San Francisco Voice

San Francisco is a city with stunning architecture and simultaneously a city which celebrates nature. Less than 50 square miles in size and we allow for both the tall buildings of the Financial District and the expanse of Golden Gate Park.
In her piece “Under The Redwoods“, Mary C. McFadden writes about one piece of this duality:
Other than the bridges, the Transamerica Pyramid is the most distinctive feature in San Francisco’s skyline. It is our tallest building and the only one of its kind. A small oasis of redwood trees sits at its base. Surrounded by concrete, glass, and steel, half-acre …read more

Comments Off

It’s difficult to write anything about San Francisco and not bring it back, eventually, to the topic of sex. That’s because sexuality in this city is so out there in the open. And that’s why today’s quote might be about sex but it comes from a food critic’s review of a local restaurant.
“San Francisco loves sex. Raunchy S & M stores (that sell tight leather pants, kinky fish net stockings, and human dog collars with the “obligatory” metal spikes) abound and an unassuming pedestrian walking down Market Street will inevitably encounter a barrage of “untrustworthy” massage parlors and flashing neon …read more

Comments Off

Sometimes artists say it best. The following quote is from the description of the painting loha Lurline (seen above) created by artist Chris Butler.
“The setting full moon, seen at right, recalls romantic strolls on tropical shores; yet San Francisco is glorious in the morning sun, with Coit Tower at right standing out of the usual fog.”

Comments Off

Words worth reading about San Francisco crop in the most interesting of places. Sure, there are typical spots that you’d expect good writing to be found like in literature and lyrics. But sometimes the good writers are out there in other places, like doing travel writing on the web. In this case, the quotes are from Fodor’s Travel Guide for San Francisco.
First, in describing the city’s “jaw-dropping views”, they aptly and beautifully write:
“In San Francisco, it’s almost impossible not to happen upon jaw-dropping views of the city and the bay beyond. You can see them from Fisherman’s Wharf, Coit Tower, …read more

Comments Off

Many people come to San Francisco because it gives them the creative energy that they need to produce whatever kind of art or writing is their passion. But occasionally, there are people who love San Francisco but who must leave to find the quiet space in their heart where creativity can happen. Such is the subject of today’s San Francisco quotation from Jello Biafra:
“I realized later on that a lot of times I’d go back to Colorado to hide from all the mayhem in San Francisco so I could get songs written.”

Comments Off

Usually, I like to find my own quotes about San Francisco in the literature, stories and websites that I read about this terrific city. But sometimes, to get quotes about San Francisco, I do the easy thing and google “San Francisco Quotes”. The first site that comes up is the SF Heart site (one worth checking out if you haven’t ever). And the first quote on that page is a well-known one from SF writer Ambrose Bierce:
“Careful now. We’re dealing here with a myth. This city is a point upon a map of fog. Lemuria in a city unknown. Like …read more

Comments Off

What better way to think about the 4th of July in San Francisco than as aptly described by Christiana Dominguez in her 2004 musings on Metroblogging SF? (Full post here.)
In a city where the flags are more often rainbow than red-white-and-blue, and the voters are usually bluer than the red rest of the country, patriotism is expressed as much in how we break traditional notions of American as it is in how we celebrate it. And if dissent truly is the most American expression of patriotism, then I can’t imagine where I’d have a more independent Independence Day.

Comments Off

Today’s quote itself describes why it is so easy to write beautiful things about the city of San Francisco. It’s part of the lyrics to Scene Through The Eyes of Love which you can see in full here.
Gazing out my window through the fog at
the Golden Gate, she languidly lifts her gray gossamer gown
revealing her golden thighs. It is not difficult to wax poetic about this
wonderful city and all the adventures one can have and
the many things there are to do and see here.

Comments Off

San Francisco lends itself well to words about the city. It is a place where passion thrives. But it is also a place where single life is common. There are many young people here, transient people who are moving through the city for just a few years. The urban life is conducive to the temporary nature of human relationships. As such, today’s simple quote is appropriate on so many levels, for the singles here who fall in love with the city, making it the seat of their heart, if only for a little while.
I have never loved a man the …read more

1 Comment

San Francisco is a city which leaves its impressions upon people. In honor of that, writers and artists, comedians and actors, and visitors from across the globe have made mention of San Francisco in print and in voice. Quotes about San Francisco vary as much as the people who make up this city. Each morning, San Fran Voice gives you one to think about as you wander through the city streets, letting it leave its mark on you.
Today’s quote is from Eric Maisel, the local author of A Writer’s San Francisc: A Guided Journey for the …read more

Comments Off