Serafina
By Joe Smith

My neighbor's out walking her dogs when she happens across my daughter singing to a cluster of iris blooms down in the cow pastures on the cliffs overlooking the sea. How precious, thinks my neighbor, until she listens more attentively and learns the song is about the catastrophes and mutilations which will soon befall the little girls -- twin sisters -- who live in the white house by the pond....

Sonoma Has Something to Crow About
By Abigail Sawyer

The cats of Rome, who can be found lounging at the feet of gods and emperors (statues of them, at any rate), or climbing about the ruins of the Colosseum, contribute an undeniable charm to that ancient city. San Francisco just can't compete in this arena. It does have its sea lions at Pier 39, but watery mammalian mascots lack the social appeal of those who go wandering about town. And the pigeons that so plagued Herb Caen are hardly unique to this city....

Moose's, Chief : Real Burger Kings
By Jennifer Poole

Eating in Northern California has never been better. Cooks from dozens of faraway countries dish up delicious regional specialities, and chefs of the new cuisine haunt our bountiful wholesale markets to pick out the freshest, state-of-the-art fish, meats and vegetables. Even the lowly American hamburger has been transformed into a nouvelle delight....

By Liz Garone

BOLINAS - Its biggest claim to fame is not as the epicenter of last month's temblor or the neighborhood great white sharks that have been known to take a chomp out of the occasional surfer.... Rather, it's a plain, green highway sign and the town folks' undying efforts to keep the tourists out of this coastal hamlet....

By Lisa Crovo

On a sleepy block of Jackson Square, the former vice-saturated Barbary Coast turned upscale antique district dotted with tony restaurants and hipper-then-thou design firms, a city landmark stands vacant. Where lush ivy once clung to brick, evoking images of elite prep school dormitories, now gang tags and hip hop posters litter the façade....