My mom has had the same Cheeseburger in Paradise t-shirt from Maui for as long as I've been alive. It has been washed into softness, demoted to "camping only" status, and I have wanted it since I was old enough to know what wanting a shirt meant. She has not given it to me. So I did the next best thing and turned it into a book cover.

On September 25 we're binding Jurassic Park into a book cloth hardcover patterned after that shirt. There's a dinosaur where the palm tree used to be, "Michael Crichton" in those spaced-out dotted letters, "Isla Nublar" in script where the island name goes, and yes, "life, uh, finds a way" running along the bottom like a sleeve gag. Inside, Hawaiian shirt endpapers, because if we're doing a tropical island theme we're committing to it.

Here's what actually happens: you show up, I hand you a stack of materials and a beer, and three hours later you walk out holding a hardcover book you made. That's it. You don't need experience, you don't need to be crafty, and you don't need to bring anything but yourself. Every single person who has taken one of these classes has finished their book.

I'll (hopefully) be the one in the Cheeseburger in Paradise shirt. I'm trying to borrow it for the night.