Wednesdays, The New Wednesdays

Caaaaaan yooooooou ..... dig it??? Tonight: Check out StartSOMA's Group Show tonight -- 40 artists, hundreds of works, and complimentary mojitos to boot! Hotel des Arts (447 Bush Street, x Grant) from 7-10, admission is free. The flyer also says they'll be featuring "the skateboard decks of Jason Lee." The Jason Lee?

Thursday: You can enjoy the precious thoughts of New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik as he reads from the children's book he and his softballer son Luke have written together (awwwww), at Cody's on Telegraph at 7:30 -- or the harder-edged sex/death musings of Mary Gaitskill and her new novel Veronica, at 12:30 at Modern Times.

And Friday: It's the Harvest Festival at the SF Botanical Garden! There's a farmers' market, you can meet the Bat Lady, and kids of all ages can decorate pumpkins and learn about "smelly, slimy, creepy, crawly plants." 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park at 9th and Irving.

Picture of the Harvest Festival from the Botanical Garden