San Francisco, CA

Golden Gate Park is massive. When you think about the fact that San Francisco is as small as it is, it emphasizes how impressive it is that the city maintains a park which runs for about forty avenues from practically the center of the city all the way to the Pacific Ocean. You could wander around the park for days and still not have seen everything that there is to see there. But there are only a few places in the park that I go to on a regular basis.

Here are my favorite spots in Golden Gate Park:

• The Bison Enclosure – Okay, okay, the truth is that I don’t love this place. There are all of about six bison in there and they look totally depressed and awful. (There’s a committee concerned about this.) But I love the fact that there are bison in San Francisco’s park. And I end up going here on a semi-regular basis because people rarely believe me that there are bison in the park so I have to go prove it.

• The Botanical Gardens – This is far and away my favorite part of Golden Gate Park. You go here, and it feels like you are nowhere near a city at all. There are different sections for different plant life from all around the world, but that interests me less than the fact that there is so much peacefulness to be found in this park. It’s absolutely beautiful and it’s free. And you can literally spend hours in here.

• Japanese Tea Gardens – I wouldn’t say that I love this place, but I like it. If I’m spending any amount of time in Golden Gate Park during a cold day, I usually make my way over here to get some warm tea. If you get there late enough (close to closing) you can get in for free (although your tea will come in a Styrofoam cup and not an actual tea cup). The gummy candies sold in the gift shop are also worth picking up.

• The windmill and flower garden. I have no idea why this place reminds me of my mom but it does and so I love hanging out there for a little while if I end up at the west end of Golden Gate Park. This happens most often if I’m visiting Ocean Beach and / or the Cliff House / Sutro Baths area; I’ll stop in by the windmill before catching a bus back home.

• Speedway Meadows – There are free concerts and other events held here all of the time. You can’t even hear the music from the streets near the park but it’s in there, with plenty of room to spare to enjoy the activities. Totally awesome that we have this.

A week has passed now since I went to the San Francisco Theatre Festival, but it’s worth mentioning in the round-up of things that I saw in the city this past week because of how wonderfully fun it was. It’s an annual event (this was its fourth year) that happens at and around the Yerba Buena Center near the Metreon. They set up ten stages and each has live plays happening about every half hour all day long. Dozens of theatre groups from around the city come together to put on shows ranging from improve comedy to Shakespeare.

San Francisco’s theatre scene as an interesting one and we’ve got more than just this festival to honor it (there’s Fringe Fest in the fall) but this one really highlighted all of the different types of theatre that exist in this city. I didn’t stay long, but in the short time that I was there I saw a modern play about Marilyn Monroe, a truly funny crowd-participatory improve group and a play-in-progress being workshopped to the audience to make it work better when it goes on stage in New York. And it was all free!

I also saw lots of people at the event crowded together under the shade that was available because everyone around here thought last Sunday was really hot. I, myself, was quite happy to get some sunshine since it seems like fog and mist are all over the sky around here all of the time. I felt a bunch of that mist on Wednesday when I walked through Chinatown and the Union Square area to go to my dentist. The best thing I saw on that walk though was this trendy girl wearing knee-high boots that were bright mustard yellow and totally gorgeous on her. I mention it because it reminded me of how many people here are able to pull off unique fashion styles. I’m convinced this is due, at least in part, to the fact that so many people here are just okay with being who they are.

Another interesting fashion thing that I saw was a pair of peace sign suspenders holding up the bright pink pants of a mine on my bus. But that’s not what was really interesting about this guy. This was one of those guys here that is some sort of victim of a mental health problem, which I know because he was talking at me, telling me that my shoes (heels) were products of the devil. He laughed evilly for a solid five minutes about this, and he only stopped laughing because he began talking to the person seated next to him. Except that there was no one seated next to him. This seems to be a regular occurrence around this city.

Mental health isn’t the only issue of concern to people here, of course, as noted by the fact that Friday night was the last Friday of the month which meant that it was Critical Mass. I’d never actually seen the bicyclists on the streets of SF before, but I saw them this time because they rode straight down Lombard Street and right past our apartment. It went on for quite a long time (and included one girl running her bike accidentally into a parked car because it’s hard to brake on those hills; she was okay).

Speaking of transportation, I also got to see some interesting SF transportation this past week. It was a pick-up truck with this monstrous homemade camper shell attached to it. The camper shell was made from a leopard print cloth. And the rest of the truck was covered in a velvet-like material that was also leopard print. It appeared to have been done quite some time ago since it was falling apart all over the place. As my good friend Nicolas pointed out, the truck was molting.

And that’s just a few of the things that I saw in San Francisco this past week.

San Francisco is a drinkin’ city and there are more bars here than I would know how to count (of course, that’s partly because of the 1 drink, 2 drink, 3 drink, floor problem). There are bars for your ritzy side and bars for your dive needs and bars for everything in between that you might want to act out on any given day. But there are only a handful of bars that are more than just bars … meaning that there are some spots that you can go to for drinking and dancing PLUS something else. Here’s some info on eight of those more-than-just-a-bar bars in San Francisco:

1. Beauty Bar – Based off of a New York concept (and probably something European before that although I haven’t done my research), this spot is both a salon and a bar. So, yes, you can go for a night out with the girls and really treat yourself to something special. Just remember that things always look better when you’ve got the blurry eyes of three-cosmos-down so you might want to hold off on any serious style changes while you’re here.

2. Foreign Cinema – I’m the first to admit that I haven’t been here so my review is biased, based only on what I’ve read. But it’s on my last of places that I should check out because they apparently screen foreign and independent films on the back wall of the restaurant that this bar is affiliated with. And if I understand correctly, it’s also an art gallery.

3. Bar None – It’s still technically just a bar, but it’s a beer pong bar. And it’s got pool tables and darts as well, so it’s a sports bar but it’s a bit more filled with stuff to actually engage in than with just plain old sports on TV.

4. Space Gallery – It’s primarily an art space. But they have so many openings and other special events that you’ll readily find the alcohol flowing away.

5. Double Dutch – Again, I’m going off of hearsay here so you’ll get a better update whenever I get a chance to get over there. But in the meantime, what I’ve heard is that it’s a hip hop spot where you can show off your break dancing in competition-like style. It’s dance first, drink later – the reverse of the standard bar.

6. Madrone Lounge – They offer different activities on different nights, but if you’re looking for a spot that’s as much like going to a house party as it is like going to a bar, this is it. They’ve got free pizza on Sundays and board game night (plus other goodies) on Mondays. But they’ve also got DJs, live music, release events, and all that other jazz, plus drink specials. Half bar, half home.

7. 111 Minna Gallery – It’s an art gallery and a bar with lots of events and other kinds of stuff. You might see a fashion show taking place here or you might find some other indie event going on. There’s always drinking.

8. Brainwash Cafe – It’s a Laundromat. And a bar. Yes, really. There’s also live music almost every night of the week. And sometimes stand-up comedy.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home and saw that a complimentary issue of 7×7 magazine had been left at my doorstep. In fact, four of them had been left for all of the people in my building. So I picked one up and brought it inside; after all, you don’t ignore free reading material when you’re tripping right over it. But I was kind of wishy-washy about it because I have mixed feelings about 7×7.

See, I’d bought 7×7 before and I thought that it had some interesting articles but not enough to make them worth paying for, so I stuck to reading what they had to offer on their online site and stopped picking up the print magazine. Was the print publication bad? No, not at all. But it wasn’t suited to me. It seemed to be geared more towards people who buy $350 jeans at San Francisco’s designer boutiques than, well, what I can afford on a writer’s budget while living in North Beach. So it was okay, but it didn’t really speak to me.

Nevertheless, I perused the complimentary issue because a free magazine fits in to my budget. And I have to say that 7×7 may not have been a case of love at first sight for me but it was one which made a better impression the second time around. Sometimes you just have to get to know your reading material before you really understand it.

What had initially turned me off was that the first section, Scene and Heard was … well, just a little bit too scene queen for me. I know that I should know the who is who of San Francisco but at the same time, I really don’t care where they were spotted most of the time and that’s what I’d dismissed this section of the magazine as being all about. But when I looked at it a second time, what I saw was that there’s a plethora of information in the captions about a whole bunch of places and functions that are actually somewhat worth knowing about.

And the rest of the magazine seemed to do a turnabout for me, too. Now, I do have to ask you to keep in mind that the free copy that I received was “The Entertainment Issue” and that could have something to do with swaying my opinion. After all, I’m a big fan of the local arts and music scene and some of that was supported in the pages of the magazine. I learned some new names and discovered some new local creativity and I thought that was worth my time.

I do still think that the material of 7×7 is somewhat out of my league. It’s more like what I envision myself reading when I’m in my mid-thirties, having become somehow independently wealthy and am then able to spend my time frequenting the latest day spas and concerning myself with the attendance of local celebrities at SF events. But that’s not all that there is to 7×7. Girls who enjoy girly magazines will probably find that this is a great one for satiating the local hunger in that area. Plus, the photos are great so it’s good for collage-making.

Should you go check out Ghirardelli Square if you’re visiting (or living in) San Francisco? I suppose it depends on how much you like chocolate and how fond you are of tourist attractions, but the short answer is that you should probably go there at least once. The grounds of the place are beautiful, the location is fairly easy to access and let’s face it, the chocolate is fabulous. But there’s an insider’s way to enjoy Ghirardelli Square and you should know it.

First of all, there are several different places that you can go to check out the chocolates of Ghirardelli Square. Your best bet if you want to see the most and get in and out decently quickly is to go to the store located just off of (west of) the Ghirardelli ice cream shop at the corner of North Point St. and Larkin St. Many people trying to avoid the crowds skip this spot because it looks like there’s a big line, but it actually moves quickly and the way that the store is set up is designed to push people along. So, go in and have your hand ready for the sample chocolate square that they’re going to offer you. Then just keep moving through. If you’re planning to buy a chocolate gift, you’ll be able to see everything easily and quickly and if you’re not, you can get your free chocolate and get going.

Secondly, you should get the ice cream at Ghirardelli Square. It’s worth it, whether it’s just the fudge sauce you eat or not. But there’s a better way to do this than what most people are doing. See, right next to that chocolate store is the main ice cream selling section. And you will always find a line here. Always. But, if you stick to the outside of Ghirardelli Square and go to the actual corner of North Point and Larkin, you’ll see another entrance. It’s the upstairs to this same location, and it also sells the full menu of sundaes and whatnot that you can get downstairs. Most people don’t realize this and therefore there is rarely a long line. When this is not true is on major holidays and on weekends in the summer; these are the obvious times not to go to Ghirardelli if you’re trying avoid the crowds.

How much looking around you do after getting your treats really depends on you. There are some neat shops in there. I have a friend who can get lost for hours in the woodcarving shop down below. As for me, I’ll usually just sit at the mermaid fountain with my ice cream and see whatever entertainment they’ve got going on for the day. On days when there’s none, the people are always fun to watch. But explore if you like; the old buildings have a lot of interesting things going on for them architecturally and the stores have stuff to see if you’re into that kind of stuff (high end tourist stuff, that is).

If not, make your way down to the water that’s south of Ghirardelli Square. This will put you at Aquatic Park which is one of the beaches of San Francisco. It’s a bay beach and you’ll see boats bobbing in the water, kids letting the waves chase them and perhaps someone swimming there. It’s rarely crowded but usually has some people. And it’s not a bad place to go to see a good mix of both locals and tourists being casual in San Francisco together.

Now that’s the way to do Ghirardelli Square.

Yes, there are places worth checking out at and around the Fisherman’s Wharf / Pier 39 area. Even if you are a local, there are things to be seen. But mostly, you’re going to find cheesy souvenirs and those black-and-white “escaped from Alcatraz mental hospital” outfits that I’m going to go ahead and hope you wouldn’t ever buy. So you want to make sure that you do enough of the tourist thing to say that you’ve been there but you don’t get stuck in the stores and sales down there. Here are 5 places to hit (and then get yourself away from) in the area:

1. Musee Mecanique – This is the only reason that I ever go to the Fisherman’s Wharf area if I’m not taking a house guest there to look around. In fact, the only times I’ve ever gone to the area alone, it’s to go here. Admittedly, that’s because I have an obsession with Ms. Pacman (on my old MySpace account, I listed “someone who could beat me at Ms. Pacman” under “who I want to meet” – I still haven’t). And this old arcade museum feeds that addiction for only fifty cents at a time. But it’s good for everything – a spot to show visitors, a place to play old games for a few hours with friends, a quirky date. You can stick with SkeeBall and pinball games or you can put your quarters into the strange old games that have been around since … probably before you were. Get photo booth pictures done to commemorate it.

2. Chowders – You have to get clam chowder in a bread bowl if you’re down in this area. There are only two places that I recommend getting it down there. The first is over at the street vendors that are right there at Fisherman’s Wharf, although I stay away from that area simply because the birds that scavenge around there annoy me too much to eat well there. So, instead, I go to Chowders at Pier 39. It’s totally cheesy and touristy, but it’s got cheap clam chowder compared to all of the other restaurants in the area. And they’ve got both the traditional white and the red. And they have fried veggies of all kinds.

3. The Sea Lions – Okay, I’m not saying that you should go over here all of the time just for fun. But you should go and see them to say that you’ve seen them. Think about it, in how many other cities does your local wildlife include sea lions as well as wild parrots and incarcerated bison? And really, the sea lions are a total laugh if you pay attention to them. They’re always trying to push each other off of the docks, they make the most ridiculous of noises and the way the parents treat the babies is terrifically amusing. You can say you’ve been to Pier 39 and you can see the view of Alcatraz while getting some real entertainment. It’s free.

4. The Bushman – He’s almost always down there. What you see in terms of street performance down there depends on your preferences. I, personally, thought the silver robots were great five years ago and wouldn’t stop now for much reason at all. Likewise, I’ve seen enough breakdancing so unless it’s amazing, I’m walking on by. But every single person I know pauses if they come across the Bushman because, despite the fact that this dude is basically famous, there are a whole bunch of tourists that don’t know the bush is about to jump out of them. And sometimes, he’s in a bad mood and gets annoyed with people who don’t tip to watch which, in itself, is pretty amusing. Seriously, though, if you see a show of any kind and you like the performance, it is worth your dollar to donate. Where else do you get entertainment for a dollar?

5. Sit by the water – Yes, really. It doesn’t matter whether you do it right here or you walk further west to Aquatic Park where there’s a bit of a beach. Take the time to take a look at the Bay. It’s a gorgeous place. The fog is magical. The bridge, Angel Island, and Alcatraz all make their marks in the landscape. When we are lucky enough to live (or visit) a place as beautiful as this, we should be smart enough to take the time to enjoy it.

As mentioned last week in my introductory blog about what you can expect from About San Francisco, you’ll get a weekly update about the things that I saw in San Francisco from the week before. This week is just a brief one because it was actually mostly an indoor week for me; I was wrapping up a book deadline and didn’t get to do too much playing around town. But you’ll get the basic introduction to what you’re going to be reading here every Monday morning.

So, that’s the first point to be made. Weeks around here run from Sunday to Saturday. You’ll get the update on Monday about anything interesting that was noted in the San Francisco scene during the prior week. So, last week was July 15th – 21st. And of course, it’s now Monday the 23rd and you’re getting the update about it. So if something exciting happened to me on Sunday the 22nd, you probably aren’t going to know about it until next week (unless of course it’s worthy of a blog post of its own).

The other thing that you might be wondering is what exactly goes into the post since there are any number of things that I might have seen during the week. Well, that’s the point. Anything is fair game if I saw it out in the city. For that matter, it could even be something I saw online if it was really eye-catching. So, it could be a film or live music event that I went to but it might just be a conversation that I saw between a person and himself at the local bus stop one day. Anything is open.

What’s the point? I really do believe that the only way to get to know a city from the inside out is to learn all of the little details about it here and there, the things that you would see if you were able to walk the streets of a place every single day. And since you either don’t live here – or you do but obviously can’t walk in my exact shoes each day – I believe that seeing San Francisco through my eyes will help you learn more about an insider’s perspective on the city I love to share.

That said, what did I see this past week in San Francisco (besides my keyboard screen)? Well, let’s start with seeing since one of the things I did go out into the world today was have an appointment with my optometrist. So, I saw his office, which wouldn’t be notable except that it’s such a cute little office. It’s located on Powell Street, near Columbus Avenue which puts it right near Washington Square Park (where the ladies were out in full force doing their tai chi). The office has a dutch door – you know, the kind that just the top or bottom half can be open – and they keep the top half open during business hours so it’s a cozy, homey kind of place. And it has a dog which greets customers with a cuddly look.

For that matter, I also saw my chiropractor this week and the office there is also cozy. In fact, we were joking around while I was there that I was just going to start getting my mail there because it’s so easy to just linger and linger. In a city as big as San Francisco, it is surprisingly easy to find professional offices which are comfortable, welcoming and almost like home. That’s why I have “my optometrist” and “my chiropractor” instead of just “the doctor” of whatever of kind of medicine. San Francisco is good for making you feel like you’re home, no matter where you’re originally from.

And speaking of originally from … I’m originally from Tucson, Arizona so it’s shameful to admit that when the weather creeped up towards 70 degrees last week, I was whining that it was hot. I blame the humidity (yes, I think San Francisco is humid, and I don’t care what my East Coast friends have to say about it). But the truth of the matter is that I’ve just grown accustomed to the weather here. You can grow accustomed to almost anything I guess. Which is why another thing I saw this past week was the eyes of my neighbor at 4:30 in the morning. We both woke up when the 4.2 Richter earthquake shook our buildings, peeked outside to make sure all was okay and then went back to bed.

And that’s the story of my week in San Francisco!

San Francisco is a great place for seeing movies (despite the fact that tickets at the big places cost more than $10 each). You can check out an IMAX film, you can see the newest release in several different spots and there are regularly limited release screenings held here. There are also film festivals galore. But if it’s just any old day and you want to see a film but you want to go to an off-the-beaten-path place to do it, you have options. Here are five movie theaters that you should note for those days when you want to see something unusual but interesting.

1. The Red Vic – The Red Vic is far-and-away my favorite of the independent movie theaters in San Francisco. It’s run by a collective of volunteers who love film. And it doesn’t matter what you see here because the ambience of this one-theater theater is worth the ticket price. You’ll get popcorn in a wooden bowl, comfortable bench-like seating and an interesting movie. Sometimes they’re indie films, sometimes their second-run blockbusters. Often someone affiliated with the film is there for the Q&A. The Red Vic is always a good choice. Films I’ve seen here (with Q&A) included 24 Hours on Craigslist, Mutual Appreciation, and The Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea.

2. Embarcadero – This is an interesting spot because it’s in what basically amounts to a mall and it’s got the ambience of a big name multiplex. But it shows the foreign and independent films that you aren’t likely to see elsewhere. There are usually four films at any given time and you can bet that at least one will be subtitled. The best film I saw here thus far was Shortbus.

3. Castro Theater – This one has history. You can see it in the ornate décor of the theater room. You can hear it in the organ playing live from a spot that rises up above the stage before the movie starts. And you an often know it from the roster of historic films that are playing, although what’s going to be on is really anyone’s guess. The best movies I saw here were during a triple-play of eighties aerobics movies.

4. Clay Theater – Okay, so this is one you have to do a little bit of planning with. Unlike the others, there’s not a film here every day. And there will only be one to choose from. But the place has charm. It’s one big huge theater room. The floor slants and the snack bar is tiny. And the movie is always an interesting one. Films I’ve seen here included Fur and Who Killed The Electric Car?

5. The Dark Room – This one is sort of “one stop shopping” for the creative heart in your chest. They have comedy and plays and other entertainment in addition to film. But they a neat event that makes them worthy of making the list and that is Bad Movie Nite. It’s every Sunday at 8 p.m., it includes a host and it only costs $5. You go to see a movie that you know will be bad, usually part of some theme for the month, and you go because sometimes bad is good.

During a time when I felt like my life was lacking creativity, I went to the local book store to pick up a book of writing prompts. I was hoping to get a creative jumpstart. What I ended up getting was a book that had no prompts but which has inspired me again and again. It’s a book that I’ve quoted multiple times, a book that I pick up now and again just to read a chapter, and a book which I would be happy to recommend.

A Writer’s San Francisco: A Guided Journey For The Creative Soul is a collection of essays by Eric Maisel, a local author and creativity coach. The essays, which share the common subject of life as a writer in San Francisco, are only a few pages each in length. Within these short stories of life in San Francisco, the history of the literary life of the city is revealed.

San Francisco comes alive as you read this book, not because you are being told how to be creative in it but because you are reminded of all of the reasons why San Francisco inspires you. It doesn’t really matter if you are a writer or not. Any creative individual can appreciate the unique beauty that makes San Francisco an artists’ paradise. The scenery and characters of life in this city are a story worth telling and Maisel reminds you of it with every turn of the page.

Believe it or not, there are local people who ride the cable cars of San Francisco as a means of transportation. Depending on where you’re going, they can be the most efficient way of getting there. And if you have a monthly bus pass, it doesn’t cost you anything. But these people are usually trying to get to where they want to go, which goes more smoothly if everyone follows cable car etiquette, which you might not know if you haven’t ridden them before.

If you want to ride one of the cable cars for fun, your best bet is to go to the cable car turnaround where you wait in line and you’re guaranteed to get on one. For example, there is a major one located at the intersection of Market St. and Powell St. just south of the western side of Union Square. Of course, this means that you’re going to have to wait in that line. If you don’t want to wait in the line, find a cable car stop. They are identifiable by the brown signage that shows the cable car. Stand at the stop and keep your eye out for the cable car. When you see it coming, make sure that you step into plain view. Wave at the driver as he approaches so that he knows you want to stop. Don’t step right in front of the cable car.

After the cable car stops for you, get on. Get all the way on. You can stand on one of the outside steps if there’s room for you to hold on to one of the bars. If there’s not, take a seat or stand inside. Don’t stand in the stairway space or right behind the driver of the cable car. And don’t worry about giving them your money. They’ll get it once the cable car gets moving again. When it does, you’ll pay $5 for a one way ride. The second worker – the one who isn’t driving – will collect your money.

You can ride the cable car all the way to the end of its line. If you want to get off before that stop, you should let the driver know before you reach that stop. There are no bells to ring or strings to pull, so don’t look for them. You can tell either of the two workers on the cable car, and they’ll be happy to stop. Wait for the cable car to come all the way to its stop, then hop off and let it keep going so everyone else can be on their merry way.

The cable cars are fun. Sometimes the drivers will tell you interesting facts about the city. Frequently, they’ll play something songlike with the tune of their bells. Sometimes you’ll just quietly get to feel the wind on your face as you ride up and down those San Francisco hills in the open air. But once you’ve done it, you’ll know the right way to do it. You’re ready to ride.

If you are in San Francisco and you go to the intersection of Montgomery St. and Washington St., you’ll find the beginning (or the southern end anyway) of Columbus Avenue. If you walk along this street, through pieces of Chinatown and the neighborhood of North Beach, you will eventually find yourself at the end of Columbus Ave. where it hits Beach Street not too far from the Bay. You will have passed a number of restaurants, several convenience stores, a few bars and a couple of famous locations (like the green building that is Francis Ford Coppola’s restaurant). You could stop at any of these places, but here are ten of the spots that you should be sure to stop during this walk:

1. City Lights Bookstore / Jack Kerouac Alley / Vesuvio – It’s the typical cliché tourist answer to give about where you must stop on Columbus Ave, but it’s still true. If you’re in the area, you should stop. There is rich history in and between these two buildings where the beat poets drank and read and lived their literary lives. Buy an independent magazine at City Lights. Order one of the specialty drinks on the board at Vesuvios. And take touristy pictures of the murals in the alley between them.

2. Church of Scientology – You will notice this spot because well-dressed young folks are standing outside encouraging you to go in. Go ahead and check it out; it’s absolutely fascinating. There’s a blocked-off exhibit of Ron L. Hubbard’s office (which of course he didn’t really have there). They’ll even give you a free stress test. I’m not saying to join the movement; I’m saying that you’ll get an interesting education and an experience worth sharing over dinner when you go here.

3. Kennedy’s Irish Pub and Curry House – When you walk by, you will smell the spices of the Indian food and it will beckon you in. But where is the Indian food? After all, the entire front room of this building is an Irish sports bar. No, wait, there it is in the back – the Indian restaurant that has both South and North Indian cuisine. Their dal soup is fabulous and the garlic naan is a must-get. There are pool tables and a couple of arcade games.

4. XOX Truffles – I didn’t like truffles until I got the ones that they make here. Honest. They’re amazing. And if you go in and buy a coffee for $1, you can get a free one. But you’ll want more than one.

5. Columbus Café – There are tons of cafes in San Francisco and you could easily get a coffee at any of them. There’s not a bad one in the bunch. But the people here are always especially friendly, the food is good … and it’s just enough off-the-beaten path of restaurants that you’ll be able to enjoy the San Francisco street life passing by without being overwhelmed. Besides, there are some cool paintings on the outside of the building.

6. Washington Square Park – It’s a small corner park that has that neighborhood feel to it. People play Frisbee together on the rare sunny San Francisco day. It’s quiet. Except when there’s a festival in the neighborhood, then it’s craziness.

7. Rosalie’s New Looks – This is a wig and costume shop. It’s probably not the best one in the city, but it’s an interesting stop on a North Beach walk. In a city where you can wear a costume to work and it’s unlikely that anyone will blink an eye, why not wear a wig? At least stop and look.

8. Artist & Craftsmen Supply – Sure, it’s “just” an art supply store. But there’s a little bit of magic in here. They have all kinds of fun little things that you can buy to brighten up your day.

9. Cobb’s Comedy Club – Big name comedians come here on a regular basis but it’s just as fun on amateur night. If you’re in the area on a night when there are some tickets available, you should stop and get some laughs. And get a buzz as well since they’ve got a two drink minimum at all of their shows.

10. Mara’s Italian Pastries – It’s a small place but if you’re seeking true Italian treats during your walk through “Little Italy”, this is your spot. They’ve got gelato, they’ve got cannoli and they’ve got things I don’t know the names of that are both beautiful and tasty.

At a very basic level, this is a blog about San Francisco from an insider who loves the city and is happy to share it. It may contain all sorts of oddities and information about the city. But here are five things that you can be sure to expect from this blog on a regular basis:

1. My favorites. One of the best ways to get to know the truth about a city (or at least its partial truth) is to ask someone who lives there about their favorite places. You’ll get info on my favorite restaurants and bars, favorite neighborhood, and favorite people who live and work in the city.

2. Blogs and books. I hardly think that I’m the only resource in the city about the city. Nor do I think I’m the best. I’m happy to share information with you on where you can go to get other information about San Francisco. There’s lots of creative people here so there’s lots of spots to find this news.

3. Insider insights. I plan to give you a weekly sneak peek into what an insider thinks about something in San Francisco. Often, these will be tourist destinations that are worth checking out as an insider, but they could be anything about the city that you know only be living here.

4. What I Saw In San Francisco. This is going to be a weekly post in which I share with you the things that I saw during the previous work during the course of living a normal life in San Francisco. It might be a great sale somewhere or it could be the rantings of a stranger on the street. If I saw it, it’s fodder. You’ll see this on Mondays, starting next Monday, July 23.

5. Lists. Finally, you’ll get lots of lists. You can probably already tell that I like them. They’re a perfect format for sharing all kinds of things that I might forget to share otherwise. Like “Ten Places To Check Out In Golden Gate Park” or “Five Ways To Get Cheaper Rent In SF”. You’ll see lots of them – if you have any requests, you’re welcome to send them.

So, that’s it, five things that you can expect from me on a regular basis. It’s a commitment in writing. That’s practically a contract … from me to you, a commitment to provide you with insider information to make San Francisco more of home to you whether you’re from here or don’t even live here (yet!).

As you might know, this site was recently searching for a new city blogger to get its pages up and running. As you can see, that blogger is now here and ready to start sharing San Francisco’s inside information with you. Over the course of the next few days, I’ll post some more information about what you can expect to find on this site and why you won’t want to miss out on the information that will be offered here. In the meantime, you can learn a little bit more about me by visiting this page.

By the way, that photo up there is me (although I don’t have the colored hair anymore) and it’s there because the focus of this blog is going to be on shrinking down San Francisco into bite-sized pieces of information for you to digest.