My San Diego: Artist Elizabeth Zaikowski likes her sunny, fun, exciting San Diego.

Elizabeth Zaikowski

Artist

Lives: South Park

My San Diego is beautiful, sunny, fun and exciting. I love waking up everyday to the sunshine, the beaches and all that there is to do in San Diego.

I work outside at Sea World as an artist and love meeting all the people that travel here from other places as well as being able to enjoy the outdoors. I have sold many paintings in San Diego and feel it is becoming even more of a place with an artistic community.

I received my degree at SDSU in art education and I have taught art at many levels at the SD Children's Museum and Coronado High School. I enjoy painting in many styles and mediums, I have shown my own work here for over ten years. You can visit my website at http://www.elizabethzaikowski.com/

Welcome Back My San Diego: Guest Blogger Collyn Pankratz has an idelogy of artistic expression.

Name/ Band Name - Collyn Pankratz/ Shrewd Lucy

Position in Band (Lead singer/ instrument)
Live: Lead Singer/ Guitarist/ Harmonica.
On Albums: I wrote,performed, recorded, mixed, and produced every song on each Album (Mirror and Hey Mother).

Lives in: Oceanside


My San Diego is my home away from home as I've lived in this beautiful area for over three years now.

I finished college in 2002 in Buffalo, NY earning a Bachelor's degree in Architecture. Two years after I graduated I moved to sunny San Diego where I became the Architect for my music project Shrewd Lucy.

Shrewd Lucy is an Alternative/ Rock project along the lines of Seattle 90's Rock and beyond, but based on the reflection of myself and my ideology of artistic expression. I've been forming a 4 to 5 piece band to play two albums worth of material, in order to gig the San Diego and Southern Californian music scene. My album's "Mirror" and "Hey Mother" have been receiving
great reviews and attention from press and fans as they're both featured on myspace.com/shrewdlucy and promoted as I play local showcases, venues and open
mics weekly.




Both self-released Shrewd Lucy albums, "Mirror" and "Hey Mother," can be purchased as a
digital download on myspace.com/shrewdlucy. "Mirror" is already for sale at Lou's Records in Encinitas and Spin Records in Carlsbad, and "Hey Mother" will soon be the same.






*If you would like to be featured as part of My San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com for more details.*

December is all About Lists: A My San Diego Redux

We are always looking for more My San Diego features and 2008 will be no different. Our San Diego is filled with people who have interesting, fun, tasty, and entertaining stories to tell. Take some time to tell us about your San Diego. And learn about others...

This years My San Diego contributors:

Joseph DePuy: Inaugural My San Diego guest. His San Diego is smooth, salty, sensual and full of art.

James Duren: Photographer, Writer, Budding Foodie doesn't live in the Bay Area, he lives here!

Mike Press: Plays Music, likes Santee.

Scott Pactor (AKA Cat Dirt): builds communities, likes music.

Abbie Berry: writes for My San Diego every week (makes good lists).

Bill Ostrie: makes sculptures that I will one day purchase and show off to people to prove how cool I am because I have nice looking art, LOCAL art.

Toni Valdez: Sings, sings, sings with The Fahl Guyz.

Maebeth Turner: wrote a book!

Jen Benabou: is also making art that I plan to buy someday when this blogging thing TAKES OFF and I make millions of bajillions of dollars and want to look arty.

My San Diego: Artist Jean Benabou can't ask for anything more (in a city).

Jean Benabou
Artist
Poway, Ca.

My San Diego is everything I could ask for in a city. It gives me the opportunity to have it all. I am close to great beaches, the weather is consistently fantastic, and the community is wonderful to be a part of.

I was born in California and received my Bachelors Degree and my Masters
from Otis/Parsons in Los Angeles. At Otis I studied under Emerson Wolfer, Roy Dowell , Mike Kelly and Carol Caroompas.

My work has appeared in numerous group shows and Solo Exhibitions in the San Diego area, namely the San Diego Repertory Theatre, Arts and entertainment gallery, LUX Studio, Condo Gallery, and has been featured in Art Revolutionaries online magazine, Volume 1, issue #3,
April 2005 and ZEEK- A Jewish Journal of thought and culture, Sept. 2005. and will be showcased in the upcoming issue of Indie Arts Magazine.

To see more of Jean Benabou’s work, visit: http://www.jeanbenabou.com/ or http://ifiwasacobbler.blogspot.com/

We're looking for My San Diego contributors! If you would like to be featured as part of My San Diego email cutchawrites (at) gmail dot com. Tell us about your San Diego.

My San Diego: Author Maebeth Turner has a new book out!

Maebeth Turner
Novelist: Contract Paralegal
University Heights

My San Diego is diverse, dynamic, contemporary and spiritual.

I'm a meditative spiritual being actively engaged in conscious growth and transformation. I love discovering new things about myself and then expressing them in writing. I'm socially-aware and politically engaged. I love spending time with small groups of friends enjoying good food and drink and discussing world affairs and spiritual evolution. I also have a volunteer nature and actively seek ways to serve others and give back.

I'm a self published author, having just published my first novel A Violet Butterfly, an inspiring story about the depth and power of women's friendships. Much of my time now is spent finding new ways to promote my novel and introduce it to the reading public. You can find more information about A Violet Butterfly at http://www.stellasmiddlechild.com/. It is available worldwide from the publisher’s website (http://www.bbotw.com/), and through the major online booksellers of amazon.com, borders.com, and bn.com (Barnes and Noble), and will eventually be available in bookstores everywhere through major book distributors. I'm also in the process of writing my second novel, which will be a contemporary political thriller.

*An Excerpt from A Violet Butterfly*

I couldn’t wait to get away from them, all of them. It was too much. Tabitha’s dying, seeing everyone, the raw exposed feelings, the hugs and kisses and apologies – all of it!

I don’t care what they think of me for saying my good-byes and practically sprinting to my car. If I had stayed even one minute longer I would have suffocated, or said something stupid, or done any of a number of inappropriate and clumsy things to remind everyone that I’m not like them. I don’t want to be pitied and patronized like they do to me. Not today.

I’m able to breathe normally once outside the cemetery gates. But when I get home, I don’t want to be there either. Maybe I should go to Mother Wilkins’ house. Everyone who was close to Tabitha will be there remembering, mourning and finding solace in congregating to share their common loss. Everyone except me.

I have no other place to go.

My messy house is deathly quiet. Why do I prefer this self-imposed isolation, this solitude, over the acceptable, and more social and proper activity of spending time with my friends and sharing this awful time? This can’t be normal.

I don’t really want to be alone, but being with them is too nerve-wracking, too confusing, way too uncomfortable. At least here I’m safe from scrutiny, criticizing comments, and judgmental thoughts. Yes, I’m alone, but here I don’t have to feel anything if I don’t want to. Today I don’t want to.

I’m sure it’s normal for most women my age to be greeted with “Hi Mommy”, “Hello Honey”, a sloppy dog kiss or the soft caress of a warm cat body pressing against their legs when they arrive home. My normal: a blinking red message light beckoning me into yet another sordid affair of the type I tired of long ago.

“Leave me alone.”

Now I’m talking to machines.

My San Diego: Guest Blogger Toni Valdez escapes from Los Angeles

Toni Valdez: Singer/ Songwriter/ Composer

Band name: Fahl Guyz

My San Diego is an escape from Los Angeles.

I moved here five years ago to attend UCSD. I recently graduated with a degree in psychology. I love the laid back atmosphere of the beaches in San Diego mixed with the nightlife of the Gaslamp district. After graduating from college I decided to stay in San Diego because it is a beautiful city full of culture and the arts.

My typical day starts at noon since I am an entertainer and don't do mornings. Sometimes I wake up with a melody or poem and just start writing a song. I never try to write; it just happens. I feel that this city has given me the peace to allow my creative energy to flow.
I like to go walking downtown and people watch. There are so many interesting people from different cultures. I enjoy walking on the beach since we have such beautiful beaches in San Diego and the weather is great. I go to the gym and go swing dancing in the evenings when I am not working. I usually work weekends singing which really isn't work since I am getting paid to do what I love. I would like to stay in San Diego for a long time because I love it here. This is my home. I was raised in San Diego and moved to Los Angeles because of show business. Yet here I am doing what I love. Who could ask for more?

About Toni and The Fahl Guyz:

Toni Valdez currently sings with the local blues band Fahl Guyz. They are a local blues band that she describes as "talented and easy to work with."

Toni writes: I find the more talented the musicians the more humble they are. Mark Fahl who plays lead guitar has been playing guitar for 30 years and has beautiful solos and a great blues singing voice too. We play at casinos, bars, restaurants, and private parties. I was vocally trained in Los Angeles for musical theater and discovered my voice about ten years ago when I started singing jazz. I play a little guitar and use my instrument to write my original music.I have an old 1974 Strat that plays like butter.I am the featured vocalist and sing with several other bands including the Dry Martini Orchestra, Le Jazz Hot, the West Coast City Orchestra, and Double Play. I have traveled all over the U.S. singing, performed in Japan, and enjoy experiencing new cities and cultures.I live in downtown San Diego.

If you would like to learn more about Toni and her music check out her site: http://www.tonivaldez.com/ . All gigs are posted on her site as well.

*If you would like to be featured on our site and tell us about your San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com . Artists, musicians, writers, all welcome. *

I'm finally settled in to my destination (vacation) and it's the WEEKEND

We'll call this a hodge podge:

Rachelle went to the Haunty Haunted Trail.

Mom's wear flats but baby loves disco and can hussle their little hearts out this weekend.

I gushed about Anya Marina. We're best friends (isn't it obvious?).

Yes this is the cutest baby in the world.

Guest Blogger Bill Ostrie makes me want to take a sculpting class. I make a mean ashtray.

Lori had a fashion reaction.

Sacramento had a scare.

Garry Grant said I was funny!!! (Abbie's Aunt said I needed to get spell check, thank you for that one, corrected and corrected!)

And Abbie fell asleep... with the only partner a girl needs.


Have a great weekend!

My San Diego: Guest Blogger Bill Ostrie

Bill Ostrie
Artist/ Sculptor/ Musician

My San Diego is...Moonlight Beach crowded with people on a hot summer day, boogieboarding with my wife and 8 year old daughter. Surfing at Grandview,sliding down cool green walls. Carving stone outside, in front ofthe rounded hills and orange trees and palms.

It’s checking out all the nice cars and the sky-high housing prices,and wondering why the schools don’t have buses and why they have to hustle on the side to afford “extras” like a science teacher. It’s laughing about the “keep Leucadia funky” stickers on all the shiny minivans and SUVs in my neighborhood.



It’s the incredible mediterranean climate. It’s the birds of paradise everywhere that I never get tired of. It’s the improbably pretty restaurant hostesses lining the street inthe Gaslamp, starlets beckoning you in for dinner. It’s the shock of seeing the English/Spanish book in the hardwarestore that teaches you the spanish you need to communicate with your gardener and your nanny, as if that's the only reason you might bother to learn another language. It’s the beer and cannabis soaked haze of PB, the glitzy surferthugishness of MB, the skinny, top-heavy women in Del Mar, the rudeness in some areas where the people are doing well but feeling anxious about not living on the beach side of the 5. It’s good mexican food everywhere you go.It’s the Reader, full of great stories, interesting things to do, and an ungodly number of plastic surgery ads telling you that you can never look good enough or young enough.



It’s amazing musicians like Enrique Platas and Neil MacPherson. It’s artists and teachers like A. Wasil, Jacqueline Nicolini, Jeff Watts,and Ron Lemen. It’s missing my friends from capoeira. It’s protesting the war onthe street corner and meeting new people.It’s playing guitar at peoples parties, and running into friends atHenry’s, and catching a few more waves as the sun sets.



Bill OstrieYou can see my artwork at: http://www.ostriesculpture.com/You can hear my flamenco guitar playing at: http://www.myspace.com/billostrie





If you would like to be featured and tell us all about your San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com

My San Diego: We're pushing back guest blogging features until next week when we can give them their due

*Next week we will be back with guest bloggers contributing perspectives on their San Diego, but this week we're taking a break, what with the crazy changes in schedule and all. Instead I'll share a bit of my own fire story. Tomorrow RACHELLE IN THE CITY will tell us all about her week so far, fire and all.*

My San Diego is reading all about these fires and checking in with those that I love and care about. My San Diego is quick with the humor and quicker with the responses to it's state of emergency. My San Diego is all over the news but knows that it deserves more than just a passing "have you heard about all that going on in San Diego?"

I believe San Diego will recover much quicker then people expect. I know there will be many stories of hope and love and survival and probably a few stories that are sad and heart wrenching. The massive inundation of news media will not overwhelm San Diego (even though it's starting to overwhelm others) and people will keep their positive attitudes and "California" mentality.

Lori is back at work (a good worker she is, she worked any way while glued to her television at home). Vanessa checks in from PB and says "just like PB, people are still going out, still meeting up with their friends." Rachelle has sent in her article for this week and it's about more then just a fire, it's all about her new home. Maybe it remains fire week (we cover the news and the news covers the fire) but I'm telling you, San Diego bounces (I've seen it before).

In 2003 I was confronted with the "what are you going to pack at a moments notice?" question. Though I felt safe in my home in Clairemont, worry was all over my (at the time) boyfriend's face. And then we got word that the fire had jumped the freeway right by our house, that others were leaving and that we might just want to water down the area around our house.

"Pack" he said. "Figure out what to take."

I thought about it. My life wasn't the clothes, the dishes, the pictures (which, thanks to digital cameras were all stored online). So I packed what I needed, a toothbrush, my Sex and The City DVD's and my computer.

"That's it?!" He was frantic. How was he going to fit EVERYTHING in to the car? How would he leave his books and movies and carpets and mugs behind?

"That's it," I said. I watched him stressing out in the living room, huffing and hyperventilating. I walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "It's just stuff," I whispered. "Fire is cleansing," I said. "In my tribe, when something is over, when it's done, we burn it, we let it go."

We hugged for a while longer and waited for news over the television, we waited long into the night but they managed to get things under control. The next day we went to lunch in PB (where the air felt a little cleaner) and we wore masks and saw ash gathering on the streets like snow. It was almost like... a new day.

My San Diego: it's all about Abbie time.

*Editors note* Abbie is going to be a weekly contributor beginning next week. She'll be writing all about love, relationships, San Diego and people, because people are her thing. I've given her a bit of Carte Blanche about how to approach the whole thing so I too am looking forward to her first submission. As part of gearing up for Monday's article, we're featuring Abbie as our Guest Blogger for My San Diego. Read on, all about Abbie's San Diego.

Abbie's San Diego is all about relationships.

I love this city.

I do.

I grew up in Southern California but not in San Diego. I’ve lived here 14 years and now it feels like home. Tourists say we live in paradise. We have our beautiful, consistent weather, a multitude of beaches, Sea World, the Zoo, Old Town, the Gaslamp…San Diego is a great place to be. No doubt about it.

But it’s the people that make it my favorite city.

See, I have this theory that life is all about relationships. (Oh wait until I tell you all about my relationship theories. We’ll save that for another time). Relationships are the core to everything.
Everything.

Your job. Your psyche. The reason you wake up in the morning. The car you drive. What you’re going to eat for lunch today. Your mom. Your best friend. The first time you saw a beautiful sunset.

People.

We walk by each other, test one another, have conversations, start friendships, make promises, we all rely on someone. We all have a reason to ponder the big questions.

Right?

I’m an outgoing girl. I meet new people all of the time. I’m talkative and I’m truly interested in discovering different points of view. I’m a writer. I’m always looking for a new way to look at something. A new mode of thought. Something I might not have even thought about if it wasn’t for that late night conversation.

Sometimes I come across someone who stands out. I may only have one real conversation with someone and it somehow impacts my decisions for the day. Possibly alters my decisions for the future.

When I’m paying attention, it’s amazing what I observe.

Couples having fun together, just walking down the street. Mothers shopping with their children. Students studying at Starbucks. A young man who looks up and glances at his girl friend and smiles. She never looks up or notices, but I see and I smile.

Maybe these people exist in every city in every state everywhere. But the people in San Diego are mine:

• My co-workers who make me laugh every day with their verbiage and made up expressions about dating and women.
• The children I teach on the weekends that always surprise me with the best questions and the most amazing ideas. They also keep me laughing. One little girl decided to show me how small her hands really are -- she can put her whole fist in her mouth. Oh my.
• The man who manages the nail salon that I used to go to years and years ago who I saw for the first time last weekend. He knew exactly who I was after all that time.
• My ex-boyfriend who recently sat with me and talked to me about the good times. It felt great to talk like old friends and be genuinely happy for one another.
• The woman who waits tables at the Turf Supper Club. (Have you been there? If not you must go right away!) One in particular is always extra attentive and sweet.
• The cab drivers who pick up in the Gaslamp downtown. Oh man the things they must hear people talking about.
• My friend Cutcha who invited me to be a part of this blog. She is one of the most creative people I know.
• Reverend Travis. He will read your tarot cards and your head will spin.
• The English professor that I had at Mesa College years ago who taught Chaucer but loved to watch General Hospital.
• My boyfriend and his friends and the way they all relate to each other. The mocking, the laughing, the camaraderie.
• The band Switchfoot resides in San Diego. They preach the good word and play music that makes my heart happy.
• The aerobics instructor at 24 Hour Fitness who always makes me smile when we run into each other.
• The two people who were in line in front of me at Cost-co a few days ago. The woman was impatient but friendly and the man told me my poultry was going to spoil.
• My friend Jon who constantly encourages me to write and read and write and be creative. He is one of the smartest people I know. Look Jon, I’m writing!
• My friend Michelle who was waiting patiently (or impatiently) for a guy to text message her. Her texts to me, “Nothing yet. I want to text. Hurry, distract me,” made me laugh. He sent her a text the next day.

You see it is all about the way we relate to one another.

Think about it.

San Diego entertainment at its best.

For me.

Abbie is a writer, Sunday school teacher, observer, SDSU graduate (with an MFA), a teacher, a list maker, a lover, a relationship guru, a friend. If you'd like to reach her you can email: mysandiegoabbie@yahoo.com Monday you'll find her relationship/love article HERE on My San Diego... Your San Diego.

If you'd like to be featured as a guest and tell us all about your San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com

My San Diego: Guest Blogger/ Criminal Defense Attorney Scott Pactor (Cat Dirt Sez) can't belabor his point quite enough

Scott Pactor

Criminal Defense Attorney & Blogger

Lives in Golden Hill

My San Diego is an urban environment. I don’t think I can belabor this point quite enough, but the process of building a community isn’t easy or fun. If it was easy or fun, it wouldn’t need doing. The fact is that southern California neighborhoods are made up of transients and recent émigrés. It’s not like people have been living in the same place for twenty years. That is something that makes San Diego and most of southern California different from a lot of other places. The positive of that is that most people are excited, in some way, shape or form about being here, the negative is that people are disconnected from the world around them.
That’s why it’s so important to be cognizant of the fact that downtown san diego/golden hill/ south park etc. is a human environment, and our day to day behaviors impact that environment. I try to improve my urban environment by putting on shows, writing my blog and being engaged with the area around me- and not just the fun parts that involve drinking and hanging out.

My San Diego is URBAN- I really only concern myself with the area bounded by the eight freeway to the north, the 125 to the east, the ocean to the west and the border region—outside of that area- I need to have a reason to go. I despise the suburbs with all of my being, and rural areas are nice to see once in a while but not to live.

That’s why I love Golden Hill- it’s a place I really care about, and its an environment I want to “improve.”

Scott Pactor writes/edits catdirtsez.com a blog that I read pretty much every day. He is a married self employed defense attorney (someone to call when you get in trouble in TJ!) and head of Cat Dirt Records. Visit his blog here.

If you would like to be featured on My San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com

James Duren profiles local Violin Merchant David Jones

The Violin Maker
By: James Duren

“It’s sad when you begin to lose your sight and your hearing.”

He had just finished telling me about his house in the mountains. The pictures were spread across the workbench. There were pictures of the blue sky in the mountains and of the rock and slate house. There were other pictures of a smoky sky, and still others of the charred rock and the missing roof. He lost thirty violins in the fire. He lost the only guitar he ever made. He made it for his son.

“You don’t have to see to make a violin though. Most of it is just feel.”

He pointed to the pale spruce leaned up against the wall. A corner of it had been smoothed. The feeling was unreal; it felt fake because it was so slick. It was natural though. “You can feel that; you don’t have to see what you’re doing.”

His loft was split in half. The front of it was filled with side lit violins and bows. I saw the violins from the street one evening. The back half was the workshop. Beautiful hand tools lined the walls. Their handles were made with all types of wood, some dark, some light. He gave me two planes, both made of brass.

“Once you see them you have to touch them.”

It was heavy because of the brass. Feeling the weight was like magic, like the feeling you get when you meet an old relative and their handshake is warm and strong.

A 4x6 of sitka spruce leaned up against the wall.

“It’s fifty years old. They were going to use it for a mast or a boom.”

“Like on a ship?”

“Yes, they like to use it for the mast because it’s strong and light.”

I think I used the word fantastic half a dozen times while I was there.

“Its more aromatic than the Inglewood spruce.”

I smell wood. The Inglewood used for the top of the violin smelled subtle.

“So does this wood get darker with age?”

He pointed up to an unfinished violin.

“Maple ages really well. It gets red.”

Red wood is an instant antiquity, especially if its used for something elegant like a violin.

“You have to let the wood age for at least five years before you use it. Once the violin is made, they usually hang it out in the sun for a week. The ultraviolet rays darken it.”

I wondered if anyone had the audacity to play a white violin. Audacity isn’t really the right word because there was nothing audacious about the soul of the wood that lay in the open ceiling of his workshop.

Sometimes when I said things too quietly he would nod and say yes; the bad hearing was only a problem if he didn’t speak up.

“Sometimes I’m in the restaurant and I answer yes to things and then they bring me food I don’t want.”

He reminded me of Beethoven, who made my favorite composition when he was deaf and ridiculed.

Enchanting is a good word to use when the place you are in or the people you meet are disarming and honest like violins. He was all three.


David Jones is a local violin merchant with a shop on Adams Avenue in Kensington.
James Duren is a writer and photographer previously featured as part of My San Diego.





If you would like to be featured on My San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com
If you have an idea for a story or would like to submit email cutchawrites@gmail.com

My San Diego: Guest Blogger/ Singer (and Songwriter) Mike Press found La Jolla in the east!

Mike Press (singer/songwriter)
Songwriter, rhythm guitar, drums and vocals

Currently living in Santee. The mayor (of Santee) told me it is the La Jolla of the east so I up and moved…

My San Diego is a day at the beach. San Diego is easy access to nature but still a city edgy enough to be artistically vibrant and inspiring. I think the fact that Tijuana is right down the street makes this place a fascinating cultural stew.

A little about Mike:
I am a stay at home dad by day and a musician by night. I write songs for myself and other singers who can’t write. I have lived in Boston, NYC, VT. , L.A. and now S.D. MY wife is a 1st grade teacher in Chula Vista. I don’t enjoy watching football. I have two daughters. Chicks Rule (me)! I play drums in the San Diego band The Bankhead Press

Mike has a new CD out called Keep Your Head. Find it on itunes.com, cdbaby.com, miles of music, M-theory and at http://www.mikepress.com/, www.myspace.com/mikepress

If you would like to be featured in My San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com

Guest Blogger/ Photographer James Duren does not live in the Bay Area (thank God, cause we like him here).

James Duren

Photographer

My San Diego is not the Bay area. It is not LA. It is not Sacramento, nor is it San Jose. It isn’t Napa Valley. It isn’t the Central Valley. It isn’t Imperial Valley.

My San Diego is the Golden State’s great anomaly.

Our city is spread across open land like change spread out and counted by kids ready to cash in on their allowance. L.A. is thick . San Francisco is crammed. San Diego stretches its arms as though it were waking from a nap.

There is a Little Mogadishu, but you won’t find it in Lonely Planet or Fodor’s. There are the intersections in City Heights where burkas and bunta are the standard fair. Apartments are cheap. Traditions are not. Diversity is king. Men stand in front of temples.

My San Diego is the peeling plastic on the corner of the place mat that sits underneath my sponge bread and seasoned chicken at the Red Sea in City Heights. It is the framed reprint of Haile Selassie. It is the sweet recognition of difference as we walk in the back door of this treasure, met by the unassuming glances of regulars.

There is a Little Italy that you’ll find in both Lonely Plant and Fodor’s. The burkas and bunta are replaced by Calvin Klein and cappuccinos. The apartments are expensive. Traditions are not. Diversity is fashion. Men stand in front of cafes.

My San Diego is the bitter crema drying on the inside of my tiny LeVazza mug, the remnants of a fine espresso. It is the framed photographs of a whimsical European cafés. It is the disarming recognition of friendship as we walk past the yellow house of the Pecoraros. Nic sits on the front porch and we are met by his unassuming glances.

There is the rustic swank of Coronado, separated from the bittersweet pallor of Imperial Beach by a lonely stretch of road; separated from the fierce and proud communities of South San Diego by an the elegant curve of the Coronado Bridge.

San Diego is also hurting. It’s Mogadishus and Darfurs are secrets. They are hidden in canyons. They are away from freeways. Its Vietnamese are not the Little Saigon's of other cities. If you don’t look carefully, all you will see is white.

My city is the Golden State’s great anomaly. It is a hidden city and a famous city. Its people are decidedly private and proudly public. Its colors are on pallets hidden from the tourist’s eye.

I love my people, my city.

James Duren tell us about himself:
Despite moving around a lot when I was younger, I have been a San Diego resident for over 16 years. I have had the opportunity to attend high school, college, and graduate school in San Diego. My favorite parts of town are Little Italy, La Jolla, and the Adams Ave. district. Aside from writing, I also run my own photography business called Beauty Truth Photography. As for literature, I love biographies and anything by Ernest Hemingway.

To get in touch with James you can email him: jamesduren@yahoo.com




If you would like to tell us about your San Diego email cutchawrites@gmail.com

My San Diego: Smooth, Sensual and Salty

Guest contributor Joseph Depuy, sensual and salty painter, tells us about his San Diego.

Joseph DePuy
Artist/Painter
Northwest Clairemont

My San Diego is sensual, smooth, and salty! What’s not to love about why most people reside here, that beautiful salty place we call the ocean, those lovely little salty snacks called Edamame we find in the sushi houses that line Convoy street, or running the trails of Rose Canyon that was occupied by American Indians and then Mexican ranchers, of course I get a little sweaty and salty.

I feel pretty smooth riding my old bike with limited brakes in the mossy water canals along the I-5 and watching Pelicans fly along the coastline in La Jolla, wow those birds are as smooth as butter, you know? What’s a day without going to the UCSD library, not only one of the most amazing examples of stunning architecture in the city, but also an on point art department where I do a lot of concept research.

Oh and sensual, Tacos of course. I love tacos T.J. style. Rolling over to Los Palmitos in Clairemont for some asada, or oh Tacos El Gordo in Chula Vista for cabeza, and the taco truck that's in Joes 99 cent store parking lot in Linda Vista for some delicious adobada, yum.

How about the sensual swing of the suspension bridge in Bankers Hill, I used to drink beers there when I was a kid, wait, retract that I still do sometimes. Incredible view and feel to that historic bridge. Finally the view from the Glider Port south of Torrey Pines. It has amazing trails, gliders and birds and occasional jets whipping by overhead, a great place to hang out without alot of people around. Really sensual, smooth, and salty!!!!!



Joseph DePuy is a self taught painter who spent five years traversing the globe working in the music industry. The exposure to such a wide variety of cultures had a huge impact on his art and inspired him to research and explore other cultures and ideas foreign to the west.

You can catch his work at the Oceanside Museum of Art Oma Regional 5 opening September 23 – November 11. (One of 20 San Diego artists selected by a distinguished panel of jurors!) or at the Brand 36 National Juried Exhibition in Glendale, opening October 6 – November 15.



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