Don't forget to tip your bartenders, like Bernadette Fons at The Stud, the hottest new/old space that has everything! We've got plenty more in our expansive listings of nightlife and art events in Going Out.

Bay Area dance fans can look forward to a packed fall season that continues well into December, including programs inspired by the movement of Guinea, West Africa, Cuba, and Haiti; plus the beloved Trolley Dances and Pilobolus.

"When you work in the performing arts, you're always meeting people," says Brian Quijada of his first encounter with Nygel D. Robinson, his co-creator on "Mexodus," a show that's bound to surprise audiences with both its content and performance style.

Garth Greenwell's generous, expansive new novel, "Small Rain" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) is built on the author's own experience of a dozen-day stay in the hospital, gazing into the maw of death from an infrarenal aortic dissection.

Jeannette de Beauvoir's "The Fine Art of Deception: A Provincetown Mystery" is the ninth finely crafted book in the Provincetown Mystery series, but it is a stand-alone work in itself. Whether you have any knowledge of art or not, this is a must-read.

San Francisco's dance scene springs to life this fall with a vibrant array of performances. From intimate black box theaters to outdoor parks, our city's fall dance calendar is brimming with works that range from classical ballet to cutting-edge modern.

From SFMOMA embracing sports, to the more traditional show of American masterpieces at the de Young, and the Oakland Museum melding popular culture and politics in "Calli Americas," fine arts offer plenty this fall.

From this week through to Christmas Eve, Bay Area theaters are presenting a fall season of remarkable variety. While there's a bit less conspicuously queer-themed work being presented, there are plenty of deeply humane stories to be shown on stages.

There is some urgency to attending classical music concerts this fall. Who knows what will happen after November? Many upcoming Bay Area offerings present choices that might even help maintain our sanity through a communal love of music.

San Francisco band Sly and the Family Stone sang about "Hot Fun in the Summertime" in the 1960s, but those of us who have been here for a while we know that the real hot music comes to the Bay Area in the fall.

Get out of town for some refreshing overnight road trips that deliver major changes of scenery with minor fuss and planning. Jim Gladstone, his hubby and their dog, visited Mariposa Valley, Yosemite National Park, and the Anderson Valley inns and shops.

Matteo Lane, who combines Midwestern and European influences in his material, has a distinctive delivery style that often has audience members struggling to catch their breath between jokes and laughs.

While Linda Ronstadt has retired from music and concerts, a reissue of her classic Grammy-winning album, "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind" is notable, as well as a mirthful new album from contemporary Linda Thompson.

Actress Megan Davis, who's also a screenwriter, shares another of her talents with her debut poetry book, "What Breaks Us."