The world of San Francisco

In San Francisco, housing prices are insane, so we have people and organizations devoted to "housing activism." That means trying to get affordable housing for working class people, and in many cases it also means desperate opposition to the city's political power structure. Some of these nay-sayers have started their own online daily, BeyondChron. They call it that because they think the local paper, the Chronicle, is too friendly to big business and developers. Worth catching for columnists Michelle Tea, whose combination of glamor and street cred could only be found in San Francisco, and Henry Norr, tech columnist fired by the Chronicle last year for participating in antiwar demonstrations.

In other literary news, increasingly famous poet Kim Addonizio -- whose website I am honored to be able to list among those of my "friends" -- is reading this Saturday at the Make Out Room to benefit Other magazine.