Stuffed Streets: As it warms up and locals take to the sidewalks, Athens seems to be getting a little more closely knit. Daily Groceries Co-op beckons with wireless and a (happily) shared picnic table. On an unseasonably sunny afternoon, filmmaker and new Globe employee Kyle Giddens was introduced to recording artist Suny Lyons, whose music Giddens was hoping to use for a video project. Days later, Giddens shot a music video for local band Our New Silence, with a cast that included Pigpen Studios’ Daniel Collins, in the empty Chase Street warehouse site.

And the Co-op is home to local art, in addition to locals and local produce: Krysia Haag unveiled her new mosaic sign last week, and Lou Kregel will create a new "sunburst sign" to replace her "carrot sign," which was stolen last year, according to Daily’s Walter Swanson.

An Education: Janet Geddis, of the upcoming Avid Bookshop, was present at a recent Georgia Review reading by acclaimed poet Kevin Prufer at Ciné. Geddis has just received a scholarship at an American Booksellers Association educational conference for being a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance "emerging leader." And her photos, on display at Flicker and benefitting Avid, “sold amazingly well the first night,” she says.

After the reading, dinner involved guest of honor Prufer and a group of local literati that included UGA graduate students and writers Michael Tod Edgerton and Kevin Vaughn, and long-time publisher, bookseller and promoter Judy Long, who has been organizing events including a Jeannette Rankin remembrance and “A Taste of Athens,” for which more than 50 local restaurants will provide samples at the Classic Center (2/21). Also along was David Ingle, Assistant Editor of The Georgia Review, whose crew was already thinking ahead to their next visitor, Michael Donohue, winner of both the 2007 National Magazine Award in Essays and the Gold Award in Essays presented by the Magazine Association of the Southeast for “Russell and Mary” (first published in The Georgia Review). Donohue will speak at the Athens Community Council on Aging and at the Miller Learning Center (2/17) and read in the Rialto Room (2/18).

Fat and Happy: And what a week for New Orleans! (Athens has lost some Cajun flavor with the closing of Harry Bissett’s, but the restaurant promises to reopen soon.) The Big Easy is basking in football glory and Mardi Gras revelry, a time for the ultimate self-indulgence before some moral reckoning. What are Athenians’ bad habits? PBR, crude humor and inappropriate relationships, according to a particularly hectic recent night at Ciné, when the Found Footage Festival had the crowd in the Lab in hysterics with full-frontal male nudity; two films about age-disparate love affairs (A Single Man and An Education) packed the theaters; and a hipster-haven midnight movie emptied the coolers of their $2 brew (The Washington Street Liberation Army movie nights are organized by Ryan Lewis, self-proclaimed culture writer, tombstone and scooter designer, and “Minister of Propaganda” for the WSLA).

Full Week Ahead: Hear literature scholar John Richetti on UGA’s campus (2/17). The retired University of Pennsylvania professor will speak on “Daniel Defoe & Enlightenment” as part of the Georgia Colloquium in 18th- and 19th-Century Literature—despite the gravity of his subject, he is known to be as entertaining as illuminating. Attend the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity’s third annual “Home Is Where the Heart Is” Art Auction at Hotel Indigo (2/18). The auction will feature a wider selection of local art than in previous years, and its proceeds will benefit the Women Build Campaign, through which local women, Habitat staff and partner families come together to build affordable homes in the community. Enjoy “A Slow Night at the Farm,” at Farm 255 (2/19). Twenty percent of the evening’s sales from the regular menu will benefit Slow Food's Terra Madre Fund, there will be bluegrass by David Dowless and Friends, and Slow Foods founder and president Carlo Petrini will make an appearance. The following night Farm will feature the culinary skills of Hugh Acheson at the Farmers Feast. Both events coincide with the 13th annual Georgia Organics conference at the Classic Center (2/19 & 2/20), which features a trade show/expo, workshops, farm and food tours, educational sessions, a silent auction and more. The conference itself is now sold out, but some associated events remain open. Visit www.georgiaorganics.org/conference for more info about availability. Ciné will also be screening Dirt! The Movie (2/19), a doc about the sociopolitical ramifications of soil resources, in coordination with the conference.

Last, but Not Least: Catch the Jewish Film Festival at Ciné (2/20–2/23), which will feature 15 films and a closing ceremony at Hotel Indigo’s Rialto Room (2/24). And celebrate local African-American leaders at “A Soulful Celebration Dinner,” hosted by the Friends of the Georgia Museum, at the UGA Visual Arts Building, followed by a choir performance at the UGA Chapel (2/24).

Do not miss the application deadline (2/21) for inclusion in “6X6 Media Arts Event: Fashion” curated by Michael Lachowski and the first installment of a monthly, six-part, themed series of experimental digital media art events. All submissions must last no longer than six minutes each. For more info and to submit your work, go to http://hexadic.blogspot.com.

Elaine Ely

Street Talk: With the holidays hunkered firmly behind us, Athens is poised to take advantage of local happenings. Last week, the community came together for several benefits for Haiti, music fans awaited Caledonia’s liquor license reinstatement, and the Mental Health Benefit art auction continued its tradition of raising both cash and awareness, while giving local artists some much-needed exposure.

Art Speak: The Loft Art Supplies, which relocated from Jackson to Baxter Street some time back, has been replaced by a tanning salon (and clothing boutiques Menagerie and Mary have both vacated their prime Clayton Street spots). Janet Geddis has new photographs on display at Flicker, and David Hale (our cover artist last week), with fellow artists Dustin Hill and Nash Hogan, will remodel the space next to their new Broad Street tattoo shop, Anchor Tattoo, into a gallery co-op. Hale says: “We are hoping to be a big part of the local community and work towards sustainability in our studio practices.”

Don't miss “Myths & Legends: Works on Paper by Andy Warhol” at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center (through Apr. 2). Learn “How to Properly Price Your Art” at the ACC Library (2/6); and take the kids to “Family Day: Pop-up Valentines,” at the Lyndon House Arts Center (2/13).

Food News: The Athens Farmers Market is one of nine Georgia markets featured in the Farmers Market Cookbook: A Fresh Look at Local Flavor, which will be released in March.

On Saturday night, celebrate local food culture at Dancing to the Beet, P.L.A.C.E.’s (Promoting Local Agriculture and Cultural Experience) first Saturday night fundraiser, with DJ Mahogany, at Farm 255 at 11 p.m. (2/6).

On Sunday afternoon attend the Mardi Gras Lunch at the Melting Point to benefit the Friends of Advantage Behavioral Health Systems. They're serving up a low country boil and the funky fusion sounds of JazzChronic.

Lit. Crit.: Borders will host readings by Joan Koonce, an associate professor at UGA, whose new story collection Integrity in a Box of Chocolates sounds as light as Precious (2/4); local educators Cindy Boerma and Deena Eberhardt, who have compiled children’s quotations in We Don’t Wear Pajamas at My House! and Sherri Goggins, who has written a new cookbook, Home Plate, (2/7), and Dr. Joan Curtis, who has tackled Managing Sticky Situations at Work (2/9). In honor of Georgia Day (2/12), Atlanta author William J. Morton will come to the ACC Library to discuss his new book, The Story of Georgia's Boundaries (2/13).

Eco Chic: Mid-month, UGA will celebrate Darwin Days with lectures on fish by Alaskan artist Ray Troll, author of Rapture of the Deep (2/9 & 2/10), a display of Sally Walker’s fossil collection and Raymond Freeman-Lynde’s “T. Rex Wanna Cracker?” and a lecture by anthropologist John Hawks titled “The Neanderthal Genome Project,” followed by a panel discussion of “What Does It Mean to Be Human?” (2/11). For the full schedule of lectures and events, which are free and open to the public, please go online to www.darwinday.uga.edu.

And soon after, join the tens of thousands who will look skyward for the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (2/12–2/14). Go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ to find out how to participate and, more importantly, how to ID local species and learn which birds are on the Audubon watchlist.

Culture Clash: Opt for the classical sounds of German pianist and UGA artist in residence Benjamin Moser at the Ramsey Concert Hall on Friday night or get country with duo Wilson Fairchild—sons of the Statler Brothers’ Harold and Don Reid—opening for George Jones at the Classic Center (2/5), and take in Shruti: Melodies of India, an evening of Indian culture featuring flute, violin and classical Indian dance performances and an exhibition on Indian social issues, at Ramsey Hall (2/12). Think swinging '60s in Stateside and British style in film: A Single Man and An Education open at Ciné (2/5). The Found Footage Festival begins the same night, and later in the week, UGA professor Christine Haase will discuss “Violent Visions: The Dystopian Cinema of Michael Haneke” (2/9).

Be Mine: And do not let an unplanned Valentine’s day kill the romance! Start scheming now. Drool over sexy menus around town, make a date with your loneliest chum, or hit up Vision Video for a five-for-five of the sappiest—or sickest—film romances you can find. Harold and Maude? Blue Velvet? I’m yours.

Elaine Ely