HERBWISE "Never in a million years would I have chosen to do this," wrote Randy Thompson's mother in the September 1997 issue of Good Housekeeping. The title of Karen Thompson's article was "I Broke the Law to Save My Son." Her choice? To allow Randy to use marijuana to mitigate the gastrointestinal irritation, nausea, vomiting, and lack of appetite he suffered chronically from his Crohn's Disease.Read more »

DIY has long been an integral part of San Franciscan culture. Underground music venues, art cars, pop-up food trucks — San Franciscans have been crafting their own good times for years. And while the concept of creating and customizing your own bike isn't new, a bike studio in the Tenderloin is putting a lightweight, environmentally-friendly spin on it.Read more »

culture@sfbg.com

BODY If your New Year's resolution is flagging, here are some budget boosts to kickstart your makeover (or de-stress) ambitions. Never give up! Deals are for February: call ahead for more details or restrictions information.

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caitlin@sfbg.com

HERBWISE It's been a weird year to start a marijuana column. Shortly after we started Herbwise, which was intended to be our weekly look at marijuana culture and events, politics reared its ugly head, rendering it necessary to go to hearings at the State Building, call up California Assembly members, and occasionally wade through seas of legalese. Such is the state of cannabis under ongoing federal prohibition, but it's been a particularly dramatic year.Read more »

caitlin@sfbg.com

HERBWISE The Kings of Destruction, more popularly known as KOD, were an hour and a half late for our interview. Being that the hip-hop-graff-clothing-medical-marijuana-advocacy collective is from the East Bay and we had arranged to meet at the Guardian Potrero Hill office, I figured I'd better look for them.Read more »

Use your national day of service wisely --  jump in one of of the day's volunteering fairs, take in a black history flick, catch some awe-inspiring youth spoken word, learn about colleges 

“In the Name of Love” MLK musical tributeRead more »

WINTER LOOKS I spend a lot of time convincing my friends that we should ride our bikes places, and the main pushback I get is due to the fact that they don't want to look like they just got off a bike.

It's faulty reasoning. Leaving aside how attractive environmental awareness is, anyone who has ever checked out the Vélo Vogue style blog or the global family of Copenhagen Chic websites knows that a bike can make an already-stylish outfit look sexy in a precarious, fly-by-night way. Think about watching someone run gracefully in heels.Read more »

WINTER LOOKS Drop your Zappos, gentlemen, it's time to score some 2012 flash at the brick and mortars. Read more »