Now What Was It About Myself That I Wanted to Work On?

The city that knows how (but not why).

* Maggie Barnett, a news assistant with the San Diego County Edition of The Times, says a reader called for information on an item in the “This Week” column that lists classes and lectures.

The caller explained that his mother had seen a listing for a class on memory enhancement. Trouble was, she couldn’t remember the location.

* For the banking needs of blind drivers?

Keith Turner of San Carlos reports that the automated teller machine at the drive-up window of HomeFed across from the Sports Arena has directions in Braille.

* The 35th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex convenes at the San Diego Hilton on Thursday (through Sunday).

On the schedule are 100 workshops, panel discussions and presentations on human sexuality.

Included is an Atlanta researcher who promises a report on “Representation of Male Ejaculation in Pornographic Films: History, Theory and Research.”

Says the abstract: “A promising new experimental technique will be introduced that will allow researchers to effectively study this phenomenon. Also, the preliminary results of the author’s own research will be presented.”

And yes, “Extensive use of audio-visual materials will be made throughout to properly demonstrate and highlight the topics discussed.”

* Gordon (Gord) Dineen, a defenseman for the San Diego Gulls, played only one game last year for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it was enough to get him a Stanley Cup championship ring.

Now the ring’s been swiped by a burglar who hit Dineen’s place in Mission Beach last week.

Dineen would like it back and is offering a reward. No questions asked, just call the Gulls.

* Your tax dollars at work. Or: the sex lives of lounge lizards?

A researcher at the San Diego Zoo has just gotten a $125,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the mating/reproducing habits of ground iguanas in Cuba (to keep them from going extinct).

No, the researcher will not be studying iguana come-on lines and iguana pickup bars. I checked.

Power Fest

Things of the future.

* A private “transfer of power” to Mayor-elect Susan Golding is planned at City Hall during working hours Dec. 7, followed by a public ceremony and hoopla-fest that night at the Convention Center.

* Nancy Ray, who retired in March as a reporter with the San Diego County Edition of The Times, is writing a book on the strange case of John Burrus.

He’s the former religion writer at the San Diego Union convicted of murdering his wife, Grace.

* The dunning patrol.

The city of San Diego has resumed billing people for certain emergencies that require cops--like drunk driving and hit-and-run incidents, loud parties, etc.

In 1990, the city collected $112,425 in emergency costs, but spent nearly that much in researching, computing and billing, so the idea was scrapped.

Now the city’s got a high-powered computer and it’s being tried again.

* Set for next Tuesday, a noon lecture by UC San Diego Professor Donald Norman, “Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles,” from his new book of the same title.

At the UCSD downtown center, 1 America Plaza.

* Jeanne White, mother of Ryan White, will walk in AIDS WALK San Diego on Sunday. Last year, 2,000 walkers raised $200,000.

* Vegetables for charity.

The world premiere of “Killer Tomatoes Eat France,” the latest effort by San Diego’s Foursquare Productions, is set for next Wednesday at Horton Plaza, a benefit for St. Vincent de Paul’s homeless center.

Starring Marc Price (“Family Ties”), Angela Visser (Miss Universe 1989) and John Astin (Gomez on TV’s “Addams Family”).

* The Laugh Connection, a newsletter put out by Bonita’s Bob Ross, reports a new gardening magazine: “Weeder’s Digest.”

Wild Indians

The last of the adults?

Somebody jiggered with the marquee at the Edwards cinemas in San Marcos so that it now announces, “Consenting Mohicans.”