The Public Library

Today I went to the San Francisco Main Branch of the Public Library. A lot of people complain about the building, but I like it. It is very airy and spacious, and even the homeless people wandering around it seem to belong. I do agree with the complaint that it hasn't got enough shelf space. I miss the days of the old stacks where you could get lost for hours in the midst of some off-the-wall topic like topiary.

You can't look for a specific book in the library either. Let me clarify: you can look for a specific book, but there is always a chance it is supposedly on the shelf but not actually there, or that it is completely missing. What you can do is wander up and down the aisles and pick out interesting-looking works, and you don't feel obligated to read them simply because you paid for them. You just have to return them. Today, having suffered over the weekend from a healthy bout of depression, I picked up a couple of cheesy self-help books and researched "What to Look for in an Iron" in a Consumer Reports Guide. I realize that ironing is not considered a clinical treatment for depression, but it helps me and my old iron died.

I used to belong to Mechanic's Institute, but I rarely get downtown any more. Mechanic's is geared towards Anglophiles and the collection lacks diversity, but the books tend to stay where they belong, and you can find fun treasures, like Thesinger's the Marsh Arabs and Alexandra David Neel's My Journey to Tibet. You have to join to have access to their collection, but the noon tour on Wednesday is free. I say, check it out.

In the Free and Clear

Today, the weather was finally back to the usual sunshine of San Francisco winter weather (instead of that silly cold spell), so I went down to the Civic Center Farmer's Market to buy treats. For some reason, the kiwi stand was the happening place. I had to battle my way to the front so I could buy a bag of kiwis for $1.50, and boy were they tasty. I took them, some dates, and the ubiquitous kettle corn (I swear, it is probably at every Farmer's Market in America) out to Golden Gate Park for a picnic with my pals. We were vastly entertained by a good-natured toddler and her grandmother, who told us stories of growing up over a laundry in the South of Market.

It's been unusually cold here. I am not used to seeing locals bundled up in New York City fashion. Usually, you see your pals dressed in the same jacket and hat year round, sans gloves or knee-length coats or ski garb. Today, I spent the morning in the new De Young museum, drawing. The De Young has a great interior space. As for art, I am especially fond of the collection from Africa and Oceania. Where is Oceania, anyway? Is it near Texas? Most of my time at the museum was spent drawing Susannah and the Elders, by Thomas Hart Benton. The painting depicts the Biblical Susannah recast as a young Midwestern farm wife. While I was painting, a tour came by with a docent who stopped to discuss the painting. However, I found her insights rather pedestrian. She kept talking about her own midwestern farm family. Talk about the artist and the painting, for crying out loud! One woman stood so close to me during the talk, that I felt like she couldn't see me at all. Weird. People are strange: while some students were drawing, patrons would stand directly in front of them almost as if on purpose. Clueless!

Well, I've been thinking a lot about relationships, because I've suddenly found myself with a new lover. How do these things work? How do you negotiate for what you want without messing things up? Why do we even contemplate these things? I wish I could be more zen in my approach -- just be in the here and now. I'm trying.

Anyway, I got some good loot on my wanderings last night (Loot is another really good reason not to drive a car. Walking and biking around here in S.F. , you can root out all kinds of free stuff, from books to doors made of solid redwood. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open, and perhaps be willing to dive into a dumpster). I found a Daphne Du Maurier novel I haven't read and a hardbound edition of Jane Eyre. Daphne Du Maurier is great for trash-reading vacations. I'm saving it for when I go somewhere on holiday.

The exposed ad for Acme Beer is gone, and replaced by a big picture window. My buddy said it looked like is said "ME BEER" in the photo I took. As soon as I get my technology act together, I'll post the photo to this site.