John Todd

former Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick, now of the 49ers.

Just when AT&T Park has had a chance to cool off after the Giants' World Series win, another high profile event comes to town. But this one's in tune with the holiday spirit. The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Game, recently renamed from the previous incarnation as the Emerald Bowl, is the premiere event in the college football bowl lineup.

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Marilyn Roxie

Since the Gold Rush brought miners and sailors to our city, the disproportionate amount of men to women and their transient lifestyles fostered a sexually liberal environment that has bloomed for decades. The city's now got one of the highest number of sex workers per capita in both illegal and legal trades, necessitating a rich history of activism in sexual politics. For the city with at least a dozen annual occasions to don leather (or nothing at all) out on the streets, the Center for Sex and Culture is putting it all out there in a new mural celebrating S.F.'s sex-positive community and their achievements.

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From last year's benefit at the Academy of Sciences

Come one come all! Please join us in spreading the holiday cheer and helping fight cancer at SF Weekly's Snow Ball Holiday Benefit at San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay. While we can't make any promises about it actually snowing in the city, we can guarantee that this will be a night you won't want to miss out on. This year features a "Wintry" theme (cocktail attire -- let's get classy folks), with an open bar (we'll repeat that again: OPEN BAR).

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The Rumpus, brainchild of local author Stephen Elliott, has always been a literary darling, publishing top-notch essays and interviews, incubating the Dear Sugar phenomenon, and single-handedly bringing written correspondences back en vogue with Letters in the Mail, where authors like Dave Eggers, Margaret Cho, and Jonathan Ames pen intimate notes to subscribers. Now The Rumpus is hopping into even bigger britches with the making of its first feature film, Happy Baby, based on Elliott's grim and affecting novel about growing up in the child welfare system.

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We tried to get through this post without using the word CAN excessively, but we just don't see how you CAN look at something like the San Francisco CANstruction Event and not go a little ape with the puns. Even the organizers are getting in on the act with this year's theme, the CANnes Film Festival. Too cute.

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I've often wondered what happened to Justin, the person who trained me in the fine art of flipping burgers at the McDonald's I worked at in high school. At first Justin seemed like any other high school kid -- we bonded over toasting buns, "running the bin," and daydreams of all the horrible things we could do to your milkshake. But over the course of a year, Justin changed a bit. He started out with, "I think I accidentally went on a date with this guy," then moved on to, "I'm definitely dating this guy," and eventually it became, "Okay, I think I'm gay, but don't tell anyone."

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John Vajda

Say what you will about activism in San Francisco, but at least our politics are never boring. We stage puke-ins; we canvass in the buff; we even voted on a proposition a few years back that tried to rename a sewage plant after George W. Bush. (It failed, much like Bush's presidency.)

Nonetheless, we weren't surprised to hear that one such group, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, prefers its activism in song form. We can't say we blame them. The group's first performance was an impromptu memorial for George Moscone and Harvey Milk in 1978, and members of this 300-man chorus have since continued to raise the bar for gay rights, with concerts dedicated to Proposition 8, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the AIDS epidemic, and more (often in conservative communities).

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JohnMcNeilStudio

"If you build it, they will come" may have worked for Kevin Costner, but most of us need more than a creepy voiceover in order to achieve our dreams. Thankfully, San Francisco has a bevy of terrific nonprofits whose goal is to help make those very dreams come true. One such organization is Juma Ventures, whose annual event, Field of Dreams, aims to put an end to poverty by getting underprivileged kids to and through college.

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Intersection for the Arts is the oldest nonprofit art space in San Francisco, which basically means it's the mother of what we stand for as a city: art, literature, theater, dance, and bringing community together. Not only has it showcased some of the most cutting-edge artists around, they've also incubated smaller groups who are just starting out. In addition to the gallery and theater, the events calendar is also chock-full of great things -- from free music on Fridays to Balderdash hosted by the likes of Michelle Tea.

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Xavier Viramontes

Brown Eyed Girl

Some of us can't have pets. We've been cursed with landlords who wish to deny us the love and affection of a pug. But just because we can't adopt, doesn't mean we don't want to do our part in supporting our local animal shelters. The SF SPCA must know this because they're hosting an art show filled with pugs in fruit hats, kitties lounging in sinks, and golden retrievers, being well, golden retrievers. The exhibition, "Unconditional Love," brings together photography, paintings, and prints all dedicated to raising funds for our furry friends in need. More »