Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 30-Wednesday, December 6, 2023: Oh He Dead | Luna | Flor de Toloache | Mondo Cozmo | December Nights & Holiday Parades | Aterciopelados | Enanitos Verdes | Depeche Mode |

I love a good Santa. Free sitting with Santa at San Diego Zoo (Taken 11.25.23)

I didn't get a chance to do all of the holiday events on a separate page as I've done in the past, but there's a ton of holiday stuff, tree lightings, parades and more, in addition to the Christmas Celebration at Sea World, Wild Holidays at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Jungle Bells at the San Diego Zoo, A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place, Lightscape at San Diego Botanic Garden, and all the different ice rinks. There's a pretty good assortment of holiday stuff listed here. 

I'm super into the holidays, but I also kind of get anxiety spirals. Like, just starting my listings on Tuesday had me kinda freaking out about how I'm gonna get them done in a couple weeks while I'm traveling. I went ahead and got a new camera and a new laptop, so now I'll have to figure out how to get all my stuff from here onto there and get that all set up. Not looking forward to that at all. But, when I can rein it all in, take a minute to breathe, I get excited. I've stocked up on hot cocoa and apple cider packets, I've pulled out all my beanies and mittens, and all my Christmas gear is ready to be worn. I'll be working for Mondo Cozmo on Friday night, but I should still have plenty of time to check out December Nights, and I'll probably try and get to the Alpaca ranch on Sunday, and sometime between I'll probably get a Christmas tree, too. I also have to plan a day to get my COVID vaccine before my trip, but I don't really have a full day to be knocked out, so I'll have to keep that in consideration. 

In the meantime, have a great week and stay safe out there.  

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: San Diego America's Most Expensive City and other rankings | Order More Free COVID Tests | Thanksgiving Most Dangerous Holiday For US Roadways |

 

Schmidt's Red-Tailed Family. Mom BB, Daughter Jenga, and Baby
(Born 11.11.23; taken 11.22.23 in Ituri Forest, San Diego Zoo)

A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that I haven't done a diary post in awhile. There are a ton of reasons for that. As I've said, my laptop is maybe on it's last legs, so it gets really hot and the fan doesn't kick on, so I have to take frequent breaks and it really messes up my thoughtflow. I've also been posting more on socials, which is probably a bad idea in a long-term historical context of the snapshot of my life, but sometimes it's just easier when I'm sitting with monkeys or gorillas or orangutans, or sitting on my patio at night in the cold, to just bust out my phone than my laptop. (Follow me on Instagram & Youtube). I've still been collecting links, as you'll see below, these span over a month and a half, and really the impetus to post came more from cleaning out my email inbox over the holiday weekend. I'm also working a show at Music Box and it's been slightly awkward...I didn't even have their register logged in until I'd already been here two hours. They're now taking the stage and I've sold 4 things all night. I'm sure that will pick up when they're done. 

Things have been good, overall. I'm working a lot and that's gonna maybe slow down in December, but January will be insane for Casbah's 35 Year Anniversary. I try to go to the Zoo every day, though I mix it up on occasion with Sea World or Safari Park. In fact, I talked my family - the kid, my mom, sister, and nieces - to go to Safari Park for Thanksgiving, which turned out to be a great idea, even if we really didn't do much walking or animal watching. Mostly we just sat and had a big charcuterie lunch and talked and mocked and it was kinda perfect. Darren joined us for his lunch break, and after we all left the park, reconvened at my mom's for the actual Thanksgiving hodge-podge dinner. Toby had strep throat all week, but we got him antibiotics so he was fine enough to partake in the activities. While he was sick, I was spending full days at the Zoo just to give him the run of the house and then I'd come home and wipe everything down with disinfecting wipes for good measure. 

I've always been a little notorious among my friends and family for breaking things and not just that, but everything all at once. So besides spending hours moving photo files off this laptop in case it does finally go caput, in the past couple months I also cracked my phone, got in a small car collision, and then my camera broke beyond repair when my backpack got soaked in rain when I worked at Quartyard last weekend. I ordered a new camera, which arrived today, and I probably should've taken advantage of Black Friday for a new phone and laptop, but I'm still recovering from the huge amount we spent on a rebuilt transmission for the van, so I'll keep my eye out and hopefully can work enough to offset a new phone before January. In spite of all that. things are pretty great. It's all just stuff, right?

II hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm gonna enjoy this weekend, but I'm so ready for Christmas. Wild Holidays has already begun at Safari Park, Christmas Celebration at Sea World is super festive, and the San Diego Zoo has Jungle Bells starting on December 9th (but extended hours have already started on select dates.)  The alpaca ranch I've been visiting, HazPaca, is having a holiday market the same weekend as December Nights, so maybe I can find a way to do both. I'm also traveling in December with my mom and sister and nieces, so I'm looking forward to going to a new place and seeing new sights for a few days. You know I'm already digging out all my Christmas gear I've bought on clearance over the past few years and can't wait for cold and rain and maybe even snow this year. On the other hand, Strep, Pneumonia, COVID, RSV, Influenza are all circulating. Stay safe and healthy out there. 

Love you all. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, November 24-Wednesday, November 29: FEAR | Pleasure Pill | Capyac | We Are Scientists | Stevie Nics | John Waters | Spectre Jones |

Oh my goodness. I completely forgot that I was supposed to do listings on Thanksgiving but we all went to Safari Park and then did the family thing at my mom's and I never got around to it. So now it's almost 4 and I'm only get an hour in at the zoo. So I gotta scram. Listings after the jump. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 16-Thursday, November 23, 2024: The Ocean Blue | Durand Jones | Wild Nothing | The Japanese House | The Linda Lindas | Echo & The Bunnymen | Maná | black midi |

Me & The Ocean Blue at November 16, 2019

The Ocean Blue are playing the Casbah on Thursday night and to find a photo for my header, I looked back in my archives to see the last time they played. I also sold merch for them back then, and it was NOVEMBER 16, 2019!!! Exactly 4 years ago. So weird. Maybe that is planned, maybe they carbon copied their old tour and were just like, "Book it again! That went great for us!" but it's kind of a trip, no? It was an entire PANDEMIC ago. A whole different lifetime ago, it feels, in a way.

So it rained a lot of the day on Wednesday, I had a great zoo day, and though I was too late to see the gorilla boys, it was pretty empty and I sat with Aisha for nearly two hours undisturbed because she sat by me against the glass, pulling her burlap sack over her and just kinda hiding from passers by and the rain, like a little secret between us while I did my work. Darren came in the afternoon and it was nice to walk around in the rain, visiting some of our favorites. We then went to Toby's first pep band performance of the year during a girls varsity basketball game. I will admit I was digging through my photo archives a bit and it is so easy to get sidetracked, so now it's after midnight, I got a glimpse of my raccoon on the roof for a little bit, and now I'm ready to wrap it up, set these things to post in the morning and get some sleep. 

The weekend looks pretty chill for me, I have to work at the WIld Nothing show on Friday, but hopefully the rain takes a break or we could have to cancel the show...Quartyard isn't really safe to have an outdoor show in heavy rain. We'll see. If you have tickets, check Casbah's Instagram for updates. 

And we're also staring down Thanksgiving, just a week away. Darren will be working, so maybe I'll drag the kid up to the park for a few hours before we convene at my Mom's for a family gathering, our first without Dad. There are a million shows this weekend before the holiday, too, and I was really thinking this would all be in a diary post and not the listings, but at this moment in my life, time feels a little extra precious so laptopping just isn't top priority. Maybe I'll find that groove again. 

For now, listings are after the jump. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 9-Wednesday, November 15, 2023: Noah Gunderson | Joy Oladokun | Deap Vally | Small Black | Frenship | Soda Bar 15 Year Anniversary | Devo | Sun Kil Moon | The National |

I was tired of using the same stage photo week after week, since I haven't done any diary posts in a minute to separate posts, so this week you get this beautiful alpaca. I know the listings are mostly about music, but I'm being a little bitchy because I didn't get approved for a photo pass for The National, so instead of digging through my archives from one of the more than DOZEN times I've shot them to use for my for my header shot, I'm sharing this sweet alpaca from Hazard Alpacas, who are having their FREE monthly open ranch on Saturday. If everything goes according to plan, I'll hit the zoo in the morning and go to the alpaca ranch in the afternoon, then get back in time to see The National, without my camera. Or maybe I'll bring a point and shoot? I dunno. (By the way, if you haven't read this, do it NOW. Getting older, with — or without? — The National - NPR Music, 10.14.23)

Anyhow, I've been really focusing on having only good days, but I'm a little run down at the moment. I had Tim's 70th birthday on Sunday which was amazing, but let's face it, whenever Tim is involved, the tequila is flowing, so a hungover Monday wasn't the best way to start the week. I've been trying to do bursts of work in the mornings, maintenance while I'm at the zoo in the afternoons, and then family and work and everything else in the evenings. Darren and I went to see The New Pornographers at Music Box on Tuesday, for example, but after I ended up staying up till 5am on Wednesday morning doing these listings, knowing I wouldn't get them done on Wednesday night because I was working for Altın Gün and I still wanted actual sleep, had to do actual work, and still wanted to get some afternoon outdoor time in my day. Anyway, there's always *stuff* and I'm trying to manage but the longer I write this, the less sleep I'm getting. So I'll just say, there is a ton of stuff happening this weekend. Like, it's bonkers. And a ton of it is already sold out. Still, let me know if I missed anything. On top of everything, the Casbah had another week where we announced like a dozen new shows, so take a look and make sure to buy tickets early because all the January stuff is selling out within minutes or hours of going on sale. 35 years is a big deal. I'm looking forward to being a part of it. But I'm already exhausted thinking about it. And speaking of anniversaries, happy 15th to everyone at Soda Bar. What an amazing run it's been and it's getting better all the time. I may not go to shows like I used to, but I love knowing I live walking distance from such a kick ass spot and am proud to occasionally be one of the crew.  

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 2-Wednesday, November 8, 2023: Palehound | Monophonics | Delicate Steve | GIrl Ray | A Wilhelm Scream | Black Joe Lewis | MarchFourth | The New Pornographers | DURRY | Liz Phair | Helena Deland | Be Your Own Pet |

I had this crazy thought that if I did merch on Wednesday night, I'd sit there with my laptop and get listings done. Alas, besides actually selling merch, and going through a billion emails that are coming through (because I'm supposed to really ramp up my marketing for your show in February, even though we literally have at least 100 other shows between now and your date) I just couldn't. So that meant coming home and watching an Emily D Baker stream from last week while I got listings done. Which means it's now 4:30am and I'm exhausted and I'm gonna be pissed if I don't get up in time to see my primate pals, complicated by the fact that the van is back in the shop because that rebuilt transmission we got is giving us trouble (but thankfully all the work is under warranty and I can just catch the bus to the Zoo.) So, I don't expect I'll be updating these listings unless I find something super cool that I can't believe I missed. Otherwise, have a great weekend and if you're not subscribed to the Casbah newsletter, please go do that here (on the desktop site, it's in the top right of the page. On mobile, it's at the bottom after all the events) because we're making some massive announcements for our 35 year anniversary in the coming weeks and you don't want to miss presales and your chances to get your tickets to the ones that are definitely going to sell out fast.