…And so should you, to see the exhibit on their 6th floor for my book, “Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs.” It’s a smaller show than the one that was at the Old Mint, but it’s free, and it’s up for 3 months.Don’t forget that I’ll be reading from and signing copies of my book, and the fabulous Grant Avenue Follies will be performing, all on May 12th!

…And here are some pictures to prove it. That strange alien creature is Bruce Beaudette, but I don’t know what he’s supposed to be. Steve looks a little alarmed at the possibility that the creature intends to abduct me to his UFO, where he will conduct painful experiments on me before leaving me off in the middle of the desert with a big hole in my memory.

And what’s a convention without a women’s comics lunch? At every con, I try to get away from the convention floor for a nice lunch with some intelligent, feminist women who work in the comics field. This time we lunched at the handy (across the street from the convention) Museum of Modern art, but the photo is of us after my panel (I spoke about shojo manga): Left to right, that’s Jennifer Stuller, who has written a great book about superheoines in comics and media, “Ink-stained Amazons,” yours truly, Jeanine Hall gailey, author of a unique book of verse, “Becoming the Villainess,” poems about the heroines of comics, fairytales, and myths; and Candace West. I don’t know what Candace does, but we met her at the panel, and she’s a cool person and was game enough to take a photo with us. Hi, Candace!

It’s TERRIBLE outside — Winter’s last hurrah, I hope! A strong wind is turning the treetops into giant fans and blowing the lovely pink blossoms off the wild plum tree in my backyard, the sky is gray and heavy. No sunny California today –you can feel the approaching storm in the air. But I’m safe and dry inside, still warmed by my memories of the amazing gala opening at the Old Mint, on February 11th, of the San Francisco Historical Society’s celebration of my book, “Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs.”

What a glorious, glittering night that was! Everybody who was in the book, who could make it to San Francisco, was there: superstar dancer Dorothy Toy in mink; singers Ellie Chui and Jimmy Borges, all the way from Hawaii; Coby Yee, the last owner of the Forbidden City, wearing one of her amazing creations — and of course the fabulous Grant Avenue Follies, the non-profit dance troupe consisting of dancers from the clubs who never retired — and who are responsible for me writing the history of the clubs.

Back at least 4 years ago, when Cynthia Yee, Isabel Louie, Pat Chin, and Ivy Tam first appeared in my dance class I knew that these were special women. They all looked at least ten years younger than they were, had great legs, and were fabulous dancers. It was through these women, who had danced in the clubs back in the Day, that I learned about the great Chinese nightclubs that had glittered and gleamed in San Francisco’s Chinatown from 1937 to the mid-60s, and decided that there needed to be a book about them, and that I was the person to write it.

A special guest was the young and beautiful fan dancer Shanghai Pearl, who flew in from Seattle to give us a taste of what it must have been like in the 1940s to watch fan dancers Noel Toy or Barbara Young do their thing.

So here’s a glimpse of what the gala was like: from left to right, top to bottom: Ivy Tam and Cynthia Yee of the Grant Avenue Follies, on either side of mink-coated Dorothy Toy. Behind them is a photo of Dorothy when she danced en pointe at Forbidden City; yours truly with 93 years young Eddie Leong, who told me that he was a barfly back in the days of the clubs; yours truly again, this time with David Wells. David has the world’s gr

On Monday, February 1st, I read from and signed copies of my book, “Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs,” to the best audience I have ever had. The group is called Odd Mondays because they meet on (duh) odd Mondays, at the Noe Valley Ministry, on Sanchez street in San Francisco’s (duh again) adorable Noe Valley. I know the Noe Valley Ministry because they feature great entertainment, and I have gone there to see the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Cyril Pahinui, and the Holy Modal Rounders– so now you know the kind of music I like.

But back to Odd Mondays: what a nice bunch of people! Everybody’s friendly and smart, which is what you’d expect from a neighborhood like Noe Valley, and — of utmost import to writers — they actually are interested in and like books! Some of the group meet before the authors’ talks at a local pizza place, Haystack Pizza, and I guarantee, even if you’ve never been there before, you’ll find the Odd Mondays group at the restaurant and instantly feel welcome.

Odd Mondays is led by Ramon Sender, a venerable old Hippie and proud of it, and his wife Judith, whom I met one day on the 24 Divisadero bus and struck up a conversation with — and my Monday reading was the result. Reasons to ride public transportation: alone in your car, you can’t get into interesting conversations with total strangers.

Next up: this Thursday, at 6 p.m., at the Old Mint on 4th and Mission Streets, the gala opening of “Swinging Chinatown,” the exhibit of the San Francisco Historical Society celebrating my book. Come for the gala opening and see dancing by the glorious Grant Avenue Follies, lovely ladies who danced in the clubs in the late 1950s through the 1960s and who never stopped dancing. They have great legs, wear fabulous costumes and prove that you’re never too old to rock them in the aisles. Crooner Jimmy Borges, who sang at the Forbidden City, and singer Ellie Chui, who sang and danced at the Kubla Khan in the 1940s, are flying in from Hawaii to sing. Costumes worn by Ellen Chin, Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing, and by Coby Yee will be on exhibit along with Dorothy Toy’s toe shoes, Tony Wing’s white tap shoes, and Ellen Chin’s gold dancing shoes!

Oh yeah, I’ll be there too, selling and signing copies of my book. The opening gala is a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Historical Society so that they can turn the Old Mint into the museum it’s supposed to be, and so the price of admission is a bit steep (for an admirable cause!), but never fear! The exhibit will be open for two weeks at the price of a mere $10. For more information, visit www.sfhistory.org.