Tonight is the June Pop-Up General Store at Grace Street Catering (4629 MLK Jr Way in Oakland) from 5-7PM. I’ve been following the Pop-Up General Store on Twitter since its inception, but didn’t get around to going until last month, and it was incredible. My first visit happened to coincide with that of Carol Ness and Michael Macor from the SF Chronicle, whose piece brought unprecedented attention to the small, elegant affair. Given the news article, I’d go early and expect a crowd. While the market runs on pre-orders, each vendor has a stash set aside for drop-in customers. Bring your cash (and better yet your checkbook) and walk away with Peko Peko’s gyoza, Katz & Co. olive oil, Ghost Town Farm produce (last time I got mustard greens and leeks), and more. See the Pop-Up General Store blog for more information on vendors. Sign up to receive the Pop-Up General newsletter here.

On Friday night I’ll be at the opening of SENSEable Cities: Exploring Urban Futures, featuring the works of MiT’s SENSEable City Laboratory at the Gray Area Foundation. Since I cannot seem to paraphrase what the SENSEable City Lab is in my own words, here it is via the Gray Area site:

“MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory has been investigating how emerging digital technologies can be employed to make cities more livable, sustainable and efficient. We recognize that the digital revolution has lent our cities a new layer of functionality and that now is the time to explore how sensors, cellphones, micro-controllers and networks of other handheld devices can be used to more effectively manage city infrastructure, optimize transportation, analyze our environmental impact and foster new communities.”

Opening Reception is Friday, June 11th, 2010 7:00pm – 10pm at Gray Area 55 Taylor St. in San Francisco.

Last week City Arts and Lectures announced the lineup for its 2010 Fall Literary Series benefitting the 826 Valencia College Scholarship Fund and if I could afford it I’d go to every single one. The series kicks off on September 13th with Jonathan Franzen in conversation with Mark Breitenberg. The star-studded program will conclude with two of my heroes, Patton Oswalt and Andrew Leland on January 4, 2011 (recently postponed from 11/30/10, see here). The word from the City Arts Twitter page is that tickets are selling like hotcakes so get your seats for these amazing evenings while you still can.