A community “spruce up” of Tweet Street Park on Cortez Hill is scheduled for next Saturday morning, June 1, 2019.
Anybody and everybody is invited to come help beautify the linear park. I spotted a notice concerning the event and thought I’d share it!
The Friends of Tweet Street Park and Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean and Safe program are coming together to help improve Tweet Street. The event is from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. The notice indicates that the location is the corner of Tenth Avenue and Cedar Street. Tools and new plantings will be provided. All that is needed is your help!
Do you know others who like to volunteer? Spread the word!
A beautiful new POW/MIA monument was unveiled today at the San Diego Vietnam Peace Memorial, outside the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park.
During a moving Memorial Day ceremony, a black cloth concealing the monument was removed, revealing a gorgeous mosaic showing the American flag, a soaring eagle, and at the center the POW/MIA emblem. The artists who created the mosaics at the Vietnam War Memorial in La Mesa were also responsible for this stunning work.
In a stirring speech we learned that the remains of 67 missing in action were identified and brought home in the last year. Those who lost their lives on our nation’s behalf will not be left behind.
And they will never be forgotten.
…
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!
Jeryn Young, Pop Art Portraits, 2019. Tempera paint on paper. Grade 11, Mission Bay High School.
Something new and very cool has recently opened in Seaport Village.
In partnership with the San Diego Unified School District, Seaport Village is now home to the Student Art Gallery!
I visited the gallery today and was blown away by some truly amazing student artwork. The pieces are selected by classroom teachers all around San Diego. Artists attend grades from Kindergarten through High School.
I learned the exhibition will rotate every few weeks, continuously introducing new artwork produced by San Diego’s talented youth. I also learned the gallery will move to a different, larger location inside Seaport Village in a couple of weeks.
If you want to check it out for yourself, visit the Seaport Village website here.
Please enjoy photos representing some of the art currently on display…
The Student Art Gallery at Seaport Village was created in partnership with the San Diego Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts Department.Trinity Covarrubias-Burns, Bees and Bloom, 2019. Construction paper, marker and tempera on paper. Kindergarten, Vista Grande Elementary School.Valeria Romero Padilla, Mas Que Una Voz, 2019. Graphite pencil on paper. Grade 9, Crawford High School.Amalia Martinez-Oviedo, Anime, 2019. Colored crayon and marker on paper. Grade 4, Toler Elementary School.Isaac Benitez, Tree Frog, 2019. Tempera on paper. Grade 10, Lincoln High School.Jessie Hsu, Abstract Face in Glitter, 2019. Pastel and glitter glue on paper. Grade 2, E. B. Scripps Elementary School.Jaime Barrozo, The Steeple, 2019. Black ink Pointillism on paper. Grade 8, Correia Middle School.Leigh Archibald, Orange, 2019. Multiple mediums on paper. Grade 12, La Jolla High School.Jade Someda, The Fruits in Four, 2019. Wax crayon and watercolor on paper. Grade 9, Mission Bay High School.Daniel Perez, Blind Contour Self-Portrait, 2019. Black marker on paper. Grade 5, Edison Elementary School.Lillian Robinson, Silence of the Lilies, 2019. Colored pencil on textured paper. Grade 11, Mission Bay High School.Tiernan Nauton, Cezanne Apples, 2019. Tempera on paper. Grade 3, Kumeyaay Elementary School.Kelsey Amann, Censored, 2019. Graphite pencil on paper. Grade 11, Mission Bay High School.Riley Fritzenkotter, Love Thyself, 2019. Oil pastel and black marker on paper. Grade 4, Alcott Elementary School.
…
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!
People keep asking me if I’m on Instagram. Until now I’ve replied no.
For over five years I’ve posted tens of thousands of unique photographs here on Cool San Diego Sights, and to my other blog, Beautiful Balboa Park. So I figured it’s time to get in gear and start posting photos to Instagram, too!
This morning I added several dozen photographs that I took in the past month to my Instagram page. From this point forward, I’ll post select photos as I continue to walk about San Diego!
I’ve also added an Instagram icon to my website’s sidebar. Do you see it under the word FOLLOW? Click it if you’d like! (Those other icons help you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr.)
Cool San Diego Sights will continue to be my main blog and center of activity. It’s where all of my photographs appear, and where readers can enjoy descriptions of random walks and discoveries.
If you do choose to follow my Instagram, thank you!
Today is the 5th Anniversary of San Diego’s wonderful Waterfront Park!
A special event celebrating the anniversary will be held today on the park’s south side lawn from 3 pm to 10 pm. There will be live music, kids activities, food trucks, and a whole lot of family fun!
Waterfront Park remains one of my favorite spots in San Diego. It’s a sunny place where I can sit on a bench to eat or read a book. Fountains splash, people play on the grass, and sails move gracefully in the distance on San Diego Bay.
Five years ago I attended the big grand opening of Waterfront Park and took loads of photographs. To see them, click here!
UPDATE!
I swung by Waterfront Park this evening to experience a little of the anniversary event!
I checked out a couple of information tables and learned about San Diego County Parks and Recreation, and the supportive non-profit San Diego County Parks Society. Both are looking for volunteers!
I saw food trucks, bounce houses, kids running wild through the huge, awesome Waterfront Park playground, and lots of happy people by the splashing fountains and on the grass. I saw a red-tailed hawk, the Pad Squad and the Swinging Friar, and the 80s pop music cover band FlashPants.
Great fun!
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
A new, permanent concert stage is now being built at Petco Park!
I walked through the Park at the Park today and saw workers erecting the large stage behind the wall-like batter’s eye, where temporary stages have been set up for special events in past years.
A couple mornings ago I walked around Petco Park looking for new banners, graphics and cool stuff in anticipation of the 2019 Padres baseball season. I spoke to a Padres employee who was doing some maintenance, and he indicated that the new stage will be operated by Live Nation, and will be used as a venue for concerts and other fun events throughout the year!
Great idea!
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Dan Plante of KUSI News gives the surfing hang loose sign!
I was heading to the Hazard Center trolley station after work when I noticed traffic had been diverted due to the flooding of Mission Center Road by the rain-swollen San Diego River.
I headed down to check things out . . . and here comes smiling KUSI News television reporter, Dan Plante.
Community members line a sidewalk in Mission Hills, passing books from old shelves to a brand new branch library!
A very exciting and historic event took place this morning in Mission Hills! Hundreds of people lined the West Washington Street sidewalk to pass books from the old, now closed Mission Hills Branch Library to the beautiful, larger, brand new Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Harley & Bessie Knox Library!
The final 200 books from the old branch library were transferred along the sidewalk, hand-to-hand, by volunteer participants. Some were dressed as favorite book characters. All eyes glanced at the passing titles, and many smiles resulted!
Once every book had been transported to its new home, a Grand Opening ceremony was held in front of the new Mission Hills-Hillcrest Branch Library. When the speeches were complete, community members streamed into the new building!
The very last book to be passed was The Hobbit. It was selected in a poll to make the fantastic journey.
And onward into the future we go!
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!”
–Bilbo Baggins
Volunteers for the Book Pass gather in front of the new Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Harley & Bessie Knox Library.Those who will participate in the historic Book Pass, wearing yellow scarves, fan out along seven blocks of West Washington Street in Mission Hills.Members of the Book Brigade are getting ready on Block 3.Someone reads while waiting for the Book Pass to begin.Look! It’s Balboa Park’s Ranger Kim Duclo, with his cool new children’s book!This person’s favorite book is Peter Benchley’s Jaws!I spotted Cruella de Vil, Maleficent and Captain Hook!Here comes Professor Trelawney!Near the brand new Mission Hills-Hillcrest Branch Library, the Book Pass is almost ready to begin.Volunteers are lined up by the old branch library, awaiting the first book!Cameras ready!A fun moment in history is about to begin…The final 200 books in the now closed branch library will be passed from hand to hand to the brand new Mission Hills-Hillcrest Library.Here they are on a book cart!Empty shelves are all that’s left in the old Mission Hills Branch Library.And here comes the very first book in the Book Pass!Doing the wave! Too much excitement!Library books are transported by the hands of those who love to read to their new home.The books head east through Mission Hills.Here they come!People pause to look at titles as the books are passed along. Most of the books are classic works of World Literature.Very quickly the cart is almost half emptied!The smiling Bike Brigade showed up to transport a few books!There it is! The final book of the Book Pass is waiting at the bottom of this stack. The Hobbit! (It happens to be one of my favorites!)The final 25 books represent the 25 most checked-out books in the history of the old, now closed Mission Hills Branch Library. I noticed several were by Dr. Seuss.Finally, it’s J. R. R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy novel The Hobbit.It seems Bilbo Baggins has embarked on another journey. The Hobbit makes it’s way to the brand new Mission Hills-Hillcrest Branch Library.Friends and neighbors are excited to be a part of history in San Diego.A happy kid hurries across an intersection with The Hobbit!Everyone holds up The Hobbit as many photographs are taken.One of many wonderful Book Pass memories for hundreds of participants.A huge crowd accompanies The Hobbit across another intersection as the Book Pass approaches the new branch library.The beautiful new Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Harley & Bessie Knox Library is now in sight!San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer poses with some kids for a photo.The Hobbit is approaching its new library home!A favorite book held high for all to see!One last book and the historic Book Pass transfer will be complete.Many have gathered for the Grand Opening ceremony at the new Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Harley & Bessie Knox Branch Library.The Hobbit has reached its new home.Speeches begin. The Mayor of San Diego addresses a large crowd. The beautiful new library, which was built in the Craftsman architectural style, is finally ready to open.People eagerly head into the brand new Mission Hills-Hillcrest Branch Library!On we go!
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Chris Vannoy, US National Beat Poet Laureate 2018-2019, reads live poetry in the Zoro Garden during the Garden Theatre Festival in Balboa Park.
Tomorrow you have a chance to hear US National Beat Poet Laureate 2018-2019, Chris Vannoy, read live poetry in Balboa Park! He’ll be performing with local poetry group The Mightier P.E.N.S. (Poetic Expeditionary Nation of Semanticists) in the Zoro Garden beginning at 2 pm.
Today during my extensive walk through Balboa Park, I happened to stumble upon this summer’s weekend Garden Theatre Festival. As I entered the stony, amphitheater-like Zoro Garden, live poetry readings were underway. Everyone in the audience was invited up to the microphone to read poetry!
And wouldn’t you know it, I was fortunate to enjoy several readings by Chris Vannoy, who will soon be named the United States Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation!
I’d heard Chris perform with The Mightier P. E. N. S. a couple years ago, and blogged about that event here.
His hard-hitting beat poetry is vivid and resonant. His words are like the many butterflies that flit through the garden–bright sparks in the sunlight–burning red hot for just a moment–each a revelation–a brief glimpse of something elemental. Delicate words, transient words, an incantation of power spoken briefly into the wind.
Congratulations to a local poet whose voice is now magnified! And whose smile appears to be indomitable!
The Garden Theatre Festival continues through Sunday August 19, 2018. Live performances are enjoyed free to the public in Balboa Park’s Zoro Garden.Chris Vannoy of the San Diego poetry group The Mightier P.E.N.S. expresses complex thought and emotion with vigorous words as the audience listens and reacts.Two in the audience listen to a poet’s powerfully spoken truth.Someone in the audience signs up to read a poem. Anybody could participate during the event.Chris Vannoy, who will be named US National Beat Poet Laureate in September, finishes his reading and earns enthusiastic applause.
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Cool San Diego Sights! 