Category: Aspiration

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 8, 202410:25 pm

The Vine Wall

Several properties in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights are undergoing or have undergone major renovations lasting years. Some started before or during SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns. Post-pandemic, construction delays, increased building costs, and lingering supply shortages could explain why these projects take so long.

Today, I stopped to gawk at a magnificently striking overgrown wall that had previously gone unnoticed. The main house and front lawn area have been a noisy construction zone for so long that I either walked by briskly or on the other side of the street. What an overlooked visual treat! Neither the Featured Image, nor the companion photo, adequately capture the scene.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 4, 20247:44 pm

Misfit Inflatables

Christmas may be oh-so last year, but some of my San Diego neighbors let the holiday spirit linger on their lawns. Today, I came across some inflatables that are familiar and memorable—from stop-motion special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, which first aired on television in December 1964.

Abominable looms large over a collection of misfit toys; somewhat cut-off, gold-digger Yukon Cornelius stands behind the snow monster. Creatures, people, and things that don’t fit in is the underlying theme of the perennially-broadcast holiday classic. Festive decorations are misfit, too, with Christmas past and their summer-like setting. Nuclear winter would have to come before snow fell in this part of Southern California.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 3, 20249:28 pm

Waiter @Work

I can’t recall the last time my wife and I ate out at a restaurant—or even fast food. Cost is one of the major reasons, and that is about to increase with the new $20/hour minimum wage that goes into effect (appropriately) on April Fools Day. Oh, you got to love California.

Some Pizza Hut franchises won’t wait for that momentous event; two of them are laying off more than 1,200 in-house delivery drivers. Ouch. Our family eats what it cooks, except for the occasional Pizza Hut pie—and always by take away.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 2, 202410:11 pm

My Constant Companion: Galaxy S23 Ultra

When preordering Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra on Feb. 1, 2023, I couldn’t conceive of the year that would unfold, nor the smartphone’s extraordinary documentary role. The new thang, which replaced S22 Ultra, arrived two weeks later. Seventeen days following, March 2, our daughter suffered brain trauma—”severe hypoxic injury and bilateral subcortical infarctions”—and spent the entire month in the hospital before moving on to cognitive and physical rehabilitation. While her recovery is miraculous, she suffers some handicaps that likely will remain.

My hope is for a different year ahead. But the United States moves towards presidential election dystopia, while the world shudders. Among the flashpoints: Russia-Ukraine. Gaza-Israel. China-Taiwan. North and South Korea. Problems abound across the globe, but these four regions are potential or ongoing brushfires that could engulf the world in the flames of war.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 31, 202310:39 pm

Bearded Me

The year ends with an unexpected post. Today, my cousin Dan emailed a couple older photos, both likely taken by his dad (my Uncle Glenn). Date and my age are uncertain as I write. If Dan can answer my question where, then time is something I can add later on.

I probably started the beard around age 16, definitely by 17—but age 18 or 19 is possible, too, in the Featured Image. Seventeen is my guess. If correct, location likely would be my Nana’s apartment in Lewiston, Maine. Same would be true if a year or two older.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 30, 202310:51 pm

Nestling Neko

I scrapped my planned post, in the interest of time. My daughter needed help with health insurance stuff (open enrollment ends tomorrow for January coverage). Of course, she has to do everything by text message, which quadruples the amount of time necessary to do anything. I can more quickly explain and better keep a train of thought talking versus typing (on the phone screen).

The Featured Image was quickly taken, using Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, so that I could write about something. Neko chills with the plushie purchased for Annie during a recent trip to the Ralph’s supermarket in Hillcrest. She kind of liked it, and Christmas themed things were on sale.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 26, 20239:31 pm

Is This How You Feel?

Lots of people do, and I hope not you. Humility mixed with heap loads of gratitude is a better way to end the year. We are entitled to nothing. Most everything we have comes from somewhere else. Modern society is built on the sacrifices of those who came before us. We are indebted.

Do you grow your own food? Drill, extract, and process the gasoline for your vehicle? Generate the electricity that powers your home? Pick and mill the cotton for clothes you bought rather than made? Fresh water is piped to your home and toilet water piped away—all from infrastructure that you didn’t build, right?

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 24, 202310:26 pm

Merry Christmas!

Okay, so as I post, Christmas Day is still officially about 90 minutes away. But why wait? I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image, along Campus Avenue between Meade and Monroe in San Diego neighborhood University Heights.

Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 9:35 a.m. PST, Dec. 17, 2023. Composed as shot.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 22, 20238:40 pm

Less is More Christmas Decor

Wow, we had thunderstorms overnight, as heavy rains pounded San Diego County. I love it, but expected a drab, dreary day today. Oh, no! The clouds parted to blue skies and some sun. Air temp touched 15 degrees Celsius (61 Fahrenheit) but seemed warmer when walking under the yellow rays.

My wife and I stepped out a few times to relish the crisp air and sidewalks refreshed by nature’s hand. Californians are absolutely dog crazy. The mutts pee everywhere, without restraint. Because rain is so infrequent, dry urine pollutes surfaces. You will never see me sit against a tree, as such. Yuck.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 20, 202310:05 pm

A Pair of Classic Cars

I avoid walking through Hillcrest, unless need presses. The neighborhood is atmospherically and physically filthy. Strange how people don’t know that they live in Hell. But the same could be applied to most of California, expanding Dante’s nine circles of Hell to the 21 missions around which major cities were built. San Diego was the first, in 1769.

Franciscans sought to bring Heaven to native populations, rightly or wrongly (you decide which). Centuries later, the fire of Hades burns across the state, by many measures.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 19, 20239:37 pm

Autumn comes to Endless Summer

San Diego’s relatively dry autumn—eh, late Summer—will give way to rain, perhaps heavy, over the next few days leading into Christmas. That’s the forecast; we shall see if this time it’s accurate.

Quite likely, downpour with wind could easily strip the leaves from the tree in the Featured Image. Even in Southern California, some seasonal change can be seen among the great, green growing things. Cacti, palms, and succulents may dominate the landscape, and in seemingly unchanging fashion year-round, but they do not stand alone.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 18, 20239:26 pm

It’s Digital Time

About a month ago, I received a steroid shot in my left hand to treat trigger finger; the middle digit wouldn’t close-fisted and clicked with a spine-chilling popping sound when extended. While technically a righty, I primarily use my left hand to open jars, turn doorknobs, and hold Galaxy S23 Ultra, among many other activities. I worried about the affliction leading to a calamity: dropping the smartphone, which is carried caseless.

So when Samsung offered generous, $150 trade-in for my Apple Watch Series 5—wasting away unused—on top of steep holiday discount for Galaxy Watch6 Classic, I ordered one. The smartwatch arrived today. To be clear, I love my no-nonsense, distraction-free Luminox Automatic Sport Timer 0921 and will not completely retire it: Digital by day, analog by night.