Johnny Diaz's Blog, page 2

Remembering Luna

This weekend marks the second anniversary of the death of Luna, the sweet and funny Fox terrier mix who was in my life for 10 years and was my companion (or assistant) for many years as I worked from home. She made me a better human being. (The photo below was taken in Islamorada. She loved the Keyes.)She had a good life of 17 years and one month. A lover of sushi on Friday nights and chicken

An Overdue Tribute to the One and Only Luna

This weekend marks the second anniversary of the death of Luna, the sweet and funny Fox terrier mix who was in my life for 10 years and she was my companion (or assistant) for many years as I worked from home. She made me a better human being.She had a good life of 17 years and one month. A lover of sushi on Friday nights, she was the best loving dog I have ever known and she taught me so much

My Miami Vice Family Ties

I spotted my Uncle “Tio” Agustin playing an extra in the Miami Vice episode “Nobody Lives Forever” from season one episode 21 on Peacock from 1985. He is wearing the light blue suit. In the scene, he passes a package under the table to another guy, a bookie, and walks away.My uncle was my dad Juanito's older brother. Both of them worked for decades at Puerto Sagua restaurant in South Beach. My

From the Heart, One Year Later

It’s been a year since I had my open surgery to remove an aortic aneurysm. It’s been a l-o-n-g emotional and physical journey, with some ups and downs. I'm happy to report that the scar is fading. It's almost gone. I am healing and overall, I am thankful . The top photo is of me now. I gained some color (and a little weight.) The second photo was taken a few days after surgery last year. I

Breakthrough Covid Infections: It happened in my household

My partner had gone to two birthday parties among close friends on different weekends in late May. I didn't want to go because even though I am vaccinated for Covid-19, I did not want to be around big crowds and increase my chances of an infection. (I am also a bit of an introvert and don't like big crowds anyways but that's another story.)But a few days after the last party, my partner began to

Celebrating LGBTQ Pride in New Ways

Pride celebrations have been around since 1970, a year after the violent Stonewall uprising in Greenwich village which sparked the modern gay rights movement. But five decades later, there are new ways cities, groups and people are celebrating Pride this year. I wrote a story that looks at these Pride firsts which include the San Francisco Giants marking June with the team's first Pride logos on

Trans and Non-Binary Teens Telling Their Stories

 My latest  New York Times article on four teenagers who are publishing books that provide clarity about their trans and non-binary communities while adding to the national conversation.The books aim to spark and facilitate conversations for children and the grown ups in their lives about what it means to be transgender, non-binary and inclusive.  In the books, the authors also celebrate their

How I Got The Covid Vaccine and Some Side Effects

 It was just past 11 a.m. on Saturday when the Facebook post popped up on my news feed.It was from a fellow journalist Marc Caputo who said that he was at the Florida City Youth Center where workers were providing Covid-19 vaccine shots, no...questions...asked. Of course, I read in."What?" I thought to myself.He  posted a photo with the city's police chief who had confirmed the same thing to him.

The Wanderer, A Poem

I've always written poetry, something I dabbled with in elementary school where I had a notebook filled with them. I looked forward to our English and reading assignments that involved haikus or writing a lyrical poem and I would store them into my notebook. I even took photo with my work for school contests. Cue the embarrassing photos which can be seen here from a previous post.My poetry

One Year at The New York Times

I can't believe that I recently marked my one-year anniversary at The New York
Times where I am a reporter on the Express Desk. We cover a mix of national, politics, business, sports and international news, stories that appeal to a broad online audience.


It's been a wild, fun ride covering mostly breaking news (police
shootings, wildfires, hurricanes), serious stories about race (the
removal of