Southern California - Day 2

April 24, 2009, was about catching up with old friends in the San Diego area. 

From 1974 to 1986, I taught Psychology and Black Studies at Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista, a few miles south of San Diego. Liis and I met three of my former Southwestern College colleagues at the Zócalo Grill, a Mexican theme restaurant in San Diego’s Old Town.


Liis Todd, Pam Ellis, Pasha Turley & Robin Franck

Pam, Pasha, me and Robin

Next stop was the La Jolla campus of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Museum director since 1983, and all-around good guy, Hugh Davies gave us a tour, including a walkthrough of the Jasper Johns “Light Bulb” exhibition that ran in La Jolla from January 18 through May 10, 2009. The Johns show will travel to the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle later this year.

Hugh Davies & Liis

After leaving the contemporary art museum and making a quick stop at our hotel, we walked a few steps to La Jolla’s Tasende Gallery to say hello to gallery owner José Tasende, who I last spoke with 20 years ago. One of he best things about visiting with Hugh and José is that in both cases we seamlessly picked up the conversation where we left off all those years ago. 

Liis & José Tasende 

Finally, we drove to a bluff in the Torrey Pines area to meet old friends Brian and Denise Bobyak and to enjoy the sunset, with sparkling wine and appetizers.

Denise Bobyak

Brian Bobyak