This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column for the SF Examiner.  I live at the corner of Needles and Diarrhea. OK, those aren’t the real names of the streets in my SoMa/Mission neighborhood, but if our thoroughfares were christened after the things most prevalent on them, there’d be a

This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column in the San Francisco Examiner. It’s that time again. The call goes out on Facebook, comments are made, friends are tagged, emails come tumbling in. There’s even a post on Craigslist … My roommates and I are searching for a new person

Step into a world of adventure with the San Francisco Beer Passport. There’s no better way to explore San Francisco than to literally drink it in. This passport is amazing! Each one contains 27 coupons to buy one beer, get a second beer FREE at 27 of the finest locally

When someone is terminally ill, dying from cancer or some other horrible disease, he or she often has a brief period right before the end, where they have a sort of bounce-back. In hospice care, it’s called “rallying.” The sick person has a few days in which they find new energy and optimism and feel like they might actually be getting better. And then, shortly after this rally, they die.

This piece is featured in my new limited edition zine Slouching Towards Neverland: 20 Years of Writing About San Francisco. Find out how to get a hand signed copy right here. This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column for the SF Examiner. As I look out my window, I

This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column for the SF Examiner. There’s a scene in the movie “Empire Records,” where all the record store employees hold a funeral for Deb, even though she’s still alive. Earlier in the movie, Deb had tried to kill herself. So her friends and

This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column in the SF Examiner  By now the dust is doing anything but settling in Black Rock City. Minds and other flammable things are exploding while a sense of all out revelry, exploration and wonder descends on some 70,000-plus people. In a way,

When Julius Caesar took Alexandria in 48 BC, the city’s famous library burned to the ground. History isn’t sure if the Library of Alexandria was torched on purpose or if it caught fire during the ensuing pillaging, but regardless, the depository that held one copy of every book in the known world went up in flames.

This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column in the SF Examiner It’s Fogust here in San Francisco. Our Great Grey Dame can even be seen sashaying through the Mission District, leaning gently into the husks of burnt buildings as if she’s peering in with sadness. The downtown skyscrapers, those