I don’t know about you, but it seemed like “March Madness” extended beyond basketball this year.

1. Date a Girl Who Reads. Last month I featured an essay by a man warning against dating girls who read. Today we have a response from The Monica Bird. My favorite part: “Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

2. Lifelong Learners. I have a pretty long list of books I need to read. Ulysses, Lolita, The Brothers Karamazov, anything by Orwell … it’s terrible. This list puts things in perspective, though: 100 Essential Reads for the Lifelong Learner. Hear that? I have a LIFETIME to finish my list of essential classics. That’s great news. Now I just have to get people to stop writing new books.

3. Indie Bound. Got a free Saturday to indulge in a little DIY book making? Here’s a tutorial of Basic Book Binding.

4. Beeks (my new lingo for “book-geeks”). The guys who previously rented my house subscribed to a lot of magazines that seem to have never been canceled … I’ve grown really attached to Sports Illustrated and Maxim (I like the ARTICLES). We’ve also been getting Think Geek magazine, a delightful publication that sells smart-people gadgets and Star Wars paraphernalia. Get the skinny on nerd lit.

5. The Personal Library. I think I’ve mentioned once or a thousand times that I don’t have enough shelves on which to keep my books. But I like to dream about the home I will own, someday, the one on fifty acres with the peach orchard and the ponies and the stoic ranch hand named Tuck (his real name is George Tucker, but he hasn’t gone by George in years) … Where was I going with this? Right, dream life, dream library.

6. New Work. I recently finished stage managing a piece of new theater. It’s a wonderful play by a dear friend and UNC student (read here). In the process, I met the founder and staff of Ground Up Productions, a New York-based theater company that puts an emphasis on the cultivation and production of new work. For the first time, I realize that contemporary theater is a living, breathing–not to mention relevant–art form, just like contemporary fiction, and certainly deserves as much love and devotion.

7. Big Wins. I don’t want to be a bad sport or anything, but looky-looky, Google Books, guess you CAN’T just infringe on copyright, illegally distribute intellectual property, and ransack the book industry for your personal gain. I guess not.

8. Practicality. Book-loving isn’t just fun and games; not all head-in-the-clouds mumbo jumbo, no. Here are 9 Cool Things to Do With Old Books. Make shelves or a wreath or a clock or a lamp shade. I keep my turntable propped up on two stacks of books and an old window pane … but that’s more a “poor” thing than a “cool” thing.

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Ok March, I don’t want to see your face for at least another year.

-Susannah Long, Intern