Nov 19st, '00
I wanted to go to the Rockwell exhibit at Balboa Park, but it didn't work out. So I took some pictures of roses and then went to the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon. I'm not making this up.
The plan was that I would go to the San Diego Museum of Art at 10:00 and then head over to El Cajon for the parade at 12:00. They usually herd people through the special exhibits rather rapidly, so figured I'd have plenty of time.
But when I got there I found out that you had to buy tickets ahead of time. Poop. I could have bought a ticket for that day, but I decided I didn't have time to wait around and still make it to the parade. If you get to those events late you can't find any parking. So with an hour or so to kill I decided to wander around Balboa Park and take some pictures.
Yes, I know I already have 50 pictures from the park here, but I wanted to at least pretend I was doing something productive.
The architecture here sure is impressive..... Until you learn that it's all just molded plaster. Still impressive I guess.
Balboa Park is one of those places that just makes you feel good about living in San Diego. Every time I'm here I end up thinking about how incredible it is. The idea that in the dead of winter I can come down here in shorts and wander around 20 museums or see a live organ concert just blows me away.
I passed on all of the museums this time, although the bear display at the Natural History Museum sounded like fun.
I thought this would be a cool picture of the Botanical museum seen through the columns, but when I got home I noticed that some asswipe had tagged the column.
What the hell is this for? Does this individual want everyone to know that he's a jerk? I don't get it. I mean, I'd like to get it, but I can't think of any reason for this. If he's an anarchist who just wants to run against the grain then this seems like a rather pathetic outlet. Is he looking for notoriety? Is he just bored? No one knows who this loser is. No one cares except for people who (like me) want to punch him.
Even taken at a discordian level this is dumb. It's not destructive. It's not entertaining. And it's not creative. Can someone explain to me how this is anything other than stupid? I want to understand.
Whatever......
Since you can see this tower from all around San Diego, and I have it poking up in the background of many other pictures here, I thought you might like a closer look. It houses a museum with a rather scattered anthropological theme.
Peeking through the trees over on the right you can just barely see the Old Globe Theatre. I still haven't been there to see something. I need to go. Just so I can stop saying I've never been there. I don't like plays though. Sort of a catch-22. We'll see.
I spent lots of time at the cactus and rose gardens.
Off topic: Did you know that the domain name "hangingchads.com" is already taken? This is a rather clear sign that the domain name system is going to crash and burn soon. And ICANN's new proposal is about the worst thing they could have come up with. I predict a breakdown of civilization and rioting in the streets.
The colors where really nice yesterday.
Of course since I'm a Photoshop guru I could make them look like anything I wanted. I get a lot of comments from people mentioning how wonderful the pictures are. I hope you all know that I tweak these quite a bit before I put them up. In other words, the sky wasn't quite that blue and the cactus wasn't quite that green.
The flowers were that shade of purple however.
I took lots of close ups of the roses. I was frankly rather shocked that the roses were still blooming since it's been so cold here. The lows have been in the 40's for the last week. Burr!
Here's another rose picture.
As my sister chastises me for pointing out the relative temperature gradient between Montana and San Diego, and my girlfriend languishes in the frigid wasteland of Wisconsin (I'm kidding!), I am once again thankful that I can drive down to Balboa Park at any time and stand in a two acre garden filled with blooming roses.
I understand that people get tired and irritated when I go on about how nice it is here, but then at the same time they're always asking me how the weather is.
Yes, perhaps it is just a rhetorical question and I'm not suppose to go on and on about it. But the fact remains that San Diego kicks ass, and I don't think I'm going to feel bad about enjoying it, even as obnoxious as I am on this topic.
Hey, that's a nice picture. I need to remember that the little "click to enlarge" text takes up the bottom third of the picture. I guess I should center things a little higher. I can tell that everyone is really aggravated by that. I have no idea where I'm going with this. Clearly I'm rambling and I need more coffee. And make a blueberry scone. And some yogurt. But I digress......
Okay, here was the best part of the Mother Goose Parade. These folks where doing a precision marching drill with garbage bins. I missed them doing the actual razzle-dazzle thing. At this point I'm sure you're picking up on the idea that I'm not a big fan of local parades. I keep forgetting that. The constant rotation of horses, bands, and old cars quickly grows monotonous.
And don't even get me started on the 2500 freakin' Shriners they always have. I'm sure these guys do really good things for kids, but having to sit through 45 minutes of boring clowns is not fun. It's torture! I wanted to scream and run away.
It would be so much better if they had more creativity like these dumpster folks.
As I attempted to take a picture of the parade queen this Quasimodo looking person was nice enough to walk in front of the camera and give me a big smile.
"Oh ya Sparky. That's what I wanted, a picture of a sweat stained troll. GET OUTA THE FREAKIN WAY!!!!!!"
Do you suppose there is a fierce competition for "Mother Goose Parade Queen"? Or do they just sort of draw straws? Whatever.....
See? Mother Goose Parade. And you thought I was making it all up. For some reason the parade started about an hour after it was scheduled to. Which led to me getting a rosy sunburn on my legs.
So I'm sitting on the curb in El Cajon, a place I normally wouldn't visit on a dare, waiting in the 80 degree heat for the Mother Goose Parade. And I'm thinking, "Jon..... Getting out of the apartment is good, but dude......"
See? That's what I'm talkin about. Well...... I can now mark the following items off my "need to do list": 1) See the Mother Goose Parade, 2) Visit downtown El Cajon, and 3) Watch a chunky woman dressed in fake flowers ride down main street in a miniature carriage.
I also went to DZ Akins for lunch. Highly recommended. Yes it's crowded and cramped, But the food was really good. And the menu was incredible. The waitress actually spent some time talking to me about Linux computing. slightly surreal I guess, but yummy.
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