With a couple odd jobs in between, I’ve worked retail and/or food service for over twenty years. Both are terrible for their own hellish reasons (I promise, while the service industry is punishing, retail is outright unforgiving). Meanwhile, as I mopped up the coffeehouse/shoe store/sausage hut, the cannabis industry was

The days leading up to Pride weekend were like the drawback of a tidal wave (Pridal wave?). In preparation, we cut two industrial-sized buckets of limes, around three days’ worth. We stacked boxes on boxes of beer and seltzer in the walk-in, evacuating our supplies to higher ground. By Thursday night, we were ready. A coworker and I earned the privilege of clocking out early.

It’s Springtime in San Francisco, which means it’s time to put your phone on silent for a while and step out into our fair city to sing, eat, and play with the wonderful people and programming on offer. Whether in the flesh or on a live stream, the journalists and

by Matt Barkin I spent most of the pandemic sick and rotting away in bed. It became my all-purpose piece of furniture. If you watched a sped up version of that time you’d see me there windmilling my arms around like a madman between my computer, phone, books, plates of

“No guarantees,” said Deputy Chief Ken Craig throughout the evening. “You won’t know how you’re going to respond until it happens.” The ominous disclaimer hushed the room as one by one, we placed ourselves at the center of a worst-case scenario. What would you do if, on a night out

I’m sure you’ve seen the weather lately. It’s been raining on and off since mid-November. Soaking rains washed over the Bay Area these past couple weekends, reminiscent of wet seasons past. Forecasters say another storm system should move in this Friday. It is hoped this seemingly plentiful rainfall will reduce

Sometimes, as much as you love a place and its people—in this case, Chicago, and all the memories it holds for me—it can’t hold all of who you are. And that’s okay. September 30th, 2021. The day I landed back in the Bay Area after having moved back to my

Jennifer Lawrence’s character screamed it at her interviewers for downplaying a comet headed towards Earth in Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. Raja said it with wonder in her eyes during a commencement speech for the queens of All Stars 7. It’s one of Homer’s favorite sayings on The Simpsons, as well

Two contradictory statements can inhabit the same place, even peaceably. Boundaries can be porous. For instance, I love the gift that is my life. My mother should not have had children. Like many transplants, I ran to San Francisco as fast as I could to get far and away from