California’s homelessness crisis is a homegrown problem that is deepening amid a shortage of affordable housing and emergency shelter, and it’s often the brutal conditions of living on the street that trigger behavioral health problems, such as depression and anxiety, researchers found in a comprehensive study on homelessness.

It’s been less than seven months since the start of 2023 and with that in mind, it’s worthwhile to take a second to reflect on some of the strangest happenings in one of California’s strangest locales.  

What to do with mine was so clear to me: I had to go to Iran. After a lifetime of my parents always advising me I should wait until my thirties to sojourn to the motherland (something I’ve explored before), here was the perfect opportunity. What could possibly go wrong with planning this type of adventure? 

With all the talk of bagel revolutions happening in the Bay Area, a standout just opened its precious doors in Oakland. Poppy Bagels debuted in February 2023 in the food-chic Temescal neighborhood. If there is indeed a revolution afoot, Poppy Bagels might be the hero leading the charge.

Fans organized a “reverse boycott” of the Oakland Athletics, where instead of staying away from the games, fans showed up in force. Half protest, half celebration, it was truly an “Only in Oakland” type experience.

There’s a new generation of queer creatives coming up in San Francisco and they’re going to blow you away. They have a lot to say and they’re not shutting up anytime soon.

Circle up cisgender folks. Oh, happy Pride month. Isn’t it fun? I can hear the unasked questions bouncing between your tonsils. Questions about my genitalia, or a hungry curiosity surrounding my they/them pronouns or the stubble under my admittedly sloppy makeup. Even in the age of TikTok and extensive YouTube tutorials, I can’t quite figure makeup out yet. We’re doing what we can with what we have, which is a shaky lip line and some blunt, 80s blush. 

When a line forms in San Francisco — in the fickle weather we always seem to have — you know it’s got to be for something tasty. I braved the wind for the new-ish Loquat in Hayes Valley, a Jewish bakery from the Four Barrel and Mill team, that brings a former pastry chef from Tartine to a suite of babka, cookies, and cakes.