December activities

December was a fairly active month. Although I suspect that the next week will be a dead-zone, between holiday stupor.

Some fun things I did for December:

12/3- Fungus Fair at the Oakland Museum- this was my second year seeing this. The Oakland Museum is quite fun, but I always forget. The highlight was sniffing some the mushrooms and looking at lichens under the microscope.

12/7- Lecture by Keith Devlin for the Ask-a-scientist series. This was the first time I attended one of these, although I have been quite curious. Mr. Devlin talked about his new book- The Math Instinct-which looks at how animals & humans perform math instinctively. Quite a fascinating subject, plus the place was totally crowded with neighborhood types, geeky types and the generally intellectually curious. I had to stand and drink my red wine.

12/8- Lecture presented by the San Francisco Naturalist Society at the Randall Museum.
John Dillon-The Heydey of Natural History- here's a little description I stole about the lecture:

Never has the status of science been held in higher esteem and the public taken a bigger interest in natural history than during the mid-19th century in America and Britain. This was a time of great voyages of discovery, when fabulous fossil beasts were first unearthed and put on public display. Most of today's renowned science museums, including the California Academy of Sciences, were established amid this enchantment with natural history. No middle- class home was thought complete without a display of butterfly collections or stuffed birds. John Dillon, Science Director at the Randall Museum and President of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers, will explore the nature and extent of this fervor and how Charles Darwin's Origin of Species influenced it.

Overall- interesting- Mr. Dillon's powerpoint presentation was suprisingly good. The vibe was serious and cold- cold basement and metal folding chairs- no wine. The SFNS could have some rockin' events if they liven it up a little. But of course, I plan to attend future lectures.

12/17- Adobe Bookshop- Art opening- Liz Walsh & John Chiara- Music, art, books, cheap wine, how much better can it get? The music was a great counterpoint to my book browsing, and yes I bought a couple of books- Trees of Golden Gate Park and San Francisco and Freud's Vienna & Other Essays - plus I liked the music- events at Adobe are always enjoyable.

12/21- From the darkness, solace- at the Oakland Columbarium, Chapel of the Chimes- Many stages of "experimental and improvisational" music- wander around in the near dark among the ashes of the dead. I've gone the the Summer Solstice events here for the last two years. This event was smaller- but just as enjoyable, between the strange music which floats along this amazing building, and the little encounters one has.