. Traditional items featured in the altars can include sugar skulls, samples of the deceased person’s favorite food, pan de muertos (bread with a small human figurine baked inside), seeds, flowers, portraits of the dead, candles, alcohol (to toast the arrival of spirits), and papel picado (decorative perforated paper which represents the fragile nature of life).
I don’t know whose spirits are being summoned by this particular altar. I can tell that precious memories are being kept alive among the living, and that those memories contain whole lifetimes of love.
Powerful symbols of life, love, hope and renewal on display in this colorful outdoor altar.In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a joyous celebration of the dead. It is a beloved time in culturally rich San Diego.A beautiful outdoor Dia de los Muertos altar in Sherman Heights. An ordinary family cherishes extraordinary memories.
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Here’s another very short story I wrote this morning. It might be somewhat true. I simply had to get these words out of my system. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
A MIRACLE ON SIXTH AVENUE
by Richard
John walked slowly toward his parked car. Sixth Avenue was just another street in the city.
Without thinking, he searched the sidewalk with downcast eyes. Cigarette butts, rotting food, a discarded bottle, a dead cockroach, bits of toilet paper. Disgusting stains, crushed things.
A plume of smoke up ahead caught his attention.
As he neared, John noticed a crowd of people had gathered close to the rising black smoke. Excited faces were staring down at the freeway from an overpass.
A van was on fire below. Traffic on the freeway had been stopped by a police car with flashing lights, and two firemen with a hose were getting ready to put out the flames. The empty van, alone on the concrete, simply burned, nothing more.
At least forty people on the overpass leaned forward to stare down at the freeway. More were arriving, drawn by the smoke, as ants are drawn to sugar. Every person in the crowd held up a phone, carefully framing a photograph. A photograph of an empty van on fire.
The people checked their phone, appeared unsatisfied, changed the angle, held it higher. Needing to capture destruction, meaningless and distant. They watched with perfect fascination and took a second and third picture. A hundred identical photographs.
John kept walking. He’d never before felt such a wave of disgust.
That night he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t purge from his mind that crush of people. Gawking, predictable, animal humanity, eagerly recording flames and black smoke, because flames and black smoke seemed exciting. Why? For what reason?
People were shallow and disgusting.
But what in the world is new?
And so John walked from his parked car up Sixth Avenue the next morning, a remnant of that dark shadow in his mind.
The sun was up. At the overpass there was no smoke. Cars passed in a blur on the concrete below. The incident was erased. Time swallows everything. Just different trash on the sidewalk.
“Good morning,” said an approaching person. The stranger’s eyes were wide, directly meeting John’s own eyes. A sincere, friendly smile was on the stranger’s lips.
Sunrise in downtown San Diego. Photo taken from Eighth Avenue and A Street.
Early yesterday morning I walked down Eighth Avenue, from the top of Cortez Hill to Petco Park. Here are a few random, interesting photos…
Blue Sky apartment tower under construction in downtown San Diego.Cool street art visible from Eighth Avenue, south of Broadway.Early morning activity in front of Lucky D’s Hostel.Some faded utility box artwork on a sidewalk in San Diego’s East Village.A boy jumps rope on one October morning in a downtown San Diego parking lot.Birds in a row atop a street lamp. Bright clouds as day begins.Surveyors have begun their work early in a parking lot beside Market Street. Another utility box with colorful street art.The recently completed Sempra building, just north of Petco Park, reflects clouds and blue sky in the morning.Worker inside old brick building that is being renovated. Cool posters in windows advertise Underground Elephant.
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Friendly guy at Pacific Islander Festival representing Tokelau shows how skirts are fashioned using natural fibers.
Today I went to San Diego’s annual Pacific Islander Festival. Wow!
The awesome event was held at Ski Beach Park on Vacation Isle, at the center of Mission Bay–and it was much, much bigger than I had expected. Thousands sitting in lawn chairs or walking among dozens of colorful tents enjoyed music, dance, food, fascinating crafts and a huge variety of cool sights.
Here’s some of what I saw. I’ll let the photo captions tell the story…
Miss Pacific Islander of San Diego greeted me with a warm smile!The popular annual festival attracts thousands, who enjoy lots of music and dance on a big main stage.The theme for 2015 was Heroes of the Pacific, honoring military veterans from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.Youthful dancers on stage were a favorite of the crowd.Many tents contained interesting artistic and cultural exhibits from different Pacific islands. Here we see Guam.Native arts and crafts fascinated visitors to the festival.Lots of super nice people were enjoying the day at Ski Beach Park in Mission Bay, and many wore colorful costumes!Glass floats are incredibly beautiful, like solid bubbles of light.Tivaevae Polynesian quilting from the Cook Islands, finely made fans, and other handcrafted works on display.Those are two very cool ukuleles!Chamorro outrigger canoe (proa) Sakman could be boarded by curious festival visitors at Ski Beach.An exotic boat in genuine blue Pacific Ocean water on a glorious San Diego day.This lively juggler simply had to be photographed.Drummers create rhythmic beats for event performers rehearsing behind the stage under some shady trees.The Heiva San Diego tent contained colorful Tahitian sights.Typical foods one might find on a South Pacific Ocean island.A sea turtle is swimming above the grass!Artist representing Samoa creates Siapo, also known as tapa, using ink made from native seeds and tree bark.A funny octopus and dancing knife on display at the Samoa tent.Books include Myths and Legends of Samoa.A beautiful wooden bowl was among many cultural artifacts from American Samoa.Palau’s tent had many interesting photos and unique objects for everyone to enjoy.Lots of life and energy at the Pacific Islander Festival!
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Cool San Diego Sights! 