Dedicate each day to that purpose, that great good.
Uplift others. Propagate love. Oppose what is wrong. Discover truth. Create new beauty. Voice what is worthy. Share your gifts. Send ripples of generosity into the future. Do an unselfish thing.
Choose.
Once your purpose is found, think of little else.
You will gain everything.
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Today is the International Day of Happiness! Happy thoughts and deeds were underway in downtown San Diego this morning, just outside Horton Plaza. I swung on by to check things out!
International Day of Happiness in San Diego at Horton Plaza.Early morning vows of how people will make the world a more happy place.Smiling at my kids more.Smiling and saying hi to everyone I pass by today.Sharing my lunch with someone less fortunate.Being a good father and role model.Help make the world a happier place!
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Sailboats moored near Shelter Island, downtown San Diego in the background.
Anyone who tries to write soon realizes a daunting truth. There are countless possible stories to tell, and numberless ways to tell each one. Infinity multiplied by infinity amounts to a whole lot of indecision!
Last weekend I stood on a patch of beach on Shelter Island. A sailboat moored nearby fascinated my eye, and I puzzled over its profound complexity for several minutes. How could I accurately paint that sailboat with words? How could I phrase the most perfect description? Is it even possible? With a million words is it possible?
As I watched the bobbing boat and struggled to sequence potent adjectives, a sudden thought shook me: Writing’s purpose, like art’s purpose, isn’t to replicate the world. It’s to stretch our minds. That is all.
Words are limitless. As limitless as the universe. They allow us to travel anywhere, in any direction.
A few well-directed words can focus our minds (for a moment) on overlooked things; they can help us see vague things more vividly. Words can seek and memorialize those things that seem important. Words tossed about can provoke hidden feeling and allow us to draw nearer to others. Words, when magical, can help us to discern whispers of meaning in the echoing vastness around us.
Our lives are finite. But the infinity that is contained in words can expand our lives. That is their purpose.
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Birds take flight above palm trees in downtown San Diego.
This is my 500th post. I can’t believe it.
When I started writing this blog on a lark about a year and a half ago, it was a puny little creation, and I hadn’t a clue where it would take me. Alas, after many hours pounding away at the old keyboard, I haven’t earned one thin dime. But that’s perfectly fine. The riches I’ve received are immaterial, and far greater.
Writing a blog–one that involves photography in particular–opens your eyes, enhances your appreciation of all that is around you. To chronicle a walk through this world, one must carefully experience each step and turn curious eyes everywhere. One must note light, depth, and the color of things. One must listen to others. If I hadn’t begun to meander about San Diego purposefully, searching for “cool” material, I might never have seen some hidden rainbows. Or a small bit of street art. Or dogs surf.
Writing a blog encourages creativity. It’s casual and conversational. There’s no need to fret too much about editing. Readers are just friends. So you can yap freely and let the mind flow. I’ve always been a fan of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. His great book Zen in the Art of Writing talks about the power of just letting thoughts flow, uninhibited, like gushing water from a wildly whipping dangerously uncontrolled hose. That water will irrigate one’s life, and the lives of others who are splashed.
Writing a blog leads the author to be more honest. More understanding. More compassionate. More vulnerable. Writing a blog, giving birth to a few silly words, expands the soul.
Thanks for coming along on my walks!
Where will I go today? I have a bit of an idea, but I’m not certain. Time propels us forward into the unknown. If you’d like, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr!
Plaque marks the birthplace of the San Diego Union newspaper in 1868.
There are many interesting houses and buildings within Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. One of the most fascinating is the San Diego Union Building. Take a step inside and you’ll see the carefully restored birthplace of a present-day major newspaper: the San Diego Union Tribune.
The framework of the building, erected around 1851, is believed to have been originally fabricated in Maine, then shipped to San Diego around Cape Horn. The San Diego Union was first published on October 10, 1868. The newspaper’s editor at that time was Edward “Ned” Wilkerson Bushyhead, a Cherokee Indian with a Scottish ancestor.
The newspaper began as a modest four page weekly, and was produced on a massive wrought iron Washington hand press. In the museum one can also see an authentic 1860’s recreation of the editor’s room, which contains a desk once owned by the son of Ulysses S. Grant!
The San Diego Union Building in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park contains a print shop and editor’s office.The prefabricated wood-frame building was erected circa 1851. In 1967 the building was restored by James S. Copley, who at the time was owner of the San Diego Union Tribune.Old wood stove just inside the front entrance of accurately restored newspaper office.Drawers hold hand-set type that used to be assembled in a press for newspaper printing.A massive Washington hand press can be glimpsed to the right in the small printing shop.The small editor’s office contains a desk once owned by the son of President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1910 Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. built a grand hotel in San Diego’s New Town. (I took this photo in August 2017.)The Newspaper Museum is open daily from 10 to 5.
UPDATE!
In August 2017, during Stagecoach Days in Old Town, I was able to actually enter the print shop and take better photos of the presses and other objects inside. (Usually visitors must peer or take photographs from a greater distance.)
Washington hand presses were common on the frontier because of their relative light weight. They required two people for efficient operation.Fresh paper was laid on inked type and an impression made. Setting the type for new articles on just one page could take hours. Fortunately, many advertisements on a page didn’t change.A jobber printing press like this would have been used for small jobs such as stationery and handbills.This safe is the only original object displayed inside the restored San Diego Union Building in Old Town.A type case full of large cast metal sorts. Individual letters were combined into words, sentences and paragraphs. UPDATE! Big mistake by the caption writer: me! The largest letters you see in the above photo are actually made of hard wood. I was corrected by a member of the 919 Gang blog, who’s far more knowledgeable than me. I returned to the museum to confirm this. I learned very large metal sorts would be very heavy!Manual typesetting for old presses, as one might imagine, took lots of patience and a good eye.Gazing from the print shop toward the small building’s entrance area.According to one sign, the San Diego Union Building was erected around 1850 by Miguel Pedrorena. The Washington Press, type and printing supplies arrived by steamship from Northern California.A knowledgeable lady in period attire explains how the San Diego Union newspaper was composed and printed a century and a half ago, long before the digital age.
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The New Children’s Museum Garden Project beside Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.
I can’t stand being cooped up inside, especially on Christmas, so around noon I went out for a short walk around a sunny but very quiet downtown San Diego. I didn’t intend to blog about anything, but here I am posting a few pics anyway. That’s because I was impressed by the beauty of a very small spot along a popular walkway.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade runs along a portion of Harbor Drive, and it passes San Diego’s fun New Children’s Museum. In addition to a playground right next to the pathway, there’s a very small urban garden. The museum’s Garden Project is a demonstration area that allows children to explore a few plants and the basics of gardening. Some art is incorporated into the space, and a surprising poem!
Small garden plot beside children’s play area contains flowers and a few edible plants.Kids can explore gardening and learn with their own hands about our environment.Bicycle wheels and a couple of scarecrows add to the fun in the Garden Project.A few vegetables in plots enjoy the downtown San Diego sunshine!A whimsical poem is inscribed on a long wall enclosing the small garden.
I should’ve photographed this entire poem, but I assumed at the time that it could be found on the internet. I was wrong! The poem seems like a fun, playful bit of writing, and I can’t make heads or tails of it looking at my few photos. Oh, well. I’ll leave it to you to reconstruct the verses I’ve selected!
I did figure out that the poem was written by Quincy Thomas Troupe, Jr., who used to be a professor at the University of California, San Diego, just up the coast in La Jolla. He is known for his biography of Miles Davis, the legendary jazz musician. Quincy also helped to write The Pursuit of Happyness, a true story which was adapted into the popular film starring Will Smith. (I love that movie!)
The poem bounds along with crazy, almost nonsensical words.Hopping frogs seem to be important characters in this silly poem.The poetry was written by local San Diego author Quincy Troupe.A beautiful sight greets pedestrians strolling down Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.
Here are two photos I took the following spring of flowers in the garden:
Perfect beauty.Bursts of color.
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Selling very special edition Union-Tribune newspapers during Kids’ NewsDay!
Smiling volunteers could be seen throughout San Diego this morning selling special edition newspapers! Today was the 25th anniversary of Kids’ NewsDay, a much-anticipated yearly event whose purpose is to benefit Rady Children’s Hospital.
Over the years, thousands of children and families have been helped by the money raised by generous people who purchase this inspiring edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Since the first Kids’ NewsDay in 1990, about 30,000 volunteers have sold over a million papers, raising nearly 3 million dollars! That’s amazing! The featured section of the newspaper is filled with stories of kids overcoming extremely difficult situations, many with rare or life-threatening diseases. The stories are filled with optimism, and the most inspiring stories are written by children themselves!
If you would like to make a donation to Rady Children’s Hospital, please click this link!
Kid’s NewsDay helps raise funds for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
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Forgive me for telling the following very silly story. I suppose I like this short story because it happens to be true.
As always, please follow the captions…
A beautiful day on Shelter Island and kayakers approach the boat ramp area.A fisherman has arrived on a boat and he’s tossing leftover bait to pelicans and gulls.And look who else is tagging along–it’s Wally the sea lion!Wally is looking for a free meal, himself. A large fish would be very nice!Wally spots some new arrivals coming into the little boat ramp area.It’s the kayakers! Wally greets everyone and quickly looks things over.Some curious, sociable mammals (and a few birds) enjoy a moment together.
The fisherman told me the California sea lion’s name is Wally. He told the kayakers the same thing. So it seems his name must be Wally!
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Bronze sculpture of Mark Twain sitting on a bench at Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley.
A very famous author is known to hang out in San Diego. He’s usually seen just off Friars Road in Mission Valley. He likes to sit on a bench at Fenton Marketplace in front of the International House of Pancakes!
Who is this celebrated writer of American literature? That prolific master of humor and satire, Mark Twain!
According to my research on the internet, Mr. Samuel Clemens seems to get around. He’s been seen in the same pose in numerous cities. That’s because the bronze sculpture, by artist Gary Lee Price, is practically mass-produced!
Samuel Clemens gazes up dreamily from his book.Mark Twain is reading his own classic American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Famous author with biting wit sits on bench by fountain in front of IHOP.
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Here comes Mark Twain during Old Town San Diego’s literary TwainFest!
One of my favorite San Diego events of all time took place today in historic Old Town!
TwainFest is an amazing annual festival celebrating Mark Twain and other famous authors from the 19th century. While there seems to be an emphasis on American and English novelists, I saw homages to writers, poets and storytellers from around the world. Scenes from American and California history also appear in several of the exhibits. Which makes sense, because Old Town is a history-filled park recreating the earliest days of San Diego!
To get an idea of what TwainFest is about, enjoy a quick look at these fun pics! And be sure to attend next year, if you can!
Event is part of Stagecoach Days at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.And here comes a towering puppet of American author Edgar Allan Poe!Lots of entertainment included a stage with music and various contests.Music included those familiar old folk songs that had everyone clapping.Costumed participants roaming about the central plaza of historic Old Town.Families enjoyed many activities including games.Excited kids blast off across the grass in an old-fashioned sack race!Kids of all ages enjoyed many unique literature-themed games and activities.The TwainFest Wheel of Fiction featured many famous writers.Booth inspired by Lewis Carroll had me making up a silly word!Never-ending stories had visitors adding their imaginative sentences.The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County ready to soar from catapult!I wonder if Mark Twain imagined kids would replicate his famous short story!Children really enjoyed this cool guy’s amazing flea circus!A flea performer mounts the trapeze before the incredulous audience.Girl uses magnifying lenses to watch a flea take a swan dive from high platform.The Quotation Machine rumbled before producing a quote.Here come some horses around the Old Town San Diego square!The Marshall informed me that all was well.Small audience in one shady corner enjoyed music and stories.The big Liar’s Contest featured lots of tall tales and jaw-dropping whoppers.This slick salesman is demonstrating the eloquent effects of literary potions.Bottled Verne, Dickinson, Whitman, Bronte, Byron and more!Voters in presidential election of 1872 must pass a literacy test!Of course, TwainFest had a bookstore with many classics of literature!People could trade places with Henry David Thoreau.The obviously guilty author of civil disobedience!Thoreau locks himself in with a brave visitor.It’s the Daniel Webster Frog Toss!Carroll’s Red Queen challenges all comers to flamingo croquet!Old Town event included the historic Mason Street School.Actors read poetry from Alice in Wonderland in one room schoolhouse.Here come participants in the fancy literary costume contest!The spirit of Twain lives at this very wonderful annual festival.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 