Check out Boulevards' Guide to San Francisco

Cover: Desert Escapes
The mineral heart of California's hot zone defies comfort, but roadside relief exists in Barstow and Amboy.

Gifts of the Ages: In search of religious epiphanies--and the world's tackiest souvenirs.

House of Cards: Love advice from the Great Beyond.

Tara's Advice: Tara confronts a manic maniac.

1:15: Gossip columnist C. Silo.

Frisco Utopia: Hank Hyena tackles telephone poles.

Job Interview: Shamama interviews a pornographer.

CELL Mates: Weekly rollerdances at CELL skate the light fantastic.

Dy-no-MITE!: Moulton Street Studio's legendary J-Jay responds to commercialism, Europe and the shelf-life of vinyl.

Waits and Measures: Tom Waits' Mule Variations stubbornly avoids mainstreaming.

Groundscore: Outdoor music flourishes as the weather grows warmer.

Music Picks: Reviews of the latest CDs by Ponga, Dealership and Sasha and John Digweed.

Club Guide: Disco divas, hip-hop connoisseurs and salsa suaves to flannel-clad pinball players, jazz luminaries and more.

Tattoo You: Wake up in your makeup with cosmetic surgery.

Miss Pinkie Shears: The debonair miss gives her fashion advice.

Concrete Runway: Myra at Post & Powell.

The Gay Golem: The serial and sexual politics of Gary Indiana's Three Month Fever and Maureen Orth's Vulgar Favors.

Book Picks: Reviews of the latest books by Chuck Palahniuk, Jason Brown and Salman Rushdie.

The Sacrificial Lamb: Metropolitan investigates the war-torn cuisine of Afganistan at Helmand.

Cyclos of Nature: Tony Bui's acclaimed Three Seasons captures modern Vietnam in a triptych.

Film Picks: Reviews of The Stendhal Syndrome, Girls, Girls, Girls! mini-festival and Mishima.

Please don't forget to write! The Metropolitan welcomes letters. Like any great work of art, they should be originals--not copies of letters sent elsewhere. Include address and daytime phone (for verification purposes only). Letters may be edited for length and clarity or to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Postal: Metropolitan Letters, 1776-A 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94107. Fax: 415/487-9094. Email: [email protected]. Emailers, please include name, city of residence and phone number. Letters printed will list email address unless otherwise specified. Letters to the editor are not currently published in the online version of this paper.