Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 29-Wednesday, February 4, 2026: The Album Leaf | Snooper | Mayrig | The Antlers | Tropical Fuck Storm | JD Simo | Andy Frasco | The Black Heart Procession | Triptides |

Axolotl at Sea World (taken 1.28.26) 

Man, I got so fired up about San Diego politics today, that I almost forgot I actually have to finish off my listings with a little verbal vomit and actually hit publish. So here's the news: the San Diego City Council Rules Committee didn't move to council items repealing paid parking on Sundays in Balboa Park (though Raul Campillo tried to expand the repeal to ALL DAYS-- way to go, My Guy!) nor did they move the tax on STRP and empty whole-homes. What a bunch of spineless creeps. Then today I got home to a letter that they're adding 2 and 4 hour parking meters in Normal Heights, Talmadge-Kensington, and City Heights that will be active 8am-8pm. WHAT THE ACTUAL? You guys. Don't believe what your own eyes are seeing. While in Chicago, practically everything was paid parking, but there was COMPETITION, three competing apps that you could choose spots by proximity and price, and all the housing had parking garage options. TG wants this to be a big City, but can't get out of his own way to make it worthy. So yeah. I'm grumpy. As if everything across the country isn't already rage-inducing, we have our own City turning against us. Which is actually hilarious if you recall the article that Todd's own security detail was chaufferring him around and parking in red zones. The hypocrisy is staggering. 

Get out and enjoy some music. Parking on Kettner by the Casbah is still free, for now, and you can park in yellow spots after 6. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.  

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: How's PAID PARKING going? NOT FUCKING WELL. | SD Identifies Most Dangerous Intersections | Keep Waymo Out Of San Diego | ICE Murders Need To Stop |

Maned Wolf Cora and a pup (Taken 1.23.26)

In case you missed it while you were trying to celebrate the New Year, the CDC switched up vaccine schedules for infants, children, and adolescents, and in case you missed it, because you were watching ICE attack, beat, shoot, and kill unarmed people, the County and other counties and the State of California all clapped back. 

It's crazy that I wrote the above maybe two weeks ago, and now we have another murder by ICE and the country is reeling, but there are rumors on the internet that they are being pulled back from Minneapolis under immense public pressure (and everyone seeing with their own eyes what happened), so hopefully that's true...though if they're just getting reshuffled and redeployed to other municipalities, including here in San Diego, we need to be ready. I know there's a lot of news happening and I just don't have it in me to collect all the many links of all the terrible things, but I need to get this one up before I get around to listings this week, so click away as you see fit. Or just watch a murder trial on YouTube, because while murder is vile and disturbing, somehow watching a trial can be an escape from all of the really fucking awful things happening around us. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 22-Wednesday, January 28, 2026: Pinback | JMSN | Monster Rally | Shannon Shaw | Wand | Inspector | Steve Gunn | The Dimes | Madison Cunningham | Hannah Juanita |

Dinner at Pizano's in Chicago on 1.17.26

I mentioned I was going on a trip. So now I'm back from Chicago, still will my unpacked bag and piles of the stuff I wanted to take but had to cull from the load. As it is, I ended up buying a new suitcase while I was there because a backpack and a tote are just not big enough to carry enough clothes to stay warm in 8°. If you watched the sportsball game on Sunday, you saw how cold it was. We stayed about 2 miles from the stadium. I went with my mom, my sister, and my nieces, and while a super fun trip, I don't really get a lot of say when they booked and covered our flights, rental car, and accommodations, but at least this time we got some deep dish, and we found a little market that had some nice local beer selections, so we had fun getting buzzed in the room. My uncle drove out from South Bend and stayed with us Saturday, then we all caravanned on Sunday to meet one of my cousin's for dinner before the snow picked up and got back in time to watch the 2nd half. On Monday, we had to check out and we decided to leave our luggage at the hotel until our evening flight, so that's when I made the call that I would bail from the group while they went shopping and to lunch, and instead walked along the frigid Lake Michigan from our hotel to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I'm so glad I did. Everyone told me it was small and made it sound horrifying, but I thought it was beautiful and offered quiet and peaceful spaces for the animals when it's beyond freezing outside. I spent most of my time with the two gorilla troops and the chimps, but did venture to other parts of the zoo briefly. With their indoor habitats, it was definitely better than going in and out of overheated stores to the freezing outside on repeat. I hope to get back there again. 

In the meantime, I haven't fully caught up with life, but I was able to blast out the listings for the week. 

Stay safe (and warm) out there. There are far too many credible reports that the Not-Sees of ICE are surging in San Diego this week and going forward. Please be safe, watch out for your neighbors, and ALWAYS bear witness by FILMING HORIZONTAL if you see something unlawful, unjust, or uncomfortable. Know your rights. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 15-Wednesday, January 21, 2026: Lion Cut | Emo Nite | Braxton Cook | Leavers | Mariachi El Bronx | Eric Hutchinson | Hauntu | City Of The Sun | Pinback | Fuzz |

Maned Wolf (first-time mom) Cora Carries one of her three pups in her mouth to orient it to the habitat at San Diego Zoo. (1.12.26)

I'm a little glad it's a bit of the slow time of year because listings don't take me quite as long these days so I have more time to read all the things about how paid parking at Balboa Park is backfiring spectacularly (as I said it would in three separate City Council meetings), more time to watch all my LawTube which seems to be exploding with cases...turns out I'm super fascinated (and terrified) by government and police corruption, insecure men who can't handle their feelings and m* their intimate partners, and the intersection of those two. I went to Seaworld last weekend for Inside Look and if you have an annual pass, I encourage you to take advantage this weekend. It's my favorite SW weekend of the year, as you get behind the scenes keeper talks, you can watch an Orca training session, and just get to see all the animal husbandry stuff that is normally hidden from view. I won't be able to go again, however, because I have a short little jaunt that I'll tell you all about next time you hear from me. Until then, stay super safe out there. Shit its bonkers. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, January 8-Wednesday, January 14, 2025: Bowie Birthday | Band Argument | Laser Disco Drum Orgy | RJD2 | Adolescents | Weatherbox | Jim Ward | The Dimes | Odessa Kane |

Now that the kid is back in school and Darren is back at work, I thought I'd be chillin hard at home alone. But I thought wrong. The ADUs being constructed next door are almost done, but their crew shows up at 6:30 every morning and by 7 is in full blown construction noise along with the project manager parking his monster truck and blaring the radio to the construction site...like 12 feet from my pillow. So I've been trying to go to bed earlier so I can handle the early wakeups. On Tuesday, I was up so early I decided I would just drive to LA to get to the zoo before they opened. Wednesday I was up early again and went to Cabrillo Monument before going to the zoo. Now it's approaching 1am and I think I might actually be tired enough to sleep and listings are done before 4am. 

The whole world is going fucking insane right now, We are seriously living in Gilead. Find something that brings you joy. For me, it was seeing those baby apes in LA. Maybe I'll hit the free Bowie party on Thursday night at the Casbah. Find joy wherever you can. 

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, January 2-Wednesday, January 7, 2026: Starcrawler & Plague Vendor | Java Joes Reunion Show | Swami Sound System | Poncho Sanchez | The Devastators | Duran Duran | Back To The Garden |

So I didn't post listings on Thursday since I'd included it on last week's events. And then I went to the Zoo bright and shiny in the morning on New Year's Day for several hours, then I went home and coerced Darren and Toby to stack in the van to go to Seaworld so we could watch the Holiday Bowl Marching Bands and Cheer Squads in a little band battle. It was the cutest nerdiest thing and we loved it. After it ended, we stayed at the park for a couple more hours and then I was wiped out, so I slept. But I knew I had work to do, so I prioritized my work newsletter before getting to the listings, even though I usually publish these earlier. Whatever. So I'm an hour late. I gotta be honest, I was tempted to make 2026 the year I just throw in the towel and stop listings altogether...there are so many other places to find such things nowadays, but I guess my need-to-know won out and so this week, we carry on. 

For anyone wondering, I've been told that there are two memorials for Tim Lowman being coordinated with his family, so hang tight and give a minute for everyone to take a breath...it was a devastating way to end 2025 and dampened any kind of celebratory yearning for hope going into 2026. So let's all take a breath. We can mourn the losses and hardships of 2025, while also trying to appreciate what we have and find all the reasons to put one foot in front of the other as we move into 2026. 

I love you all. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: NYE | San Diego 2026: GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER | Zoo Goss | Everyone Is Sick | RIP Tim Lowman |

It's been a few weeks since the last diary post and while I always intend to write some deep and thoughtful wrapup of the year, there's always something...my cat went missing and then after more than 2 months, we found her deceased, almost literally next door, and then the holidays snuck up, and I've been going to the Zoo and Seaworld on the regular, and then I've had this pain in my neck and back whenever I'm online for any stretch of time so I'm trying to work that out, and then it was Christmas, and then I got the news over the weekend that Tim Lowman died, and I've just chosen to be out living, rather than holed up writing or aggregating or generally getting myself worked up about the horrible, egregious, disgusting things happening by the current administration, and it's all just too much. And while I haven't said anything on socials about Tim, the news is absolutely heartbreaking and devastating and I can't stop thinking of beautiful little Marlow growing up without her amazing daddy. We have been friends for many, many years, but over the last few, most of our interactions consisted of running into their little family as they traversed the zoo, and usually I could get Kizzy and Handsome, the African Gray Parrots, to engage in some communications. Of course the passage of time also brings great things...Toby got the care he needed, my God sister had her twin babies, I got to go on an epic California roadtrip, and overall, my family is all doing well, albeit after losing both Ficus and Tikka this year. So yeah, I'm a happy and fulfilled person striving to be better in 2026, but 2025 was just a super fucked up trash year on many levels and not everyone made it out alive, but all the rest of us can do is keep on keeping on and hope (and act when we can) for a better tomorrow. 

I love you. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.   

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, December 26, 2025-Thursday, January 1, 2026: Big Sandy | B-Side Players | Mumford & Sons | Funky But Chic | Barefoot Hockey Goalie | Paul Cauthen | Slacker | NYE | Starcrawler & Plague Vendor |

My not-so-little friend, Denny, who turns 11 on 12.26.25

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, December 18-Thursday, December 25, 2025: Manual Scan | Urethane | Save Ferris | Gary Shuffledust | Emo Nite | Band Argument | El Vez | EXILE ON KETTNER BLVD |

I am completely checked out for the holidays. I still have work...an annoyingly abundance of it, actually, as every agent feels like they need to 'check in' on their shows 2 and 3 and 4 months out, even though they know that nobody is buying tickets for April a week before Christmas. But that's beside the point. I'm feeling the Christmas spirit and just want to be out in sweaters and beanies and scarves and drinking hot cocoa and seeing twinkling lights and hearing annoying Christmas music on repeat. We got a tree after skipping last year...we just kinda ran outta time and didn't get one, but this year I was looking and got a tip on Costco putting all their trees on clearance for $13 and I couldn't resist, even though it's massive and taking up our whole living room. Toby is home for winter break from UCSD, Darren is getting a couple days off, too, and I've just been trying to keep up with all the things. So listings are done, but I'll have to do NYE over the weekend or next week, because I'm beat. 

I love you all. Thanks for helping me survive 2025. Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. 

Things To Do San Diego: Thursday, December 11-Wednesday, December 17, 2025: The Slackers | Har Mar Superstar | Hasan & Ronny | Rose City Band | Electric Guest | & Loads of Holiday Fun!

Once again, I really fucked up my sleep schedule to get my listings done on Tuesday so I could go to the Andy Bell show at Music Box and imbibe in some adult beverages, so I'm just gonna post and say that I did my best to get it all in because obviously I didn't do a separated page for holiday stuff. Maybe next year. 

I'm sure there's plenty of fun to be found for you and your family. Full listings after the jump.

Stay safe out there. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.