In this era of instant-gratification entertainment and techno-peppered art, it's nice to know that there are still places to cultivate hobbies that hark back to a simpler time. The San Francisco Center for the Book ups the ante on the craft of bookmaking with a smattering of innovative and delightfully vintage workshops. Here you can take a wood engraving class with one of the country's most lionized experts or immerse yourself in a few days of letterpress printing and make some fine personalized stationery. The workshops make book learning cool, touching on such nifty topics as image transfer and creative flourishes like pop-ups, collage, and zinemaking. A medley of free family events and exhibitions cover the history of the craft and touch on the sociopolitical context of bookmaking, as with last year's "Journey to the Source: Handmade Books From Cuba." To top it all off, the teachers are unpretentious and nice, the classes are fairly inexpensive (compared to your typical painting or pottery course), and the end result is artwork on a scale anyone can handle.