When I first moved to San Francisco I hated it and was surprised to hate it. I lived within walking distance from the western terminus of the Underground Railway, the former home of the Six Gallery and the legendary 60’s rock venue The Fillmore. I was so earnest and enthusiastic to meet new people, but at the time my excitement was turning people off.

The first party we went to was in Russian Hill where after an hour of contributing nothing to a conversation about triathlons, I hid in the kitchen talking to someone’s younger brother. My second party was in the Lower Haight where everyone was trying to look working class and I was in my best clothes but really WAS working class. My third party was in the Marina where I was the only woman to arrive in a mustache to a “mustache and wig” costume party.

My uncultured, working class, small town Canadian-ness was seeping out, making me say offensive things like “Frisco”. San Francisco was bringing me down and it took me a year to unlock the secret and cut through the bullshit to assemble my crew of friends.

SURVIVAL
There are about 4000 people under “Born and Raised in San Francisco” on Facebook and more than 66,000 people on the “Pickles” page. Most San Francisco residents are transplants — and it was at this point that I realized that I owned the city just as much as anyone else around. There was something strangely comfortable about meeting venture capitalists from Winnipeg, leather-clad post-punk lesbians from Minnetonka and goths from Rancho Palos Verdes. I realized that all these transplants were coming to this city as a beacon of innovation, inspiration and above all else, weirdness. I wasn’t expressing my full range of weirdness. I stopped worrying about people liking me and I started doing stuff.


Now I like San Francisco. I like that the sadomasochist community does its part to fundraise for breast cancer awareness month. I like that no matter how wealthy the tech industry gets, they still dance like Snoopy characters at the end of the night. I like that between the Beats, Black Power and the Technologists there is a rich history of legendary weirdos - the lunatic fringe that lassos mainstream America into changing their perceptions and beliefs.

Hang in there newbies. It gets better. In a year you’ll feel like you own SF and defend it too.

RESOURCES FOR NEWBIES
- Magazine with some events and cool hidden SF: The Bold Italic
- 6 Awesome SF Hours of YouTube: Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City featuring Laura Linney and Parker Posey
- Local Happenings: SFist
- Arts and Culture: Squidlist
- SF Kickball Association: WAKA