Tag: smile

An ordinary guy in San Diego thanks Peter Seidler.

All of San Diego is buzzing with excitement. Something truly extraordinary is now happening in our city. Millions of ordinary people–like me–are feeling the electricity.

San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is someone I’ll probably never meet. He’s someone millions who live in San Diego will never personally meet.

Thank you Peter Seidler for making the Padres instant World Series contenders.

Thank you for millions of sudden cheers, smiles, high fives, great days. Thank you for all the precious lifelong memories that are surely coming. Thank you for fresh feelings of hope–a sustained anticipation for tomorrow . . . the next game . . . the next series . . . the next October.

Thank you for strengthening a diverse city’s sense of unity. Thank you for reinforcing a feeling of pride enjoyed by millions who live in San Diego.

Thank you for all the lives that will be enriched and brightened.

Parents, their children, their grandchildren and countless generations will remember. And celebrate.

Lastly, thank you from a blogger who loves the Padres. Yesterday, as I listened to the game, I experienced goosebumps.

I’ll probably have more goosebumps this afternoon.

Time to shine!

GO PADS!

Cool cars on a Thursday in La Mesa!

It’s summer. It’s a Thursday.

That, of course, means the weekly La Mesa Classic Car Show was held this evening in the Village of La Mesa!

A large crowd was sitting along La Mesa Boulevard east of Spring Street, on sidewalk benches, on lawn chairs, or at tables outside restaurants, looking at cars as families passed by.

There were classic cars, lowriders, hot rods . . . cars that were perfectly restored or partially restored–it didn’t matter. And there were trucks, and vans, and uniquely modified vehicles that were one-of-a-kind. All were admired as works of art.

What an awesome event!

A community drawn together. Generations sharing one passion.

Voices sharing stories. . . the smell of food . . . the sound of a band playing nearby . . .

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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!

One last walk during Comic-Con 2022.

A pretty good crowd was walking around outside Comic-Con this Sunday mid-afternoon. The more popular offsite activations still had long lines–two hours in many cases! But some of the lesser offsites were already coming down, being dismantled, loaded back into trucks.

Comic-Con 2022 went by all too fast!

I had the energy for one more walk. Back to work tomorrow.

I hope many of you enjoyed looking at some of my photos this past week. Now I think I’ll take a few days off from blogging, to catch my breath.

But I’m sure there will be many more cool San Diego sights to come!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

Geek culture helps military veterans!

Some very cool people are helping military veterans by bringing them the joys of geek culture and video gaming.

Stack Up is the name of the organization. They have a table outside Comic-Con, near the “pirate ship” behind the San Diego Convention Center.

Serving far from home or coming back into civilian life can be difficult for veterans. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories in the news. Or you have friends or family with experience. Feelings of isolation. Anxiety. Depression. Or worse.

Stack Up provides these veterans with community and fun!

They send video games to deployed troops; they offer veterans trips to cool geek culture events; they engage in community outreach; and they provide mental health support through online community.

It’s a uniquely awesome way to help those who’ve sacrificed.

If you want to learn more about Stack Up, and perhaps get connected, or help them out, click here!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

Comic-Con smiles and laughter!

Enjoy a fun collection of photographs taken during a walk outside Comic-Con this afternoon!

In addition to many cosplay photos, which I’ll post shortly, my camera captured lots of smiles and laughter.

I experienced many things.

I saw a vampire fly. I saw a flying shark. I listened to Karma sing. I saw five Sherlock Holmes. I saw a walking pickle. I got a smile and a free poster from local radio station 91X. I got a smile and some licorice from Wiley Wallaby. I saw Thor wield a huge hammer. I watched a crazy whack-a-mole.

I laughed, too!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

Thursday morning cosplay and fun outside Comic-Con!

It’s Thursday morning outside Comic-Con! The fun is ramping up!

I spotted more and more cosplay as fans streamed through the Gaslamp toward the San Diego Convention Center. Lines were already forming at the offsite activations, most of which open at ten o’clock. And a huge mass of humanity was crossing Harbor Drive, heading into their first day of Comic-Con!

I got a free NFT from those two guys above! They’re promoting a brand new game on Gamisodes called Inspector Gadget. (Which explains the very first photo of this blog post.)

Grab a redeemable card if you walk down MLK Promenade and happen to see a bunch of Inspector Gadgets!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

Bob’s Burgers hamburger donuts for Comic-Con!

Have you ever eaten a donut that contains a hamburger???

You can this coming Friday, July 22, during Comic-Con!!!

The awesome folks at San Diego’s world-famous Donut Bar will be serving up hamburger donuts all Friday at 631 B Street. And they’ll be dressed like characters from the popular animated series Bob’s Burgers! I learned a Bob’s Burgers fan club will be attending, as well!

How do you make a hamburger donut? All I know is some yummy burger ingredients will be substituted inside the big round shell of Donut Bar’s customary Nutella Overload.

Sounds like breakfast and lunch together in one!

Will there be pickles, onions and mustard?

Can I order fries with that?

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

Painting the windows of Starbucks for Comic-Con!

Isabel Garcia is painting the windows of Starbucks for 2022 Comic-Con! I saw her today as I walked behind the convention center near the Hilton San Diego Bayfront!

Isabel is a local artist and muralist, part of Arte Atolondrada. Her creative partner is Shirish Villaseñor, who paints the windows of nearby Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt during Comic-Con!

If you’d like to check some of their mural work around San Diego, click here or here or here!

In the past few days, I’ve photographed the progress of Shirish’s windows for 2022 Comic-Con. You can see that here and here!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

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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!

La Mesa celebrates freedom at inaugural Juneteenth event!

Today was the start of something big in La Mesa. This afternoon the inaugural La Mesa Juneteenth celebration kicked off in MacArthur Park!

I arrived shortly after the free public event opened at noon. Lots of people were already walking about, exploring the many canopies dotting the grass. I saw artists with crafts, vendors, community organizations . . . and lots of smiles!

There were families everywhere enjoying the sunshine. Kids were playing in a fun zone and learning about the history of the very first Juneteenth, June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Texas finally heard of their freedom.

I missed some of the later entertainment. I’ll try to catch it next year.

Because I have no doubt next year’s La Mesa Juneteenth celebration will be even bigger and better!

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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!

The big House of Mexico fiesta in Balboa Park!

A big, wonderful fiesta was held today in San Diego’s Balboa Park!

The House of Mexico held their annual lawn program at the International Cottages, and, as usual, a good crowd came out!

There was much to do and see–and eat! (I must admit those churros were irresistible.)

Smiles shined all around as the festival filled with more and more people. Members from diverse communities around San Diego and Mexico were in attendance, and all were welcome.

Before the entertainment began at two o’clock, I wandered into the House of Mexico’s new cottage. Inside, displays included some very striking folk art, representing the legends and spirituality of the indigenous Huichol or Wixárika. I was told the exhibits in the cottage will be changed every few months.

After wandering away to listen to the Spreckels Organ concert for a while, I returned to the International Cottages to catch some of the House of Mexico’s cultural entertainment.

Enjoy these photos!

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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!