Here’s how I’m surviving 2025 — one San Francisco party at a time
Because you might as well escape the madness with glitter, music, and questionable costumes. This is my map to San Francisco’s most unapologetic celebrations.
San Francisco has always been a city that thrives on contradictions. The fog rolls in and swallows the sun, but somehow the streets are alive with color. This year will easily provide us the same dichotomy: a shitstorm of tension in our national politics that will likely fuel escapism in San Francisco — messy, chaotic, loud parties and joy.
This year will be anything but quiet, and I plan to embrace the good moments whenever I can. I’ll be at the galas pretending I know what forks to use, and at Dolores Park cheering on the hunkiest Jesus. I’ll be in the thick of Folsom Street, soaking up the unabashed individuality that makes this city worth fighting for. Because if there’s one thing I know about San Francisco, it’s that even in the middle of a shitstorm, it still throws the best damn party.
Read the latest by Saul Sugarman
This is how SF transit failed me on New Years Eve
New Year’s Eve is my favorite party of the year — the lights, the drinking, the camaraderie. I’m proud to say this is my ninth New Year’s celebration in San Francisco, and each year the city has gently ushered me from party to bed to brunch safely and in a timely fashion. This year was a little different. Let me plot out for you how it took me two hours and forty-five minutes to go four miles across the city.
Read the latest by T. Von D.
Modern Japanese Bar Iris serves some of the most ambitious cocktails around
Bar Iris is the kind of place that feels effortlessly cool without trying too hard. Sitting beside its Michelin-starred sibling Nisei, this cocktail bar has carved out its own niche since opening in October 2021. Led by Timofei Osipenko, his 20-page menu is ambitious without being overwhelming, showcasing Japanese gins, rums, and whiskeys that make each drink feel like a quiet discovery.
Read the latest by Virginia Miller
What we’re doing this week
Happy Endings Show 6th Anniversary
If you’ve never been to a Happy Endings show: it’s like therapy, but funnier and with cocktails. For six glorious years, this reading series has turned writers, poets, and comedians loose onstage to share tales that somehow manage to wring humor out of life’s messiest moments.
Held at the Make-Out Room, expect stories that make you laugh-snort one minute and choke up the next, all while you clutch your drink like a lifeline. And with a lineup of crowd favorites and newcomers ready to spill their guts (figuratively, we hope), you’ll leave wondering why all your personal disasters aren’t this entertaining.
WHEN: January 14th, 2025, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m
WHERE: Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., San Francisco
More details on their Instagram post
Drag-cula — Fangs, fabulousness, and living greyscale realness
Picture this: the performers are decked out in "living greyscale," covering themselves in gray makeup to look like they’ve stepped straight out of a 1930s horror film—if that horror film also had goth rock, bondage jokes, and an audience hollering for more.
Hosted at SF Oasis, the story follows a hapless British lawyer who accidentally releases Count Dracula, a polyamorous, pansexual vampire who leaves a trail of seduction and scandal across 1930s London. With a playlist of 1980s goth rock bangers, the plot spirals into delightful chaos as a shibari-loving Van Helsing tries to stop Dracula’s sexy reign of terror.
WHEN: January 16 – February 1, 2025; Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:00 PM
WHERE: OASIS, 298 11th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
San Francisco Randonneurs: Pt. Reyes Populaire
For cycling enthusiasts, the San Francisco Randonneurs are organizing the Pt. Reyes Populaire on January 12th. This is a long-distance, non-competitive ride emphasizing endurance and camaraderie. The route offers scenic views as it travels northward through Marin, Sonoma, and Mendocino Counties.
In order to participate, you must pay an annual member fee that’s currently set at $5. The ride cost for this one looks to be $10.
WHEN: January 12, 2025, at 8:00 AM
WHERE: East Bluff at East Beach-Crissy Field, SF — they provide a GPS location of that here.
Some Like It Hot
"Some Like It Hot" is hitting the stage at the Orpheum Theatre. This musical adaptation of the classic 1959 film brings a fresh take on the story of two musicians on the run, blending humor, romance, and toe-tapping tunes. It's a chance to see a beloved story reimagined for the stage.
WHEN: January 7–31, 2025
WHERE: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Ukulele meetup: Strumming through the evening
There’s something very San Francisco about a ukulele get-together. This in-person meetup invites all skill levels to strum, sing, and pick songs from The Daily Ukulele songbooks. Don’t have a song in mind? No problem—just go with the flow as the group rotates picks. Bring your instrument, a music stand, and your best vibe for a laid-back evening of island-inspired fun.
WHEN: January 10, 2025, 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM
WHERE: The location is given out once you register with the organizer. Their Meetup is here; there’s an optional $5 donation.
Get your songbooks here:
Yellow Book
Blue Book
What’s on our mind
We keep content mostly fun and light at The Bold Italic, but the future of the Bay Area interests us, too. Here’s what we are thinking about in local news. Brought to you by GrowSF.
40 traffic deaths later, Vision Zero remains elusive for San Francisco
A woman was struck and killed by a driver on December 27 while crossing the Great Highway near Ulloa Street, marking San Francisco’s 40th traffic fatality and 24th pedestrian death in 2024. It appears to be a tragic accident - a woman suffering from dementia wandered on to the street around 5:45am and entered the roadway where there are no crosswalks or street lights.
This makes 2024 the deadliest one for pedestrians in over a decade, and tied with 2016 as the second-deadliest overall (the other years have higher vehicle vs vehicle fatalities). 2024 was also the ten-year anniversary of “Vision Zero” which pledged to end all traffic deaths by… 2024.
“Any tragedy like this is a shock and deeply saddening for our community, especially during the holidays,” Supervisor Joel Engardio said on X. “I’m grateful to the first responders who serve 24/7 and provide help whenever it is needed.”
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