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One of the highlights of Flagpole’s Pet Edition is the opportunity to see so many of the healthy and happy pets that call Athens home.

At th e UG A P e t H e a lth Cente r, w e ar e ded ic ated to go i ng be y on d th e e x pec te d to mai nt ai n th e w ell - be i ng of th e s e b e lo v e d c o mpa n i ons. Our te am of v et eri nar y se rvic es , i n c l u d i ng ann ua l c hec kup s , vacci na t i ons , t r e a t m ent fo r mi no r i n juri es a nd i llnesses , mi no r s ur g eri es , a nd m o re fo r a ll the dog s a nd ca ts of Athens .

Located on UGA’s South Campus, we are easily accessible and happy to assist you in any way we can. Please give us a call today to schedule an appointment for your pet!

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& PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner

ADVERTISING SALES Jessica Pritchard Mangum, Dave Martin

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EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Sam Lipkin

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CONTRIBUTORS Bonita Applebum, Patrick Barry, Stanley Dunlap, Erin France, Gordon Lamb, Lee Shearer, Ed Tant

CARTOONISTS Missy Kulik, David Mack, Klon Waldrip, Joey Weiser

CIRCULATION Jennifer Bray, Charles Greenleaf, Joe Rowe

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PHOTOGRAPHERS Mason Pearson, Jake Zerkel

SPECIAL AGENT Pete McCommons

ACC Budget Takes Shape

PLUS, POTENTIAL COMPOSTING PICKUP AND MORE LOCAL NEWS

By Blake Aued and Lee Shearer news@flagpole.com

Athens-Clarke County commissioners aren’t interested in raising taxes this year— nor are most interested in cutting them— but they have a laundry list of items they want to add to Mayor Kelly Girtz’s proposed budget. Luckily, there may be other sources of funding for those additions.

“Each department is telling us they’re struggling to meet the needs of the community,” Commissioner Patrick Davenport said at a May 16 budget hearing. Commissioner Jesse Houle cited years of deferred maintenance as the commission sought to cut the tax rate in recent years, some of it even dating back to Great Recession budget cuts that were never fully restored.

One thing all commissioners seem to agree on is the need for more frequent roadside mowing. Manager Blaine Williams said the county could hire private services to supplement government landscaping crews for less than $100,000.

Another is the staffing shortage in the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office. For several years Sheriff John Q. Williams has demanded pay parity with police, but deputies still make about $5,000 less than police officers, and their signing bonuses are smaller. Closing the gap would cost about $900,000. Williams pointed to the discrepancy as the reason why his department is down 45 employees, while police are fully staffed.

“There’s going to be more arrests” now that the police department is at full strength, Williams said at a May 14 meeting between the commission and constitutional officers. “There’s going to be more people in jail. We don’t have staff to open more pods. We’re going to have people sleeping on floors.”

Williams also complained about the quality of the food prepared at the nearby state correctional facility, which delivers meals to the jail, and asked for funding to build out the jail’s kitchen and hire a vendor to prepare meals at the jail.

A $150,000 request from District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez to continue paying American Rescue Plan Act-funded paralegals and administrative staff is likely to be approved as well. The cost would be somewhat offset because Gonzalez withdrew a $43,000 request for contract attorneys. They’re no longer needed because Gonzalez said she recently hired six new assistant DAs for the chronically short-staffed office. Less clear is how much money the commission will devote to affordable housing. Girtz included $1 million for a “strike fund” to buy and renovate distressed properties. But a 2023 study recommended that ACC spend $5 million a year.

The state legislature passed a tax reform package that, if voters approve it in November, will cap increases in property values and allow local governments to raise sales taxes to offset property taxes. Girtz has floated a plan for a 1% sales tax hike, with $12 million a year going to affordable housing and $6 million a year for youth programs. The other half would allow for a 2.5-mill property tax cut.

A grant intended for the police department could be used to boost salaries for sheriff’s deputies instead, Manager Blaine Williams told commissioners last week. About $3.2 million in interest earned on federal ARPA dollars is also sitting in ACC’s bank account waiting to be allocated, he said.

Williams also has his own wants that did not make it into Girtz’s budget, such as adding a third assistant manager. That would allow Williams to spend more time interacting with elected officials and the general public, he said.

The cost of pickup worked out to $29.25 per household per month. Options for funding permanent compost pickup include property taxes or landfill tipping fees. Most survey respondents said they were open to either, but more preferred the former.

The Solid Waste Department requested funding for a compost education specialist in the county’s fiscal 2025, but Mayor Kelly Girtz did not include it. Dunlop said the goal is to create a permanent program starting in July 2026. That program would likely include city pickup within the Urban Services District, and drop-off sites and private services outside the city center.

“ The people I respected most were putting policy over politics.

Girtz rejected about 80% of budget requests from county officials, opting to add just 19 new positions to a government that employs almost 1,800 people. The $194 million budget is 3.7% higher than the current year’s, but most of that additional money is going toward employee raises and covering health care and pension costs as ACC seeks to fill “huge vacancies that have really pushed people to their limit,” as Williams put it.

“These requests are not frivolous,” he said. “They’re things we need to do to move the community forward.” [BA]

Call to Continue Composting

A recent composting pilot program was successful, Athens-Clarke County and UGA officials told county commissioners last week, and they want to continue it community-wide next year.

The ACC Solid Waste Department and UGA New Materials Institute recently partnered on testing a composting pickup program in the Normaltown, Boulevard and Cobbham neighborhoods. About 400 of 2,200 households in the area participated in the free program, which started in February and ended in early May.

“We continued to get inquiries after the registration deadline, so there’s a lot of interest out there,” ACC Waste Reduction Administrator Joe Dunlop said at a May 14 work session. “The reactions were overwhelmingly positive.”

About a third of the materials that enter the landfill could be composted, significantly extending the life of the county landfill and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions it produces. The program collected 19 tons of compostable material—mostly food scraps and some paper products—and diverted it away from the landfill, preventing the equivalent of 17 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Composting is basically “controlled rotting,” Dunlop said, and the resulting soil was sold to gardeners.

The main complaint was the steel cans used. They were a condition of funding by the Walmart Foundation, which is exploring sustainable materials and domestic supply chains, according to UGA assistant research scientist Evan Smith. The cans would be redesigned if the program is expanded and made permanent, he said.

In the meantime, Solid Waste and UGA have six dropoff sites—at the Cooperative Extension (275 Cleveland Road), UGA Facilities (Bowstrom Road), the UGArden (2500 S. Milledge Ave.), Center for Hardto-Recycle Materials (1005 College Ave.), the Solid Waste office (725 Hancock Way) and the ACC Landfill (5700 Lexington Road)—with plans to open one in Winterville as well. Solid Waste is also helping to promote Awesome Possum and Compostia, two small local companies that pick up composting. [BA]

Put Policy Over Politics, Duncan Tells Grads

Geoff Duncan didn’t mention Donald Trump nor the splintering Republican Party as he spoke to some University of Georgia graduates a week ago. But the former president and the party of Lincoln’s far-right lurch seemed an unspoken presence as the former Georgia lieutenant governor addressed graduates of UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs May 10, less than a week after he appealed to fellow Republicans to vote for Democrat Joe Biden in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed.

UGA’s schools and colleges conduct separate graduation ceremonies called convocations, where graduate’s names can be individually called out, in advance of the official university-wide commencement

exercises. Duncan was the speaker at this year’s SPIA convocations, now divided into two sessions. As the school has grown to become one of the most prestigious of its type in the nation, its enrollment has grown to nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

“This November, I am voting for a decent person I disagree with on policy over a criminal defendant without a moral compass,” Duncan wrote in his op-ed, though he also said Republicans should work to elect majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to block Biden’s second-term legislative agenda.

Duncan looked beyond this year’s presidential election in his remarks to the SPIA graduates, many of whom are destined to be part of government in one way or another. “SPIA graduates run the state of Georgia,” he said, and “Georgia is going to be in the spotlight for decades.

“First, take the opportunity to make a genuine difference every day instead of pursuing power,” he said. “In other words, put the policy over the politics.”

Duncan returned repeatedly to that theme—putting good policy over politics— and told them how to do it. “I had to learn the hard way,” he said, recalling his first days in elected office. Duncan was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2013, then stepped down in 2017 to run for lieutenant governor in the 2018 statewide election. He chose not to seek a second four-year term in 2022.

In the legislature, he found himself voting for bills along party lines, not because they were good law. “I even supported people for elected office I knew were not decent people,” he said. “The people I respected most were putting policy over politics.” He told graduates, “Take the time to understand the facts,” which means getting information from multiple, diverse sources. “Do your homework. Don’t rely on social media.”

It also means listening to opposing points of view, he said. “Find somebody across the aisle you can talk to,” and try to understand their positions, he said. “I guarantee it will make you a better decision-maker.” [LS] f

Open and Shut Case

DA SEEKS EXEMPTION FROM GEORGIA OPEN RECORDS LAW

By Stanley Dunlap news@flagpole.com

Georgia’s Supreme Court will rule in the coming months on Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez’s claim that prosecutors are exempt from the state’s open records laws.

Supreme Court justices heard arguments last week that the trial court failed last year to address a constitutional provision in denying her motion to dismiss an open records complaint filed by Athens resident Jarrod Miller. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has made similar immunity arguments regarding an open records complaint related to the 2020 presidential election interference case against Donald Trump and his Republican allies.

In Gonzalez’s appeal, she claims that despite the understaffed district attorney’s office, lawyer Kevin Epps has consistently requested public records on Miller’s behalf since she took office in January 2021. Epps’ requests, including more than 50 over a three-month period in 2023, seek two years’ worth of communication on everything from her office’s cases to staff training for University of Georgia football games and Zoom meetings.

Miller argues that the Athens-Clarke DA’s office failed to process a number of records in a timely manner and alleges that Gonzalez ordered a staff member to delete text messages related to an open records request. Miller claims that the Supreme Court of Georgia has never held that the open records act does not apply to judicial branch members or offices.

Gonzalez’s attorney Derek Bauer argued that even the General Assembly can’t regulate public access to the DA’s records, and that only the state Supreme Court has that authority. Miller does not have the right to sue the district attorney because he did not submit the open records act requests listed in the complaint, and thus cannot demonstrate what type of injury he suffered as a result of the DA failing to comply, according to Gonzalez.

Bauer also said that district attorneys’ constitutional immunity shields them from civil penalties if a private citizen sues to enforce the open records act.

Bauer said in court May 14 that even if the Supreme Court justices disagree with those first two theories, there still are enough legal grounds to prevent someone like Miller from enforcing public records requests that were submitted by an attorney on his behalf. “We say no based on settled principles of constitutional standing, and Georgia’s rule that every action must be brought by the real party in interest and not a proxy plaintiff,” Bauer said.

Justices peppered Gonzalez’s attorney with questions about the logical reasoning he used to argue that district attorneys aren’t subject to public records laws. Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson said that Georgians have had legal standing for nearly two centuries to petition a court to force a government official to fulfill a duty. Peterson asked Bauer why he felt a Georgia resident does not have legal standing to force a public official, such as a district attorney, to provide requested documents to them.

questioned Bauer’s claim that a lawyer can make an open records request on their own volition, but that they are also legally required to disclose to a state official if they are doing so on behalf of a client. “The lawyer could just file the exact same thing the very next day asking for the exact same documents because he’s permitted to do so under the open records act,” Warren said. “Why does that destroy the ability to do it through this vehicle?”

Bauer said that it makes a huge difference if a public official is not entitled to ask a lawyer who they’re representing in an open records filing. If anyone were able to enforce someone else’s request, this would lead to a “race to the courthouse” to gain access to government records, he said: “I typically represent newsrooms, news media who use the open record act as a news gathering tool all the time. This court will be saying hey, if Channel 2 issues an open records act requests for news gathering information. If Channel 11 learns about it, then Channel 11 can go race to the courthouse to enforce somebody else’s request first.”

Justice Andrew A. Pinson said this case is about enforcing a public right, which is different from a private rights case in which someone makes a trespassing complaint and “then somebody else says, ‘Hey, there was trespassing over there. I want you to enforce whatever judgment.’”

olate from that that a DA, under any circumstances, is exercising judicial powers?” Boggs said.

Over the past couple of years, Gonzalez and Willis have become targets of GOP lawmakers.

Republican legislators have created a new district attorney oversight commission that will have the power to remove prosecutors who refuse to tackle certain crimes, are negligent, or fail to fulfill their duties. Gonzalez has come under scrutiny for her publicly stated policy of not prosecuting minor marijuana possession or abortion cases. Willis has publicly condemned a GOP-led “witch hunt” against her while defending her decision to investigate Trump and several co-defendants for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and other states.

The Fulton DA’s office has become embroiled in an open records battle with the far-right America First Legal, which filed a complaint against Willis for denying records related to communications with the Biden White House and U.S. Justice Department regarding the sweeping investigation that led to felony racketeering charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants in Georgia in August.

Willis has sought to dismiss the complaint from America First Legal, arguing that the Fulton DA’s office cannot be sued. The open records lawsuit filed on behalf of Bentley Media Group against Willis is pending Fulton County Superior Court.

The America First Legal Foundation has filed an amicus, or “friend of the court,” brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in support of Miller’s case against the AthensClarke district attorney.

“It seems to me that a lawsuit to compel the production of documents that the open records act requires to be produced is akin to a claim for mandamus,” Peterson said, referring to a petition to force a public official to take action.

Bauer emphasized the importance of a real party in interest making an open records request. A legally binding open records request must be filed by someone directly affected by the outcome, he argued. “Before any legal duty can attach in the open records act, there has to be a request,” Bauer said. “And that requires that the request be made by the real party in interest. Not any citizen can enforce that.”

Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren also

According to Bauer, a DA’s office cannot be sued for violating public records rights due to the separation of powers between state government branches. While most state public agencies and offices must comply with open records laws, DAs are protected as constitutionally elected officials. “DA’s have always been constitutional officers of this branch, not the executive branch, even though they don’t do judgy things like decide cases, but they do plenty of judgy things like advise grand juries,” Bauer said.

Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs said the court has held that the judicial power belongs exclusively to the court and not with a local prosecutor. “How do we extrap-

Miller’s court filing argues that the Georgia Supreme Court has never explicitly ruled that all public officials and offices in the judicial branch are exempt from the open records act, and district attorneys are only immune from litigation involving private rights related to their prosecutorial duties. Miller also said that as a community stakeholder, he has the right to enforce the public records law in Athens-Clarke.

“When [Gonzalez] eventually gets around to this central question, she first deflects by noting that the district attorney herself is not an ‘agency,’” the legal foundation brief states. “Of course not—her office is. The district attorney is the alleged custodian of her office’s public records.” f

This article was originally published at georgiarecorder.com.

Deborah Gonzalez

Dawg Dissidents

By Ed Tant news@flagpole.com

“Georgia Joins the Movement” said the front page headline on the May 2 edition of The Red & Black, the campus newspaper at the University of Georgia here in Athens.

On Apr. 29 police arrested 16 people who were part of a pro-Palestine protest on the university’s campus. A larger crowd of about 300 protesters later marched peacefully in solidarity with those who were arrested earlier.

brought millions of Americans into the streets.

The violence of war would come to an American campus in Orangeburg, SC in 1968. Police killed three African American students at South Carolina State College during a civil rights protest at the school. It was the first time that authorities had shot protesting students on an American campus. It would not be the last. In May 1970 students were again gunned down by National Guardsmen and police on the campuses of Kent State University in Ohio and Jackson State College in Mississippi. The two campus massacres within days of each other ignited a firestorm of revulsion and revolution across the nation at the time, and the University of Georgia joined that movement.

Protests and rallies have exploded across America in the wake of war between Israel and Hamas that was sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis. The war rages in the Gaza area that is devastated by Israel’s military response, with 34,000 Palestinians dead. The current wave of protests has been compared to the turbulent times of the late 1960s and early 1970s in America, and today’s protests— like those of the past—inspire some while angering or frightening others.

Dissident movements are nothing new in America or on the usually calm campus of the University of Georgia. In April 1968, hundreds of UGA students occupied the school’s Academic Building demanding sweeping changes in the university’s antiquated policies regulating the dress and behavior of female students. The three-day UGA occupation preceded the Apr. 23, 1968 takeover of college buildings by protesters at Columbia University in New York, which again has become a focal point of protests over the current war in the Middle East. Students for a Democratic Society, a leading anti-war organization in the ’60s, helped organize the 1968 protests at the University of Georgia, Columbia and other campuses as outrage over the Vietnam War

In the spring of 1970, some 3,000 University of Georgia students took part in a peace rally to protest the ever-widening Vietnam War and to memorialize the dead at Kent and Jackson. The size of the local rally showed the concern and commitment on campus in 1970. At the time, the university had an enrollment of just over 18,000—less than half its current enrollment of 40,000.

The peaceful protest at UGA in 1970 was far larger than dissident actions at UGA today.

An iconic photo from the time shows the university’s legendary Dean of Men William Tate in the crowd at the Athens protest, wearing “hippie love beads” along with the tie around his neck.

1968 was a tempestuous time in the United States and here in Athens. Angry protests erupted across America and locally in the aftermath of the assassination of civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr. on Apr. 4, 1968. Two months later Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated during his antiwar campaign for the presidency. At the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, police and protesters clashed in the streets of the Windy City while crowds chanted, “The whole world is watching.” In November 1968, Republican Richard Nixon was elected president, and the war dragged on while peace activists were brought to trial.

One of those indicted activists was Dave Dellinger, a longtime peace and civil rights crusader who spoke here in Athens during the Vietnam War and at later local events in the ’80s and ’90s. Dellinger was “a rebel without a pause” until his death in 2004 at age 88. “I learn more from young people than they learn from me,” said the old activist after one Athens appearance.

Protest movements have shaped American history. Writer Oscar Wilde spoke truth when he said, “It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” f

A Pandora yearbook photo shows UGA students protesting the Vietnam War in 1968 near what’s now the Hamilton-Holmes Building.

Healing with Horses

LOCAL NONPROFITS OFFER EQUINE-ASSISTED THERAPY

By Jessica Smith arts@flagpole.com

Horses have been the faithful companions of humans for centuries, helping to cultivate food, participate in sport and even enter battle. This treasured human-horse connection has even extended into equine-assisted therapy, an experiential treatment and healing approach that has steadily grown in popularity over recent years.

Because riding a horse moves the rider’s body in a manner similar to a human gait, it’s thought that this rhythmic,

Equine-assisted learning (EAL) is an experiential learning approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional or personal goals. In these sessions, lesson plans typically incorporate activities that focus on problem solving, relationship building or critical thinking.

three-dimensional movement can activate core muscles and enhance motor skills. Cognitively speaking, riding can improve concentration, attention span, memory, problem solving and decision-making skills. And of course, the special bond created between humans and horses often fosters greater empathy, trust, self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Equine-assisted activities and therapy (EAAT) is an umbrella term that encompasses several different approaches for using interactions with horses to assist individuals in improving physical, cognitive or emotional health. Many of the therapists offering these services are certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International.

Therapeutic horseback riding is a form of recreational therapy in which an instructor teaches an individual to actively control a horse while riding. This exercise can actively improve sensory and motor skills for better coordination, balance, flexibility, posture and muscle strength, leading to improved confidence and an overall sense of wellbeing.

Hippotherapy differs from therapeutic horseback riding in that it specifically refers to treatment tools used by licensed physical therapists, occupational therapists, or speech and language pathologists to engage a patient’s sensorimotor and neuromotor systems. For example, a speech therapist may encourage a child with a speech deficit to practice giving vocal commands to the horse while riding.

Most focused on mental wellbeing, equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is an emerging treatment whereby mental health professionals work with clients to address emotional, cognitive, behavioral or other psychological concerns. This form of therapy often includes grooming, feeding and ground exercises with horses in combination with counseling to process complex feelings. EAP may be beneficial in addressing behavioral issues, substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, trauma and communication issues. Due to limited quantitative data around the efficacy of using EAAT for mental health purposes, it’s widely advised that it should not replace traditional health care, though it can be a beneficial supplementary tool.

Multiple nonprofits dedicated to equine-assisted therapy are located just outside of Athens.

Established in 2005 on a nine-acre farm in Watkinsville, Butterfly Dreams Farm Equine Therapy’s mission is to bring “joy, wonder and healing to families with a wide spectrum of challenges, regardless of income level.” Speech pathologist, foster mother and lifelong equestrian Cat Thompson was inspired to found Butterfly Dreams Farm, along with co-founder Tracy Mosher, after witnessing how her daughter gained the strength to walk and the ability to communicate through riding. In memory of her daughter, the farm offers both hippotherapy and therapeutic riding sessions that are tailored for an individual’s needs.

Oconee Therapeutic Riding, also located in Watkinsville, holds a similar mission to “enrich the lives of riders of all ages and abilities by providing transformative equine-assisted therapy.” In addition to therapeutic riding, OTR offers Horse Guided Empowerment, a modality that “combines the wisdom and intuition of horses with personal growth and self-discovery.” Using ground-based activities with horses, participants are encouraged to reflect on their own behavior and emotions.

To learn more about these two nonprofits and the healing nature of horses, visit butterflydreamsfarm.org and oconeetherapeuticriding.org. f

Entangled Cat Cafe

WATKINSVILLE BUSINESS CREATES INTERACTIVE FELINE HAVEN

By Sam Lipkin editorial@flagpole.com pets

The cat cafe craze has been long established in Asia, but the attraction—a hangout space, often serving snacks and beverages, where cats can be watched and played with for a fee—didn’t make it to the U.S. until a decade ago. These cat-lover paradises have been popping up more frequently, and the Athens area finally has one to call its own.

Entangled Cat Cafe opened in Watkinsville, next door to the Oconee County Courthouse, at the end of March. As a partner of the Athens Area Humane Society and the Circle of Friends Animal Society, the business serves as a foster location with fully vaccinated and spayed or neutered cats available for adoption.

The “catfe” is open Sunday through Friday, closed Saturdays, from 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Upon entering there’s bar-style seating facing a giant plexiglass window looking into a colorfully painted, fully decked out playroom. Leading into the cafe area, it provides a comfortable spot to observe the cats with free admission, and the perfect place to enjoy the cafe offerings while working or chatting with a friend. The cafe features a counter of coffee drinks, a variety of hot and cold beverages and catered snacks, like cat-shaped cake pops and cupcakes.

ment space for the cats, so we wanted a lot of climbing, and that’s why we did the realistic looking tree and the pergola that they could climb on. That was the goal: to make it more entertaining for the cats.”

The humane society sends cats to the cafe that are a good match to thrive in a social environment. Towler says that you end up seeing a range of personalities, and in this environment the cats feel at ease to be their genuine selves. There’s also a rhythm to each day’s activity; the cats are more playful and active in the mornings, then get lazy and sleepy mid- to late afternoon. Within six weeks of its opening, 14 cats were adopted from Entangled. Only two of the original cats remain at the cafe, and one in particular—a black and white cat, Harvey—was adopted as a permanent cafe kitty.

The cat lounge is all ages, with an adult required to accompany children under the age of 15, and can be entered for a fee of $15 per person an hour. The fee supports the costs of the keeping and care of the cats. Entering through the playroom, where there’s an additional space for kittens, the full lounge features benches and chairs to sit, a cozy fireplace, an Instagram-worthy corner and plenty of spaces for the cats to climb, interact with guests or take a well-deserved cat nap within view.

Owners Amy Haskell and Kristy Towler first began talking about their dream of opening a cat cafe in 2019, then COVID hit. Deciding to get the business started online, they launched the Entangled Cat Cafe website in July of 2022 operating as an online retailer and marketplace for cat lovers. After finding the Watkinsville location and signing the lease in March of 2023, it took a full year to open its doors. In the meantime, Haskell and Towler had been visiting cat cafes in other states to get a feel for what seemed to work well and what they could improve within their own space.

“What we noticed when we visited a lot of cat cafes was that they were really beautiful and they had these beautiful beds and things like that, but there was not a lot of play area for the cats,” says Towler. “We wanted to make our space really an enrich-

While the cafe has treats for sale to bribe its cats for attention, its biggest seller is the cat toys and products for sale to take home. Entangled has brought its online market into the storefront, and there are a variety of locally made goods for sale. There are wooden charcuterie boards, including one that’s cat-shaped, crafted by Looking Up. Towler shops for vintage glass that Little Light Company pours candles into for a unique repurposed product. There’s also jewelry and T-shirts, with new products still to come.

“That’s kind of where the name Entangled came from. We wanted to be part of the community. We wanted to be entangled with local businesses and artists and craftspeople and things like that,” says Towler. “Then the other way that we came up with our name is because we wanted to be a place where the community gathers, cat lovers and even not cat lovers. Just a space for people to be.”

Entangled has hosted birthday parties and gatherings for local groups and organizations, and the owners hope to continue seeing other types of gatherings and even host their own events and classes in the space. While walk-ins are welcome, there is limited space available. For regular visits, time can be reserved online at entangledcat cafe.com. f

Guests interact with adoptable cats in the Cat Lounge area.

SAM LIPKIN

The World of Mark Katzman

M7: A PSYCHEDELIC, LITERARY-FORWARD NOVEL

By Sam Lipkin editorial@flagpole.com

Centuries of legendary, obscure and even mundane books are housed within the fantastical Library, seemingly at your fingertips—if you can find them. Stacks disappear deep into the earth; landings hover and shift several stories high; the Dewey Decimal System is merely a faint suggestion. This is the cryptic, mind-bending world you enter with the nameless protagonist of the novel M7, who is often no steps further ahead than the reader in understanding his new home and place of employment.

Written by local creative Mark Katzman, M7 is a decadelong project recently published by Spaceboy Books and nominated for the National Book Award, Hugo Award and Nebula Award. Katzman heavily leans toward the experimental and existential in his works, placing a particular emphasis on the psychedelic within this novel. Although the world and resulting society in M7 is outlandish and often comical, a true product of Katzman’s imagination that might not be intuitive to others, there’s an ease in navigating and accepting this new landscape. Katzman’s world-building is extraordinary.

“Slowly and carefully—that’s how it’s built. And not pushing things, just following your muse. I discover it as I’m doing it. And that’s what I hope the reader also experiences,” says Katzman. “It’s exciting because I don’t know where that world is going. I do not outline, but I do research certain things.”

The Library in M7 is located in U-City, a location outside of time or place. Somehow it feels both futuristic and archaic yet also both otherworldly and familiar. Katzman explains he modeled the sense of place after his experiences in Europe traveling to Paris, Amsterdam and Greece. London also has a strong influence, and Katzman says he unintentionally created what appears to be a very English novel.

One of the initial inspirations behind M7 came from Franz Kafka’s novel The Castle. In this novel the protagonist K arrives in a village overseen by mysterious authorities who govern from a castle, and ultimately K is never able to reach the highest authorities. After a re-reading, Katzman began asking what if K reached the castle and what would that experience be like? This idea combined with Katzman’s time spent inside of libraries, leisurely and professionally, set the framework for M7

significant role in the Library’s creation.

Then there are aspects like the living quarters’ psychedelic light clusters that provide solace and a calming effect through their trippy patterns. Or the special drops for sale in town that mentally transport their consumer to other themed locations to role play or relax. Katzman says that he is pro-psychedelic and believes in the therapeutic use of such substances. The cultural shift towards exploring the benefits of psychedelic psychotherapy makes this novel even more timely and relevant.

“All I want is for someone to just have fun. Maybe you’ll think about some things, but you’ll laugh, hopefully a lot,” says Katzman.

Over the years Katzman has published many novels, plays, zines and more, but it all started with two artist books he created in 1990: Along the Way (Pequeno Press) and INoN (Nexus Press). Along the Way is in the format of a very small miniature book with a run of 50 copies, and INoN is a scroll with a run of 350 copies. However both books have made their way to numerous museums and special collections libraries, like MoMA, Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts, Emory College, Chicago Art Institute, University of Georgia Hargrett Special Collections and more.

“I’ve gone to life school and reading great writers school, but never to writing school in an institution,” says Katzman. He later remarks, “Beckett and Kafka are truly my big brothers. I’m the little brother. I really do feel that because I absorbed everything from them. I read everything, every biography, that’s who I gravitated to.”

Regardless of how absurd or fictional, everything within the novel is a reflection of real life. Katzman has worked at a multitude of libraries and bookstores, including the Lamont Library at Harvard and the Film Archive Library at the American Museum of Natural History. At the latter, there was a special elevator with a key that went to a restricted floor full of specimens and rare books, and another scientific floor he says “smelled like 150 years ago.” His work as a serial records assistant largely informed the day-to-day work of M7’s protagonist. In another position he worked under a supervisor who predominantly communicated through memos. Each of these experiences plays a

Along the Way will be showcased as part of the second annual Athens Art Book Fair during AthFest. Hosted at The Athenaeum on June 22 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m., a variety of paper-based works will be on display. Katzman says he was supposed to participate last year, but he received an opportunity through JOKERJOKERtv to record the AthFest performances. This summer he’ll be doing the same through his own platform, Athens Uncharted.

Athens Uncharted is a website with active social media channels dedicated to sharing unique creative projects and music. It was established in 2016 by Katzman and Bowen Craig, both established writers and journalists, with a community first approach. Initially it was solely Athens-centric, but the success and reach of Athens Uncharted’s Instagram has opened up coverage, selectively, to the world. While Katzman says he has a particular interest in experimental music, he’s also “open to anything good.”

The platform is still very much active and growing, says Katzman, and his new emphasis is on recording performances around Athens to share on Instagram. Being physically present within the community meeting new artists and musicians in addition to virtually expanding his network around the world has brought a renewed inspiration to Katzman. The names of a few local musicians, like Marcel Sletten, even appear within the story of M7, with many more appearing in a long list of acknowledgements.

“These are very talented people that are hard workers and can have great trajectories in their art. My allegiance is just to art with a capital A,” says Katzman.

Locally M7 is available through Neighborhood Books at the Athens Farmers Market held at Bishop Park, or through online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org. Katzman will be a guest on JOKERJOKERtv’s YouTube channel on May 23 at 6:30 p.m. with an interview and reading from M7 hosted by Bryant Perez. f

ELIZABETH CLAY

Banjo Blue

Aengus

Ella

Diamond Jim

Moxin & Walker

Major

Daffodil

Gabby

Nigel Daisy

Leonarda the Great

Little

Peanut

Rosie & Darwin

Reggie

Ophelia Louise

Tiger

Sir Ratty Rat

Poldy Samson Tobias

Princess Leia & Chewbacca

Scheba Olive

live music calendar

Tuesday 21

Hendershot’s No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com

KENOSHA KID Instrumental adventure-jazz group centered around the rollicking compositions of Dan Nettles and featuring Josh Allen, Seth Hendershot and various guests.

Normal Bar

8–11 p.m. FREE! booking@rudymontayremusic.com

OPEN MIC Held Every Tuesday evening.

Ramsey Hall

7:30 p.m. $5 (w/ UGA ID), $30. pac. uga.edu

CHAMBER MUSIC ATHENS

GALA FINALE Borromeo String Quartet, guest artists, UGA faculty and students perform Mendelssohn’s “Overture to The Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3” and Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence.”

Wednesday 22

Creature Comforts

Brewery

Athens Farmers Market. 5–8 p.m. FREE! www.athensfarmersmarket.

net THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ

STOMPERS New Orleans style music played by members of The Dixieland Five. (6 p.m.)

Nowhere Bar

8 p.m. www.facebook.com/nowhere barathens

THE LOW WHITES New side project of Neal Fountain alongside Jeff Sipe and Bryan Lopes.

Thursday 23

40 Watt Club

8 p.m. (doors). $15 (adv.), $20. www.40watt.com

RUNAWAY GIN Tribute band for improvisational rock band Phish. Flicker Theatre & Bar Attaboy Tapes Presents. 8 p.m. (doors). $12. www.flickertheatre andbar.com

HAWK PROOF ROOSTER Local old-time string duo that sings and plays fiddle, banjo, ukulele, guitar and mandolin.

DEVON FLAHERTY Carboro, NCbased old time banjo specializing in the stylings of Uncle Dave Macon and Wade Ward.

Georgia Theatre

Rooftop

7:30 p.m. (doors), 8:30 p.m. (show). $10. www.georgiatheatre.com

NICHOLAS MALLIS AND THE BOREALIS Local synth-pop act claiming a diverse array of supposed corporate sponsors.

FREEMAN LEVERETT Hypnotic local songwriter and backing band with dreamy vocals, exuberant melodies and cosmopolitan influences.

RACECAR 44 New Athens band.

Hendershot’s 8 p.m. $10. www.hendershotsathens. com

SHANE PARISH Master guitarist and fearless explorer of rhythm and timbre. Repertoire album release show!

JOHN KIRAN FERNANDES Local Elephant 6 stalwart and multiinstrumentalist works his improvisational magic on the clarinet.

Hotel Indigo

Live After Five Series. 5:30 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/Aubrey EntertainmentAthensGA

JOSHUA WALKER Member of Holman Autry Band performs a solo set.

Nowhere Bar

9:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/ nowherebarathens

BLUES JAM Bring an instrument and join host Big C and The Moonshynes for an open blues jam. The house band includes Scott Nicholson, Derek Warren, Brent Davenport and Bo Hembree.

Southern Brewing Co.

6–10 p.m. www.sobrewco.com

KARAOKE NIGHT Every Thursday evening.

The World Famous 9 p.m. $10 suggested donation. www. facebook.com/theworldfamous athens

TEDDY AND THE ROUGH RIDERS Solid gold country band from Nashville.

LITTLE GOLD Local group playing garage rock with country and pop sensibilities.

Friday 24

Athentic Brewing Co.

6 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing. com

WADE NEWBURY Easy listening tunes and classics on guitar.

Buvez

7 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show). $10. www.facebook.com/buvezathens

DEAF CONDORS Experimental garage-rock group with a genrebending sound anchored by Peruvian brothers Bob Jesus and Darrick Alvarez.

PARKING GARAGE Local selfproclaimed “salt rock” band, mixing Midwest emo platitudes with dance punk attitudes.

DICTATORTOTS Longtime local chaos-cultivators trash the night with post-grunge grooves. Special show celebrating Burt’s 50th birthday!

Saturday 25

ATHICA

Sonic Space. 7 p.m. (doors). Donations accepted. www.athica.org

JOE DEVITA Experimental multiinstrumentalist and live looper.

blues, country, jam, Americana and funk.

PICKLED HOLLER Matthew and Jessica Williams singing rustic tales.

Innovation Amphitheater

6 p.m. (doors), 7 p.m. (show). $35–130. www.innovationamphitheater.com

LEE GREENWOOD Country singersongwriter and saxophonist who has over 20 major-label records to his name.

JOHNNY FALLOON Deranged local band with hard-hitting songs and complex theatrics. Flicker Theatre & Bar

8 p.m. $10. www.flickertheatreandbar. com

KIMI CARTER Nashville, TN-based indie singer-songwriter.

JACOB MALLOW Singer-songwriter with an alternative folk and soulful R&B sound.

GABRIELLA DELLIPONTI Indie pop singer-songwriter.

No. 3 Railroad Street

7 p.m. $10. www.3railroad.org

JANGLING SPARROW Folk project of Asheville, NC-based musician Paul Edelman that moves from edgy to misty, from a holler to a whisper. Nowhere Bar 9:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/ nowherebarathens

OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS Influenced by house music, rap and shoegaze, DJ Wyatt Nicholson uses audio inputs on analog synthesizers to filter and warp tape and drum machine sound sources.

Bishop Park Athens Farmers Market. 8 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www.athensfarmers market.net

JAMES COOK Arty Ball Swing Band frontman plays a variety of music from the Great American Songbook. (8 a.m.) Hendershot’s

8 p.m. $15. www.hendershotsathens. com

HEART OF PINE Athens “Southedelic” band formed by Steven Bagwell and Travis Richardson, who are inspired by a culmination of influences spanning classic rock,

EMILY NENNI Nashville-based musician with a sound rooted in classic honky-tonk and spiked with serious country, soul and rock and roll fire, along with sweet-andsassy lyrics.

T. HARDY MORRIS Local singersongwriter and guitarist plays twangy, reflective folk-rock. TEDDY AND THE ROUGH RIDERS Solid gold country band from Nashville.

Tuesday 28

Flicker Theatre & Bar 8 p.m. (doors). $15. www.flickertheatreandbar.com

SLATER Alternative pop artist from Southern California whose discography ranges from club bangers to therapeutic nighttime cruising tunes.

TONY VELOUR Altanta-based artist who blends hip hop and hyperpop. TRVY AND THE ENEMY Hip-hop band that blends trap, funk and psychedelic rock. Hendershot’s No Phone Party. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com

KENOSHA KID Instrumental adventure-jazz group centered around the rollicking compositions of Dan Nettles and featuring Josh Allen, Seth Hendershot and various guests. Normal Bar 8–11 p.m. FREE! booking@rudymontayremusic.com

OPEN MIC Held Every Tuesday evening.

Madison-Morgan Cultural Center

Funk on the Lawn. 5:30 p.m. FREE! www.mmcc-arts.org

THE ORIGINAL SPLITZ BAND A mixed drink of the classic Motown sound, part 1970s funk and disco flavor, a dash of the old-school and contemporary R&B. Nowhere Bar

9:30 p.m. $10. www.facebook.com/ NowhereBarAthens KIMBERLY YORK AND THE BOYS Country music done with a sparkle.

Sunday 26

The World Famous 8:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/the worldfamousathens

Wednesday 29

Creature Comforts

Brewery Athens Farmers Market. 5–8 p.m. FREE! www.athensfarmersmarket. net

MARY & THE HOT HOTTY-HOTS Hot jazz and swing band offering music from the 1910s, ’20s and ’30s. (6 p.m.) The Foundry Aubrey Entertainment Presents. 6 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show). $15. www. facebook.com/AubreyEntertainment AthensGA

MOUNTAIN GRASS UNIT Three Birmingham pickers adding a bluegrass touch to country, jazz, funk, rock and even metal. f

ALEX COX

Shane Parish will celebrate the release of his new album, Repertoire, at Hendershot’s on May 23. See last week’s cover story online at flagpole.com.

Cookie Ritter Releases BirdsSingJustBecause

PLUS, MORE MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP

By Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com

UP ON THE SUN: Composer, musician and Arfus Records head Andrew Steck has a new single out as of May 22. It’s named “Secretive” and is from his upcoming album, Regular Human Music Album, which is slated for release this summer. This new song is a vocal number from the artist, whose non-vocal productions we’ve become accustomed to. The tune itself, too, is a back-to-basics rock-influenced piece that is psychedelic in the style of Ween or maybe even a slowed-down Meat Puppets. Either way, an interesting take. Find this on streaming services and andrewsteck.bandcamp.com. For more information, please see arfusrecords.com and facebook.com/ andrewsteckcomps.

ROOM FOR ALL: The next instance of Sonic Space at ATHICA happens Saturday, May 25. This time, the always thoughtfully curated event features New York’s Joe Devita, who is a multi-instrumentalist and live-loop composer. Also on the bill that night is Other Voices Other Rooms,

aren’t a lot of our favorite records exactly like that? Find this at spitehound.bandcamp.com.

SOUND ON SOUND: Chairs has a new single out that was made collaboratively with London, England’s Susu Laroche. It’s a short—under two minutes—synth-based vocal track that’s soft and dreamy and lush and all that good stuff. Laroche handled vocals and lyrics while Marcel Sletten took care of production, mixing and mastering. One particularly nice aspect of the music is the echo-y, arpeggioed guitar riff that occurs throughout. Find this at primordialvoid.bandcamp.com.

A SONG FOR YOU: The relatively new-to-Athens Zach Ritter makes music under the name Cookie Ritter. He has a brand new, fulllength album out now named Birds Sing Just Because. In the album notes, Ritter says this was all recorded between 2019–2024. With the sole exception of “Black And White Cat,” which is a totally fine T. Rex

which has expanded very nicely over the years from a DJ project into a compositional and live performance project. Doors open at 7 p.m., and music should start between 8:30–9 p.m. For more information, please see athica.org.

TIME MACHINE: It’s been a little over six months since Spitehound, the project of songwriter Brandon Steinhauer, released its wonderful Tourniquet EP, and now it’s time for a new one. Specifically, he’s released a new collection, and it’s a fivesong EP named Shifting Paint. It starts out of the gate incredibly strong with “Kim’s Kid.” And dammit if Steinhauer isn’t such a good songwriter that I’m sitting here choked up over this story of two people I don’t know or even know if they actually exist. Spitehound’s music isn’t genre-less, but as time moves it’s becoming less and less accurate to pin comparisons to it. This is deeply emotional music, but not just in its lyricism. The music itself—very loosely corralled by descriptors such as indie rock, indie folk, et al—packs an emotional wallop. The intro to “Less Sacred” is worth the price of entry alone. This is one of those records that feels like a secret and, honestly,

Bark Along DOG

PERSON DISCUSSES VOMITING, GROOMING AND CANINE SCOOTING

By Patrick Barry music@flagpole.com

Inthe lounge and mixing room of Studio 1093 in the heart of the Normaltown neighborhood, multicolored tracks stack on top of each other on the large screen over the mixing board. Someone hits play, and the racing sounds of Dog Person’s new music hits my ears. Even in its unmixed state, singer, keyboard player and founding member Lauren Gregg’s vocals are unmistakably unique.

They’re paired with breezy chords on her Casio keyboard, Robbee Cucchiaro’s horn playing dialed in over years of touring with some of Elephant 6’s most notable groups, drummer Steve Hendriksen’s crashing rhythms, Jay Domingo’s playful bass and Gray Reilly’s shimmering guitar.

Dog Person began as a small batch of songs that Gregg had written on her old Casio keyboard, a sort of aggressive bedroom pop. She began collaborating with Domingo and eventually Hendriksen, both adding intense depth to songs which had been written for a single, fairly limited instrument. The result was an unclassifiable sound that builds itself around the chords from the keyboard, and a carefree energy that sometimes contradicts the lyrical content.

thus combining the properties of two historically litigious institutions.

Current Dog Person merchandise features an original design by Gregg, herself a professional illustrator and graphic designer, of a dog wearing a bowler hat, lending credence to the anthropomorphic interpretation.

inspired number, the rest of this is heartachingly lovely and tender. Indeed, so lovely at points it’s breathtaking. Musically it feels very much inspired by a certain type of mid-1990s Americana (e.g. Scud Mountain Boys/Pernice Brothers, the slower side of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, etc.) but also the emotional weight of early 20th century high lonesome country music and even early 1970s folk and country. Especially touching are opening song “Conee,” “Small Town Talk” and “Valentine.” This isn’t a thoroughly easy listen, but it is rewarding. Find it at cosmicinternetcountry.bandcamp. com.

AMONG THE LIVING: Hard rockers Ashes To Omens have released a new single named “Feed Me More,” and it’s a big, fat, thick slice of melodic alt-metal. Not exactly my bag, but it might be yours. It’s the band’s first release since 2022 and available on all major streaming platforms. The group is currently booked to play June 28 at the 40 Watt Club. Keep your eyes peeled on the Flagpole calendar or 40watt.com for show details once they become confirmed. For more information, please see facebook. com/ashestoomensofficial. f

Now, after two years of playing live shows in houses and venues around town, Dog Person is in the final stages of tracking for its debut album to be released this summer.

Sitting at 10 songs, the album’s runtime is expected to be somewhere between 15–20 minutes, due to a timekeeping metric exclusive to the band called “dog minutes,” in which no song lasts over two human minutes. Blazingly fast, infectiously catchy songs are Dog Person’s forte.

I find myself needing to seek the answer to a burning question: Is “Dog Person” meant to represent a person who has identified as being fond of dogs over cats, or does the name allude to a half-human, half-canine creature, an anthropomorphic dog?

“I think it’s whatever you want it to be,” Gregg says.

Cucchiaro says that in the town of Athens the band’s name takes on an even deeper meaning in the form of Dawg Person. He is dressed in strikingly canine apparel, donning a pink snoopy onesie and a stylish, dog-headed cane.

Early Dog Person merch depicted the Disney character Goofy reclining in a La-ZBoy style chair, and the idea is presented of creating UGA spirit wear of the graphic,

“I think the idea of an anthropomorphic dog works really well,” Domingo says, “because the band eventually became an expression of a dog. It seems very dog-like. There’s goofy, happy, wild songs, but also very earnest emotion going on.”

So, the jury is still out.

But, to really get a feel for the band, which straddles the line between the honest and the absurd, it should be admitted that the majority of the time with the band is spent discussing animals and their various quirks and characteristics.

We talk about chickens, of which Domingo has several, and compared them to both tomato plants and dinosaurs. Cucchiaro reminisced on an episode of “The Golden Girls” in which Rose discovers a musical chicken able to play piano.

We talk about bird people, cat people, horse girls and fish people. Domingo discussed the etymological origins of the term “vomitorium,” and the whole band commiserates over the ultimate burden of the dog person: ensuring your dog’s glands are properly and regularly expressed.

Despite what the band’s name may lead you to believe, however, a shocking amount of members have proven themselves to align with other pet camps, from cats to horses. As part of the interview, Gregg agreed to include photos of every acting member of the band and their accompanying pets, which can be found online at flagpole.com. f

Cookie Ritter

LAUREN GREGG

ART | THU, MAY 23

calendar picks arts & culture good growing Bee Bash

HONEYBEE FESTIVAL CELEBRATES POLLINATORS

By Erin France news@flagpole.com

Whether you’d like to taste some local honey, learn more about these pollinators or don a protective suit for an up-close look at a hive, check out the Athens Area Honeybee Festival on Saturday, May 25. The festival will run from 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m. at the Athens-Clarke County Extension Office at 275 Cleveland Road, in partnership with the Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association.

“One target audience is young people and people who know nothing about bees,” said ACC Extension Agent Laura Ney. “This will help expose people to bees for the first time in a positive way.”

holstering bags of frozen veggies around the house.

Some beekeepers choose to forgo the full suit. “They would rather just take the risk of getting stung on the leg or arm,” Ney said. But everyone handling bees should wear the hat and face-net combo known as a beekeeper’s veil, she said. “You don’t want to risk getting stung in the eye.”

If you’re past the point of worrying about stings and are considering backyard beekeeping yourself, the Honeybee Festival would be a great time to get some hands-on experience and meet with like-minded

There will be games, snacks, honeybeefriendly plants for sale from the UGA Bee Lab and plenty of knowledgeable beekeepers on hand for answering questions. “Most beekeepers are just good educators,” Ney said.

If you’re a parent of a small child, or someone who hasn’t been stung before, the honeybee festival—and bees in general— might make you nervous. The festival will have plenty of protective gear for those folks who want to peer inside the hives, space for activities away from the hives and the ability to summon first aid for any unfortunate accidents. “We luckily have our fire department right there to respond,” Ney said.

It might also help to know that only 5% of the population will have a systemic serious allergic reaction to an insect sting, according to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy. Allergies are often genetic, so if someone in your family has had a severe reaction to a bee sting, you might want to get your own EpiPen whether you attend Saturday’s event or not.

“Every single person’s body is going to be different,” Ney said. She’s been stung a handful of times, and while it’s painful, the bump generally fades to an itchy spot the next day. “I happen to respond really strongly to fire ants,” she said.

A bee sting on my foot will make getting shoes on difficult for a day or two, and I still think wasp stings are worse. It could be because those suckers seem to target my armpits. I inevitably end up shoulder

‘Rescue: Waste & Redemption’ Fashion Show

Lyndon House Arts Center • 6 p.m. • FREE!

“Rescue: Waste & Redemption,” on display through June 15, is an exhibition curated by Lizzie Zucker Saltz that showcases the work of 22 artists connected through the theme of transforming industrial byproducts into art. The upcoming fashion show coincides with this collection, featuring original clothing and jewelry made of objects saved from the landfill. The designs are equally as complex and

Watts, Infinite Favors, Cowboy Kerouac and Hunger Anthem on bass. Local bands Parking Garage and Johnny Falloon will be opening the show. [MB]

EVENT

| SAT, MAY 25

Heritage Walk

Brooklyn Cemetery • 11 a.m. • $25

The Historic Athens Heritage Walk series brings guests on curated walking tours through historic neighborhoods and locations throughout the city. The walk through the historic Brooklyn Cemetery will be led by Linda Elder Davis, who will explain the location’s origins as one of the first African

folks. There won’t be a how-to guide for beekeeping at the festival, Ney said, but resources will be available for the curious.

While there are plenty of great beekeepers, readers should keep their critical thinking caps on when asking for advice and information. One local beekeeper boasted to me a few years ago about how much sugar water he went through to feed his bees. He told me that Georgia doesn’t have enough flowering plants through most of the year to support a hive. I don’t know about his yard, but as a state, yes, we do. If something feels off, you can ask the same question again to a different beekeeper. I did that and found out that most beekeepers in our area don’t feed sugar water to their hive for most of the year.

Another word of warning: Leave your bananas at home if you plan to attend the Honeybee Festival. Bananas contain a chemical included in the honeybee alarm pheromone. The smell of bananas can drive normally calm bees into a fury. I learned this from my mother, who kept several hives in her North Carolina home for years and gave away vats of honey. f

WHO: Athens Area Honeybee Festival WHEN: Saturday, May 25, 9 a m –1:30 p m WHERE: ACC Extension Office HOW MUCH: FREE!

fascinating as the abstract works shown in the exhibition, embodying the “material alchemy” that Saltz is aiming to explore. Composer John Vogt’s soundtrack orchestration will accompany the models as they walk the runway in works by Adah Bennion, Emily Peter, Sugar und Salt Designs, Andrea Trombetta, Paula Reynaldi, Susan Lenz and Kate Wendley. New woven artworks from the Art Center’s advanced weavers will also be on display at the show. [Mary Beth Bryan]

MUSIC | FRI, MAY 24

Deaf Condors EP Release

Buvez • 7 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show) • $10

Almost There, the upcoming EP from local band Deaf Condors, stretches sonically and thematically across a lot of territory. The band is fronted by brothers Bob Jesus and Darrick Alvarez, who previously focused on their Peruvian heritage in their music, but for this EP decided to unpack more personal experiences. Its five-song run includes a pulsing and punchy opener about music scene gatekeepers, a two-part reflection on letting go, a screamer about a local slumlord and finally a musing on the will of the human race set against a ’60s psychedelic soundscape. Deaf Condors took full advantage of the rich Athens music scene for this project, utilizing the talents of several other local musicians to create its genre-bending rock songs, which pull from a variety of surprising influences including Latin music, the songwriting of folk musician Leonard Cohen, reggae and hip hop. The album began production in 2021 at The Glow Recording Studio with Ian Hemerlain of experimental noise punk band Kwazymoto. Other local talents were folded in along the way, including blues musician Grayson Hauser on occasional lead guitar (who will also be joining the brothers on stage for the EP release show) and Adam Herbert of Dim

American cemeteries in Athens. The cemetery was established in 1882 under the name Bethlehem Cemetery and served as the resting place for many people from the Brooklyn/Hawthorne Avenue area in west Athens. The walk supports efforts being made to preserve the cemetery in the wake of its being overtaken by nature. Future heritage walks include a tour of Pulaski Heights with Mayor Kelly Girtz, walking The Hill with Lee Epting, a tour of Linnentown with Hattie Thomas Whitehead and finally a tour of the Downtown Historic Districts with Scott Nesbit. Visit historic athens.ticketspice.com/hahw-spring24 to see future event times and prices. [MB]

MUSIC | SUN, MAY 26

Emily Nenni

The World Famous • 8 p.m. • $10

The honky tonk, soul and rock and roll sound of Emily Nenni’s newest record, Drive & Cry, transports listeners to the buzzing musical streets of Nashville. In a review for music outlet Americana UK, journalist David Jarman groups Nenni amongst vintage country revival artists like Sierra Ferrell, pointing out how her take on the genre comes from the “sassy edge to her vocals” and the sense that she is “having fun with her music.” The album’s team points to its roots in the legendary country scene, with production by John James Tourville of The Deslondes and mixing by Matt Ross-Spang, who has worked with John Prine and Jason Isbell. Nenni’s stage presence is one of her key attributes, having honed her craft with electrifying sets in the Nashville bar scene. Nenni’s show in Athens is part of her headline tour across the U.S., UK and Europe, and she is also slotted to support Orville Peck on tour this fall. Local musician T. Hardy Morris and fellow Nashvillians Teddy and The Rough Riders will be opening the show. [MB] f

Athens-area residents learn about honeybees from knowledgeable beekeepers in full protective suits behind the ACC Extension Office.

Brooklyn Cemetery

event calendar

Wednesday 22

ART: Tour At Two (Georgia Museum of Art) These drop-in public tours feature highlights of the permanent collection. 2 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum.org

CLASSES: Salsa Dancing (El Carretonero) Join SALSAthens for Cuban salsa lessons. Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. (advanced), 7:30 p.m. (beginner/intermediate). $10. SALSAthens Dancing@gmail.com

COMEDY: Gorgeous George’s Improv League (Buvez) Townie improv that invites you to bring suggestions to help create improv magic. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. $5 suggested donation. www.flying squidcomedy.com

EVENTS: Athens Farmers Market (Creature Comforts Brewery) Markets offer fresh produce, flowers, eggs and more. Live music at 6 p.m. AFM doubles SNAP dollars spent. Wednesdays, 5–8 p.m. www. athensfarmersmarket.net

FILM: Ghastly Horror Society (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Screening of the 2008 horror film The Many Strange Stories of Triangle Woman. 7 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreand bar.com

FILM: Silent Films and Cocktails (Hendershot’s) Settle in with a drink for a night of silent film showings. 7 p.m. www.hendershotsathens.com

GAMES: Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games) Come down with your lunch and play Shadowfist. New players welcome. 12 p.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com

GAMES: Classic City Trivia (The Local 706) Test your trivia knowledge with host Garrett Lennox. 7 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/ ClassicCityTriviaCo

KIDSTUFF: Busy Bee Toddler Time (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for rhymes, songs, puppets and a story. 10 a.m. & 11 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: Seussical The Musical (Oconee County Library) Enjoy exploring various stories by Dr. Suess with a musical showcase by K&A Theatricals. 11 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee

KIDSTUFF: Travelin’ Tales (Bogart Library) Puppeteer Lee Bryan will tell stories using a variety of puppet styles with an anti-bullying message. 3 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: LEGO & Builder’s Club (Bogart Library) Drop in to use LEGOs and other building materials. All ages. 3:30–5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: Video Gaming Night (Oconee County Library) Play video games in the Creative Space, like Hogwarts Legacy and Mario Party Grades 6–12. 5–8 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

LECTURES & LIT: Author Talk (ACC Library) Author Rebecca McCarthy celebrates her new book Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers. 7 p.m. FREE! www.avid bookshop.com

Thursday 23

CLASSES: Building a Website with WordPress (ACC Library) Learn how to create a free website including creating an account, selecting

themes, creating pages and more. Registration required. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org

CLASSES: Porteguese Wines: Beyond Port (J’s Bottle Shop Tasting Room) Learn about and taste a variety of wines from Portugal. 6:30 p.m. $25. www.pintaschoolofwine. com

CLASSES: Boots & Brews Line Dancing (Athentic Brewing Co.) Learn the line dancing basics from hosts Becky and Patty. Fourth Thursdays, 7 p.m. FREE! www. athenticbrewing.com

COMEDY: Comedy in the Cellar (Onward Reserve) Athens Comedy presents a lineup of touring and local comedians. Thursdays, 8 p.m. $7–12. www.facebook.com/ athenscomedy

EVENTS: Rescue: Waste & Redemption Fashion Show (Lyndon House Arts Center) This runway style event featuring original garments and jewelry made with repurposed materials coincides with the art exhibition of the same name. 6 p.m. www.accgov.com/exhibits

FILM: Club Ned Anime Society (ACC Library) Join club members to watch and discuss episodes of “Serial Experiments Lain,” “Kaguya-sama: Love is War” and “Erased.” 6:30–8:30 p.m. FREE! www.animefandom.org

GAMES: Mahjong Club (Winterville Cultural Center) Learn to play the ancient Chinese game of Mahjong. Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1–4 p.m. $1. www.wintervillecenter.com

GAMES: Adult Dungeons & Dragons (Bogart Library) A gaming session for players of all skill levels. Ages 18 & up. 6 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart

GAMES: Thursday Trivia (Johnny’s New York Style Pizza) Test your trivia knowledge with host Jon Head. 6:30 p.m. www.johnnyspizza. com

GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (The Foundry) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Thursdays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddog athens

KIDSTUFF: Open Play (Oconee County Library) Drop in for bubbles, playtime, children’s music and companionship. Ages 5 & under. Thursdays, 11 a.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

KIDSTUFF: Sea Serpents and Silliness Puppet Show (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for a puppet show about pirates, octopuses, sea serpents and a dragon. 2 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: LEGO Club (Oconee County Library) Drop in to free build and create, or do one of the fun LEGO challenges. Ages 5–12. Thursdays, 3:30–5:30. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

LECTURES & LIT: Author Reading (Online) JOKERJOKERtv hosts an interview with Mark Katzman reading from his novel M7. 6:30 p.m. FREE! www.jokerjokertv.com

MEETINGS: Coffee Hour (Oconee County Library) Drop in to drink some coffee, while supplies last. Thursdays, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org

MEETINGS: KnitLits Knitting Group (Bogart Library) Knitters of all levels are invited to have fun, share craft ideas and knit to their hearts’ content. Thursdays, 6 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart

SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org

Friday 24

CLASSES: DIY Succulent Book Planters (Oconee County Library) Learn how to build a succulent planter out of an old book and take a planter home. Registration required. 4:30 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

GAMES: Chess Club (Winterville Cultural Center) Join others for a weekly chess competition. Fridays, 6–10 p.m. FREE! www.winterville center.com

GAMES: Friday Night Initiative (Online: Tyche’s Games) Learn how to play a RPG game with others on Discord. New players welcome. 7 p.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com

KIDSTUFF: Fantastic Friday (Bishop Park) An instructor supervises while a parent/caregiver leads their little ones through obstacle courses. Ages 1–4 years. Register online. 10–11:30 a.m. $7.50 (ACC residents), $11.25 (non-ACC residents). www.accgovga.myrec.com

KIDSTUFF: Puppet Play (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna to try out different puppets then make your own paper bag puppet. 10:30 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

PERFORMANCE: Athens Showgirl Cabaret Fabulous Friday (Hendershots) A Fabulous Friday drag show with performances by special guests The Bombshells. 9 p.m. $5. www.athensshowgirlcabaret.com

Saturday 25

CLASSES: Yoga at the Library (Oglethorpe Co. Library) Enjoy relaxing yoga for all ages and abilities. 10 a.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oglethorpe

CLASSES: Community Class Day (DanceFX Athens) Wear something comfortable and try out individual classes teaching different dance styles and techniques. Registration required. 1:30–10:30 p.m. FREE! www.dancefx.org

COMEDY: Jimmy Dore (Georgia Theatre) YouTube sensation and award-winning comedian uses his platform to bridge political divides. 6 p.m. (doors). $35–55. www.georgiatheatre.com

EVENTS: Athens Farmers Market (Bishop Park) Markets offer locally grown groceries and goods with live music and children’s activities. AFM doubles SNAP dollars spent. Saturdays, 8 a.m.–12 p.m. www. athensfarmersmarket.net

EVENTS: Honey Bee Festival (ACC Cooperative Extension) There will be demonstrations, kids crafts, honey tasting, photo opportunities, vendors and more. 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m. $5. lney@uga.edu

EVENTS: West Broad Farmers Market (Rocksprings Park Pavilion) Vendors will be on site with fresh produce, rare plants and more. Saturdays, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. FREE! www. athenslandtrust.org/wbfm

EVENTS: Historic Athens Heritage Walk (Brooklyn Cemetery) Linda Davis will guide an exploration of

the history of Brooklyn Cemetery. Registration required. 11 a.m. $25. www.historicathens.com

EVENTS: Oconee Book Festival (Oconee County Library) A local author event with Q&A sessions, book signings, workshops and more. 12–5 p.m. FREE! www.athens library.org/oconee

EVENTS: Small Town Saturday (Athentic Brewing Co.) Browse local vendors with live music and food for sale. 2–8 p.m. www.athenticbrewing.com

GAMES: Board Games (Bogart Library) Meet friends or make new ones while playing a variety of games. 2–4 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart

Sunday 26

ART: Artist Talk (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens) Painter Starr Helms will discuss why she became a painter and her current works on display. 11:45 a.m. FREE! www.uuathensga.org

COMEDY: Off the Clock Comedy (The Globe) Athens Comedy presents local comedians and improv, this week featuring Azalea Renee and Jorge Paz Soldan with host Pete Barlow. Sundays, 9–11 p.m. $5. www.facebook.com/athens comedy

GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Southern Brewing Co.) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Sundays, 4 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddog athens

SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org

Monday 27

COMEDY: Sake Bomb Open Mic Comedy (Cozy Bar) Watch a variety of comedians perform new material or join in with your own standup routine. Mondays, 9 p.m. FREE! www.athenscomedy.com

GAMES: Open Chess Play (ACC Library) Drop in for a game open to all skill levels with light refreshments served. Mondays, 3–5 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org

GAMES: General Trivia with Erin (Athentic Brewing Co.) Test your trivia knowledge with host Erin. Mondays, 7–9 p.m. FREE! www. athenticbrewing.com

GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Dooley’s Bar and Grill) Test your trivia knowledge with host Garrett Lennox. 7 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/ ClassicCityTriviaCo

GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (LumberJaxe) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddogathens

GAMES: Team Trivia (Southern Brewing Co.) Test your trivia knowledge with host Team Trivia. Mondays, 7 p.m. www.sobrewco.com

KIDSTUFF: Monday Funday (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for songs, fingerplays, storytelling and STEAM activities. Ages 3–7 years. Registration suggested. 10:30 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

MEETINGS: Classic City Rotary (Athentic Brewing Co.) The local chapter meets weekly. Mondays,

11:30 a.m. FREE! www.athentic brewing.com

MEETINGS: Pen Pals Writing Group (Oconee County Library) Meet other writers, share your writing experiences and get feedback on your work. Second Mondays, 5:30 p.m. Fourth Mondays, 4 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/ oconee

Tuesday 28

CLASSES: Privacy and Security (ACC Library) Learn tips on how to protect your personal information and control your privacy online. Registration required. 10 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org

CLASSES: ESOL (Bogart Library) Learn or polish your English skills using Mango languages online and in-person basic conversation and vocabulary. 12:30 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/bogart

EVENTS: Tiki Taco Tuesday (Live Wire) Enjoy live music, craft cocktails and a taco pop-up from Don Carne. Tuesdays, 5–10 p.m. www. livewireathens.com

EVENTS: West Broad Farmers Market and Garden (Athentic Brewing Co.) Vendors will be on site with fresh produce, local fare, rare plants, artisan goods and more. Second and Fourth Tuesdays, 5–8 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing. com

GAMES: Mahjong Club (Winterville Cultural Center) Learn to play the ancient Chinese game of Mahjong. Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1–4 p.m. $1. www.wintervillecenter.com

GAMES: Tuesday Night Shenanigans (Southern Brewing Co.) Play board games and arcade games on site, bring your own games or even your D&D group. Tuesdays, 5–10 p.m. www.sobrewco.com

GAMES: Chess and Pizza (Youth Force Hub) Open chess play for all levels with pizza provided. Last Tuesdays, 5–7 p.m. FREE! www. chessandcommunity.org

GAMES: Dirty South Trivia (White Tiger Deluxe) Test your trivia knowledge. Tuesdays, 6 p.m. www. facebook.com/DirtySouthTrivia

GAMES: Bad Dog Trivia (Amici Athens) Test your trivia knowledge with host TJ Wayt. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/baddogathens

GAMES: Classic City Trivia (Akademia Brewing Co.) Test your trivia knowledge with host Garrett Lennox. 7 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/ ClassicCityTriviaCo

GAMES: Singo! (Beef O’Brady’s) Win gift certificates and prizes at this music bingo night. Tuesdays, 7–9 p.m. www.beefobradys.com/athens

KIDSTUFF: Crafternoon (Oconee County Library) Drop in for a craft or two. Supplies Provided. All ages. Tuesdays, 3:30–5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oconee

LECTURES & LIT: Open Book Club (Oglethorpe Co. Library) Discuss mainstream fiction, thrillers and mysteries with the group. Last Tuesdays, 1 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/oglethorpe

LECTURES & LIT: Author Talk (Avid Bookshop) Rabbi Ariana Katz and Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg will discuss their book For Times Such As These: A Radical’s Guide to the Jewish Year. 7 p.m. FREE! www. avidbookshop.com

MEETINGS: Knot Just For Knitters (Oconee County Library) Bring your own crafting project to work on while chatting with fellow crafters. Tuesdays, 3–5 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

MEETINGS: Athens Photography Guild (Lyndon House Arts Center) The meeting will feature a presentation on “Available Light Event Photography” by Wade Sheldon. 6 p.m. FREE! www.athensphotography guild.wordpress.com

SPORTS: Classic City Pétanque Club (Lay Park) New players welcome. Scheduled days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. info@petanque.org, www.athenspetanque.org

Wednesday 29

ART: Tour At Two (Georgia Museum of Art) These drop-in public tours feature highlights of the permanent collection. 2 p.m. FREE! www.georgiamuseum.org

CLASSES: Salsa Dancing (El Carretonero) Join SALSAthens for Cuban salsa lessons that meet a variety of dance abilities, including beginners. Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. (advanced), 7:30 p.m. (beginner/ intermediate). $10. SALSAthens Dancing@gmail.com

COMEDY: Gorgeous George’s Improv League (Buvez) Townie improv that invites you to bring suggestions to help create improv magic. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. $5 suggested donation. www.flying squidcomedy.com

EVENTS: Athens Farmers Market (Creature Comforts Brewery) Markets offer fresh produce, flowers, eggs, meats, prepared foods, art and crafts. Live music at 6 p.m. AFM doubles SNAP dollars spent. Wednesdays, 5–8 p.m. www.athens farmersmarket.net

GAMES: Shadowfist Power Lunch (Tyche’s Games) Come down with your lunch and play Shadowfist. New players welcome. 12 p.m. FREE! www.tychesgames.com

GAMES: Classic City Trivia (The Local 706) Test your trivia knowledge with host Garrett Lennox. 7 p.m. FREE! www.facebook.com/ ClassicCityTriviaCo

KIDSTUFF: Busy Bee Toddler Time (Bogart Library) Join Ms. Donna for rhymes, songs, puppets and a story. 10 a.m. & 11 a.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: LEGO & Builder’s Club (Bogart Library) Drop in to use LEGOs and other building materials. All ages. 3:30–5:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenslibrary.org/bogart

KIDSTUFF: SRP Kickoff (Oconee County Library) The library’s Summer Olympics programming kickoff will have international snacks, a flag activity and other cultural crafts. Grades 6–12. 6–8 p.m. FREE! www. athenslibrary.org/oconee

MEETINGS: Film Athens (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Meet and network with others in the filmmaking community (actors, directors, etc.) during happy hour. 5 p.m. FREE! www.flickertheatreandbar.com

OUTDOORS: ‘Normal’ Run (Athentic Brewing Co.) Join the Athens Road Runners for a 1–3 mile run that starts and ends at Athentic Brewing. Every other Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenticbrewing.com f

bulletin board

Deadline for getting listed in Bulletin Board is every THURSDAY at 5 p.m. for the print issue that comes out the following Wednesday. Online listings are updated daily. Email calendar@flagpole.com.

AAAC QUARTERLY GRANT (Athens, GA) The Athens Area Arts Council offers $500 grants to visual and performing artists in any medium to support specific projects that enrich the culture of Athens. Rolling deadlines are June 15, Sept. 15, Dec. 15 and Mar. 15. Apply online. www. athensarts.org/support

ATHENS CREATIVE DIRECTORY

(Athens, GA) The ACD is a platform to connect creatives with patrons. Visual artists, musicians, actors, writers and other creatives are encouraged to create a free listing. athenscreatives@gmail.com, www. athenscreatives.directory

BIPOC ARTIST/CURATOR PROJECT OPEN CALL (Lyndon House Arts Center) Seeking BIPOC individuals residing in Georgia to develop an art exhibition to be on display for 6–8 weeks at the LHAC. A stipend of $1500 is provided. www.accgov. com/9799/ArtistCurator

CALL FOR COLLECTORS (Lyndon House Arts Center) The LHAC’s “Collections from our Community” series features unique collections of objects found in the closets, cabinets and shelves of Athenians. Email if interested in displaying your collection. shelby.little@acc gov.com

CALL FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS (Lyndon House Arts Center) Artists, artist groups and curators can submit original exhibition proposals for consideration in the arts center’s gallery schedule. Arts can also submit images of their work for consideration in larger group or themed shows. Deadline Sept. 20, 11:59 p.m. www.accgov.com/6657/ Exhibition-Proposal-Form CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS (Athens, GA) The Athens Downtown Development Authority and Lyndon

House Arts Center are seeking proposals for Art Decko, a public art project consisting of 4’x8’ murals in a downtown parking deck stairwell. Selected artists will receive a $1,100 stipend and a three-month studio membership at LHAC. Application deadline June 2. form. jotform.com/241293354723153 EMERGING BLACK ARTIST SCHOLARSHIP (Athens, GA) The Athens Area Arts Council will award a $500 scholarship annually to one Black artist from a Clarke County high school who is attending, or has been accepted to, a college or university to study the arts. Deadline June 30. www.athensarts.org/ support

JOKERJOKERTV CALL FOR ARTISTS (Online) JOKERJOKERtv is actively accepting proposals for collaboration from visual, musical and video artists and curators living in Athens. Artists worldwide can also submit music videos, short films, skits and ideas to share with a weekly livestream audience. www. jokerjokertv.com/submit

MUSIC AND ARTS EDUCATION GRANTS (Athens, GA) AthFest Educates will award a total of $65,000 to music and arts education programs for local students. Applicants may request up to $5,000. Check website for requirements. Applications accepted through Aug. 24. www.athfesteducates.org

OPEN STUDIOS (Lyndon House Arts Center) Studio members have access to spaces for painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, jewelry, fiber and woodworking. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. $65/month. www. accgov.com/7350/Open-StudioMembership

PUBLIC ART SELECTION PANELS (Athens GA) The Athens Cultural Affairs Commission is seeking community members to participate

art around town

ATHICA@CINÉ GALLERY (234 W. Hancock Ave.) Jason Matherly presents “What Will He Do with It?,” an exhibition of early ink drawings and new paintings emphasizing the relationships between shape and color. Through June 25.

BOGUE GALLERY AT ACC LIBRARY (2025 Baxter St.) The Athens Photography Guild presents a collection of images. Through June 23.

CLASSIC CENTER (300 N. Thomas St.) In Classic Gallery I, “Spotlight” features works by painters William Ballard, Jaci Davis and Ella Hopkins. • In Classic Gallery II, Kristin Roberts’ “The Fables” illustrates Aesop’s Fables with detailed works that are both whimsical and dangerous.

GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART (90 Carlton St.) “Richard Prince: Tell Me Everything” includes a suite of works based on the joke archives of comedian Milton Berle. Through June 16. • “Decade of Tradition: Highlights from the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection.” Through July 3. • “Kei Ito: Staring at the Face of the Sun” uses photography to examine the intergenerational trauma of nuclear disaster and the possibilities of healing and reconciliation. Through July 14.

GLASSCUBE@INDIGO (500 College Ave.) Zane Cochran presents “Aurora,” a sculptural interpretation of the aurora borealis using 3D geometric figures and lights.

HENDERSHOT’S (237 Prince Ave.) Nirvinyl Album Art presents “Room by Room: The Kitchen Set.” Through mid-July.

JITTERY JOE’S DOWNTOWN (297 E. Broad St.) Susan Pelham’s collages are influenced by Magic Realism, nursery rhymes, limericks and children’s camp songs. Through May.

in upcoming public art selection panels. Panels review, evaluate and select from submitted proposals for ACC-funded public art commissions. www.accgov.com/9656/ Public-Art-Selection-Panels

Auditions

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (Elberton Arts Center) Seeking six adult men and two adult women for a comedic production. Be prepared to read excerpts from the script. Open reading held June 5, 5:45 p.m. Auditions held June 17–18, 6–8 p.m. Performances held Sept. 27–29 & Oct. 4–6. tking@cityof elberton.net

Classes

A COURSE OF LOVE (Unity Athens Church) Learn a positive path for spiritual living based on A Course in Miracles. Wednesdays, 10–11:30 a.m. FREE! www.unity athens.com

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION & PET LOSS GRIEF WORKSHOPS (Ancient Suns Intuitive Arts at work. shop) In “Introduction to Animal Communication,” find out what your animal hopes to share as you learn how to send and receive messages telepathically. June 15, 12–3 p.m. $65. During “Pet Loss Grief Healing,” support your grieving process in a sacred, comforting way using meditation, intuitive skills and energy healing. June 29, 12–3 p.m. $65. hello@ancientsunsacademy. com, www.ancientsunsacademy. com

ART CLASSES (K.A. Artist Shop) The shop offers a range of fine art classes and workshops for adults, private classes and parties, summer camps, and art clubs for youth.

Topics include acrylic, aqua oil, bookmaking, calligraphy, gouache, printmaking, and watercolor. Register online. www.kaartist.com

ART CLASSES (Winterville Cultural Center) “Beginning Acrylic Painting” covers the basics of value, composition, opacity and hue. Mondays, June 3–July 1, 7–9 p.m. $75. “Beginning Relief Printing” covers how to design, carve and print blocks. Thursdays, June 6–July 11, 7-9 p.m. $75. winterville campus@gmail.com

BLACKSMITHING CLASSES (Greenhow Handmade Ironworks, Washington) A variety of classes include “Forge a Railroad Spike Knife” (May 24 or July 26), “Forge a Three Hook Rack” (May 25), “Forge a Spear” (May 31 or July 27), “Forge Grilling Tools” (June 1), “Forge a Bottle Opener” (June 7), “Forge Garden Tools” (June 8), “Forge a Firepoker with Decorative Handle” (June 14) and “Christmas Ornaments in July” (July 13). Classes run 10 a.m.–5 p.m. www.greenhowhandmade. com/blacksmith-classes

CANOPY CLASSES & SCHOLARSHIPS (Canopy Studio) Canopy offers a variety of trapeze and aerial arts classes for children and adults. Scholarships and financial aid are available. outreach@canopystudio. org, www.canopystudio.org/ outreach/scholarships

COOKING CLASSES (Athens Cooks) “Not Your Momma’s Cookout” will be held May 22, 6–8 p.m. $103. “Making Brunch, Not so Basic” will be held May 25, 9–11 a.m. $75. “Giro Italiano” will be held May 30, 6–8 p.m. $105. “Paella Fiesta” will be held June 1, 6–8 p.m. $103. “Weekend Dinners with Chef Hunter” will be held June 5, 6–8 p.m. $103. “Knife Skills and Sharpening” will be held June 12, 5–7:15 p.m. $75. “Sake to Me Sushi” will be held June 15, 6–8 p.m. $103. “Date Night Culinary Affair” will be held June 19, 6–8 p.m. $103. Register online. www.athenscooks.com

PÉTANQUE CLUB OF ATHENS (5 Alumni Dr.) Learn to play Pétanque. RSVP for a free Wednesday intro-

JUST PHO… AND MORE (1063 Baxter St.) Oil paintings by Joseph Leone. Through May.

LYNDON HOUSE ARTS CENTER (211 Hoyt St.) The Window Works series presents a site-specific artwork by Atlanta artist Michael Reese that questions the perception of the Black Body against cyanotype photography popular with architectural blueprints. Through spring 2025. • Guest curated by Lizzie Zucker Saltz, “RESCUE: Waste and Redemption” presents 22 artists who transform industrial byproducts into artworks or craft objects. Fashion Show May 23, 6 p.m. Through June 15. • “Inflections: Works by Kaitlin Thurlow, Maria Canzano & Morgan Auten Smith” brings together three painters who create intimate worlds to enter and reflect upon. Through June 15. • Collections from our Community presents Nate Mitchell’s 45 record box collection. Through June 22.

MADISON-MORGAN CULTURAL CENTER (434 S. Main St., Madison)

“John Lewis Series: Painting by Benny Andrews” features 17 paintings by Andrews depicting the life of late U.S. Congressman John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement. • The gallery shares 13 photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952) taken in Madison in 1939 of seven antebellum homes and one church as part of the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. Through May.

OCONEE CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION (34 School St., Watkinsville)

“Southeastern Pastel Society: All About Pastels” is a juried members exhibition featuring works from across the region. Through June 1. •

“Perspective: A Journey into Mental Health” is a solo exhibition by Bobbi Johnson. Through June 1.

OGLETHORPE GARAGE (1560 Oglethorpe Ave.) Bart King’s exhibition consists of images produced with a flatbed scanner and natural objects. Through mid-June.

PORCELAIN AND DECORATIVE ARTS MUSEUM (2450 S. Milledge Ave.)

duction. athenspetanqueclub@ gmail.com, www.athenspetanque club.wixsite.com/play

QPR SUICIDE PREVENTION

TRAINING (Nuçi’s Space) Nuçi’s hosts free monthly QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide prevention sessions for anyone interested, not just mental health professionals. Nuçi’s also offers free training for businesses and organizations. qpr@nuci.org, www.nuci.org/qpr

TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS

CLASSES (Live Oak Martial Arts) Traditional and modern-style Taekwondo, self-defense, grappling and weapons classes are offered for all ages. Classes in Jodo, the art of the Japanese staff and sword, are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. Visit the website for a full schedule. liveoak martialarts@gmail.com, www.live oakmartialarts.com

WINE CLASSES (J’s Bottle Shop Tasting Room) “Portuguese Wines: Beyond Port” will be held May 23 at 6:30–8 p.m. $25. www.pinta schoolofwine.com

Help Out

ADOPT-A-MOM (Athens, GA) The Ark’s 10th annual Adopt-a-Mom distributes flower bouquets and cards to nursing home patients and single mothers. Donate $25 to “adopt a mom” for Mother’s Day. Proceeds also benefit The Ark’s Single Working Mother’s Fund. Through May 31. www.athensark. org/adopt-a-mom

ADOPT AN ANIMAL (Bear Hollow Zoo) Different sponsorship levels are available to “adopt” a zoo resident. Donations are used for exhibits, food and wildlife education. 706-613-3580

SEEKING BOARD MEMBERS (Sandy Creek Nature Center) Sandy Creek Nature Center, Inc., is seeking new members for its board of directors. Brochures and applications are available online. scncinc@gmail.com, www.sandy creeknaturecenterinc.org/boardmembers

SEEKING BOARD MEMBERS (Morton Theatre Corporation) The Morton Theatre Corporation is seeking new members for its board of directors and volunteers. The application is available online. board@morton theatre.com, www.mortontheatre. com/join-the-board

Kidstuff

AN EPIC ADVENTURE AT SEA (First Baptist Church) Children who have completed Pre-K through 6th grade can participate in a summer camp. June 10–13, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! sharon@firstbaptistathens.org

ATHENS FOREST KINDERGARTEN (Sandy Creek Park) Now enrolling children ages 3–6. AFK is a cooperative preschool that aims to develop initiative, persistence, interdependence, and empathy. www.athensforestkindergarten.org

BLACKSMITH SUMMER CAMP (Greenhow Handmade Ironworks) Ages 13 and up can learn basic blacksmithing skills through different hands-on projects like making fire pokers, tomahawks, scrolls, hooks and more. Materials, fuel and tools are included. July 8–12, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. $525. www.greenhow handmade.com/blacksmith-classes BRELLA ACTIVITIES (‘BRELLA STUDIO) After-school art lessons for ages 6–11 include drawing and mixed media activities and are held Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Family Playgroups are for ages 0–5 and their caregivers. Check website for descriptions and meeting times. www.brellastudio.com/events

CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES (Treehouse Kid & Craft) Treehouse offers a variety of art-centric activities for children, such as “Crafty Maker Mondays,” “Storytime with Mr. Doodles,” “Digital Art Designer,” “Baby Artists,” “Toddler Process Art,” “Creative Playtime,” “Saturday Craft” and more. Check website for current schedule. www.treehouse kidandcraft.com

FARM CAMP (Sweet Olive Farm) This all-outdoor camp for ages 6–12 includes caring for and interacting with the animals, creek time in the woods, outdoor crafts, games, music, art-making, writing and exploring the farm. Mondays–Fridays, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. during the summer. Register online. www. sweetolivefarm.org

GROUPS AT REBLOSSOM (ReBlossom) A variety of classes, playgroups and support groups are offered for parents and young children. Topics include birth and breastfeeding, prenatal and parent-baby yoga, instrument play, maternal mental health and more. Check website for a schedule. www. reblossomathens.com

Two new collections celebrating the connection between art and nature include a complete Jasperware tea set from Wedgewood in England and a series of hand-carved coconut vessels.

THE ROOK & PAWN (294 W. Washington St.) “Serenade” features works by over 20 artists including Keith P. Rein, Sierra Kirsche, Kendall Rogers, Jesse Raven and Delaney Dusch. Through June.

STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF GEORGIA (2450 S. Milledge Ave) Kathy Rogan’s oil paintings raise funds for Parkinson’s research. Through June 23.

STEFFEN THOMAS MUSEUM OF ART (4200 Bethany Rd., Buckhead) “Peace in Our Time: Steffen Thomas Meisterwerke from the Lowrance Collection” shares works collected by Marjorie and Richard Lowrance over the span of 60 years. Through July 23. • The “Student Art Exhibition” features works by students at five different schools. Through July 27.

UGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER LOBBY GALLERY (230 River Rd.) The new gallery debuts with large-scale paintings from Margaret Morrison’s “Paradigm Shift,” a series created after Morrison began questioning historical aspects of her closely held Mormon faith. Through July 26.

UGA SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIES (300 S. Hull St.) Developed by James W. Porter, Meigs Professor of Ecology emeritus at UGA, “Sunken Treasure: The Art and Science of Coral Reefs” explores the marine lives of coral through specimens and photographs. Through July 3.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF ATHENS CLEMENTS

GALLERY (780 Timothy Rd.) “The Three Graces” is a collaborative art exhibit by Elizabeth Bishop-Martin, Starr Ramsey Helms and Kim Kendall. Artist Talk with Helms on May 26, 11:45 a.m. Through June 23.

WINTERVILLE LIBRARY (115 Marigold Ln., Winterville) The 2024 Marigold Festival Art Show features this year’s winning festival artwork by Mary Ann Cox as well as other entries from the call for art. Through May.

LEARN TO SWIM (Multiple Locations) The ACC Leisure Services Department offers swim lessons for children ages 3 and up at Heard Park, Lay Park, Memorial Park and Rocksprings Park including “Swim School” and “Parent/Tot Swim School.” $33 (residents), $50 (non-residents). The department’s Kinderswim program is offered to five-year-olds at no cost. www. accgov.com/myrec

LIBRARY STORYTIMES (ACC Library) Storytime for preschool aged children and their caregivers is offered every Tuesday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. www.athens library.org

LUTHEROAD DAYCAMP (Holy Cross Lutheran Church) Camp for rising 1st–6th graders runs June 24–27, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and June 28, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. www.holycrossathens.com/ lutheroad

NATURE AND FARM SUMMER

CAMPS (Foxfire Woods and Farm)

Offering three weeks of outdoor summer camp, including a half-day camp for preschoolers ages 3.5–6. Themes include survival skills, kinetics and simple machines, and outdoor exploration. www.foxfire woodsandfarm.com

REPORT CARDS REWARDS

PROGRAM (Multiple Locations)

Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade can receive a free pool pass by bringing a report card will all A’s or E’s. A report card with all A’s and B’s or all E’s and M’s can earn 10 free swims. www.accgov. com/pools

SUMMER ART CAMPS (K.A. Artist Shop) Art Camps for Promising Young Artists are offered for half or full days Mondays–Fridays during the summer. Activities range from drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, illustration, calligraphy and character design. www.kaartist.com

SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION

(Athens, GA) ACC Leisure Services Department offers camps highlighting art, nature education, sports and theater. Now registering. www. accgov.com/myrec

TREEHOUSE SUMMER CAMPS (Treehouse Kid & Craft) Camps are offered in a variety of themes including “Mini Museum,” “Wonderful Wizards,” “Craft Inc. Business,” “Mouse Palace Camp,” “Camp Swiftie” and more. Visit the website for details, dates and to register. www.treehousekidandcraft. com

UGA SUMMER ART CAMP (Lamar Dodd School of Art) High school students with a passion for the arts are invited to participate in a four-day camp featuring drawing, painting, printmaking and photography. June 24–27. summerart camp@uga.edu, art.uga.edu/ programs/community-programs/ uga-summer-art-camp

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL (Athens First United Methodist Church) Kids entering grades K-5 in the fall can participate in a summer camp exploring faith and the deep blue sea through various games, music, snacks and activities. June 3–6, 9 a.m.–12:25 p.m. www.athensfirst um.org/scuba

WILD EARTH CAMP (Piedmont Preserve) Wild Earth Camp offers summer camps and homeschool programs for ages 4–13. Participants explore the natural environment through games, storytelling, free play and teaching earth skills. Register online. www.wildearth camp.org

WORKSHOPS (On Stage Playhouse)

“Villains!” is a theater workshop for rising kindergarteners through third graders. Workshop held June 3–8, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Performance held

June 8, 11:30 a.m. $95. “Improvability Two!” is an improv workshop for rising fourth through eighth graders. Workshop June 17–22, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Performance held June 22,11:30 a.m. $95. www. onstagewalton.org

Support Groups

ACA ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES (Holy Cross Lutheran Church) This support group meets weekly. Tuesdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. annetteanelson@gmail.com

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (Athens, GA) If you think you have a problem with alcohol, call the AA hotline or visit the website for a schedule of meetings in Barrow, Clarke, Jackson and Oconee Counties. 706-389-4164, www. athensaa.org

ATHENS COUNCIL OF THE BLIND (Athens, GA) Open to people of all ages with vision impairments, their families and friends. Topics include adaptive equipment, recreational and social opportunities, and advocacy. 706-424-2794, dlwahlers@ gmail.com

BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUP (St. Mary’s Hospital, 5th Floor Therapy Room) This support group for survivors of traumatic head injury, their families, friends and caregivers offers friendship, information about resources and opportunities for advocacy. Every third Monday, 4:30–6 p.m. Contact Floretta Johnson, 706-353-1892, floretta.johnson@stmarysathens. org

NAMI FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP (Oconee Presbyterian Church) Peer-led support group for any adult with a loved one who has experienced symptoms of a mental health condition. Second Monday of the month, 6:30–8 p.m. FREE! joannehnamihallga@gmail.com

NEW PARENTS AND INFANT FEEDING SUPPORT GROUP (BYL Family Resource Center) Come as you are for community, snacks and feeding advice from professionals. Babies and children of all ages are welcome. Second and fourth Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www.byyourleave.org

PARKINSON’S SUPPORT GROUP (First Baptist Church) This group is to encourage, support and share information with fellow sojourners who manage the challenges of Parkinson’s disease or other movement disorders. Second Friday of the month, 1 p.m. gpnoblet@ bellsouth.net

POLYAMORY SUPPORT GROUP (Revolution Therapy and Yoga) This open support group for adults practicing or considering polyamory or nonmonogamy discusses navigating jealousy, polysaturation, relationships with metamours and polyamorous parenting. Thursdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. $10 donation. www.revolutiontherapyandyoga.com

PROJECT SAFE (Family Protection Center) Project Safe hosts a support group for survivors of domestic violence. Mondays, 6:30–8 p.m. www. project-safe.org

RECREATE JOY (Sunny Days Therapeutics) Nuçi’s Space hosts a recreational therapy support group. Improve coping skills and self esteem while reducing depression and anxiety through adaptive yoga, games and leisure education. Sixweek sessions. Wednesdays, 5–6 p.m. tinyurl.com/rnvuhesa

RECOVERY DHARMA (Athens Addiction Recovery Center) This peer-led support group offers a Buddhist-inspired path to recovery

from any addiction. Visit the website for details. Thursdays, 7 p.m. www.athensrecoverydharma.org

SEX ADDICTS ANONYMOUS (Athens, GA) Athens Downtown SAA offers a message of hope to anyone who suffers from a compulsive sexual behavior. Contact for location. athensdowntownsaa@gmail.com

SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE (Nuçi’s Space) SOS is a support group for anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide. Meets the third Wednesday of every month, 5:30–7:30 p.m. www.nuci.org

Word on the Street

BIKE REPAIR STATIONS (Multiple Locations) Over 15 free bike repair stations are located across Athens with tools, an air pump and a QR code for quick guides on basic bike repairs. Visit the website for participating locations. www.accgov. com/10584/Bike-Repair-Stations

DIAMOND HILL FARM CSA (Athentic Brewing Co.) The Community Supported Agriculture program offers a variety of seasonal vegetables, fruits and/or flowers directly to consumers each week. Check website for weekly pickup locations, home delivery details and to register. $15 (flower share), $25–35 (farm box). www.diamondhillfarm athens.com

POOL AND SPLASH PAD SEASON (Multiple Locations) ACC Leisure Services pools will be open May 25–July 28. The Walker Park Splash Pad will be open on the weekend only Aug. 3–Sept. 2, plus regular hours May 25–July 28. The Rocksprings Park Splash Pad opens for the season on May 25. www.acc gov.com/splashpad

RABBIT HOLE EVENTS (Rabbit Hole Studios) Weekly events include Open Mic (Tuesdays, 7–11 p.m.), Acoustic Song Circle (Thursdays, 7–11 p.m.) and Drumming and Song Circle (Sundays, 3–5 p.m.). Wednesday Yoga (5 p.m.) is followed by Meditation and Integration (6 p.m.). Events are free or donation based. www.rabbitholestudios.org/ calendar

SEEKING MUSIC (Athens, GA) Seeking music submissions for the third season of “View Finders,” a locally produced TV series that will air on national PBS. Music can vary from electronic, ambient, hip hop, folk, Americana, rock, country, blues, classical and beyond. Contact for submission form. chrisgreer photography@gmail.com, www. viewfindersontv.com

SEVENTH GENERATION (Healing Path Farm) Seventh Generation Native American Church hosts gatherings on Sundays at 11 a.m., Men’s Group on Tuesdays at 6 p.m., and Women’s Circle every second and fourth Wednesday at 6 p.m. www.seventhgenerationnative americanchurch.org

SPRING TIRE ROUND-UP (ACC Landfill and CHaRM) ACC and Oglethorpe County residents can bring unwanted tires to dispose of at no charge. Limited to six tires per person. May 20–25. www.accgov. com/8116/Tire-Round-Up-Event

VHS DIGITIZATION (Athens, GA)

Brad Staples (of the Athens GA Live Music crew) is seeking previously recorded concerts and events on VHS, VHSC or DVDs to digitize and archive on his YouTube channel, vhsordie (@vhsordie3030). Original recordings will be returned, and credits and dates will be included in the online video description. Digitization services are free. Contact for details and to coordinate shipping. bradley.staples88@gmail.com f

Don’t Guilt Trip Yourself

ADVICE FOR ATHENS’ LOOSE AND LOVELORN

By Bonita Applebum advice@flagpole.com

Hey Bonita,

How do I free myself of guilt? I’m not talking [about] normal, healthy guilt from doing something wrong, just constant people-pleasing guilt: choosing something for myself over something my family wants, not doing enough for everyone around me when my plate is full, slacking at work when I’m overwhelmed. I’m tired of feeling so guilty when I know I’m trying my best.

Anonymous

Hey Anon,

I don’t have a simple answer for that. What you’re talking about would call for a major shift in the paradigms around how you think about your relationships and what the individual owes to others. This is situational—your relationship to your job is completely different from the one you share with your parents, your partner or partners, and so on.

I’ll start with work, and I’ll say to you what I’ve said in plenty of past columns: Work can’t love you back. Work is an agreed exchange of your time and labor for money, and it really shouldn’t be seen as more than that. I know that sounds crazy and lazy to the aver age boomer (my late father

certainly didn’t appreciate me talking about jobs or work without reverence), but work places exploit the emotions of workers to get them to do more than they should. In a town that shamefully lacks both living wages and affordable housing, I hope that workers will one day follow the ruling class’ lead by putting themselves first. Leave a job that does not pay you well enough or expects you to do work that is not your actual responsibility. In the words of Janet Jackson: What have they done for you lately, anyway? Your workplace would not hesitate to replace you, so I think it’s in a worker’s best interest to have the same level of detachment when it comes to loyalty (or, really, the absence of it). Your boss is not your family, and neither are your coworkers—and seriously, if your boss or managers ever use that kind of language while underpaying and overworking you, update your resume and start looking

because that is a red flag. You are already being exploited, my guy. Do not let your boss manipulate you into working yourself to death for a wage that can’t even keep you warm in winter. I know that sounds easier said than done, but you’re worth the trouble of a job search or relocation. Love yourself the way that your boss expects you to love that job. Disconnect the notion of your self worth from your labor, and resist the need to let your productivity define you. And hey, maybe your boss is great and your work is fun, but you’re just horribly burned out. Maybe it’s not a capitalist hellscape, and you just need to rest. Stop labeling your on-the-clock downtime as slacking (any honest person will admit that not every second of their workday is spent doing the actual tasks of work), and start planning a vacation. Create and maintain boundaries around work: If you work from home, I recommend setting real work hours and sticking to them. Uninstall Slack, Outlook, etc. before the start of your vacation—become truly uncontactable. Bring a copy of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber with you. Loved ones are a different story.

Personally I don’t believe that love should involve sacrifice

mean, I would not be touched by an unemployed lover spending hundreds of dollars on me. I love them, so I would not want them to make their life more difficult for me. Personally I don’t put much stock in the honor of stress and strife, and I would hope that your loved ones love you enough to be proud when you choose yourself and your future over their desires. I mean, you’re an adult, right? You’re the one who has to live with your choices. Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, to tell your loved ones that it’s your life and you need to make decisions for yourself. I’ve done that and while it’s stressful at the moment, it’s always worth it in the end. Personal relationships can also benefit greatly from healthy boundaries. f

Email advice@flagpole.com, or use our anonymous online form at flagpole.com/get-advice.

classifieds

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HOUSES FOR RENT

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MISCELLANEOUS

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MUSIC

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nuci’s Space is always accepting and selling used gear and instruments. All profits go toward our mission of ending the epidemic of suicide. Visit nuci.org/ rewired.

INSTRUCTION

Athens School of Music. Now offering in-person and online instruction in guitar, bass, drums, piano, voice, brass, woodwinds, strings, banjo, mandolin and more. From beginner to expert, all styles. Visit www.athens schoolofmusic.com. 706543-5800

MUSIC SERVICES

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HEALTH

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HOME AND GARDEN

Woman-Run Gardening Services: Prep for spring! We offer garden clean-up/ maintenance, invasive plant removal, raised beds, per sonalized native/edible gar dens for home/business and more! Call/Text: 706395-5321.

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Advertise your service in the Flagpole Classifieds! Call 706-549-0301 today! 549-0301

by Margie E. Burke

CORD SIBILSKY

Self Love Near Me