The 34th Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair!

This weekend the annual Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair takes place at the Denver Merchandise Mart, and my friends Mark, Joe, and Wally (as seen from left to right in the above photo) and I took off time from work to attend this event Friday afternoon.  Wally was the only one who actually made a purchase, picking up an illustrated copy of Mr. Pickwick's Christmas from a bookseller who had been holding it for him.  She knew he would be attending, and brought it along.  Joe - who teaches printmaking at the Art Student's League of Denver - spent a lot of time looking at the prints on display at various booths.  Mark looked in vain for soccer books.  As for me, the event brought to mind three things:  Green Apple Books, The Riptide, and Hogsbreath. I know. I know. But at this stage in life I am beginning to embrace my eccentricities.  Let me explain.  After we left the fair, we all went to Spanky's Urban Roadhouse for beers and burgers, just west of the University of Denver Campus (where all three work and where I worked for almost 30 years before getting laid off, but let's move on).  Over dinner, Wally happened to mention that his son, who lives and works in San Francisco, recently moved to a place near Golden Gate Park, close to one of his favorite bookstores, Green Apple Books.  He strongly recommended that I visit it the next time I am in San Francisco, and I shall. Golden Gate Park is near the Outer Sunset neighborhood, which is located along the Pacific Ocean.  The the last time I visited San Francisco I walked through this neighborhood through thick fog, to the sound of distant fog horns, finally winding up at a cozy little bar called The Riptide.  I intend to visit that place again, too, the next time I am in San Francisco.  As for Hogsbreath, after dinner, I drove Mark and Joe home.  Joe lives in the Sloan's Lake neighborhood - right across from the lake, I might add, just south of the Highlands neighborhood - and after I dropped him off I drove around the corner and saw the Hogshead Brewery, where Mark and I went to watch a Newcastle soccer game one Saturday morning.  It looked like a pretty inviting place, all lite up, it's parking lot full.  Next time I might stop there, too.  And I have to ask - is this blog post too long?  If so, tough.