Magic City Manifesto

Recent events have me considering my opinion on the lottery. And no, Milton McGregor’s acquittal has no bearing here. It was a year ago last month. Boss and I were on a road trip. As we pulled in to a gravel lot at a rural South Carolina gas station, he looked at me with a calm… Read More

Birmingham native J.W. Butts needs your help. Really, he just wants your money… You see, the 25-year-old artist is promoting this Kickstarter campaign, with the hopes that he can raise enough money to publish a children’s book based on his illustrations of ocean animals. And to say it like that, “his illustrations of ocean animals”, is kind of… Read More

B’HAM WIKI Upon arrival in the Magic City, I quickly realized my need for a reliable, accessible go-to source that could tell me anything and everything about the places I was discovering, the people I was meeting, the reasons behind the “this” and the “that” in and around Jones Valley. Enter: The mother of all… Read More

If you were to step inside our Magic City kitchen, you would find a few staples: -Alecia’s Tomato Chutney – A simple pleasure, produced just a few miles down the road in Leeds, spreadably good on bread, biscuits, and really just about anything else edible in nature. -On a good day, either a sourdough loaf from MIX… Read More

By Laura Kate Whitney As much as I love the beat of this city (and my family), sometimes I just need a break.  Often I feel that nagging voice, pecking away at my semi-composed façade.  “You’ve had enough, little lady,” it says.  “Life has worn you out.  Go seek some solace.  Go outside.”  And so… Read More

She’s more alive than you think… A few nights ago, I met a few fabulous friends at the Birmingham Museum of Art’s opening preview of their newest exhibition, a collection of 175 photographs that document the mid 20th century revolution that was known as “rock and roll”. Listening to Gail Buckland, guest curator and photographic… Read More

In the words of funny man Robin Williams, “Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!’” Cheers to that. Each night at bedtime, I ask my two year old son what he’s thankful for.  Lately, his response is “I’m thankful for foie gras, Mommy.”  (He says that.  Every night.  I kid not.)  Either I’m not… Read More

WHERE FLAVOR IS KING! There’s a Spanish proverb that goes something like this, “The belly rules the mind.”  And then Garrison Keillor summed it up with, “Sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn.”  You have no idea…especially when there’s a bowl of freshly plucked baby okra sitting on my kitchen counter…. Read More

“For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.” Aristotle I’m such a sucker for anniversaries.   I get in to the ceremony, the observance, the tradition.  And, if you really want to get me going,… Read More