Monday, March 7, 2011

musings near the end of Daylight Saving Time...

It's almost spring. Which always makes me look at the world a bit differently. Days get longer, flowers start blooming, and we sell more salads and less soups.

It seems like an appropriate time for reflection and planning, and we're looking forward to an exciting year ahead. We have new neighbors moving in across the street - a (still unnamed) sustainability center, which includes lots of our friends (the Sustainable Living Roadshow, B Spoke Tailor, Spokeland, and many more). They're doing interesting things already, and they're not even really open yet. Stop by if you're in the area and say hello - they're friendly, and almost always there.

Daylight Saving Time ends next Sunday, and we'll be looking at extending our mid-week hours again. Immediately, we'll be open until 9pm on Wednesdays, to allow us to start movies when it's dark enough to actually see them.

We have a ton of exciting stuff going on this month, and it's just a little piece of what we're working on for the upcoming year.

First, we'll be opening an art show of photography and illustration this month - Osmos, by Japhy Riddle. We're doing what we can to fill the cafe with interesting art that has something to say about the people and places in our very own neighborhood, and we think Japhy's photography fits the bill nicely (his illustration says more about what he sees when he closes his eyes, but it's also cool). The opening will be next Saturday, and will include music by Japhy's band, Cadet. Looks to be a fun party.

On the 13th, we'll have another edition of Second Sundays with the Songwriters Collective, which is becoming quite the popular and well-received event.

Also this month (on Sunday March 20th), we'll be hosting another Men's & Women's Clothing Swap. The last time we did this, it was a huge success, and folks had a ball. We're looking forward to more of the same.

On the 25th of March, we'll be hosting a very special fundraiser for AIDS/Lifecycle, to raise money for the SF AIDS Foundation, which provides essential services to people with (and at risk to contract) HIV - not just in San Francisco, but all over the state (they're also involved in AIDS projects worldwide). We'll be doing these events for the next three months (until the ride itself). This month, the event will be sponsored by our friends at New Belgium Brewing, and they'll be doing live silk-screening during the event (which is kinda neato), as well as donating a bunch of raffle prizes and matching the first $500 we raise during the event. We'll be joined by another special friend, the LIBA falafel truck, which will be parked outside selling delicious falafelness. DJs Sixty4K and Kid Frostbite will dish tasty records, and we'll be raffling off all sorts of cool prizes. A portion of everything sold during the night will go to the ALC fund, so all you have to do to support the cause is show up and spend a couple bucks.

On the 26th, Rad Dad Zine will be having their zine release party, with live music, readings from the zine, and more.

Wow. And that's not even everything. Some great movies on Wednesdays this month, more music on Saturday nights, more Decompression Sessions on Friday nights, and of course, our popular weekend brunch.

working hard for it, cause we luvya
-sal & the actual team