Take a class at City College

You recently received word that your Peace Corps application was accepted and that you'll be spending the next two years in China/Mali/Honduras developing techniques for sustainable small-scale agriculture/building small-town medical clinics/"facilitating a program of microlending to underserved indigenous peoples" (this last bit is the wording you'll use on your B-school application).

However, your Mandarin/French/Spanish is not up to par. Short of engaging in regular, non-procreative intercourse with the Taiwanese/Quebecois/Peruvian guy upstairs, what do you do?

Check out the course offerings at CCSF, of course.

With departments ranging from Architecture to Journalism to Theatre Arts to Aircraft-Maintenance Technology to Culinary Arts and Hospitality Studies, opportunities abound for anything from the brush-up to the total makeover at only 20 bucks a unit (for California residents).

So come on, set your inner dilettante free and take that photography class you've been dreaming about ever since you last redesigned your myspace page.


City College of San Francisco has 11 campuses spread throughout the city. Information about registering is available here. CCSF was founded in 1935 and, in 1989, established the first gay, lesbian, and bisexual studies department in the United States. The theater at the Ocean Campus features a mural by Diego Rivera. Notable alumni include:

(Danny Glover)

(O.J. Simpson)

and

(Bill Bixby, star of the 1970s TV show The Incredible Hulk).

Go to Baker Beach on a nice day

Perhaps a banal suggestion, but it's probably one you haven't followed as often as you should have.

Nice days in the Presidio are like affordable housing in San Francisco, so if you receive reports that it might be fog-less and warm out there, go. However, it is likely that many will have been struck with the same idea, so avoid the crowded parking lot by taking the bus or riding that darn bicycle of yours.

List of things to bring:

1. Towel
2. Swimsuit (optional if you head to the north end of the beach--see below)
3. Tall boy(s) of Tecate
4. A soccer ball (or some other sporting good with which to hit oblivious sunbathers/little children running around in screaming packs/lecherous old men watching oblivious sunbathers and/or little children running around in screaming packs)
5. Sun block (in San Francisco?!)

Gratuitous and wholly unnecessary picture of naked people on Baker Beach:


Baker Beach is located in the Presidio. It is served by the 29 bus, which directly intersects the 1, 2, 5, 31, 38, and 71 lines, and (talking about the 29 still) is one block off the N-Judah at 19th and Irving in the Sunset. On bike, take Lake Street west from Arguello or, if you want to go through Golden Gate Park, exit the park and go north on 24th or 26th, changing to 25th as it descends towards the beach after Lake. (Here are a few online Muni maps.) Picnic tables and barbecues are available near the parking lot. Restrooms are available too.