East Trinity Avenue Decatur, GA (submitted by Thomas)

Laurie writes in…

Thursday morning we received word from Haiti that the members of Les Petits Chanteurs will not be able to fly out of the country this weekend. Therefore, they will not be at Holy Trinity Parish in Decatur on Sunday morning for worship and the concert on Sunday afternoon has been canceled.

Salon asked former Paste Associate writer Rachel Maddux to write an account and reflection on the life and death of Paste Magazine.  As usual, she doesn’t disappoint.  A great piece.

And then, on Tuesday, my bosses — three guys who built the publication and the company from the ground up — gathered our dozen-person staff into the conference room, slid the doors shut and said, “We have bad news.” And it was bad: The whole staff was furloughed effective immediately; the print magazine was dead; the website would continue, but under uncertain auspices.

I’ve cried over lesser things at work and in life, but for some reason, just after the announcement, I found myself having to stifle a laugh. Minutes later, seemingly in a burst of hysteric dyspepsia, someone in the room burped loudly. Then I laughed. And then I cried.

OK, let’s get down to brass tacks, because I’ve got some serious planning to do!  What’s everyone’s plan for this weekend’s Decatur Book Festival?  Who’s “not to miss”?

For anyone else who has procrastinated a bit in creating your plan of attack, I discovered  some pretty good recommendations from the Book Festival for creating a schedule for yourself.

• Think about what interests you the most. Cooking? Business? Mystery novels? You can pick and choose which events you attend based on your specific tastes. Do some exploring on the festival website. You can view a list of author events by genre and find a few topics that pique your interest
• Figure out which specific authors you don’t want to miss. On the authors page you can search for your favorite authors by name or book title.
• Don’t feel like you have to stick to one theme. Jump from Sci-Fi to Romance in the same afternoon – just be sure to check out the schedule of events to make sure the events don’t overlap.
• In between readings wander through the Book Market and Street Fair. For a list of featured booths, take a look at the exhibitor page.
• Set aside time to play! The festival wide scavenger hunt will be going on all day on Saturday and Sunday. All you have to do is download the SCVNGR app to your mobile phone and go along with the clues the game sends you.
• Are you bringing little ones to the festival? Make sure to attend some of the very special children’s events going on Saturday and Sunday, including two parades.

• On Sunday at the conclusion of the festival, there will be a closing picnic. Plan to attend this tasteful finale and sample food from local restaurants and caterers.