Try drowning Dave Eggers, Michelle Tea, Stephen Elliott, Beth Lisick, Barb Bersche, Eileen Hassi, or 826 Program Director Erin Neeley, via a dunking booth, this Sunday afternoon at the first 8/26 Day Festival. more ›

-- Rykarda Parasol: Dreamy rock crooner (and fellow beverage taste-tester) performs tonight along with the Dilettantes and Brad Brooks. Show starts at 9 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, 2174 Market; $10. more ›

, about the hilarity of body image issues. Also: gift baskets and free eyebrow waxing! The event's sponsored by Green Apple, so the reading's at the Rockit Room, one block down the street (406 Clement, x 6th). 7 p.m., free. more ›

Happy Memorial Day! Here's some stuff to do if you're not barbecuing. more ›

Cuz a little culture never hurt anyone.... more ›

Here's a listing for tonight's events more ›

It's the third annual San Francisco Notable Portrait Auction, to benefit Creativity Explored! We love this event. Creativity Explored is dedicated to promoting works by local developmentally disabled artists, and they invite a group of local celebs to sit for portraits by their artists, and then auction them off with the celebs in attendance. Jonathan Richman (!!!!) will also be playing. more ›

Saturday: we're hitting the YBCA (700 Howard Street at Third) for the SFist Krissy-recommended Kronos Quartet and experimental musicians, Matmos and Walter Kitundu collaboration. Sure, we love the Kronos Quartet and Matmos, but we're also eager to see the extraordinarily threatening Kitundu in action. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., buy tickets here. more ›

Cursing can be fun. Liberating, even. In the right hands, it's almost artful. In the wrong hands, well, you have a million bad rap songs. It's all in who says it, we guess. In the hands of uptight comedians, hipsters, or cartoon eight year olds, it's giddy inducing. In other hands, it's only confirmation of our worst suspicions. All of which is why when we heard that the Edinburgh Castle was going to have it's First Annual "Swearing Festival" we knew we had to go. If there was any place that would do cursing right, it would be the Castle as it would be sure to feature lots of literary types, smart hipster types and Scottish types. We love hearing Scottish types curse. How could this event not miss? It did. Unfortunately, while the concept was brilliant, the execution wasn't. more ›

Saturday: We're headed down to the San Francisco Concourse (8th and Brannan) for the Green Festival ’05, for "two energetic days of socially responsible shopping, options for thriving green living, foremost speakers and industry leaders, creating the largest party with a purpose." The festival runs 10a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and fro 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are 15 bucks, 7 if you're a student, senior, or if you ride your bike there. more ›

Good thing we got to the Swedish-American early for Friday night's Porchlight Third Anniversary storytelling evening -- even 45 minutes before the show, the rush ticket line was snaking all the way down to the Lucky 13. And inside, the crowd (women in flower-print shift dresses, men in corderoy) was distracted the arduous folding-chair seat selection process by the gigantic set of klieg lights and steadicam equipment -- KRON 4 was taping the show. (We've always wanted to be on KRON 4!!! Look for us!) Porchlight is basically the live San Francisco version of This American Life -- hosts Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick invite people to come up to the stage and tell an extemporaneous story on a theme. No notes, no patter, and a strict 10-minute limit per person. Friday's show was Porchlight's Third Anniversary show, with the theme, "Eye of the Tiger: Stories of Weird Little Triumphs." Because it was the Third Anniversary, storytellers were limited to 6 minutes, and they featured a lightning round, where five members of the audience would be picked to tell a one-minute story each. After the jump: the tyrannies of a live studio audience, the ominous 2-minute piano warning, and Matt Gonzalez on Archie Manning. Picture of Porchlight hosts Arline Klatte and Beth Lisick by Lori Spears more ›

Everyone seems to describe spoken word artist and writer/poet Beth Lisick as "fizzy" -- but she really is! City Lights was packed to the gills with Missionistas who walked up Columbus from the Montgomery BART/MUNI stop, eager to send Ms. Lisick off in style for the first stop on her book tour. City Lights generously sprung for champagne, wine, and foccacia, but we were too worried about losing our seat to actually get any. Beth Lisick's new book, Everyone into the Pool is a collection of personal essays from childhood to 16th and Mission and onto motherhood, about "turning out too weird to fit into the mainstream world... but being too normal for the fringe." So, you know, essays about diligently attempting to be bisexual, the humiliation of SuperShuttle dropping you off on a crack block, dressing up like a banana for the Fruit Guys -- you know, living in San Francisco. It got an A from Entertainment Weekly! What it was like writing The Buzz Life SFGate column, after the jump. more ›

Why is it that when people do readings, they get that weird This-American-Life tone in their voice? And what is it about the quality of polite clapping at bookreadings that makes it sound so poignant? Contemplate these thoughts as you hear your favorite local authors starting tomorrow and going all next week in San Francisco's local literary festival, Litquake. more ›