The vibes, currently

Post-election dispatch

Hello hello. I’d say happy Sunday, but if that feels a little glib right now, I’ll say, it is Sunday, the sun is up, and you are alive. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about the vibes in San Francisco, four days after Donald Trump won the U.S. election, marking the beginning of a legitimate populist regime in America.

The city is operating business as usual, but a there’s a low-key atmosphere of paranoia. At least that’s how I feel. The very real and conclusive results of this election tell me that, probably, many more people I know voted for Trump than I assumed. Almost immediately after the results started coming in on Tuesday, my perception of who a “Trump supporter” is shifted, which just really reminds me that the language we lean on, even when we know it’s shorthand for a more nuanced reality, has a huge influence on the narratives we internalize. And I knew this already; I literally wrote a whole post about it in July. But still, seeing it play out for real—it’s a sobering realization. And it’s a double-edged sword, because it both urges one to keep in mind that having voted for Trump does not equal being fascist or violent, but also confronts one with the possibility that anyone they come across might be harboring some fascist or violent ideals. Maybe I’m just on edge, but my guess is that other people are feeling this too.

Visible identities are no longer reliable indicators of politics, if they ever were. This is especially true in San Francisco, which always has been and is still propped up as an überprogressive countercultural city but just elected several wealthy moderates to influential offices. The mayor’s race was clinched by Daniel Lurie, the heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, who ran as a Democrat but was endorsed by the San Francisco Republican Party. Bilal Mahmood, a former tech founder who also ran as a moderate Democrat, very well may oust democratic socialist Dean Preston as District 5 Supervisor, the seat Harvey Milk once held, though that race has not been called yet. (Preston was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, and Elon Musk seems to have personal beef with him, if that tells you anything.) Weeks ago, the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board endorsed both those moderates. The fact is, the influence of the ultra-wealthy is growing exponentially stronger, culturally and politically, whether they’d call themselves Blue or Red or Gray or what have you. There is a political realignment occurring in the U.S., and the meanings of signals like that are changing fast. All this is to say, this week we found ourselves in a politically liminal period where it is hard to read the room, and I noticed small talk with neighbors/baristas/coworkers/new friends felt a little extra cheery. Like, are you smiling so big because you’re happy about the election results? or because you’re wondering if I’m happy about the election results? No one knows. Everyone is on guard. I’ll be keeping an eye on how this atmosphere progresses; paranoia is never good for sober-minded organizing, and we’ll need to be doing that quite soon.

Some happenings, rumors, talks of the town:

Dev Patel lookalike contest in Dolores Park

Two people have sent this to me to cover. Sadly I can’t go, but I’m sure it’ll be silly and include some very handsome fellas. At the same time though, I have sort of mixed feelings on the lookalike contest trend, which started with New York’s Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest, to which Timmy himself showed up and caused a big to-do. Now there’s this one, and evidently there was a Paul Mescal lookalike contest in Dublin and a Harry Styles one in London. The original organizer for the Timothée Chalamet one, Anthony Po, called the stunts performance art, but if I’m being honest, these events feel kind of desperate—not only the celebrity idolatry aspect of them, but also just the obvious attempts to manufacture internet vitality (Po is a YouTuber who used to work for MrBeast)—but at the same time they’re harmless and ultimately just a really specific passing trend. Happening now (sorry!) in Dolores Park. May the sexiest Dev win.

Laundromat SF’s 2nd birthday party ft. Yo También Cantina

The Laundromat—a Balboa Street bagel bakery by morning and pizza-and-wine spot by night—is throwing a party to celebrate their second anniversary as a Richmond District staple. Best bagels in town, IMO, even with considering the new Boichik Bagels location in Presidio Heights. Go get some wine, beer, food from Yo También Cantina, and merch from 4 to 10 p.m. tonight.

New Woods location is open in Cole Valley

Astrid Kane recently reported its owners’ vision for the business in The Standard.

With locations in the Mission, Outer Sunset, and Lower Haight already, do we really need another Woods? Apparently yes! Oh well, I’m on board. I have fond memories from all the Woods spots; in fact, I was just at the Outer Sunset one on Friday, drinking by the fire outside and debriefing the election with my sister, when a lone man sat down next to us, a little too close, which gave me the idea for the main section of this blog. Why were you so close, my guy? Who are you working for?!

Unscene Zine is doing community events and throwing launch parties

A friend of mine posted about going to Unscene’s coffee pop-up at garage business-turned-professional roastery Bird & Bear in Cole Valley last week, which introduced me to this underground mag for the first time. There are a lot of zines and editorial collectives popping up in the city, and this one seems to be on the more organized end of the spectrum. Unscene is casual, hyperlocal, and, from what I’ve seen, beautifully designed, all of which reminds me of indie mag The San Franciscan that folded earlier this year. RIP. Anyway, must look into stockists and get my hands on a physical copy!

The Gazetteer is throwing its first IRL event, Chat Room: Sex & Love

The buzzy new politics and culture publication, Gazetteer, is debuting its Chat Room event series next Thursday at the Swedish American Hall on Market. Free drinks and three panels. Tickets are free for subscribers and $20 for everyone else. Curious what the vibes will be at this: Corporate and polite? or silly and raucous? I’d guess somewhere in the middle, wholesome fun with a three-drinks buzz. That was kind of the energy when I went to the Gazetteer’s launch party at 20 Spot in July, where I met the Gazetteer’s staff writers, some friends of the owner, the small team of a progressive Jewish politics magazine, and the wife of the guy who created Farmville.

That’s it!

I wish I got these out earlier or had more for you but I’ve been swamped with freelance work this week, which should be published soon. Which brings me to…