What I’m thinking about instead is what a good friend of mine said last year on his first visit to San Francisco. We were riding the bus, going to or coming from some event, and I’d casually asked him if he liked the city. He looked around the bus, his eyes lingering on the eclectic group that was gathered there, and he hesitated. Finally he said, “the crazies are just too close to you here”. I laughed and said, “I love the crazies” and we dismissed the conversation.

But the truth is that San Francisco’s geographically small area and high level of tolerance for outrageous behavior do sometimes combine to put a little too much craziness in one area. For the most part, I think that this generates an energy level that only feeds the terrific cosmopolitan creative spirit that hums throughout the city. But I’m willing to admit that there’s a spectrum of crazy and sometimes it gets a little bit out of hand. I’m thinking of the man frightening tourists outside of my window. I’m thinking of a scary walk home I took one night through a notoriously “less than good” neighborhood here. I’m thinking of last year’s Halloween in the Castro.

Now, let me discuss “crazy” for a minute. Crazy is a loaded word. And that’s part of the problem here. Some would say that the sidewalk saxophone player who sleeps on the street and wears the same clothes every day but keeps his instrument perfectly polished is “crazy”. Some would say that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who grace events with their elaborate outfits and undeniable air of expressive authority are “crazy”. There are some who would say that everyone who lives in San Francisco is a little bit “crazy”. Crazy is a spectrum. There’s no line that says, “okay, here you’re normal, there you’re not”. This is especially true in San Francisco, where what looks crazy elsewhere is just a normal day and where “crazy” ideas become innovations that help to shape the world.

But for me, there’s a line. On one side is creative, expressive, eccentric, off-the-wall, entertaining, edgy … On the other side is “crazy” and by crazy, I mean dangerous. That’s the determining factor for me. It is my personal belief that everyone should be able to live as freely as they want, unlimited by others in as much as is possible within a society. But it is also my personal belief that this freedom ends when you begin to infringe upon the same freedom in others. When your eccentricities pose a threat to the well-being of those around you, you’ve gone from creative to crazy in my book.

Obviously, this isn’t a clear cut line. There are endless arguments of debate possible about what exactly harms another person. But what I’m realizing at this moment is that San Francisco has a pretty good intuitive sense about these things. I don’t believe that we generally harass or outcast the creatively eccentric folks who live amongst us. But as I peek out my window to check on the status of the situation below, I see that a crowd has gathered and is ushering the tourists away from the belligerent man while working to calm him down. We tolerate one another here, more so than most places, but there is also a strong sense of community in San Francisco. In the Bay Area, in the city and in the individual neighborhoods … people here consider this their home … and we look out for each other here – both in our permissiveness of “crazy” and our protection from it.

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Although plans will be in the works, further developments will be unlikely to be announced before the beginning of 2008. The end of the year always goes so quickly, starting with San Francisco’s favorite holiday (Halloween) and continuing through all of the other holidays. Combined with the fact that I’m going to be taking the first non-working vacation since … week, since I bought my first laptop … for just a few days in December and am also going to be wrapping up my third book before the end of the year … things are just going to be too crazy to commit to this project before then.

But it gets first priority in 2008 and you’ll definitely be kept updated on the status of the project. At that time, I’ll work in close contact with the people who gave me such terrific starting points and we’ll see what we can make happen! Thanks for your interest in seeing this project go forward!

[Tags] San Francisco, music, bands, event [/Tags]

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I was reminded of this recently upon my return home from a multi-week vacation in my hometown. I had good times on that trip. Tucson has it’s own kind of creativity that is interesting and unique, casual and fun. I browsed thrift stores where vintage clothes were actually affordable enough to consider buying. I attended a refreshingly new open mic music/poetry/freestyle event at an art cafe by the college. I saw stand-up comedy go awkwardly amongst a group that was just being born. This is home.

But what I’d forgotten somehow is that my original home saps my creative energy whereas my new home replaces it. In Tucson, I always think about doing creative things but never find the energy to do them. The lackadaisacal approach to life which makes it’s such a laidback place also makes it one that I find creatively stagnant. I was wilting there, but a wilting flower doesn’t always know that it’s not thriving. It continues to exist.

I wasn’t particularly excited about coming back to the city. On the plane, I was sad about leaving my hometown. When I arrived at the airport, I was annoyed because I’d brought back too much luggage to be able to navigate BART on my own and so had to foot the bill for a cab from SFO. But then the cab reached the limits of the city. The sparkling lights of downtown San Francisco lit up my soul. The building with the furniture jutting out of it that’s over a the corner of 6th and … is it Howard? … reminded me that there is no neighborhood in this city lacking in its own creative energy.

Walking on the streets of San Francisco, where people move all of the time around you, the energy is different than in most places. It may not be right for everyone. But I think it’s tuned in to exactly the energy frequency that I need in order to be my best self. And I don’t think that I’m the only creative person in San Francisco who thinks that way.

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Because of that, interviews with creative people here are going to continue to be a big part of this blog. However, that’s not all that you’re going to see here on SFV in the coming months. I’m working on a number of different ways to bring even more creativity to this site. As more artistic voices mingle here, I hope that San Fran Voice can be a virtual meeting place for folks from all creative genres. I think that the best way to stir up some change here on the site is for me to really focus on how I want to do that. That’s what I’ve been up to which is why you haven’t seen too much action from me here in the last week.

Rest assured, the changes are in the works and you’ll be hearing a lot about them in the weeks to come. In the meantime, your feedback is always welcome here on the site!

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Do you love supporting local artists? Does the idea of finding a great outfit from a local designer at an outdoor market in the Mission sound like the best idea for a weekend plan that you’ve heard in awhile? Can you even think of a reason that you wouldn’t want to check out this DIY event that happens every month?

It’s the Mission Indie Mart, an event that was started by local creative spirit Kelly Malone who sells vintage designs there. In addition to vintage, you can find design and craft. And you can also get your mouth around some organic hot dogs and fresh lemonade. As described by Kelly, the Mission Indie Mart is “a bbq meets a craft fair meets a trunk show meets a nice flea market”. There are experienced designers and those fresh out of college, all mingling in

The event has been growing monthly, starting off in June with just ten vendors. Last month’s event was close to twenty vendors and the one coming up should be around thirty. The event’s going to be moving locations to accomodate the increased size but this month it’s over at 25th and Guerrero. It’s this Sunday from 11 – 5.

Learn more on MySpace. Support local art!

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It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the music by local singer-songwriter Shane Papatolicas. He’s got lyrics that reference my favorite city in the world (San Francisco, of course) and a voice that’s like cloudless shelter from the foggy San Francisco chill. So it’s no surprise that I like the newest song (Slow Down, Hold Out) that Shane posted on his site. He downplays it by reminding listeners that it’s just a rough cut demo he put out there for some feedback, but the truth is that it’s already a pretty solid piece. You can hear it by following the mp3 link above or by checking out Shane’s site which has some of his other songs in mp3 format as well.

Maybe Shane’ll play it this week when he performs live at Grant & Green Saloon. The North Beach show is free and Grant & Green is always a fun casual venue. It’s on Thursday evening (the 13th). Shane starts around 7 and is followed by Fred O’Dell and Fancy Dan. Learn more about Shane from his interview with San Fran Voice and my CD review.

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One of my favorite times of day is when I hear the mailman open up our screen door and bang the mailboxes as he fills them. I get lots of interesting stuff in my mail … CDs, letters with packages, business plan request, manuscript stuff … but today the exciting thing was my calendar of events for the JCCSF. And it occurred to me that a lot of people probably don’t know what a great place the JCCSF is for events.

I used to work at the Jewish Community Center back home in Tucson so I was familiar from there about the diversity of events that were offered … and I found the same to be true when I first noticed the JCCSF. I went there earlier this year to see Yuri Lane perform a one-man play that was comprised of story telling, comedy and beat boxing. It had Jewish humor and general humor and amazing talent. At the end of the play, Yuri pulled some local beat boxers up on stage and they performed together spontaneously. The event was followed by snacks and mingling. It was a great night and a wonderful experience and just one example of what can be seen at the venue.

The 2007-08 season includes:
- lecture / conversation events such as A Tribute to Kerouac with poets, jazz and more on September 10th
- world music such as Israeli Moroccan singer Smadar Levi on September 25th
- political comedy events such as This Is So Not About The Simpsons on October 16th
- family events like Seussical the Musical on November 11th
- random fun events like The Great Broadway Sing-a-Long on December 13th
- solo theater performances such as Mark Twain Tonight on February 7th

Learn more from the JCCSF website.

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If you go to the archives of this site, you’ll find that this is what San Fran Voice had to share with you in the month of August:

- 12 CD reviews for various genres of music including jazz, indie rock, RnB and singer-songwriter folk
- 9 interviews: four with local artists, four with local bands or musicians and one with a local fashion designer
- 8 recommendations of things to check out (which were primarily but not entirely live music events)

That seems to me to be a pretty good balance of what I want to have on the site, sharing information with you about the local creative folks that are here in both their words and mine. But I can’t know if this is what you want to see here unless you tell me. So let me know what your thoughts are … what you liked seeing here last month, what you’d hope to see more of coming up.

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Bi-lingual singer-songwriter Tiffany Joy is a true joy to listen to in any language. She has a strong voice, lyrics filled with character and great instrumentation. She’s also got an awesome personality which shines through in the interview she did not that long ago with San Fran Voice.

Tiffany Joy just released her new album, and she’ll be showing off some of the new music tonight on XM Radio. The show happens at 7 pm PST and will run for an hour. Tiffany Joy is only one of the performers in that hour so you’ll get to hear her for a bit and also get introduced to some other musicians who you might enjoy.

If you miss the show tonight, it’ll be repeated by XM Radio at 11 am tomorrow and at 3 am on Saturday. You’ll need to sign up for an account with XM Radio if you don’t already have one.

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If you haven’t yet found something to do with your Thursday night, you should go celebrate the 6 year anniversary of the band In Rare Form. They’re playing along with a bunch of other bands at Pier 23 Cafe in a fundraiser event that includes art and activities. It’s $15 to get in, music starts at eight and goes ’til two in the morning. In Rare Form starts art 9:30.

Learn more about them from our interview with two of the members, The Brothers Lekas, who also play on their own.

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