Category: People

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 202610:24 pm

We Three Cousins

If you wondered what native, rustic Aroostook County, Maine men looked like in 1978 (or thereabouts), I present the Featured Image taken by my Uncle Glenn. Cousin Dan (left) used an HP film scanner to digitize the photo from an original slide. He emailed the portrait, and two other photos, this afternoon. The scary dude in the middle is me; my arm listlessly hangs over my younger cousin’s shoulder—and holds what looks like a rock; why would that be?

Since I haven’t spoken to the cousin on the right for more than two years, and I know he is a somewhat private, I withhold his name out of respect. Dan, on the other hand, is easier going— as am I—and his identity was revealed in other posts.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 8, 20268:42 pm

Shadow Selfie and Friend

Last night’s post is a testament to perseverance. Some variety of virus overwhelmed my immune system. Sick is an understatement—and for the first time since Christmas 2017. Today, I slept in three hours until 7:30 a.m. PST and conked out for several hours this afternoon.

Sleep sure is therapeutic. I feel better this evening, although far from normal state. I don’t take cold medicine or pain killers, choosing to let the body’s defensive mechanisms work without interference. Besides, if over-the-counter anything makes you feel better when not, the tendency is to do too much when the body needs you to slow down and rest.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 2, 20269:39 pm

She’s on a Mission from God

My wife and I heard the reverberating sound several blocks away—a voice carried on the wind, coming from the direction of Old Trolley Barn Park. The woman stood valiantly reading inspirational words and scriptures from a Bible. She rarely glanced up, which explains the character of the portrait.

I don’t know how deliberate the choice but can guess. Rather than face park goers she turned to the street, where across the way was a Jehovah Witness meeting hall. Tone and content made me think that she preached to the Witnesses.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 15, 20259:43 pm

Comic-Con: The Return

On Oct. 14, 2025, Comic-Con International sent email that Open Registration for the 2026 San Diego event would commence today, at 9 a.m. PST. It’s a wickedly wet day here in Southern California, which put me uncharacteristically inside. So, I pulled out the laptop, meandered over to the badge sale webpage, and joined the queue—where I was warned my wait would be more than an hour.

I puttered about my office, while waiting to see if maybe my chance for a Golden Ticket would come. The passes sell out fast, and I haven’t attended the Con since 2017, I did secure a pass for San Diego Comic-Can Special Edition during Thanksgiving 2021. But I couldn’t attend, for not meeting SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 requirements. Seriously?

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 2, 20259:52 pm

University Heights Fall Festival 2025

According to the Camelot Climate Index, San Diego has the best weather in the United States. San Francisco and Los Angeles follow close behind. But even with three seasons of Summer, October can prove to be unpredictable. Cooler, cloudier days are common enough to spoil outdoor public events.

Organizers of the University Heights Fall Festival, and all the locals attending, lucked out on Oct. 18, 2025. Blue skies, drier air, and pleasant 28 degrees Celsius (83 Fahrenheit) made the annual gathering the outdoor destination of the area. Families abounded, and I wondered where hide all these young parents and kids. I don’t see many about otherwise.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 6, 20259:21 pm

Happy Birthday, Adrian

I stepped out of the ophthalmologist’s office into cloud covered defused light that passed pain through my dilated pupils. Squinting, I stumbled down the stairs to the sidewalk, where a smiling gent walked up and asked for a “favor”. My apologetic tone conveyed clear response: No cash. I meant to bring a five-dollar bill, in case somebody asked, but left it behind when rushing out the door to walk to the doctor’s office.

But he didn’t ask for money. He wanted me to bless him. To wish him happy birthday. He is 37 years-old today. I did both. We separated, and I regretted not asking to take his photo. How often does something so straightforward occur? He wasn’t grifting or panhandling. The fellow simply sought birthday wishes.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 15, 202510:17 pm

The Rally That Wasn’t Much

The majority of political email automatically goes to the junk folder. I never designated the status, choosing instead to let Gmail haul the messages away by default. But one from Amy Reichert of Restore San Diego plopped into my inbox this morning. “Stand with us as we call on Governor Newsom to reject AB 495”, she wrote. A rally was scheduled for 10 a.m. PDT at San Diego Unified School District offices about 10 minutes’ walk (thanks to traffic lights) from my apartment. I had to go.

Depending on who you speak to, AB 495 either protects immigrant kids threatened by ICE raids or puts them at risk because the law would let seemingly anyone intercede and grab your children. The thinking there is that California is about to enable anyone to legally snatch kids—ah, for their protection. They could belong to non-immigrant families and be taken using other justifications.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 8, 202510:09 pm

The Rally at 1526 Meade Avenue

The city’s obsession with adding more housing shocks by the day. Cute, historic homes are leveled and replaced by multi-level residential buildings that are typically rentals (no condos for you, Bud) and explicitly turn out to be so-called micro-units (tiny space, big monthly payment). These new builds tower over single-family homes and/or two-story apartments/condos, dramatically obliterating local character and robbing existing homes of airflow and sunlight.

Justification: Housing shortage. That’s a lie. According to Zillow, there are currently 18,499 rentals available across San Diego County. For sale: 8,101 homes. That sure looks like plenty of inventory to me. According to Point2Homes, which business is helping people find places to rent, there are 6,142 “housing units” in my community of University Heights. Zillow says 279 of them are currently for rent; but not all list on the service, so the number should be higher.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 21, 20254:24 pm

What’s He Looking At?

The third Weekend of any (normal) month is the book sale room at the San Diego Public Library in University Heights—9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Prices are generous: Books and DVDs are generally a buck. Paperbacks are twenty-five cents each or five for a dollar. What’s not to like about that? Greedy shoppers!

Recurrent pattern: The earliest people in the doors grab, grab, grab. Someone might ransack sci-fi paperbacks, for example, piling them in a box and setting it aside with sign Taken for later sorting. They then move onto the shelves searching for more treasures.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 30, 20257:29 pm

A Better Place to Be

This afternoon, I took the NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens out for a field test, attached to Nikon Zf. I trucked over to Old Trolley Barn Park, where I expected to find people who could be photographed discreetly from a distance. That’s my purpose for the zoom: Candid captures that don’t demand closer proximity—something Leica Q2 required all the time, thanks to its (fabulous) fixed 28mm f/1.7 lens.

On such a pleasant day, I expected to see more people hanging out on the grass. My timing was off; choices were few. The Featured Image and companion are close crops of single shots; I gave myself one opportunity for each.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 19, 20257:02 pm

The Problem with Pride

For reasons that I don’t understand, San Diego holds its annual Pride parade (today, as a matter of fact) in July rather than June, which is the official month for celebrating the Alphabet coalition. Someone reading will have a conniption for my vernacular. Don’t be offended. This post should still be live in 10 years, and who knows how many more letters will be tacked on by then. Alphabet covers them all.

The main parade route and celebratory location is the main gay enclave of Hillcrest, which is adjacent to my community of University Heights. Hillcrest is grungy. Sidewalks are filthy and reek of urine. Homeless scatter about sleeping in nooks or out in the open. Some of the more industrious push about carts upon which hang bags of clanging cans and bottles, which are recyclable redeemable.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 27, 20257:23 pm

Being Beachy without Waves

While walking to Smart & Final in North Park on April 19, 2025, my wife suggested going along one of the alleys we rarely traverse. At the end—I believe at Lincoln Street—she stopped, transfixed by a bright yellow cottage. The color, compactness, and surfboards screamed San Diego, despite being about 13 km (8 miles) from the waves off of Ocean Beach.

Annie pulled out her Samsung Galaxy S25 for some quick snaps. I did likewise with Nikon Zf and attached NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/11, ISO 200, 1/200 sec, 60mm; 12:55 p.m. PDT.