Tuesday, February 17, 2026

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. 

After the show, I was too tired to drive home, and even though I couldn't stay with my cousin this time around, I was determined to van camp and do another day at the zoo. I'll spare you how I pulled it off, but I slept comfortably in a neighborhood, then kinda drove around exploring LA in the middle of the night, and then went up to Griffith Observatory when it opened at 5am, where I got some more sleep, got some work done, watched the sunrise, and cleaned up before heading to the zoo when it opened at 10am. For the record, parking is $10 an hour at the observatory AFTER 12pm. Free until then. The zoo parking is always free. Just thought I'd mention since Todd continuously compares SD to other unnamed big cities that charge for their large parks. 

I was so glad to go a second day. I don't know if it's new or if I didn't know before, but LA Zoo has public wi-fi, so it was a lot easier to get work done than in the past, though there are still definitely areas with no service. Anyhow, all three baby chimps were out and their moms were "presenting" them quite often. I can also just sit and watch the baby orangutan for hours on end, and his mom seemed content to let me. When the day was done, I dilly-dallied at their Costco before heading home. This is usually to let traffic die down, but it was still pretty intense until I was near Anaheim. I'm glad I made the trip, but was also pretty happy to come home and take a real shower. 

And then we had this holiday weekend. After a big breakfast at home, Darren and I spent Saturday afternoon driving out to Mount Laguna and being bird nerds. Sunday was very low-key...I kinda suckered him into repairing the roof of my van for the upcoming storm and then let him do the whole thing on his own, because I would've just micro-managed. And Monday we stayed home all day, preparing for an apartment inspection and the arrival of my new couch, both happening this week. So yeah. Good times. We watched a lot of pairs skating, curling, ski jumping, and speed skating. I wanted to publish this out so I can start my week fresh and recovered. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.  


Posted by Rosemary Bystrak at Tuesday, February 17, 2026
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