Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, May 7-Wednesday, May 13, 2026: Robert Lester Folsom | Gator By The Bay | Forester | Mrs Magician | Vincent Neil Emerson | El Ten Eleven | Avett Brothers & Mike Patton | Palmyra | Tyler Halverson |

Cousin Connie, Mama Rosie, Me, and Sister Christy at Gator 2015

Not gonna lie. I'm kinda feeling some FOMO this weekend. Back in the day, my family would all gather up our smugglers backpacks and beach chairs and head to Gator By The Bay. It was our Mother's Day tradition for many years, but that was back when comps flowed abundantly and if they didn't, tickets were like $20. We missed several years when my dad became too unhealthy to be left alone, and then one year lapse turned into two, three, four. Now we'd love to resume the tradition, and I understand the costs associated with throwing a festival of this size, but we are priced out. I hope everyone goes has a super great time and enjoys all the music, but we can't justify paying $400 for the family to just hear a couple zydeco bands. Maybe we'll just sit outside on the harbor. The cool thing is there are still plenty of other things to enjoy this weekend, from the Powwow at Balboa Park to the Viva La Musica festival at Seaworld that is included with admission. Plus, I'm gonna have to get some Darren time since he's been gone all week on his work trip. If you're planning on shows for the week, the Casbah's Thursday and Saturday shows are almost sold out, and Friday might sell out the night of the show, so get there early if you wanna pay at the door. Also, Plosivs tickets went on sale this week, and the tickets are almost gone. Grab them at the Casbah site. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, April 30-Wednesday, May 6, 2026: ADULT. | Thundersmack | Club Ascension 20 Year Anniversary | Beach Vacation | Crocodiles | Snail Mail | Mariachi El Bronx | Manic Hispanic | SPORTS |

I'm feeling my age these days. Whereas I usually can pull an all-nighter to get listings done, this week I had to get actual sleep and then woke up at the crack of dawn to get them done on Wednesday...which is a bit more challenging as I can get so distracted by the volume of email that pours in starting at 6am daily. But I turned on a LawCast, closed my email windows, and just got it done. I wanted to get max time at the zoo, but it actually just meant that I laid in bed for an hour and half trying to take a nap which never really came. So then Zoo and now I'm at the Casbah selling merch for King Tuff, which is always fun when he rolls through town and probably the third or fourth time I've sold for him. I have high hopes of getting to bed the second I get home because I have Thursday plans, but we'll see how that goes. I hope everyone has a really nice weekend, things seem pretty mellow at the moment and you'll get no complaints about that from me. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, April 23-Wednesday, April 29, 2026: Weird Nightmare | Matteo Lane | Book Crawl | ArtWalk | Adams Avenue Unplugged | Earth Day | Chicano Park Day | James Taylor | and more...

I'm no less exhausted today than yesterday, and I failed to plan ahead when doing these listings because I didn't realize just how many extra events were happening this weekend. So many festivals and earth day events and more. So I hope I got it all, because I did a keystroke that seems like maybe it deleted some work, but I just don't have it in me to double screen everything. Shoot me a dm if I'm missing something. In the meantime, I'll be working at Music Box on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. If I have it in me, I'm hoping to get some time in at Adams Avenue Unplugged and ArtWalk, in addition to my usual Zoo and SeaWorld time. We will see. Maybe I'll just sleep a whole lot. Whatever. It's good to be a San Diegan. And as of finishing this post, there were only 5 tickets left for Saturday night at the Casbah. Consider yourself warned. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Bits: SDMTS Approves Fare Increases | Parking Meters Continue To Infuriate | Citizens Outraged Over Budget Proposal | Coastal Commission Approves SeaWorld Drone Shows |

Sunset at San Elijo

I'm feeling a little discombobulated at the moment. I've been picking up some side hustle gigs, and it was tax day, and then my niece came down for a camping weekend for my sister's birthday, and in between camping nights, I took an extended trip to the alpaca ranch. I haven't been to the zoo since Thursday, which feels like a very long time for me, but I guess I needed some home time and spring cleaning and time to hang out with Darren instead of being on the go non-stop. Tonight I worked at SOMA for a couple hours, and later this week, I've got a few shows at Music Box, so I just really wanted to get this posted before I dive into this week's listings. 

I hope everyone is doing well, enjoyed the little sprinkles that dropped earlier on Tuesday night, and I'm gonna get on to the rest of my work. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, April 16-Wednesday, April 22, 2026: Twen | Pleasure Pill | Emo Nite | Olivver The Kid | Icepield | Langhorne Slim | Cypress Hill | Casbah Matinee | Kate Clover | The Pharcyde | ps goner |

Hazpaca Open Ranch is this weekend (Saturday Only)

I'm finally watching the latest season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu, and I know, it's so stupid and their lives are all a disaster, but what really has me fuming is the political ad that is running right now about "predatory billboard lawyers" and frivolous lawsuits. Of course, the ad is paid for by Uber, because they're pissed they continue to get sued. Darren was a driver. My friend Jeff is still a driver. But fuck if I don't hate Uber...and the "uberfication" of literally everything, from housing, to shopping, to vacation rentals. If you wanna look at where inflation really started increasing at a rapid clip, look no further than everything being sucked up by venture capitalists, gamified, and then fed back to us on Uber-like apps. It's gross. 

But we still have our independent venues selling tickets on fair ticketing platforms, so fuck-it, right? Go out to a show. Or to an Earth Day event (which will also take place next weekend). Or go meet my alpaca fam. Whatever you do, don't waste your time binging this terrible show...unless of course, it helps you zip through your work like it did for me:)

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. And Fuck Uber.

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, April 9-Wednesday, April 15, 2026: Weatherbox | FKA Twigs | Witch Face | miniaturized | Devotional | Colin Hay | SDMA Showcases | Habibi | The Messengers | Royel Otis | Dale Watson | Sutton James |

OB Cliff Walk at Sunset

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but tac day is right around the corner, so this is kinda your last weekend to get'em done if you haven't already. I say this, obvuously, because I have not and I'm stressing. But it will all be okay, not like I'm raking in the dough over here, but I plan to spend most of the weekend relaxing, including another Orca Yoga session at SeaWorld, which is kinda the best thing ever. I should actually be celebrating tax day, because Darren got a sweet little return and is buying me a new camera, so I can get back to shooting again, which I've really only done with my phone the past couple months. Neither here nor there. 

There are obviously a ton of great shows this week and plenty of fun things to do in San Diegoto occupy our time and our brains in these crazy ass times. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, April 2-Wednesday, April 8, 2026: Marshall Crenshaw | Pump Action | Wallice | Schizophonics | Saintseneca | NP Festival Of Beers | Bay Faction | Elise Trouw | H8BB | DAIISTAR | Pink Turns Blue | Casualties | Years Around The Sun |

Extended San Diego Zoo Hours end on Sunday, April 4

It's Easter weekend, which as a reformed Catholic means almost nothing to me, but it's also my parents' anniversary weekend which also means we just passed the anniversary of my sister-in-law dying from breast cancer and we're coming up on the anniversary of my dad's death, which happened two weeks after her passing. It's hard to believe it's been three years for both of them, and the whirlwind that came in the months before and after both. Everything is so different, I feel like a whole lifetime of change has come in the last few years, and yet there's also so much that feels exactly the same, as time ticks on. It's probably why I've grasped so hard to spending so much time among animals at the Zoo and SeaWorld: while some have passed, new babies are born, and animals transfer, there is so much comfort in their daily routines...the zoo itself as a living breathing organism that has to wake up every day, with animals that have to be fed every day, animals that only feel the rhythm of the day, of the year, of the change in seasons, the change in guests, adapting when it's slow days or insanely busy days, but their lives in general don't really care about all the outside noise of this crazy world. Makes sense that I feel so much peace there, a calm it can be hard to find when you watch the news or exist anywhere in this mad world. 

May you all have a great weekend, see some great music, enjoy a beerfest, celebrate Easter, or Ēostre, or Pascha or just that we live in this amazing place with endless opportunities to find peace. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.  

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, March 26-Wednesday, April 1, 2026: Girl In A Coma | Bad Cop Bad Cop | House of Heavy | Tiltwheel | Digable Planets | NO KINGS MARCHES | Creature Canyon | Charlie Parr | Sarah Kinsley |

I had planned to go on another camping trip with Darren and his work but the dates got pushed back and I have to work, so no camping for me after all. I'm a little disappointed, though with gas through the roof and my minor ear infection, maybe staying home in pajamas isn't the worst thing in the world. I'm currently following the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial in Massachusetts and there's nothing that will make you distrust the cops more than any Massachusetts case, though the problems seem to be rampant everywhere. If you haven't yet watched the Afroman trial, do yourself a favor and watch the actual trial beyond just the headlines. 

As far as music goes, there are some great shows in San Diego this week, plus Tara and Dean have officially taken over the bar across the street from my house, so maybe when I feel a little better, I'll pop over to High Seas Bar for a cocktail. 

Things are crazy out in the world, stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: Outta Control Ticket Prices | Rattlesnake Season | SD Lowering Speed Limits | SDZWA Gets Lease Extension | Beware Mosquitoes |

Darren is out of town and it's so funny because I cannot remember the last time I was home alone. He's traveled before but I don't think since Toby's been in college. It's strange, even though he's often asleep when I'm up working or writing or whatever anyway. I hope he's enjoying his trip to Ocotillo and that his students stay in line. In the meantime, I am looking forward to the weekend, mostly because I have zero plans whatsoever. That is a very nice feeling, to have literally no obligations or commitments and all of San Diego to explore should we feel inclined to do so.

I've been continuing to do these diary posts, with links that catch my attention, but obviously TFG is just so outta control it would be unhealthy to even try to summarize what garbage he wreaks upon us multiple times daily...if you want that kinda content, you should be following Heather Cox Richardson or Anne P Mitchell, especially in light of our local channels being sucked up by Nexstar (though illegally, I might add, and I suspect there could be litigation on it as the State has already sued). Nonetheless, you know our local Nexstar stations were already garbage, so maybe find something else anyway. I hope to make it to some NO KINGS events this weekend, but if not, I hope everyone stays super safe out there. Have fun if baseball Opening Day is your jam. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, March 19-Wednesday, March 25, 2026: Liz Cooper | Marissa Nadler | Emo Nite | Radium Dolls | The White Buffalo | Alex Bergan | Bre Kennedy | Jesse Welles | Serengeti | Redd Kross | PEACHES | The Third Mind |

Denny trying to keep cool during a winter San Diego heatwave

I was fully consumed by the Kouri Richins murder case on my LawTube for the past few weeks, so after she was convicted on all counts on Monday, it felt like I needed to decompress, even though I literally have nothing at all to do with any of it. I guess that's how people feel with sportsball and their favorite teams or something, but I was definitely invested since her arrest in 2023 and following the case through all the pretrial motions to the actual jury verdict. So that said, I feel like I was in a bit of a cocoon and can reemerge, just in time for Friday's vernal equinox. 

If you've been out of your house this week, you have certainly felt the Spring Break fever in the air. It feels like the whole country is being devastated by snowstorms, tornadoes, flooding, and they've all decided to escape to San Diego. The Zoo has been packed, SeaWorld has been bananas, every store feels busy, there is no "rush hour" on our freeways as they are just constantly congested. So here's my two cents: s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. Leave earlier when you've gotta be somewhere at some specific time. Load up your phone with podcasts or music or youtube that you love and put on your headphones and just chill out. Take a bus or a cab if parking is gonna stress you out. Get your shit done early mornings or later at night, when things aren't packed to the gills. If you're traveling, incorporate the extra hours on the road, parking, and getting through airports. Almost 400 TSA agents have quit because of the government shutdown, which we are fighting because we cannot concede more money to ICE, this orchestrated and illegal war on Iran, and supporting the chaos muppet in chief. So take a breath. We live in San Diego. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.