Craig K. Collins
@craigkcollins.bsky.social
Author, Photographer, Former Tech Executive. Purveyor of thoughtful, hand-crafted prose. Midair: http://amzn.to/3lGFROD Thunder: http://amzn.to/3oA5wt3. Medium Blog: https://craigkcollins.medium.com. Substack: https://substack.com/@craigkcollins
Requiem for a Taco Shop: Las Cuatro Milpas, one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in the U.S., and the oldest continuously operating restaurant in San Diego has been sold for $2 million and will close its doors permanently sometime in December. Read more here: bit.ly/47zRIbe
Requiem for a Taco Shop: Gentrification Dooms One of America’s Oldest Mexican Restaurants
Also, when is a taco no longer a taco?
bit.ly
November 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Requiem for a Taco Shop: Las Cuatro Milpas, one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in the U.S., and the oldest continuously operating restaurant in San Diego has been sold for $2 million and will close its doors permanently sometime in December. Read more here: bit.ly/47zRIbe
I came across these hefty Pismo clams during my run on the Silver Strand, Coronado, CA. Pismos were once so abundant that there are photos from the early 1900s of people hauling wagonloads away from their namesake Pismo Beach near San Luis Obispo. Today their numbers are vastly diminished.
November 11, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I came across these hefty Pismo clams during my run on the Silver Strand, Coronado, CA. Pismos were once so abundant that there are photos from the early 1900s of people hauling wagonloads away from their namesake Pismo Beach near San Luis Obispo. Today their numbers are vastly diminished.
I encountered some wavy turban snails during my run on the Silver Strand, Coronado, CA, including one that's picked up a few hitchhikers. These gastropods range from Baja to S. Calif., and “graze” on the film of algae that collects on the kelp leaves, or blades, as they're formally known.
November 9, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I encountered some wavy turban snails during my run on the Silver Strand, Coronado, CA, including one that's picked up a few hitchhikers. These gastropods range from Baja to S. Calif., and “graze” on the film of algae that collects on the kelp leaves, or blades, as they're formally known.
I saw this guy during my run on the Silver Strand yesterday. He was taking the scenic route on his commute from Imperial Beach to Coronado.
November 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I saw this guy during my run on the Silver Strand yesterday. He was taking the scenic route on his commute from Imperial Beach to Coronado.
The Beaver Moon rising over the Coronado Bridge and San Diego Bay. This full moon is so called because it signals the start of winter, when beavers gain their full winter coats. In the 1800s, during the North American fur trade, the Beaver Moon marked the start of the beaver trapping season.
November 6, 2025 at 6:51 AM
The Beaver Moon rising over the Coronado Bridge and San Diego Bay. This full moon is so called because it signals the start of winter, when beavers gain their full winter coats. In the 1800s, during the North American fur trade, the Beaver Moon marked the start of the beaver trapping season.
Sulfuric Apocalypse. Last month, I was at the Crater Sulfur Mine in Death Valley's Last Chance Range for some otherworldly astrophotography. Photo is looking northwest with the tail of Milky Way dipping to the horizon, and Andromeda Galaxy in the upper right corner. Read the full story below.
August 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Sulfuric Apocalypse. Last month, I was at the Crater Sulfur Mine in Death Valley's Last Chance Range for some otherworldly astrophotography. Photo is looking northwest with the tail of Milky Way dipping to the horizon, and Andromeda Galaxy in the upper right corner. Read the full story below.
I made a stop two weeks ago at Manzanar, where over 10,000 Japanese-Americans were detained during WWII without due process. Not sure if the sign is supposed to read: Stop Military Police! or Stop! Military Police! #Manzanar #1798AlienEnemiesAct #ICE #Trump #FDR #Obama medium.com/picturethis/...
July 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I made a stop two weeks ago at Manzanar, where over 10,000 Japanese-Americans were detained during WWII without due process. Not sure if the sign is supposed to read: Stop Military Police! or Stop! Military Police! #Manzanar #1798AlienEnemiesAct #ICE #Trump #FDR #Obama medium.com/picturethis/...
I came across this deceased bristlecone pine atop a ridge at 11,000 feet near the Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains of Eastern California. Its honeyed wood, burnished by centuries of sun and wind and snow, glowed as the sun set over the Eastern Sierra to the west.
June 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I came across this deceased bristlecone pine atop a ridge at 11,000 feet near the Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains of Eastern California. Its honeyed wood, burnished by centuries of sun and wind and snow, glowed as the sun set over the Eastern Sierra to the west.
A deceased bristlecone pine clings to an 11,000-foot-high ridge near the Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains of Eastern California as the Milky Way rises in the southeast. These hardy trees can live to nearly 5,000 years. Even after death, they can remain upright for several centuries.
June 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A deceased bristlecone pine clings to an 11,000-foot-high ridge near the Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains of Eastern California as the Milky Way rises in the southeast. These hardy trees can live to nearly 5,000 years. Even after death, they can remain upright for several centuries.
My happy place -- Bishop, CA. I stopped along Hwy. 395 near the Bishop Golf Course to say hello to a couple old friends, who seemed fairly preoccupied in their lush, green meadow with the Eastern Sierra rising majestically in the background.
June 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
My happy place -- Bishop, CA. I stopped along Hwy. 395 near the Bishop Golf Course to say hello to a couple old friends, who seemed fairly preoccupied in their lush, green meadow with the Eastern Sierra rising majestically in the background.
The Milky Way rises over the Last Chance Range near the Eureka Sand Dunes at the northern corner of Death Valley National Park. The stars here were dazzling, and the quiet and solitude were balm for the soul in these trying times. I was the only human in this 30-mile-long, 10-mile-wide valley.
June 24, 2025 at 12:33 AM
The Milky Way rises over the Last Chance Range near the Eureka Sand Dunes at the northern corner of Death Valley National Park. The stars here were dazzling, and the quiet and solitude were balm for the soul in these trying times. I was the only human in this 30-mile-long, 10-mile-wide valley.
On my way home from a photography expedition through Death Valley, the wind kicked up to 50-60 mph. I ended up driving through a hellacious sand storm as I approached the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells. I made it home in one piece, fortunately. They call it Death Valley for a reason.
June 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM
On my way home from a photography expedition through Death Valley, the wind kicked up to 50-60 mph. I ended up driving through a hellacious sand storm as I approached the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells. I made it home in one piece, fortunately. They call it Death Valley for a reason.
I've been marveling at the dramatic return to the S. California shorelines of ospreys. Their surprising rebound comes following their regional extinction due to the pesticide DDT, which was banned by the EPA in 1972. Today, there are a dozens of nesting pairs along our coasts.
June 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I've been marveling at the dramatic return to the S. California shorelines of ospreys. Their surprising rebound comes following their regional extinction due to the pesticide DDT, which was banned by the EPA in 1972. Today, there are a dozens of nesting pairs along our coasts.
David Brooks, NY Times:"... the Trump administration ... possesses one quality I can’t help admiring: energy. It is flooding the zone, moving rapidly ..."
The Tao of Steve: Dex: Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?
The Tao of Steve: Dex: Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?
April 25, 2025 at 1:27 PM
David Brooks, NY Times:"... the Trump administration ... possesses one quality I can’t help admiring: energy. It is flooding the zone, moving rapidly ..."
The Tao of Steve: Dex: Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?
The Tao of Steve: Dex: Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?
I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1,249 pages) so you don't have to, and I distilled 8 lessons that are poignant and relevant today, including Lesson 3: Academic freedom must be maintained. medium.com/teatime-hist...
I Saw Hitler’s Ghost in Europe; He Followed Me Home to America
Lessons from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
medium.com
April 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1,249 pages) so you don't have to, and I distilled 8 lessons that are poignant and relevant today, including Lesson 3: Academic freedom must be maintained. medium.com/teatime-hist...
Great sign, but even better T-shirt. (From last Saturday's Hands Off! March in San Diego.)
April 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Great sign, but even better T-shirt. (From last Saturday's Hands Off! March in San Diego.)
"'I’m not saying he’s insane,' a long-time Republican source told me. 'But his administration is the most sloppy, unprofessional, arrogant and stupid group of people ever assembled in government.' Others, however, are saying he’s insane."
www.salon.com/2025/04/10/s...
www.salon.com/2025/04/10/s...
“Suffering from the whims of a madman”: MAGA measures the true cost of Trump’s tariffs gamble
The president caves in on tariffs in under a week — but it may be too late
www.salon.com
April 10, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"'I’m not saying he’s insane,' a long-time Republican source told me. 'But his administration is the most sloppy, unprofessional, arrogant and stupid group of people ever assembled in government.' Others, however, are saying he’s insane."
www.salon.com/2025/04/10/s...
www.salon.com/2025/04/10/s...
Succinct. #HandsOff #SanDiego#Concourse
April 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Succinct. #HandsOff #SanDiego#Concourse
Out exercising my First Amendment right of peaceful assembly with 20,000 like-minded friends.
April 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Out exercising my First Amendment right of peaceful assembly with 20,000 like-minded friends.
Welcome to the Thelma & Louise economy. #bearmarket #trump #elonmusk #dowjones #s&p500 #marketcrash #tariffs
April 4, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Welcome to the Thelma & Louise economy. #bearmarket #trump #elonmusk #dowjones #s&p500 #marketcrash #tariffs
If only a certain someone had watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA?...
"Anyone, anyone" teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
YouTube video by pmw8000
youtu.be
April 3, 2025 at 10:25 PM
If only a certain someone had watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA?...
I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich so you don't have to. Lesson 6: Business leaders who think they can “get on the good side” of a would-be dictator are badly mistaken.
medium.com/teatime-hist...
medium.com/teatime-hist...
I Saw Hitler’s Ghost in Europe; He Followed Me Home to America
Lessons from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
medium.com
April 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich so you don't have to. Lesson 6: Business leaders who think they can “get on the good side” of a would-be dictator are badly mistaken.
medium.com/teatime-hist...
medium.com/teatime-hist...
This week’s episode of The Raconteur takes us to the legendary Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82bBoBK/
This week’s episode of The Raconteur takes us to the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where I find that hospitality toward travelers has been a way of life here for millennia. For the ...
TikTok video by craigkcollins
www.tiktok.com
March 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM
This week’s episode of The Raconteur takes us to the legendary Silk Road city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82bBoBK/
The ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is home to some of the most spectacular architecture in the world. And as an important stop on the Silk Road, hospitality has been a way of life here for millennia. Check out my Substack podcast The Bread Men of Uzbekistan: bit.ly/4kSjcgO
March 24, 2025 at 1:35 AM
The ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is home to some of the most spectacular architecture in the world. And as an important stop on the Silk Road, hospitality has been a way of life here for millennia. Check out my Substack podcast The Bread Men of Uzbekistan: bit.ly/4kSjcgO
Crossing the stream. A Salk Institute scientist heads home after a day of work. #SalkInstitute #LaJolla #Photography
March 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Crossing the stream. A Salk Institute scientist heads home after a day of work. #SalkInstitute #LaJolla #Photography