So it’s something in the air down in Tuscaloosa–the late afternoon light, the humidity just beginning to break, and the throngs of 30,000+ undergrads on campus.

And so we begin another year, with two wonderful book projects awaiting us: Amber Nelson’s Diary of When Being With Friends Feels Like Watching TV and Harold Abramowitz’s A House on a Hill. What will we do with these wonderful books–we’ll pass the manuscripts over to our interns and we’ll have them decide on design, paper, stitch–you name it, they’ll do it.

And, of course, the big poetry hike is coming up…but two extra components we weren’t expecting until they fell in our laps.

1. We’re teaming up with the wonderful Ryan Browne and Carl Peterson who oversee the Pure Products Reading series in Tuscaloosa. They’re being gracious enough to bring some locals in with some out of towners we just love and adore. Details here.
2. Our undergrads are teaming up with some of the hike’s visiting writers and other UG’s from U of GA, U of TN, Kenyon College, and UAB for their first film endeavor. We’ve got Flips in hand…

So, where are we reading? The amazing Cahaba National Wildlife Reserve. Here’s a little taste of location scouting. A little shaky and quick panning, but for the first time ever taking shots, we’re pleased with their efforts.

Getting ready to head back to Tuscaloosa for fall semester next week, I am initiating a list of some of our greatest amenities (to combat my growing dread that our new apartment will still be crawling with cockroaches when we get there). So, in no particular order

-Joe at PestPro Exterminators
-The Alcove
-Egan’s Bar
-The Black Warrior River
-The Arboretum
-Sokol Park
-The Bike Shop
-The U of Alabama Book Arts Program
-Hank Lazer and Creative Campus
-The Moody Art Gallery (Jasper Johns, Sally Mann, Robert Rauschenberg last year!)
-The Kentuck Arts and Crafts Center
-The Kentuck Festival
-OZ Music
-Little Italy Pizza
-Sitar (Great Indian food!)
-Ruan Thai
-Archibald’s BBQ
-Dreamland BBQ
-Maggie’s Diner
-Netflix (I recommend Laurel and Hardy.)
-JD’s
-BBQ nachos from the cart in JD’s parking lot
-Manna Foods
-Slash Pine’s 2010 Writer Hikes (Did someone say Slash Pine?)
-Claudia Keelan will be a visiting writer in residence at U of Alabama this spring!
-The Gorgas Library’s record collection
-Townes Van Zandt’s shout-out to T-town in “Waiting Around to Die”
-America’s Greatest Thrift Store
-Anne’s Tiques
-The Crimson Tide (Roll Tide! “It’s a tradition.”)
-Natty Ice is always on sale everywhere
-Fireworks are legal
-The St Paul United Methodist Church sign–it’s the most prophetic marquee in town (“We are too Blessed to Be Depressed”)
-Sometimes you can get a haircut and auto detailing in the same place
-Mockingbirds
-Magnolia trees
-Old train bridge in Northport
-Mary’s Cakes (Great croissants!)
-Bama Theatre
-Oliver Lock and Dam
-Cicadas
-Mule Day Chicken Fest (in Gordo)
-The Foundry (thrift store in Bessemer)
-Charlemagne Records (in Birmingham)
-The Bottle Tree (in Birmingham)
-Pie Lab (in Greensboro)
-Rural Studios (in and around Greensboro)
-Mustang Oil (in Greensboro)

*Special Note: Whiskey is way cheaper at ABC Beverages.

On my to-do list:
-Civil Rights Museum (in Birmingham)
-Hank Williams Museum (in Montgomery)
-William Faulkner’s house (in Oxford, Mississippi)
-Flannery O’Conner’s peacock farm (in Milledgeville, Georgia)

In the words of Robert Creeley, What do you do,/ what do you say,/ what do you think,/ what do you know.