5 options for stay-at-home fun in SF: Thursday, May 21

Citywide

The Bay Area's shelter-in-place order has brought countless events usually held as in-person gatherings online. We're aiming to support local businesses in San Francisco and Oakland by highlighting five of these events each day.

Got a suggestion for an online event based in SF or Oakland? Email our events reporter, Teresa Hammerl.

Here's your SF event calendar for Thursday, May 21. Join a book club, learn about the history of the Tenderloin or hear writers recite poems — all from the comfort of your couch.

TLM Online – The Tenderloin and City Hall: A Century of Conflict

According to Tenderloin Museum founder Randy Shaw, for the last 100 years, the Tenderloin has endured more ongoing conflict than any other district in San Francisco. From the time City Hall shut it down entirely in 1917 to its present-day hardship during the ongoing pandemic, the neighborhood faces complex challenges.

Join the Tenderloin Museum for a digital panel discussion between Shaw and Kathy Looper, owner of the historic Cadillac Hotel, the first non-profit single room occupancy hotel (SRO) in the West. As advocates for the Tenderloin, Shaw and Looper will detail the neighborhood’s conflicts decade-by-decade, its present-day hardships, and the future of the neighborhood’s social, political, and economic landscape.

When: Thursday, May 21, 12:30 p.m.

How to join: Via Eventbrite

Price: Free, suggested donation $10

Open Mic Night

Drop by virtually at the Museum of the African Diaspora and join poet Nia McAllister for an evening of spoken word, featuring other poets from throughout the Bay Area. For this session, you can choose if you want to participate yourself or just listen to others recite their poems. Everyone is welcome.

When: Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m.

How to join: All interested readers, please sign up. For those interested in just being part of the audience, no need to RSVP. Join via Zoom (instructions in the Facebook event).

Price: Free, donations of any amount are welcome

Write from the Gut! Virtual Reading + open mic

Join the SF Creative Writing Institute for an online reading by former and current students, faculty members, and friends to celebrate the end of the spring term. The reading will also include an open mic session. All are welcome.

When: Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m.

How to join: Please sign up in advance by putting your request in the event comments on Facebook. Join via Zoom, instructions can be found in the Facebook event.

Price: Free

Zen and Self-Cultivation with Rev. Takafumi Kawakami

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many of us wonder how we can live in a world of volatility, complexity, and ambiguity. Join the Asian Art Museum on Thursday as they present zen Buddhist priest Rev. Takafumi Kawakami live from the Shunkoin Temple in Kyoto, Japan, to lead a practice of self-cultivation.

The practice, which begins with meditation, is intended to help create more flexible ways of looking at the world. Removing our biases and looking at the way the world is now will help build more resilience in this time of change and uncertainty.

When: Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m.

How to join: Via Eventbrite

Price: Free – $25

Book Club: The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

The San Francisco Public Library presents a special Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month/shelter-in-place edition of On the Same Page, the library's bimonthly city-wide reading series.

Hear about the book "The Mountains Sing," written by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Vietnamese poet and author of eight books. According to event organizers, "Quế Mai is one of a few authors bringing Vietnamese literature to a wider English-speaking audience."

When: Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m.

How to join: Via Zoom

Price: Free