2002-11-03 - 6:26 p.m. fall in SF Fall in San Francisco doesn't involve rain, snow, or bitter cold. Instead, I set out this morning with sunglasses, gray wool shirt over a black stretchy t-shirt, dirty brown jeans, and shiny black leather boots. My destination: the Eternal Egypt exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park (that's the corner of the Palace, flanked by 3 graceful cypress trees in the photo). Consisting of a travelling exhibition of "masterworks from the British Museum's Egyptian collection", this show has been going on for almost 3 months now, and ends next week. Did I mention that I can see Lincoln Park from my window, 20 blocks or so, and up a large cypress-covered hill, beyond the Alexandria sign I wrote about last night? So, I pretty much *had* to go today to avoid being a big loser. Although I reached the gates to the Palace at 10 a.m. (which is pretty damn early to be anywhere on a Sunday morning that doesn't involve coffee), there was already a huge line up of people waiting to buy tickets for afternoon admittance to the exhibit. Smart girl that I am (and noted loather of long lines), I walked up to the Membership tent (no waiting I might add) and joined the museum. I'd been meaning to do that for a long time but needed the proper motivation. So, I can now bring a guest to the museum and to as many of their special exhibits as I want. Pretty cool. I envision spending some serious time there, specifically in the library. Although way too crowded with people stumbling along in response to their horrid audio guide, it was a good expenditure of an hour to go through the galleries. I'd seen some of the pieces during the holidays, but much of it was new to me. The beautiful pink lion was one of my favorites. I exited the exhibit as a large tour group swarmed into the Book of the Dead room... I was thankful not to have been trapped in there with them. Oh, the horror of the museum tour group... Sad that the exhibit shop didn't have the hieroglyphic fonts I wanted (and have sought after for the past year or so) for sale, I went into the "real" museum shop to browse... where I found them!! I know, I could go to the P22 type foundry's site any time and order them, but that's no fun. I expect to be playing with that for some time. But that's not all! The museum shop also had the Edward Gorey Dracula toy theater!! This is something I've wanted for 5 or 6 years. True, it's a new pressing, not one of the original ones from the 70s (I saw one of those in the $150 range at my favorite local bookseller but couldn't bring myself to cough up the cash), but fantastic all the same. This little bout of consumerism should have tired me out, but I was revived by a blue-cheese topped burger on a brioche bun at Q restaurant, conveniently located a few short blocks from my favorite local book store. Luckily for me, this isn't just *my* favorite used bookstore. It has won the Bay Guardian's "best used bookstore" award every year that I've lived here, I think. And many of the book reviewing journalists in the City use it as their personal recycling bin, dropping off books they've received as review copies...sometimes weeks in advance of that book actually being released to the ravenous, impatient book reading public (a.k.a. people like me.) I was quite pleased to find "It Must've Been Something I Ate (the Return of the Man Who Ate Everything) on the bottom shelf of the newly arrived used books. Steingarten's first book, "The Man Who Ate Everything" damn near changed my life. I was certainly well on the way of becoming a chow hound/gourmand before I read it, but he certainly made it all seem that much more socially acceptable to be obsessed with food. Thus far, three pieces into the new book, I'm very excited. It inspires me to get off my ass and start doing some food and travel writing for pay. Turn those vacations into my vocation. Go me! A while back, I had a crazy idea that I'd like to start a book group. It's magical when I find someone who has read nad loved a book that has inspired me; forming a book club of like minds would make that a less random occurrence. It would be easier to just go and join someone else's book club, but, in all honesty, I've never seen a list of books for any book club that encompassed stuff I'd want to read: they never include any Hornby, or Welsh, or Amis or any other interesting British writers; never any cool short story collections; and never any magazines for the month of December when no one has time to read anything with real weight to it. Oh well. Perhaps some of you will pick up Steingarten's book and email me about it so we can have a faux book club for at least a short while. I'm certain to be posting here about it. I think I have time for another article or two before I have to trek to the Great American for the Dismemberment Plan show... or I could take it with me and read in the dimly lit hemlock tavern, accompanied by one of their killer pint-glass margaritas� any comments? 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