Category: People

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 21, 20239:41 pm

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Yesterday, I drove my daughter and her best friend to Balboa Park, where he pushed her around in a wheelchair. She will require rehabilitation, which starts next week, before being able to properly walk. Her left foot is painful and not fully functional, possibly from neurological damage. But her cognitive capabilities look good.

We are now on day 50 since she was found unconscious and suffered cardiac arrest. Our girl was released from an in-patient physical rehab facility on April 11, 2023. Being wheeled about the park was a big outing for her; meanwhile, I walked around, looking for photo ops. The young women in the Featured Image is one of them.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 11, 202310:33 pm

Miracle Molly

Today, an in-patient rehabilitation institute released our daughter into home care and continued treatment on an outpatient basis. We are not sure yet where she will go. The facility that the recovery physician recommends can’t do intake assessment until mid-May. Another brain injury hospital could take her this month, but there is an insurance hang up to get by. Assessment is scheduled for later this week.

She did suffer brain damage from the incident, which I won’t yet discuss specifically. While her cognitive capabilities are seemingly quite recovered, a neuropsychologist told me that she nevertheless shows deficiencies in the five categories assessed for measuring brain function. For example, the double stroke caused memory loss, diminished reasoning and spatial capabilities, affected some motor functions, and left behind lingering pain in one foot.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 9, 202310:27 pm

Canyon Zooming Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

While walking along the Vermont Street Bridge, which separates San Diego neighborhoods Hillcrest and University Heights, I caught a flash of blue in the canyon below. Someone, presumably homeless, trudged through the foliage—lush and tall from heavy rains—towards a more protected space. Through the trees, I could make out red color that could be from a tent.

I whipped out Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and captured the Featured Image using the smartphone’s amazing 10X optical zoom capability. The companion pic is 3X, which I chose after seeing that 1X, which is 23mm film equivalent, would barely show the subject. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/120 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 10:15 a.m. PDT, today. The other: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/522 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 10:15 a.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 8, 202310:18 pm

Bob Dines Korean

I remember this meal. My father-in-law wanted to eat someplace different. We ended up at a Korean restaurant somewhere along Convoy Street in one of San Diego’s commercial Asian areas. But I don’t recall why we were thereabouts, being far from the places closer to his apartment and where he preferred to eat. Good guess: Tax preparation with his financial advisor, which office is located a short driving distance from where he ate.

The Featured Image—from Motorola-made, Google-branded Nexus 6—catches Bob as he looks up at some distraction. Seconds earlier, he was engrossed in the bowl’s contents. Vitals: f/2, ISO 310, 1/17 sec, 26.6mm (film equivalent); 2:54 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 30, 202310:11 pm

A Samsung Sentiment

I only vaguely remember being at the Galaxy Tab 10.1 launch event—looks like on June 3, 2011, based on the metadata of the two photos. These tech launches do blend together over time, after attending so many. I do recall being excited about the slate, which I called the “first true Honeycomb tablet”, referring to Android 3.1.

I am not yet a brand junkie, but could soon be, following my return to Samsung, switching from iPhone 13 Pro to Galaxy S22 Ultra in December 2022. Two months later, I traded that one in as part of my purchase of the S23 Ultra. My wife owns the S22, and I bought our daughter the S23 a few days ago. Yikes! The police took the 13 Pro, seeking evidence of a crime against her—and they’re not in any rush to give it back. Well, so much for the Fourth Amendment. Surely there are stranger paths from iOS to Android.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 20239:41 pm

Natural Night Shots Feel the Heat

What about the Featured Image and companion appeals to me? The shimmering effect is something someone might add during post-production, but not here. What you see is authentic—heat-distorted air rising into the night sky.

Both photos come from Canon EOS 40D and attached EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/60 sec, 115mm; 9:40 p.m. PDT. The other is same but 135mm, two minutes earlier.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 26, 20239:33 pm

Better Than Mardi Gras

The days when rain isn’t falling, but the ground is wet and the air sweet Spring fresh and moist, are delightful. Over on Louisiana Street, some young men made festive the late afternoon of Feb. 22, 2023. They skateboarded to boombox rock, and I absolutely loved the spirit and ambiance they created. Why not bang on doors and have an impromptu block party?

Pepto, who is among the “Cats of University Heights” sauntered through the mayhem, taking up observant position by a car. That’s his block, baby.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 7, 20239:57 pm

The Lost Dog and the Ukrainians

Rarely is the frequency with which I go to one of the local banks. But need pulled me across the bridge over Washington Street into San Diego neighborhood Hillcrest, where I and others looked on gasping at the most terrifying spectacle: A little dog frantically running up Vermont from Robinson and then zigzagging into moving traffic along University Avenue.

Cars braked, pulled to the side, and honked. I was sure the lost pup would get hit, but somehow he (or she) sprinted into the Hub plaza unharmed. I followed along, hoping to corral the animal to safety. The dog ran around the side of Ralph’s Supermarket and disappeared. As I pursued, a woman pulled her car alongside and asked about the animal. Was I following? She was late for an appointment but said she cried seeing the poor thing. I explained my intentions.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 22, 202210:51 pm

July in Christmas

Feel free to call me cruel, but gloating is not my intention so, please, don’t assign such motivation. The Christmas Day forecast for much of Southern California is unseasonably warm. Predicted San Diego weather is 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) and 23 C (73 F) on both the preceding and following days. Break out T-shirt and shorts for summer remembrance.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the country expects something colder, which already creeps Eastward. As I write, it’s -17 C (2 F) in Amarillo. Texas! Oh, that’s before the wind chill. For Christmas, randomly-selected highs: Atlanta, Ga., 1 C (34 F); Nashville, Tenn., -2 C (28 F); Newark, NJ, -3 C (27 F); Ocala, Fla., 7 C (45 F); Raleigh, NC, 2 C (35 F). For more of a sense of what’s more typical, for the cities, respectively, the following Sunday forecast: 19 C (66 F); 17 C (62 F); 15 C (59 F); 26 C (79 F); 22 C (71 F).

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 11, 20228:04 pm

The Walker

Two days ago, while walking up Madison into North Park on my way to the pet store in Normal Heights, I came across a mom and her little tyke. I presumed that she let him work his little legs while she pushed his ride. But passing, and saying hello, I saw that the stroller is a two-seater—one facing her and the other forward—with a second, younger child sleeping soundly before her. Ahhh.

Beforehand, I got a single shot—the Featured Image—using Leica Q2 Monochrom. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, 28mm; 3:07 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 3, 20229:19 pm

This is Pat

A year or so before China locked down Wuhan because of SARS-CoV-2(severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19, I saw someone rummaging recyclables from bins in an alley. I had a bag of seltzer cans to put out and gave them to the fellow, whom fit my stereotype of a homeless scrounger. But days later, we passed again—and then less than a week later, once more. He was a regular.

When we had amassed more giveaways and he appeared in the alley, I made a delivery and conversation. He wasn’t homeless! He lives here in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. He is perfectly housed and also nearly blind. Meet Pat. I wish more people showed as much self-reliance, even without a debilitating handicap.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 18, 20228:45 pm

The Reader

Five days ago, while walking through San Diego district Hillcrest, I passed a gent reading a newspaper outside the bagel shop at shopping center The Hub. A few meters beyond him, I turned about and backtracked, thinking he could make a good moment. I shot two quickies from the hip, using Leica Q2 Monochrom.

The first is blurry; the second is the Featured Image. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 10:10 a.m. PDT. The candid capture is minimally recomposed and somewhat straightened. I seriously considered presenting a tight, 100-percent crop, which would make the headline—about a fired cop—clearer. Zooming in for a look is your job, should you want it.