Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, February 19-Wednesday, February 25, 2026: Benefit for Soda Bar Dave | Sudan Archives | Cold Cave | rum.gold | Rebirth Brass Band | Steve Poltz | Tim Lowman Celebration of Life | SDMA Nominee Announcement Show | Noeline Hoffman |

There's so much to pack in this week and weekend, no matter what the weather may bring, but I thought I'd highlight the benefit for Dave Castaneda at Soda Bar on Thursday night. Times of San Diego did a nice little article about it, but Dave's been a good friend for a long time, and though I'll be working at Music Box, if you can make it out to support this benefit, I know he'll be super appreciative. He is fine, by the way, but his apartment with all of his things in it, flooded and was condemned, leaving all of his possessions inaccessible. 

This weekend is also the public Celebration of Life for Tim Lowman on Sunday at the Bali Hai. If you plan on attending, please RSVP first so they can have some estimate of how many guests to expect. Please also mind the schedule: Doors will open at 3:00 PM, allowing time for guests to arrive, connect, and spend time together. Formal programming—including remarks, tributes, and special moments of remembrance—will begin at 4:30 PM. 

Additionally, there's a bunch of Lunar New Year events, it's Hazpaca Open Ranch, and there is probably gonna be some snow in the local and near mountains. 

I've got lots of stuff on the agenda, but still hope to take in some more Winter Olympics at home with MY NEW COUCH! which finally arrived after waiting for it all day Wednesday. I love it, I'm so happy with my purchase, it's changed my whole work vibe on the couch. 

Stay safe out there...flu is on the rise so get your vax if you haven't already!! Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: San Diego Chases Bad Ideas With Worse | Paid Parking Installed Along ECB, Adams, More | Will Our Police Protect Us From ICE? | Rady's Gender Clinic Must Continue Care |

I mentioned that I had a pretty great week last week. After seeing Dan Mangan and Israel Nebeker (Blind Pilot) at Soda Bar on Sunday, I couldn't get their songs out of my head, which gave me the perfect excuse to go to LA. When it was raining on Wednesday morning, I thought it a great sign to drive up to spend the day at the LA Zoo, figuring the rain would drive down crowds. I was correct in my assessment and had an amazing day with the orangutans and chimps, and a little bit of time with the gorillas, too, but they spend most of their time along the rear wall of their habitat, so I didn't stay long. After the zoo closed, I freshened up and changed and made my way to Moroccan Lounge for the show, which was extra magical and my first time at that venue. You can read all the rest, after the jump. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, February 12-Wednesday, February 18, 2026: Blackwater Holylight | ALO | Los Yesterdays | The Loons | Squirrel Nut Zippers | DENM | Heartbreaker's Ball | Valentine's Day | Mardi Gras | Cat Power |

Another edition of Rosey gets a wild hair. I spent the rainy morning of Wednesday driving to LA to spend the day at the zoo, and now find myself writing this from The Moroccan Lounge to see Dan Mangan and Israel Nebeker again. Their show on Sunday at Soda Bar was incredible and I knew there was a good chance I could just grab a ticket at the door. I don't exactly have a plan after... drive home, grab a hotel, sleep in the van and maybe return to the Zoo on Thursday... all up in the air. 

It was a good week... Darren and I made a rare appearance out for Shame at the Casbah (thanks to sddi reader Bill for the drinks!) I got to spend plenty of time between Seaworld and San Diego Zoo... in fact we watched the Bad Bunny Bowl at High Tide Brewery at Seaworld among an international representation of  Bad Bunny fans, which was pretty incredible. Then like I said, I went to Soda Bar to round out the weekend.  Not gonna lie, my body wanted to quit on me until I refreshed with more sleep in a day than I usually clock in a whole week. And so here we are. I hope everyone has a really great week... lots of fun shows to catch along with Mardi Gras and Lunar New Year events. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.

I'll reformat in the morning. (As I reformat, I'll tell you I opted for sleeping in my van and then hitting Griffith Observatory as soon as the road and bathrooms opened at 5am in the morning. Super cool. I can't believe I've never been up here before. But now I'm gonna get a little more sleep before the sun makes that impossible in my van. It's kind of insane how fast people drive on the road to get up here!)

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, February 5-Wednesday, February 11, 2026: shame | Cayucas | Stephen Brodsky | Fat, Evil Children | Say She She | Emo Night Karoake | Styletones | Rural Alberta Advantage | Dan Mangan & Israel Nebeker |

New Lionfish at Seaworld in the Bay Aquarium

The passage of time these days seems to be marked by whatever fucked up crazy thing this administration will do next or finding out another friend has passed. While we lost constant contact, there was a time when Nick BK and I spoke on the phone every day. He seemed to be doing well and I don't know the circumstances of his passing, but my condolences to his friends, of which he had many. 

I have been so busy this week, which I seem to only make worse for myself with my horrible sleep patterns and my inability to focus on one goal or task at a time, so I think of 800 things I need to do and brilliant ideas between the hours of 11pm and 5am, and by the time I could actually do or execute anything, I'm trying to listen to some rando sleep hypnosis video on YouTube. So, we'll see where I land, but I'm hoping to go to the shame show on Thursday, I'll be working for Rural Alberta Advantage on Saturday, and then probably watching the game on Sunday since Darren has made us a Bad Bunny loving household, and then Soda Bar has an amazing show that night with Dan Mangan and Israel Nebeker which I hope to catch. 

So yeah, the wheels keep on turning, TFG isn't dead yet, and everything is awesome and sucks all at the same time. Touch grass, go see the sea lion colony in La Jolla, watch the whales migrating, marvel at the new Lionfish at Seaworld, or sit with orangutans and gorillas at the Zoo. Our time is limited. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 29-Wednesday, February 4, 2026: The Album Leaf | Snooper | Mayrig | The Antlers | Tropical Fuck Storm | JD Simo | Andy Frasco | The Black Heart Procession | Triptides |

Axolotl at Sea World (taken 1.28.26) 

Man, I got so fired up about San Diego politics today, that I almost forgot I actually have to finish off my listings with a little verbal vomit and actually hit publish. So here's the news: the San Diego City Council Rules Committee didn't move to council items repealing paid parking on Sundays in Balboa Park (though Raul Campillo tried to expand the repeal to ALL DAYS-- way to go, My Guy!) nor did they move the tax on STRP and empty whole-homes. What a bunch of spineless creeps. Then today I got home to a letter that they're adding 2 and 4 hour parking meters in Normal Heights, Talmadge-Kensington, and City Heights that will be active 8am-8pm. WHAT THE ACTUAL? You guys. Don't believe what your own eyes are seeing. While in Chicago, practically everything was paid parking, but there was COMPETITION, three competing apps that you could choose spots by proximity and price, and all the housing had parking garage options. TG wants this to be a big City, but can't get out of his own way to make it worthy. So yeah. I'm grumpy. As if everything across the country isn't already rage-inducing, we have our own City turning against us. Which is actually hilarious if you recall the article that Todd's own security detail was chaufferring him around and parking in red zones. The hypocrisy is staggering. 

Get out and enjoy some music. Parking on Kettner by the Casbah is still free, for now, and you can park in yellow spots after 6. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.  

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: How's PAID PARKING going? NOT FUCKING WELL. | SD Identifies Most Dangerous Intersections | Keep Waymo Out Of San Diego | ICE Murders Need To Stop |

Maned Wolf Cora and a pup (Taken 1.23.26)

In case you missed it while you were trying to celebrate the New Year, the CDC switched up vaccine schedules for infants, children, and adolescents, and in case you missed it, because you were watching ICE attack, beat, shoot, and kill unarmed people, the County and other counties and the State of California all clapped back. 

It's crazy that I wrote the above maybe two weeks ago, and now we have another murder by ICE and the country is reeling, but there are rumors on the internet that they are being pulled back from Minneapolis under immense public pressure (and everyone seeing with their own eyes what happened), so hopefully that's true...though if they're just getting reshuffled and redeployed to other municipalities, including here in San Diego, we need to be ready. I know there's a lot of news happening and I just don't have it in me to collect all the many links of all the terrible things, but I need to get this one up before I get around to listings this week, so click away as you see fit. Or just watch a murder trial on YouTube, because while murder is vile and disturbing, somehow watching a trial can be an escape from all of the really fucking awful things happening around us. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 22-Wednesday, January 28, 2026: Pinback | JMSN | Monster Rally | Shannon Shaw | Wand | Inspector | Steve Gunn | The Dimes | Madison Cunningham | Hannah Juanita |

Dinner at Pizano's in Chicago on 1.17.26

I mentioned I was going on a trip. So now I'm back from Chicago, still will my unpacked bag and piles of the stuff I wanted to take but had to cull from the load. As it is, I ended up buying a new suitcase while I was there because a backpack and a tote are just not big enough to carry enough clothes to stay warm in 8°. If you watched the sportsball game on Sunday, you saw how cold it was. We stayed about 2 miles from the stadium. I went with my mom, my sister, and my nieces, and while a super fun trip, I don't really get a lot of say when they booked and covered our flights, rental car, and accommodations, but at least this time we got some deep dish, and we found a little market that had some nice local beer selections, so we had fun getting buzzed in the room. My uncle drove out from South Bend and stayed with us Saturday, then we all caravanned on Sunday to meet one of my cousin's for dinner before the snow picked up and got back in time to watch the 2nd half. On Monday, we had to check out and we decided to leave our luggage at the hotel until our evening flight, so that's when I made the call that I would bail from the group while they went shopping and to lunch, and instead walked along the frigid Lake Michigan from our hotel to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I'm so glad I did. Everyone told me it was small and made it sound horrifying, but I thought it was beautiful and offered quiet and peaceful spaces for the animals when it's beyond freezing outside. I spent most of my time with the two gorilla troops and the chimps, but did venture to other parts of the zoo briefly. With their indoor habitats, it was definitely better than going in and out of overheated stores to the freezing outside on repeat. I hope to get back there again. 

In the meantime, I haven't fully caught up with life, but I was able to blast out the listings for the week. 

Stay safe (and warm) out there. There are far too many credible reports that the Not-Sees of ICE are surging in San Diego this week and going forward. Please be safe, watch out for your neighbors, and ALWAYS bear witness by FILMING HORIZONTAL if you see something unlawful, unjust, or uncomfortable. Know your rights. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 15-Wednesday, January 21, 2026: Lion Cut | Emo Nite | Braxton Cook | Leavers | Mariachi El Bronx | Eric Hutchinson | Hauntu | City Of The Sun | Pinback | Fuzz |

Maned Wolf (first-time mom) Cora Carries one of her three pups in her mouth to orient it to the habitat at San Diego Zoo. (1.12.26)

I'm a little glad it's a bit of the slow time of year because listings don't take me quite as long these days so I have more time to read all the things about how paid parking at Balboa Park is backfiring spectacularly (as I said it would in three separate City Council meetings), more time to watch all my LawTube which seems to be exploding with cases...turns out I'm super fascinated (and terrified) by government and police corruption, insecure men who can't handle their feelings and m* their intimate partners, and the intersection of those two. I went to Seaworld last weekend for Inside Look and if you have an annual pass, I encourage you to take advantage this weekend. It's my favorite SW weekend of the year, as you get behind the scenes keeper talks, you can watch an Orca training session, and just get to see all the animal husbandry stuff that is normally hidden from view. I won't be able to go again, however, because I have a short little jaunt that I'll tell you all about next time you hear from me. Until then, stay super safe out there. Shit its bonkers. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 8-Wednesday, January 14, 2025: Bowie Birthday | Band Argument | Laser Disco Drum Orgy | RJD2 | Adolescents | Weatherbox | Jim Ward | The Dimes | Odessa Kane |

Now that the kid is back in school and Darren is back at work, I thought I'd be chillin hard at home alone. But I thought wrong. The ADUs being constructed next door are almost done, but their crew shows up at 6:30 every morning and by 7 is in full blown construction noise along with the project manager parking his monster truck and blaring the radio to the construction site...like 12 feet from my pillow. So I've been trying to go to bed earlier so I can handle the early wakeups. On Tuesday, I was up so early I decided I would just drive to LA to get to the zoo before they opened. Wednesday I was up early again and went to Cabrillo Monument before going to the zoo. Now it's approaching 1am and I think I might actually be tired enough to sleep and listings are done before 4am. 

The whole world is going fucking insane right now, We are seriously living in Gilead. Find something that brings you joy. For me, it was seeing those baby apes in LA. Maybe I'll hit the free Bowie party on Thursday night at the Casbah. Find joy wherever you can. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, January 2-Wednesday, January 7, 2026: Starcrawler & Plague Vendor | Java Joes Reunion Show | Swami Sound System | Poncho Sanchez | The Devastators | Duran Duran | Back To The Garden |

So I didn't post listings on Thursday since I'd included it on last week's events. And then I went to the Zoo bright and shiny in the morning on New Year's Day for several hours, then I went home and coerced Darren and Toby to stack in the van to go to Seaworld so we could watch the Holiday Bowl Marching Bands and Cheer Squads in a little band battle. It was the cutest nerdiest thing and we loved it. After it ended, we stayed at the park for a couple more hours and then I was wiped out, so I slept. But I knew I had work to do, so I prioritized my work newsletter before getting to the listings, even though I usually publish these earlier. Whatever. So I'm an hour late. I gotta be honest, I was tempted to make 2026 the year I just throw in the towel and stop listings altogether...there are so many other places to find such things nowadays, but I guess my need-to-know won out and so this week, we carry on. 

For anyone wondering, I've been told that there are two memorials for Tim Lowman being coordinated with his family, so hang tight and give a minute for everyone to take a breath...it was a devastating way to end 2025 and dampened any kind of celebratory yearning for hope going into 2026. So let's all take a breath. We can mourn the losses and hardships of 2025, while also trying to appreciate what we have and find all the reasons to put one foot in front of the other as we move into 2026. 

I love you all. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.