I’m surprised the Decatur Book Festival hasn’t done more to promote Patrick McDonnell’s appearance.  I know a lot of people, including myself, that love his daily comic strip Mutts.  (Though I’m sure everyone says that about their favorite authors in attendance)

Perhaps its because its a kid-focused event?  According to the DBF’s official calendar its looks like he’s scheduled to discuss his new book “South” on the Target children’s stage at noon Sunday.

I wonder if I can borrow someone’s kids for 30 minutes so I can attend.

This isn’t from a press release…just a random discovery of mine…

There’s a great little interview over on the AJC with Decatur Mellow Mushroom owner, Dave Kieffer today. The Q&A covers a lot of ground, from “Why Decatur?” to an explanation of why this particular Mellow Mushroom location has so many horror movie posters on its walls and tables. It’s a great read, especially for those that enjoy the “spring water dough” as much as I do.

However, there was one question in particular that caught my attention.

Immediately after asking Kieffer his first question, “Why Decatur?”, the AJC’s Jon Waterhouse asked him “Do you think downtown Decatur is reaching its peak of restaurant saturation?”

An interesting question for a rather established restaurant owner don’t you think? It would make more contextual sense if Kieffer was brand-spanking new to the area. But he’s not. So to me, it says more about the interviewer than the interviewee. It seems to expose the opinion among Atlanta foodies that Decatur has gotten a little TOO restaurant happy.

What do you think? Does choosing a place for dinner in town give you the hives due to the multitude of options? Is it a bad thing that the city has so many restaurant options and so few utilitarian stores (grocery, hardware…)? If so, then what can be done about it? Or is it just a result of the makeup of the Atlanta metro area? (…meaning big box stores have closed down all the local, more utilitarian shops…so independents are limited to food and drink, clothing and niche products)

I open the virtual floor to your thoughts.

From LivableGrowth.org…

The developer, JLB Partners, has requested that their appearance before the Planning Commission be deferred until after the determination of the Zoning Board of Appeals with respect to their application for variance. This means that they will appear at the NEXT Planning Commission meeting in September. The calendar of events for 315 West Ponce has been updated and the letter requesting the deferral is posted in the development’s files section.

This means that the next CRITICAL meeting date for this project will be:

August 11, 7:30pm – Zoning Board of Appeals (City Hall, 509 North McDonough)

Looks like the Oakhurst Green Home is finally complete/nearing completion.

Episodes are scheduled to air on the hard-to-find “Planet Green” network next month (Aug 7th and 14th at 6pm). But since the episodes are on a network that I don’t subscribe to, plus I can’t find anything on Comcast “On Demand”, I guess I’ll have to satisfy my voyeur-tendencies with these pics from the AJC of Oakhurst’s newest landmark home.

Also, it seems the house (601 Third St.) has a blog (If I knew this at any point, I promptly forgot it) to view ongoing progress.

So, here’s my $64,000 question…does the house use more energy now (at 2,300 sq ft) than when it was just 900 sq. feet?

[photo courtesy of the AJC]