With my play opening on Friday, I’ve entered into what is affectionally known as “hell week”. I’m also filling in for two of my coworkers as they are off to install another client, so work’s overly busy this week, too. I’ll write when I can, but I’m warning you now it’ll be slim pickin’s around here for a few days.

Tonight: Tom Maxwell. Of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. I like his solo album (links to his official MP3s) even better than the Zippers. I’m excited!

freebies & dealies: a weblog dedicated to sniffing out offers of free goodies on the net. Not only does she tell you where to find stuff, she logs the stuff she got in the mail that day. Free worms, anyone?

Muscled, black with steel-green eye
swishing through the rye grass
with thoughts of mouse-and-apple pie.
Tail balancing at half-mast.
…And the mouse police never sleeps
lying in the cherry tree.
Savage bed foot-warmer
of purest feline ancestry.
Look out, little furry folk!
He’s the all-night working cat.
Eats but one in every ten
leaves the others on the mat.

cupofwonder.com is a wonderful collection of annotated Jethro Tull lyrics. The song above, Mouse Police, is one of my favorites. When my play’s over in a couple weeks, I think it’ll be time to get me a cat. I need me a kitty.

According to the Beerometer, Armadillo’s is the place to be in Athens on a Thursday when you only have $5 and want to get falling-down-drunk.

There’s an interesting conversation going on in one of my cheesemaking mail lists about “cheese skippers”. These little guys lead to “crawling cheese”. I understand these were everywhere a few generations ago, but in our ultra-clean society, things like this are not seen much anymore. I’ll spare you the details… just know that sometimes it takes something larger than a bacterium to make a cheese come out right.

Lisa: You like musicals don’t you dad?
Homer: No, I don’t, I think they’re bad. They’re fake and phony and totally wrong.
Bart: Wake up dad, you’re singing a song.

Since I’ve already mentioned lyrics, here’s The Simpsons Song Lyrics Archive. They’ve got them all. Even the one-liners.

In a bold move sure to bring the search engines a-calling, I give to you pictures of girls in bikinis having fun. The Kestrel’s Nest twist is that these are 2000 year old Roman mosaics. They look amazingly modern! These are part of Project Perseus; I’ve only just begun exploring.

Yesterday was primary elections in Georgia, and across the state, incumbents got thrown out. The most significant was right here in Athens, where the senior state senator, Paul Broun, got defeated by Doug Haines. Even CNN ran a story about it. The media is theorizing that Haines won because of education issues, but the real reason seems to be the strength of Haines’ grass-roots style campaigning. He was everywhere. He rode his bike around town with a group of supporters regularly. His big focus was environmental issues – anti-sprawl talk is what gave him the most attention. Athens is teetering on the edge of the slope that leads to a town of strip malls. The good side is currently winning more than it’s losing, but it’s still a tough fight. Haines (assuming he wins the regular election) will be a great asset. If you want to read more, here’s our local paper’s take on the primary.

It’s always a good day when you can measure the tomato harvest by the gallon. I took this picture on Sunday evening, and I’ve already eaten most of them, which is good since there’s another gallon waiting to be picked. I started picking on the big end of the garden, so you can’t see all the yummy amish and yellow and roma fruits hiding under the little balls of sweetness. I eat the cherry tomatoes like candy and use the big ones on sandwiches and eggs and things. The romas I’ve been peeling and freezing. I will not be in short supply of tomato sauce this winter.