Shine your brass, wax your handle bar moustache and dust off your top hats because this is Steampunk 101. This semester I will be teaching brass tacks on leather, hoop skirts on women, bright shining metals and burgundy sashes, and clockworks and boots that go up to your knees (these are a few of my favorite things). As your instructor and guide into this new world I give you a list of materials and assignments. Remember, whatever you do, don't go native!

In a show of support for literacy, the Waypoint Theatre Company's starts their 2011 season with the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy/drama Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry and a performance to benefit Literacy Volunteers of Tucson. The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 at Atria Bell Court Gardens' Academy Hall Theatre, 6653 E. Carondelet Drive.

It's Arts and Crafts month at Bookmans where we are hosting multiple events, large and small to get our arts and crafts on. Our Bookmans Mesa Cashier Extraordinaire Nancy recently hosted a class we called "Altered Cigar Boxes". In our altered art classes, we take objects intended for the landfill and repurpose them. For instance our "Altered Cigar Boxes" are more than simple storage containers. Using enough papers and embellishments, cigar boxes can hold ordinary everyday objects.

The set up. Crafters created beauty within the context of this beauty.

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange has built our reputation on the concept that "used" is not a dirty word. Bookmans has been a proud sponsor of the Tucson Festival of Books since it began in 2009. Each year Bookmans offers engaging interactive activities for both children and adults and lots of giveaways. Plus this is the first year that Bookmans will be selling at the Festival — don’t forget to bring your trade credit! The main tent will be stocked with rare and collectible books, books on the southwest and an exciting assortment of fiction. The kid's tent will house all manner of adorable picture and chapter books, including vintage children’s books.

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange offers deals for you and your buckaroo too this weekend at the Tucson Festival of Books.

Our tent in the main festival area will feature rare books, books on the southwest and autographed copies. While you’re there, sign up for our e-newsletter so you can be the first in the know. Each purchase comes with a description of the book’s collectability in addition to a reusable tote.

This ain't your ordinary tote. We gussied it up with this gorgeous sugar skull.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Tucson Festival of Books and stopped by our booths. We enjoyed beautiful weather and all your smiling faces. We have the video to prove it.

Not for nothing, but I've been waiting years for that guydarnit hoverboard. We've spent the past week at SXSW Interactive in Austin and still there's no sign that we'll have one any time soon. Fortunately, we have a consolation prize. This weekend Bookmans and The Loft Cinema present Cult Classic Back to the Future. Today, like every other Tuesday, we offer 15 pairs of tickets to Bookmans Cult Classic at 10 p.m. showing Friday, March 18 or Saturday, March 19.

We hope you enjoy hanging out at Bookmans. We provide comfy chairs, free high-speed wifi, space for your best pal on four legs and, where possible, sustinence for your body as well as your brain. In two of our locations (Bookmans Mesa and Bookmans Flagstaff) you have access to a fully loaded cafe for times when you want to hang out, but have stuff to do.

Recently Bookmans Mesa Cafe hosted Friday Date Night and with a walk up window you can phone in an order for an early work meeting and pick it up at our walk-up window or you can come in and hold your office hours at a traditional table or on a more casual couch. Our Media Producer Harrison Kressler put this video together highlighting the mosaic of possibilities when you enter one of our cafes. Enjoy the video and visit Bookmans Mesa or Bookmans Flagstaff for a quality cafe experience.

Do you secretly wish you were Nancy Drew? If so, your intrepid sleuthing could get you a bunch of great free stuff this week in Flagstaff! Instead of solving a murder mystery, this detective work helps you save your community by supporting local business. And, instead of creeping around an abandoned house with a wavering candle flame, you’ll be using Twitter to find your clues.

Wowza! We went from four days for our first hunt winners to claim their prizes to four hours for the last treasure hunt. I heard you loud and clear -- you guys love a challenge. I want to give you what you want, so now I'm cranking up the difficulty to test your true savviness and love of a good bargain. This month put on your thinking caps because it's gonna be a bumpy ride, but don't worry because I'll have you whipped in to intellectual shape in no time.

Supporting local businesses strengthens our local economy and a strong economy means a stronger community. As part of our commitment to local businesses and the community, Bookmans Entertainment Exchange is a member of Local First Arizona. Their ShiftAZ campaign encouraging shopping at local businesses has inspired us to use our noggins, crank up our creativity and find a fun way to support other companies while bringing you added value via our Bookmans Treasure Hunt: The Search for Local Business Booty. All aboard me mateys because we have set sail for adventure and prizes that even a scallywag wouldn’t hawk.

You darn kids turned us all into Cuban Petes getting ready to start this congratulations conga line. We don't like to party alone, so put on your puffy shirts, grab your maracas and get in line. It's time to report on Bookmans 2011 Reading Challenge and reward the students who read their hardest over the past month. We tip our sombrero to all the students because they put their noses in over 460,000 books since the beginning of our three-month-long challenge. With $15,000 at stake these students are upping the ante while increasing literacy.

[Bongo beat please] The second-stage winners in all three markets with the highest average of books read per 2-3 grade student in Tucson is Hudlow Elementary, Power Ranch Elementary in Mesa and the Flagstaff Junior Academy! [Confetti rains from above, trumpets blast and everybody does the cha-cha-cha]. The party has only one month left but you can bet these kids will read over one million books by the end of this challenge.

Anticipating over 10,000 people, the three-day celebration of water through the arts and sciences known as the Synergistic Water Festival takes place this weekend with the main event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 27. Two other major events run concurrently at the same venue: Cyclovia and Solar Rock. Grab your helmets because Bob Oldfather will be shooting off t-shirts at Solar Rock, so work on that hand/eye coordination.

The Water Festival features an art show, dance/theater performance, Enviro-Exhibitor Fair, speakers, workshops, film festival, kids activities and a cross-cultural/interfaith water ritual. Boost your expertise and support public health and wellness, water safety, environmental stewardship and renewable resources while fostering our creative community.

* By Andrea Beesley-Brown, guest writer

In its new home as a part of the Phoenix Film Festival, the International Horror and Sci Fi Film Festival brings you film shorts from all over the globe. Genre film fans will delight with our selections this Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. The 2011 Horror Short entry Bugbaby (starring Mink Stole) should be a real crowd pleaser! We were lucky enough to get in touch with the filmmakers and pick their brains about the making of Bugbaby. It screens at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday as a part of the Horror Shorts program. For more information and tickets visit www.phoenixfilmfestival.com or visit the Bookmans site for upcoming special offers.

Bookmans and The Loft Cinema welcome you to Bushwood this April Fool's Day (no really -- and the day after that too). This weekend enjoy Cult Classic Caddyshack, "the comedy with balls". There's a heavy message about class issues underlying this 80s comedy but fortunately the screwball antics obscure it. Today, like every other Tuesday, we offer 15 pairs of tickets to Bookmans Cult Classic at 10 p.m. showing Friday, April 1 or Saturday, April 2.

WARNING! This is not your typical concert! This is not your typical art gallery! This is the once-in-a-lifetime experience that will be APRIL FOOL'S FEST!

Join local artists and musicians at 7 p.m. on April 1 at the Sculpture Resource Center, 640 N. Stone Ave., for a most unique interactive mixed-media art event. An eclectic and wide variety of artists will be featured in the gallery; everything ranging from paint to metal, glass to textiles. Beautiful sounds will hug your brain as they are created live for your listening pleasure by Tracy Shedd, Some of Them are Old, Sister Emma Brother Noah (Noma), and White Chocolate and The Cigarettes. Tickets are available at any Bookmans location or the Sculpture Resource Center for $5.00 advance or $8.00 at the door.