This week in San Francisco, eat for a cause with Food Not Bombs, open mics at Amnesia and Kaleidoscope, Post-Impressionists at the De Young, and volunteer work gets fun at City Impact’s Christmas Block Party.
Monday 12/20: Joint Food Not Bombs in Union Square for a Sit/Eat against Sit/Lie. Eaters will meet outside Macy’s Union Square to protest the recently passed Prop. L in the middle of downtown San Francisco during the most crowded shopping season of the year. Free, 4-6pm @ Geary & Powell Streets.
Tuesday 12/21: Get yourself to Amnesia for Sum Kind of Trouble, the weekly variety open mike hosted by Rajeev Dhar. Musicians, authors, and comedians take the stage each week, along with special guests to keep the open mic format interesting. It’s free, and you never know who will end up performing, including yourself. 21+, 6:30-9pm @ 853 Valencia Street.
Wednesday 12/22: Another holiday Bazaar! Real Mercantile has been holding weekly craft markets all month — join them for the last one of the year to finish up your last minute anti-department store holiday shopping while you sip on mulled wine at Chez Poulet. Free, 5-9pm @ 3359 Ceasar Chavez Street.
Thursday 12/23: Today marks the anniversary of quirky post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh’s holiday gift of his own ear to his favorite prostitute! Celebrate with a trip to the De Young Museum for a look at Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée D’Orsay. Following this year’s earlier exhibit of Impressionist work’s from the Musée D’Orsay, the Post-Impressionist collection includes infamous works by Van Gogh as well as Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, and others. Tickets $15-25, 9:30am-5pm @ 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive.
Friday 12/24: Get into the holiday spirit or celebrate your inner Scrooge with the American Conservatory Theater’s last performance of A Christmas Carol. Tickets $25+, 2pm matinee/7pm evening show @ 415 Geary Street.
Saturday 12/25: Regardless of your faith or lack thereof, help others this Christmas by volunteering your time to the distribution of dinner and gifts to needy families. City Impact welcomes any volunteer on a first-come/first-served basis to their Christmas Block Party. Prep, serve, or run to help them reach their goal of delivering 5,000 meals, passing out 1,000 bags of groceries, and giving away 1,200 toys. 8:30am-3pm @ 230 Jones Street.
Sunday 12/26: Host (and fabulous musician), Bryant Denison, brings another open mic to San Francisco’s artistic melting pot known as The Mission with the Free Speech Zone at Kaleidoscope. 8-11pm @ 3109 24th Street.
