Rosey's Diary and Newsy Things: SDMA Winners | Nighttime Zoo | R.I.P. Paul-Donn | SeaWorld Reopens Shark Encounter, Dolphin Stadium, Kicks Off Drone Shows | Living in Kleptocracy |

 

Paul-Donn at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 12.26.25)

If I'm being honest, I have controlled and fixed my notifications and algorithms so much that I didn't know anything about the shooting at the Islamic Center until several hours after it happened. So I'm making the choice not to post any links about that story in this latest news roundup. Not because I don't care or because I don't want to acknowledge the tragic loss of life at the hands of radical incel-adjacent shitheads, but the links are everywhere and the discussion about it is super triggering and angering. I'm sure you've read every detail that is known and many that are unknown and I just don't have the bandwidth for it. I'm trying to live in La La Land these days. The election, the City and County budget wars, the abject corruption by TFG, and the many wild things going on in LawTube...it's enough to make anyone crazy. So yeah. I'm soaking in a lot of zoo and SeaWorld time, I spent Tuesday doing work (namely, these listings) and then going to Safari Park, and exploring North County, since I was already up there. I even went to Oceanside Harbor to see their sea lions, and I can't believe I've never explored that whole area north of the pier. So this post is short, even though I haven't really posted a diary in a couple weeks. I'm trying my best to be out living and off the laptop. I recommend the same for you. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, May 14-Wednesday, May 20, 2026: Holy F | St. Lucia | Emo Nite | P!NK | Daikaju | Electric Six | Ben Folds | Bob Log III & Strange Vine | Echo & The Bunnymen | Alex G | Babes In Canyon | Yumi Zouma |

Road Shadows at Palomar Observatory (5.13.26)

I tried to bust out of town this week, so listings were done on Monday. So I'm sorry if I missed anything. May is super busy...we had a great Mother's Day having a picnic at Liberty Station, my niece is coming home from college, plus lots of end of the school year stuff for lots of people in my family so things feel extra hectic, and all I wanna do is get 10 hours of sleep a night and spend my days among the animals. So yeah. But listings are done and I'm super proud. But also, the Casbah is crazy busy and we've announced like a dozen shows this week, so go take a gander and grab your tickets to some great summer shows that won't leave you bankrupt or taking out loans. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

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.