Tag: San Diego

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 2, 20216:36 pm

You Spell It Like This

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes you need a second one to communicate the message. I captured the Featured Image today along University Ave. in San Diego’s Hillcrest Neighborhood. “Massachusetts” is correctly spelled in the billboard for Mike’s Pizzeria.

Digressing, why New England pie? I recall there being a New York pizza place in the location before it joined the many shops and restaurants that have closed thanks to the overly onerous lockdowns imposed by Governor Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom. He acts like some quirky, hallucinogenic-taking medium blessed him as the messiah of COVID-19—the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2). He will kill more people (and businesses) than he will ever save; he attacks the pandemic with the figurative equivalent of atomic bombs. Will someone please hide the launch codes before radioactive fallout kills us all!

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 202111:54 am

Good Advice

Happy New Year! Here’s a worthy resolution that my wife and I saw today, chalked on the Madison Ave. sidewalk near Massachusetts in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. I used Leica Q2 to capture the […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 202112:05 am

The Cats of University Heights: Lovely

Our fifth New Years kitty to appear in the series, joining Gem (2020), Storm (2019), Norman (2018), and Chub (2017), is almost certainly the last. My wife and I are plotting to escape California soon as logistically possible. As such, I will rush through the backlog of photographed but unpublished kitties and close down the series, which later may become an ebook—because why not? But that’s a future topic.

For today, let us meet the Calico whom we shall nickname Lovely. My wife and I met her on Dec. 11, 2020, along Maryland near Monroe. That’s a treacherous area because of cars and coyotes—and females will soon leave the nearby canyon searching for prey to feed the pups. Be safe, Lovely!

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 20205:38 pm

The Bee Tree

I am not a photographer and bear no illusions about ever being one. My composition skills are raw, and rarely cooked, and I lack the post-production sense that someone else would use to create art. My camera, the Leica Q2, is professional grade and seemingly beyond my skills. But I handle the all-in-one well enough, and it is satisfying to use—enjoyable and versatile.

I am a storyteller, however, and use photos to mark moments or to illustrate a narrative. Take as example the Featured Image (warning: 30GB file), which I captured today along Georgia Street between Lincoln and Polk in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 11:36 a.m. PST. The original was portrait, but I cropped square.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 24, 20209:53 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Measure

I really should be more observant about where kitty portraits are taken. This one is on North—or could be Campus—nearby Madison or Monroe. For some reason I failed to use the iPhone XS camera for quick, GPS-marking shot. Sigh. The Featured Image comes from Leica Q2, on Dec. 4, 2020. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 125, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 9:41 a.m. PST.

The black earns nickname Measure, for how it sized up my approach and the motion of nearby birds.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 16, 20209:39 pm

The Fiddler

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Warnings for Boston and New York, with expected snow accumulations between 20 and 38 cm (8 and 15 inches). Washington, DC: Mixed perception, which if typical means freezing rain. Well, perhaps I don’t miss the East Coast as much on this fine Wednesday. The third season of the year, Late Summer, brought breezy air and blazing sunshine to San Diego for a high temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (72 F).

My wife and I spent much of the late morning through early afternoon in Ocean Beach, packing up our daughter’s apartment. Molly’s plan to vacate the place by the end of the month was interrupted last week by an emergency trip to the hospital, where she spent 24 hours on a ventilator (unbelievably not for COVID-19, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2).

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 15, 202011:10 am

Shoppers Beware

What? Trader Joe’s management thinks that some impatient, cart-ramming Millennial will run down great-grandpa pushing his walker? These are the perils of the newest Governor “Grinch” SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 6, 20208:06 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Sundae

There is a pileup of unpublished furballs in the queue, and it’s long past time for you to meet each of them. We begin with the fifty-sixth beastie seen behind window or door—this one along Madison between Cleveland and Maryland. Candor, Pebbles, Sadie, Sentry, and Swirl live along the same stretch of street, while John Adams, Ludwig, and Snowy can be found closer to North Avenue.

The black and white earns nickname Sundae for appearance and to play on words—or their pronunciation: I captured the Featured Image on Nov. 29, 2020, which was a Sunday, using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 9:53 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 17, 20206:07 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Domino

Eight minutes before encountering Puss, on Oct. 30, 2020, my wife and I passed by a Tuxedo along the same Mission apartments where lives Rebel. The black and white shorthair is the fifty-fifth found looking […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 14, 202011:21 pm

The Road Warrior

Walking behind BLVD North Park, on Sept. 6, 2020, I spotted a motorcycle and sidecar parked under the building in the ungated area. Enamored by the surprising find, I pulled out Leica Q2 and snapped […]

Living by Joe WilcoxNov 12, 202011:18 pm

You’re a Mean One, Governor Grinch

One of my University Heights neighbors is ready for Christmas—and that with Thanksgiving still two weeks away. What immediately follows? Black Friday, which will be a bust for many, if not most, local retailers—and perhaps every other business—now that Governor Gavin “Grinch” Newsom has dumped San Diego County back into the most restrictive lockdown tier; aka Purple. The shutdown supposedly will curtail rising COVID-19 infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2) and, thus, save lives. But at what cost to livelihoods?

Perhaps the holiday decor isn’t meant to be a commentary on the current state of affairs; either way, I make it one. I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image yesterday. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/800 sec, 28mm; 9:12 a.m. PST. The Grinch is appropriate metaphor for the Gov, while the ravens feed on the economic dead that another shutdown murders. Bones picked clean of flesh by the carrion flock hang nearby. How funny! That is the same skeleton seen sitting in a car—on March 29.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 10, 202011:29 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Puss

How surprising: I am seeing some new kitties along North, where it intersects Madison, or in the alley between Campus. Four appeared today, but two vanished before I could close the distance for photos (you’ll see them soon). I encountered the series‘ newest addition, nicknamed Puss, for no particular reason, on Oct. 30, 2020. The Featured Image comes from iPhone XS. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 40, 1/122 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:16 a.m. PDT.

Somebody’s outdoor space is luxury. Look at the cat trees and surrounding plants. In perennially sunny San Diego, the cat can have indoor furniture outside for much of the year. What a habitat! My question: Does he (or she) spend time within the caretaker’s residence, too?