And, sometimes, the only thing to do on a Sunday is to sneak into the roof pool at The Roosevelt with Noel and Erin. Swimming, mojitos, and lapping up rays with a good magazine in hand. Heaven.

life lately, grams

Rebecca landed a job in Algiers Point. St. Francisville will miss her, but I won't have to anymore. Seely and Trudy take a break post-tackle. Pho and Pork Vermicelli from Magasin. Sno ball flavors. Anis and Alexis, my favorite Austin lovebirds, in a moment of marital bliss?

when friends visit

Scrabble & Records, Sno Balls, Doggie Playdates, Levees, Pho for breakfast, the last standing Rue de la Course, and, always, The Saint.

recommended reading

David Remnick profiles Bruce Springsteen at sixty-two for The New Yorker

David Lumpkin shares a moving, wonderfully written excerpt from his memoir about looking to televangelism when his mother went missing for Oxford American

Philip Sasser probes the question: What Happened to Church Cemeteries? for Oxford American

Harrison Scott Key on Savannah and the low-country boil for Oxford American

Obviously, I have a deep love for OA. One day, I will write for them. Dreams. 

unchained news

The September installment of this storytelling road trip that I adore working for has no other than Neil Gaiman as a storyteller but it's also called the Heart Shaped Tour for the new route through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Check the google map attached above and you will see not just a big ole heart but all the cities we're dropping in. If you know anyone in any of these points (ahem, Brendan @ City Planning let's talk Winston Salem) let me know and we will invite them out. More details will be released on the website in the coming week or contact me directly for the press release. Hope to see you on the road!

montgomery - a photo tour

Grilled oysters, tall trees, my road dog, stadium lights, Hampstead Farm, The Tipping Point, The First House of the Confederacy (take that Richmond), Alabama Archives and History (a tremendous resource for my novel and the contributor of eye strain thanks to hours of microfilm research), MLK Jr's church on Dexter Ave., Sous La Terre & La Salle Bleu Piano Bar (only open Saturdays and Sundays 1am-6am, old school jazz and blues, and an overall magical place), Hank Williams Museum, The Alley, Riverfront, Train Station, River, Capri Theatre, Tomatinos and Cafe Louisa, Huntingdon College (I didn't go here but read its ghost story), The Red Lady spectre via blue hologram, and The Alabama Shakespeare Festival gardens (All of the flowers and herbs are mentioned in the Bard's work).

gordon parks - photos

Above are photos from Gordon Parks' work documenting the rural south during Jim Crow segregation.

See more photos here. A big thank you to Tanya Rey for directing this work my way.