Con’s Consumptions 3/22
What I’ve been consuming over the last month. I feel like the through-line can be best defined by my big 3 in my chart: Gemini sun, Cancer moon, Aquarius rising. One thing from each section fills each of my cups with these. No further explanation.
Food / Drink
When it comes to pizza, I love most types, but the two that stand out the most are Chicago tavern-style & a classic NY slice. Both are tough to come by in SF. Tony Gemignani has been carrying the weight of representing pizza & bagels in this city for years. The man can only do so much. Plus I’ve lived in North Beach for over 6 years now & needed to branch out. When the Super Bowl was here, Dave Portnoy was doing his pizza reviews around SF. Think what you want about him, but he knows pizza. I had Outta Sight on my list for a while, but his video pushed me over the edge. I got a cheese slice & a mushroom slice… both excellent.
A new Jewish deli in Jackson Square. They’ve had spots in Napa & Marin, but this is their first SF location. I’m always looking for a good bagel here. After spending time in NYC, the bar got so high it almost ruined SF bagels for me. Nothing has hit like Leon’s or Tompkins Square, but I’ve found a few that hold their own. The bagel at Loveski’s is now in my rotation for spots to go to. They have a fermented onion cream cheese that slaps.
It’s right by Ocean Beach in the Outer Sunset, which always felt like a trek from North Beach… especially for coffee. But it was sunny & in the 80s, so it felt like the perfect excuse. I felt like I went to SoCal for the day. The windows were open throughout the place, you had people walking in & out from the beach. Vibes & coffee were great. Would definitely recommend it for a day where you have to get work done, but want to feel that energy of being at the beach.
TV
They just added this show to Netflix. I had watched it growing up & loved it. It had been years since I had even thought about the show though, it felt like it just disappeared. I was just going to watch a few episodes, but once I did, I realized I forgot a lot of the storyline so I was hooked & it felt like I was watching it for the first time, with this general familiarity of the characters. It felt like going back to a place you must have been in as a child but have a foggy memory around it… but you can tell you were there. It does feel tough to watch anything in the past with Amanda Bynes these days, especially a show that was produced by Dan Schneider (what a fuck), but he’s not what made the show special. It was Jennie Garth as Val & Amanda Bynes as Holly. My favorite, though, is Lauren, Leslie Grossman played the character so well.
I am watching Season 3 live right now. Can you believe there are cases where we still have to wait week-by-week to see it? Kidding… but I was able to binge seasons 1 & 2, so to then come in right after binging at season 3 where I have to wait a week between every episode is grueling, but also fun. Feels like our society got used to the equivalent of love-bombing with tv shows during the binge era & now we actually realize that maybe the slow burn is good. We get to appreciate the show every week, instead of just going to the next episode with no friction. On top of this, I can confirm I have successfully put some of my friends on this show & I will be continuing to plug it.
Another show that is on every week. We are about halfway through the season here & I didn’t know how it would be without Paige there, but it has been a fresh vibe this season. I could go on, but I find I only like talking about Bravo with people who are deep in it. It is all so intertwined & there is so much lore… that I can never just have a casual conversation about this. But like I said… good season so far.
Movies
This movie was on at my gym the other day & I was like “damn this is actually one of those Will Ferrell movies I haven’t seen”. Will Ferrell movies from that very specific era are my guilty pleasure. Have they aged well? Not really… but that was more a reflection of where humor was culturally at the time than who Will Ferrell is as a person. He has clearly evolved. I asked for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby on DVD for Christmas as a kid (& to my surprise, my uncle got it for me). I was probably the only 10 year old girl who had the uncut version. I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen it… so it was just shocking that I hadn’t seen Semi-Pro in my life yet.
I just heard about this movie recently, someone had posted about it being a movie that was filmed in SF. It is a rom-com with Reese Witherspoon & Mark Ruffalo, where most of it is shot at an apartment in North Beach. The apartment is the apartment at the top of my street, that I pass all the time. It was just one of those things that made me smile & reminded me of how special it is where I live.
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery
I could say a lot more about Lilith Fair & the documentary but for now my couple of thoughts are:
Sarah McLachlan got done dirty by those animal commercials because I think there is a generation of people that associate her & her music almost exclusively with those commercials. When I was younger those commercials made me cry & I physically could not be in the room when they were on. If I even heard that song start… the tv was turning off. So I will yell it from the rooftops about Sarah & Lilith Fair because she deserves to be associated with that & the badass stance that she took for women in music. She truly made a change. I truly had no idea until watching this documentary, so I am sure there are so many in that same boat.
Lilith Fair feels like it was 90’s equivalent for queer women that Summer of 2024 was for us (with Chappell Roan, Renee Rapp, Billie Eilish crossover into Brat Summer). That is all.
Music
The way I feel about watching Cameron McCloud right now, is the same feeling I felt about watching Chappell Roan in late 2023 / early 2024. Mark my words… they are about to pop the fuck off. Their energy is electric & their music leaves you feeling like the most confident version of yourself. Plus they have this raw, poetic, rap talent, that in the age of AI, I think is going to win. It is so human.
My two favorite songs right now are: The Artshow, Origin Story
Her voice… her fucking voice. If you haven’t seen a video of her singing live, here you go. I am so excited that she is on the Outside Lands lineup this year. She played in SF a couple of weeks ago & I was eyeing down tickets, but she was at a smaller venue & the resale was HIGH so seeing that she was on the lineup was such a win.
Her new song she released last week: The Visitor
Cudi back at it with a surprise EP. This man has been running circles around people in the last year. He released his first pop album, Free, which has landed itself in my all time favorite albums. He wrote a book, Cudi, which I highly recommend anyone read. He has been painting & had his first solo exhibition in Paris this year, Echoes of the Past. He is going on tour this summer. To top it off, he just released a surprise EP where he streamed the process of creating all of the songs on Twitch as a series.
My favorite song off of his new EP: REAL ONES NEVER DIE
Also, my favorite song off of his album Free (which happened to be my most-played song of 2025 too): Salt Water
Events
Lola Kirke@ Swedish American Hall
I read Lola Kirke’s book, Wild West Village, over the holidays & was just obsessed with her storytelling capabilities. Her live show was a combo of her telling stories from the book that then went hand-in-hand with her songs she wrote. The whole thing was just fucking brilliant.
Some of her songs I like: Trailblazer, Raised By Wolves, Hungover Thinkin’
Miguel@ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Miguel’s vocals were incredible & I forgot how many of his songs I do know. I would recommend anyone see him live, it truly exceeded my expectations.
Two of my favorite Miguel songs: Do You …, Sure Thing
Last summer, I saw Anthony play for the first time @ Tupelo in North Beach on a random Wednesday night & I was blown away by him. A lot of his music has North Beach inspiration written all over them & I really appreciate that.
He just released a new single: Sugar on Your Shades (Acoustic)
Another song of his I really like: The Road
