Press
People Meter: Paxton Gate
Trey Bundy, Special to The Chronicle
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Weirdness operates on a sliding scale. There's weird like, "Hey, my tummy feels weird," and then there's Paxton Gate, a Mission District store full of rat skulls, test tubes and petrified bats. But the shop, at Valencia and 19th streets, isn't just strange - it's educational, and even tranquil. Started as a landscape and gardening business by Sean Quigley in 1992, the store has morphed into a veritable gallery of nature-linked oddities, including antique science and landscaping equipment; exotic teas; books; plants; jewelry; prehistoric fossils; and big- and small-game taxidermy. And yes, they still do landscaping. With a garden out back and a kids' store down the block, Paxton Gate might be the city's most wholesome place to get weird.
- Trey Bundy, Special to The Chronicle
Barry Manin, 65 |
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Profession: Science teacher, just retired
Neighborhood: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you've seen here?
I love the fossils. If this place was in Florida, I could have brought in some samples to my classes.
Can you tell us something weird or interesting about yourself?
A kid in a kindergarten class told me, "When I become president, I'm going to make you God." |
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Corinne Robkin, 27 |
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Profession: Artist/clown
Neighborhood: Noe Valley
What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you've seen here?
The stuffed parakeet. I have pet birds. It's weird to stuff a pet.
Can you tell us something weird or interesting about yourself?
I can't think of anything weird about myself that wouldn't be incriminating. |
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Ariel Hall, 27 |
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Profession: Yoga teacher
Neighborhood: Hope, Maine
What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you've seen here?
The duck hanging there, stuffed. It's got a crocodile head.
Can you tell us something weird or interesting about yourself?
I spend quite a lot of time pacing around the house and the woods thinking about how I should not be thinking so much. |
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Zelda Schemaille, 61 |
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Profession: Psychotherapist
Neighborhood: Long Island, N.Y.
What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you've seen here?
The carnivorous plants are pretty interesting. And the fish fossil. They say it's 1 million years old.
Can you tell us something weird or interesting about yourself?
My name. (The same as F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife.) We all know what happened to her. |
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Ty Kelly, 38 |
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Profession: Architect
Neighborhood: Seattle
What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you've seen here?
Probably this dissected lizard here.
Can you tell us something weird or interesting about yourself?
I'm fascinated by earlobes. I'm always checking out the size of earlobes. I have a tendency to want to flick them. |
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