Today I re-visited the Exploratorium, an interactive science museum in San Francisco. I say "revisit" because it was some 16 years ago that I visited as a high school senior. First of all, I was intending to go to an art museum. I fool-heartedly went to the so-called Palace of Fine Arts thinking that was the art museum in S.F., and that of course, yes, the Exploratorium was adjacent. The experience was of course a let down when I found that in fact there was no museum for art, and that the "palace" was outdoors. That's fine, except that it's all under construction at the moment and it's fenced off. Some man asked me where the "Palace" was. I said, "Around the corner," thinking it must be there. He too was interested in finding the art museum. Of course, you can see some of the columns and grandeur, and there were plenty of Gangsta-Latinos there posing in front of the edifice on their wedding day. In fact, there seemed to be a theme: young girls in wedding dresses, not white (in this case, yellow and pink), with bridesmaids and best men who were dressed in silly costumes. My only guess was that they were currently pregnant, due to their age(s), and their Catholic parents insisted they marry. There wasn't a pretty person walking around that "Palace" of fine arts. So, since I was there, I paid $14 to visit the hands-on museum. First stop, the toilets. Whoa. Here's my potential draft letter to the museum. They operate with funds in the millions, so I know what I suggest is possible.

Dear Exploratorium, Today I visited your museum, and before I even paid to get in, I used your facilities for men. It was filthy. Really disgusting. In fact, it was so bad that I contemplated not paying admission, and simply leaving. The stall I visited had a latch that wasn't very reliable. Whomever visited the stall earlier took it upon themselves to urinate everywhere: it looked like rain water was on the seat. Disgusting. Getting out, there's a urinal right on top of the two sinks that dispensed a sad amount of soap. You literally have one hand in someone's rear end if you're using the sink. Another man joked that the urinal was part of a hands-on exhibit for those using the sinks. Please consider cleaning up the facilities, and spending some of your revenue on making the Exploratorium a cleaner place. So, after going inside, I was disappointed to find that so many of the exhibits (thanks to my wonderful memory) were the same. Yes, that's okay to have good exhibits, but come on... I was there sixteen years ago. You'd think they'd have something new. The place still has potential, however. It's a great place to bring kids. Just.. bring a lot of hand sanitizer. They could use some pumping stations all around. And someone, please, make it clear at the Palace of Fine Arts isn't an art museum, but just an interactive science museum.