I write this in the throes of lust and had you been shopping with me this afternoon I suspect that you'd be similarly smitten. At La Rosa on Haight Street, after browsing through the tailcoats (resisting admirably a handsome dark charcoal **herringbone tweed** tailcoat, well tailored and the right size -- but far too warm to dance in), I stopped on my way out to look at overcoats as my father's old overcoat is wearing a bit thin. There amoung the dreck I found a coat of such opulence that my cashmere coat is worn-out homespun by comparison! Not visually -- it was of a simple and classic cut -- but tactilely! Superb! My usual shopping instincts were in full gear, however, as it cost fully seven times the tuxedoes and tailcoats...or to put it in different terms, it cost a month's rent for a three-bedroom apartment in a fashionable neighborhood of San Francisco.

The material was vicuna, it was navy (I've read that it is normally left natural because the do not hold up well to chemical treatments) and because of its age (mid-century) it is likely made of poached material. And I will go back to fondle it whenever I'm in the neighborhood.

Finished Michael Coe's "Breaking the Maya Code" over dinner at the Magnolia Brewpub. I found it a fastinating read and would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in linguistics, archaeology or ancient civilizations of the Americas.