If you haven't seen this exact image, you might have spotted this blue butterfly around town.

Every week, I post a photo of something fun in the Atlanta area, and ask readers to guess what and where it is. The next day, I’ll post the answer and the story behind it. For examples, check out our earlier Access Points games.

If you know what it is and where to find it, share in the comments, or on Twitter @insideaccess! I’ll reveal the answer at 4 p.m. Thursday!

Continue reading Access Points 10: Can you guess what and where this is? »

Accenture employees pitched in during last year's Hands On Atlanta Day. AJC file photo

We’re days away from Atlanta’s largest day of service, but there’s still time to sign up for Hands On Atlanta Day as an individual or team.

The day of service projects around the Atlanta area is organized by Hands On Atlanta, a non-profit that connects volunteers with projects.  It has about 32,000 active volunteers who have gone through the Hands On Atlanta training and participated in at least one project.

Hands On Atlanta Day, though, doesn’t require any previous training or experience, or a long-term commitment. (Of course, Hands On Atlanta Day organizers hope  some of the 6,000 volunteers who gather on Saturday will stick around.)

Here’s how it works:

• Register online at www.handsonatlantaday.org. There are projects indoors, outdoors, kid-friendly and accessible in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties. Gwinnett Great Days, two days of service in Gwinnett County, runs Oct. 2-3, …

Continue reading Volunteer registration still open for Hands On Atlanta Day »

An image of the "Canopy Walk" planned for Storza Woods. Courtesy Jova, Daniels, Busby and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Ten months after a deadly walkway collapse at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, construction of the 600-foot Canopy Walk is set to resume in October.

The “treewalk” is a winding, 40-foot high walkway designed to take visitors on a canopy-level walk through the Garden’s Storza Woods. It’s set to open in May, 2010. It’s part of a $55 million Green Expansion that has already opened a new visitor center, green roof, parking facility, pedestrian path and additional garden. An edible garden and “cascade” garden are to open in 2010, along with the walkway.

The walkway after the collapse on Dec. 19, 2008. AJC file photo

The walkway is touted by Mary Pat Matheson, the Garden’s executive director, as a “must-see destination for both gardeners and those who simply want to experience nature in the middle of the city.” The project has been on hold since last year, when the …

Continue reading Atlanta Botanical Garden walkway construction to resume »

Books: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo discusses “That Old Cape Magic,” 7 p.m., Margaret Mitchell House, Atlanta.

Books: Author Debra Shigley discusses and signs “The Go-Getter Girl’s Guide,” 1 p.m., Georgia Tech Barnes & Noble, Atlanta. FREE.

Music: Rob Thomas performs, 7 p.m., Fox Theatre, Atlanta.

Music: Phoenix performs, 8 p.m., Variety Playhouse, Atlanta.

Stage: “The Woman in Black” opens, 8 p.m., Theatre in the Square, Marietta.

Visual art: Curator David Mitchinson discusses Henry Moore and “Moore in America” exhibit, 7:30 p.m., Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta.

Got an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: September 30 »

High five! Chipper Jones and Nate McLouth celebrate a 4-0 shut out of the Florida Marlins on Monday. Can they keep it up? AJC/Curtis Compton

Despite the lackluster attendance at last night’s game, I get the feeling that the place to be this week will Turner Field, where the Atlanta Braves are racing to catch up with the Colorado Rockies. The prize: a spot in the playoffs.

Here’s some info about games times, special events, tickets, parking — all the stuff you need to know before you go.

(And if you’re not going, follow Tuesday’s game live with Jeff Schultz.)

Games: There are at least six Braves games left in Atlanta. Note that the game time on Saturday’s game shifted from 7:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.

Sept. 29:  7:10 p.m. vs. Florida Marlins
Sept. 30: 7:10 p.m. vs. Florida Marlins
Oct. 1: 7:10 p.m. vs. Washington Nationals
Oct. 2: 7:35 p.m. vs. Washington Nationals
Oct. 3: 4:10 p.m. vs. Washington Nationals (Time change!)
Oct. 4: 1:35 p.m. vs. Washington Nationals

Concerts:There are …

Continue reading Know before you go: Atlanta Braves playoff race games »

Anybody showing up to an Atlanta park for  peewee football or a pickup game in the last few days probably arrived to soft ground and the disappointing news that city athletic fields were closed.

Most of Atlanta's athletic fields, like this one at Piedmont Park, are open after closing down because of rain. AJC file photo

On Sept. 22, the city closed all of them after days of heavy rain. Once a field is wet, a simple game of softball can turn it into a mud pit, and once the ground is damaged, fixing it is a long, difficult process.

Special events like PUMA’s “Can I Kick It?” one-day kickball tournament at Central Park were postponed, along with any regularly scheduled outdoor fun.

But there’s good news: as of yesterday, the citywide ban on using athletic fields was lifted. However, fields in Coan Park in Edgewood, Shady Valley Park in Buckhead and South Bend Park around Lakewood Park and Swallow Circle/Baywood are still unusable.

Sharon Davis, the public information officer for …

Continue reading Game on at most Atlanta parks after sports field rain outs »

Tendal Mann, Amy Rush (handling Bunnicula, the vampire bunny) and Royce Mann in Synchronicity's "Bunnicula." Photo by Amy Sinclair

“Bunnicula” was a big hit among the school bus set when I was in elementary school, so I was surprised to see it on Synchronicity Theatre’s family show schedule — I hadn’t realized that vampire bunnies were so timeless.

Mom Natalie and "Bunnicula" fan Catherine. Our reviewer wasn't interested in smiling for a photo, but offered up a silly face, instead. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

To test whether the beloved book by author James Howe held up, I turned to an expert: first-grader Catherine Snedden, a “Bunnicula” fan who is not at all shy about saying what she thinks.

Catherine is a pet owner and a reader who knows Bunnicula’s story inside and out: the Monroe family finds a rabbit in a theater while watching “Dracula.” They name it Bunnicula, which only adds to the family cat’s theory that there’s something wrong with this creature — something awful …

Continue reading Kid’s view: Synchronicity’s ‘Bunnicula’ is a funny bunny »

Books: Author Patricia Harman signs “The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife’s Memoir,” 7 p.m., Blue Elephant Book Shop, Decatur. FREE.

Books: Author Wendy Wax discusses “The Accidental Bestseller,” 7-9 p.m., Bookmiser, Roswell. FREE.

Dancing: Dine & Dance to Big Band and swing music, 6-8 p.m., Northlake Mall, Atlanta. FREE.

For families: “Dinosaurs” opens with half-price tickets on Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta.

For kids: Author Carol Casey reads her book, “Dear Baby, What I Love About You!” 11 a.m., Barnes & Noble-Norcross. FREE.

Music: Dr. Dog performs with Those Darlins, 7:30 p.m.,The Loft, Atlanta.

Stage: Choreographer Twyla Tharp gives a (ticketed) lecture about the creative process before a performance of “Come Fly With Me,” 6 p.m. lecture, 8:30 p.m. show Alliance Theatre, Atlanta.

Got an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow

Continue reading To do list: September 29 »

Books: Author and radio host Garrison Keillor reads and signs “Pilgrims.,” doors at 6:30 p.m., talk at 7:30 p.m. Agnes Scott College’s Presser Hall, Decatur. FREE. Keillor interview.

Books: “Between You and Me: Inscriptions and Associations” exhibition continues, Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library, 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Atlanta. FREE.

For kids: Fiesta de Los Ninos activities continue, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Atlanta. (The museum is closed Sept. 29-30 for maintenance.)

Music: Singer-songwriter Kate Herzig performs, 8 p.m., Eddie’s Attic, Decatur.

Sports: Atlanta Braves vs. Florida Marlins series begins, 7 p.m., Turner Field, Atlanta.

Got an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: September 28 »

A dance-a-thon at Eyedrum on Saturday night drew the late-night crowd. Things are looking up for the non-profit arts space. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

Less than three months since Eyedrum put out the message that financial trouble could force it to close, the non-profit gallery and community arts center is safe through the end of the year  — and making major changes to the organization. There’s a new director, new board members and they’ll vote next week whether to move to a new space. Board chairman Allen Welty-Green said they expect to launch a capital campaign in coming weeks, too.

Cindy Brannon and Sara Nesselbush checked out the artwork at the Eyedrum Dance-a-thon. AJC

July was a dark time for the 11-year-old organization. It remained debt-free and volunteer-run, but booking and donations were down and utility and rent costs were adding up. Board members were exhausted, the 6-000 square foot space too expensive, and alternative spaces too much work to fix. “The stress of …

Continue reading Eyedrum revitalized: new leadership, more community support, planned capital campaign, maybe a new space »