Best Paper Paradise 2004 | Composition | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Paper Paradise

Composition

We use paper all the time -- to write boring memos and long grocery lists, to cover things, even to blow our noses. Composition takes paper to another level. We don't mean flimsy sheets jammed into the copy machine, but thick, grainy stationery that's perfect for writing eloquent love letters. Tucked into the corner of LoDo's Annex at the Steelbridge Lofts, Composition also carries funky journals for recording private thoughts, leather photo albums to guard precious memories, and unique greeting cards to convey the deepest of sentiments. Owner Jennifer Roberts understands that paper and design can inspire, so the next time you have something important to proclaim, let Composition help you say it.

Best Place to Put It on Paper

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

Aspiring bards, novelists, journalists, essayists, students and screenwriters come to the Lighthouse Writers Workshop for help getting words on paper -- and maybe even into print. Taught by local pros of the pen, the classes are small, intensive and inexpensive, which means that even those on a poet's budget can afford to delve more deeply into their art. The schedule varies by season, but certain themes pop up in all of the courses offered: Lighthouse instructors emphasize storytelling, revision and breaking the blocks that inhibit creative expression. Classes are open to students of all skill levels, from novice scribes to graduate students and published authors. Even the most accomplished writer needs an editor. Sometimes they also need a teacher.

Best Polar Bear Art

The Polar Bear Gallery

Barbara Stone's polar bears inhabit that peculiar juncture where wildlife art meets whimsy, just sidestepping kitsch. Her watercolors have surfaced in children's books, on kimonos and calendars, at the Smithsonian, and in a TV special dealing with the artist's pilgrimages to the Arctic to observe her subjects. You can find them at her gallery in Longmont, in an old church on Main Street.

Best Hope for Your Canine's Canines

Suzie's Tartar Liquid, Suzie's Pet Supplies

Suzie's Tartar Liquid is a painless solution to that rich, ripe dog breath emanating from your pup. A tablespoon of Suzie's odorless, tasteless formula in your pet's drinking water leads to cleaner teeth (and fresher breath) within a matter of weeks. Instead of swearing at their foul-panting pooches, sensitive pet owners swear by Suzie's homegrown concoction.

Best Place to Lose Your Doghood

Maxfund Wellness Clinic

The Maxfund Animal Center has long been known for finding abandoned critters good homes. Now it's opened a low-cost spay and neuter clinic to help control the number of animals coming through the shelter's door. Unlike other facilities, Maxfund will do the surgeries -- ranging from $30 to $40 -- for anyone in the community, regardless of income level. Shots and other basic veterinary services can also be had for a song.

Best Way to Get Around the Staff at the Pound

www.dogtown.tv

Lost Fluffy or Fifi? Don't expect the staff at the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter to help. Unlike the rest of the local shelters, DMAS takes no lost reports and makes no calls if a cat matching your description comes in. With limited resources, the best staffers can do is suggest you come check every day and send you off with a flier listing other centers to call. But for those with a tight schedule, dogtown.tv gets the shelter's daily list of what's been picked up and posts it online so you can see if it's your beagle that came in or just someone else's boxer. Remember, check regularly and check often: DMAS keeps animals for only five days before putting them up for adoption or euthanizing them.

Best Hospital for Really Sick Critters

Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado

A sick pet can't tell you where it hurts; sometimes it's hard to know whether kitty is entering her ninth life or just suffering from hairballs. The doctors at Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado use pure science to clear up such mysteries of the animal world. At the massive Englewood facility, pets receive better health care than most humans, with specialists in veterinary cancer, heart disease and rehabilitation on call 24 hours a day. A surgical and research hospital, VRCC takes an aggressive stance against disease, using the latest treatments and non-traditional methods like acupuncture; there's even a staff dermatologist. Services aren't cheap, but the center won't bankrupt you with unexpected charges. It's about time modern medicine went to the dogs.

Best Critter Removal

Lil Rascals Wildlife Control Inc.

Folks may not worry much about bats in the belfry. Heck, they probably stopped making belfries decades ago. But squirrels in the attic? There's an unwelcome bit of wildlife. Since last June, when Jim Clouse started his Lil Rascals service, fewer of our furry friends have been squatters (or slitherers: he does all wildlife) in homes around the Littleton area. Clouse charges a one-time service fee that includes inspecting the house to see where the secret squirrels are gaining entry. After setting traps, he hauls the unwanted nut-eatin' guests away for a per-critter cost. As he says, "I only want to catch the squirrels that are bothering you, not your neighbors." He also does repairs. Now, if you have elk in the basement...

Best Place to Get Pooped On

African Grey

African Grey is similar to the Denver Zoo's Bird World -- only you can take the store's feathered friends home with you. In addition to its namesake parrot, the shop also sells cockatoos, cockatiels, parakeets and finches. Though it's hard not to go a little bird-brained from all the squawking in the place, the exotic animals make the racket endurable. Just be sure to watch your head. Like the birds at the zoo, some of the winged things are allowed outside their cages.

Best Showers -- Near

20th Street Recreation Center

So your house is under construction, your slumlord won't fix the bathroom leak -- whatever. You just need a hot shower, but at a certain point, you have to stop bumming showers off your friends. For a mere five bucks a day, the 20th Street Recreation Center -- or any of the other 28 Denver Parks and Recreation gyms -- will be there in your time of need. Don't expect the Ritz -- hell, don't expect a Motel 6 -- but the facilities are clean, and admission includes access to the workout facilities. Women even get private shower stalls (sorry, boys). Just don't forget your shower shoes.

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