New activity: NATIONAL SIDEWALK FRY AN EGG DAY – July 4th
It was the Fourth of July so what better way to celebrate than with a National Holiday. We had never tested out the old saying “it’s hot enough to fry an egg”, so this was the perfect day to do it. Unfortunately as you can see below, although it was very hot outside, the 114 degree cement was just not hot enough to do the job. Happy for Barbara’s dog, Sassy – she got the job of cleanup!
WISHING EVERYONE A WONDERFUL JULY 4th HOLIDAY
New activity: Back to the Kittrell Rifkind Fine Arts/Southwest Art Gallery
These are two of our favorite art galleries to visit, especially since they are connected and always seem to have interesting and beautiful art works. This month we went to see art by two “R” artists: JM Rizzi and Bette Ridgeway.
Rizzi was born in Brooklyn so perhaps that is why we really loved his paintings with their vibrant colors and swirls. Laura’s favorite was the orange background picture between the two round ones entitled “Terra Cotta Silhouette” and Barbara’s the black and white triptych called “3 The Hard Way.”
The second artist was Bette Ridgeway. She painted beautifully colorful designs that seemed to be floating over the canvas.
After we looked at our “R” paintings we did our favorite thing in a museum which is to go from room to room picking the painting in each room that we would buy if we had to choose one, after which Barbara could not resist going into the Kittrell Rifkind Fine Arts section and buying a lovely pair of earrings designed by Heather Trimlett, a flameworking artist.
By this time we had built up an appetite so it was time to Renew our acquaintance with Ramen. We started off at Oni Ramen but the place was so noisy that we left before ordering. We then went closer to home to try Nishki Ramen, partly because we love the word “nishki” but alas, it hadn’t opened yet so we crossed the street to yet a third ramen restaurant but this one had closed an hour ahead of their posted time. Three’s a charm? We think not. But lucky for “Q” there was a Quiznos next door and the sandwich was great so no harm, no foul.
On to “S” month!
New Book: “Q” IS FOR QUARRY
Laura: Back in the 1980s, I became acquainted with Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery series (“A” is for Alibi, etc.). I remember enjoying the books of hers that I read so I decided to once again enter the alphabet mystery realm with “Q” is for Quarry.” Unfortunately I did not care for this book as much as I remember liking the first few ones I read. But the experience was expanded in that I learned a few things from reading about the author – and they were (1) sad, (2) interesting and (3) disturbing! The sad fact was that Ms. Grafton made it through “Y” is for Yesterday but then died before writing her “Z” book. How unfortunate! The interesting fact was that she had always been fascinated by series that followed themes, such Harry Kemelman’s Rabbi Small series, which included a day of the week in each book, and by John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series, which had a color in the title. But the disturbing fact – outrageous really – was that there is a picture book with an alphabetized list of ways for children to die. Naturally I had to see what this was about so I looked up Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies on Amazon. It’s a picture book that rhymes so it’s not quite as ghastly as I had imagined but still!
New Restaurant: DILLA’S
We both love Quesadillas, so how fitting that we found Dilla’s – a great place for primo quesadillas. With nine varieties and custom-made choices, you can’t go wrong with getting a Quality meal at a great price – a regular portion plus a small drink typically costs less than $10. The food was delicious. We shared one Gordo (ground beef, bacon, fries, pico de gallo, cheese blend and ranch dip) and one vegetarian Bluebonnet (portobello mushrooms, zucchini, roasted peppers and onions, spinach, cheese blend and creamy churri) and were stuffed! But they were worth every calorie. We will definitely be returning!
New movie – Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island
Laura: Lately I find myself gravitating towards documentaries. They can offer so much: enlightenment, education, amusement, opposing points of view – on just about any subject. So, for “R” month, one of the movies I was drawn to was “Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island.” What an eye-opener! This is the recounting of the stories of four concerned mothers, a two-woman legal team and a reporter who had much to say about the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in 1979 – the worst commercial nuclear reactor meltdown in U.S. history. The myriad cover-ups, criminal actions and lies from the nuclear industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will shock you – I know they left me angry and paranoid. For example, residents were purposely lied to by telling them there was no danger. It took 24 hours of radiation exposure before the company released a warning of possible harm – yet scientists state that length of exposure was equivalent to up to 100,000 x-rays. The film won several awards and although it was not a pleasant experience to watch it, I’m glad I am more aware of what happened 45 years ago when I was pregnant and fortunate not to be living in Pennsylvania.
New restaurant – ROOSTER ROADHOUSE
To get the awful taste of the coverup out of our mouths, we decided to drive to Denton for lunch at the Rooster Roadhouse. The menu really tickled our funny bones. Their tag line was “Redneck, White Trash, Blue Collar.” Since neither of us was in the mood to get dolled up, we think we fit the “white trash” moniker. We opted to share two of the dishes whose asterisk indicated they were the restaurant favorites: the patty melt that came garnished with caramelized onions and bacon jam and the brisket sandwich. We substituted the Rooster Tails (batter fried onions) for the homemade potato chips on one of the sandwiches. Boy was the food good, our faves being the brisket and rooster tails. We wished we had some kids with us just to be able to order something off the Little Peckerwoods Menu. The atmosphere was fun with things hanging upside down from the ceiling. Altogether an outing well worth the drive.
LEARNING CENTER:
Speaking of roosters and poultry in general, did you know:
Roosters’ crows are about 130 decibels, roughly the same loudness measured near a jet taking off. The auditory canals in a rooster’s head partially close when its beak is open. This prevents roosters from going deaf from their own crowing.
And to give some credit to their pals, the chickens, chickens that see another chicken bleeding will tend to attack it. In the early 1900s rose-tinted chicken glasses were marketed to farmers to keep hens from recognizing blood. Millions were sold. So next time you decide to look at things through rose colored glasses, have a chicken wing on us!
New activity – The REVOLUTION REIGNS (and “Rains”) On
Barbara: The sisters have taken quite a break, what with travel plans, grandchild birthdays, and other annoying issues beyond our control so although I realize most people I’ve talked to have already seen this show, I was slow to come around and have only just now seen HAMILTON. Driving in a downpour and in a sports car, I must admit I was a tiny bit tempted to say “turn that car around!” but so glad I didn’t’. All I can say is that it was wonderful! I loved the staging, the venue (New York’s got nothing on the Winspear), the songs, the voices and…the audience! I was amazed how into the show everyone was, nearly hooting their heads off for each song. And, like I do at nearly anything, I cried. Leaving the theatre while wiping off my eyes, I was REENERGIZED and looking forward to more ABC Life activities.
LEARNING CENTER
DID YOU KNOW?
New restaurant: Piefalootin
How could we NOT go to a bake shop with this name? Its tag line – “Not So Humble Pie” – had us salivating before stepping into the car. They change their menus often, but Barbara was hoping they would have the Orange You Happy It’s Not Key Lime.
One can purchase a pie or a slice or a quarter and split it or they even offer “Pie Flights” with your choice of 3 slices. And if you want a whole pie but forgot to order one, they will allow you to select 4 quarters and they will create a Build-A-Pie for you. Even if this place turns out to be a bust, just their fun with names and offerings was enticing enough to have made a visit. We ordered the Pie Flight of Best of Both Worlds (a combination of chocolate cream and coconut cream pies), Oops (chunks of chocolate and pecan with bourbon) and the Key Lime pie.
Did it live up to its name? Unfortunately, no it did not. We were surprised to learn that it has been around for 5 years because the crust was very hard, the whipped cream had no flavor, nor did the coconut cream, and the Oops was just weird. Maybe they were having an off day; we hope so.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE – “MORE OR LESS”
We had previously started a section in our blog (actually, Laura started it, I replied, and then we continued together) called “More or Less.” In it we thought about what we wanted to work on in our lives – some more and some less. We’ve decided to revisit what we said previously, determine how we’ve done on it, and possibly come up with new things to work on at our present stage of life.
So here goes –
Laura:
Previously: “I will work on having MORE PATIENCE. I used to be quite a patient person but as I get older, I’m more quick to get annoyed or bothered with people or situations. Having patience makes your life much easier and I will make a conscious effort this coming year to recapture the more mellow Laura. I want LESS PILES. Piles of paper and stuff are annoying. They have to go! But it’s not just stacks of material things. When you pile up stacks of feelings, they take a toll as well. My new motto: Let it slide. Let it go.”
Update: I have definitely made progress with the people portion but still need work on going with the flow when it comes to situations such as traffic and long lines. But for 2024 I want MORE PUZZLES. I’m addicted to Wordle, Waffle, Connections and the Mini Crossword and I’ve recently rediscovered my enjoyment of jigsaw puzzles. Keeps the brain going and they’re just plain PLEASURABLE. I’ll keep working on Less Piles but it will never be perfect. But who am I to let “perfect” stand in the way of PROGRESS!
Barbara:
Previously: “I want Less Overeating. I get in a whirlwind of eating when I know I haven’t yet started to “diet” and that has to stop, so Less of Me is what I will work on.” (I had started with “O” for some reason at which time Laura suggested I change “less overeating” to “less pfood.”)
Update: Seems that I haven’t learned my lesson! I still scarf down everything in sight on the weekend before my eating properly start date. So, this year I am determined to have LESS of “pfooling” myself and MORE “pfocusing” on one particular piece of the plan. For example, I’ve been going crazy lately over sweets so as I begin to try to slim down a bit, I’ll zone in on eliminating some desserts. I’ll start with pie!
New restaurant: Chris and John
It’s been a while since we tried some Pho so when we saw there was a restaurant that was a fusion of Vietnamese and Mexican street foods, it was a no-brainer to pay a visit.
This was another reaffirmation to us that our ABC Life opens doors to us that we never would have thought of opening. This restaurant was on a side street in a small strip center. We would have passed right by without thinking twice had we not been looking for a “P”. Once in, the long line of eager patrons was a good sign.
And OH the food! We decided to split one Pho Burger and one Phodilla (fusion of pho and a quesadilla). Both dishes were so flavorful; we couldn’t keep track of all the “yum”s we uttered spontaneously. As the sign says: “Life’s Too Short. Just Eat.” Highly recommend!
New Activity: PHOTO GALLERY
Both of us really enjoy photography – especially Laura – so off we went to the P D N B Gallery (Photos Do Not Bend). Although it was a little smaller than we had expected, so not as many photographs to enjoy, we did – as usual – make a game out of it by looking at all the photos in a room and then having to choose which one we would buy. Maybe we’ll see one of them the next time we go to Cottonwood Art Festival and get the chance.
New Activity: POSITIONING PETALS
After our last “O” activity we were so impressed with the beautiful Japanese floral arrangements that, along with our friend Rosemary, we signed up for a two- session class. Our instructor, Ms. Maruda, handed out all the supplies and began the lesson. There are many, many rules to this form of floral arrangement and we struggled to take notes on how to place the “big brother, little brother and younger sister” in the foam she gave us. Harder than it would seem. But we did the best we could with the “skill” we had.
After the experience it was only fitting that we write a Haiku in the traditional 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable style:
Ikebana class
Japanese floral placement
Alas – no talent.
New activity – Japanese Art Showcase
Back in 2020 when Covid shut down everything and we were concentrating on doing things at home, Barbara tried her hand at Origami and was unsuccessful. So when we saw that there was a Japanese Art Showcase at a nearby recreation center that included origami we thought we’d see what a professional could do.
While the exhibit did have a lovely example of what can be done with origami, what really impressed us were the beautiful flower arrangements. This showcase turned out to be artwork that was done by students of a certified instructor in the Japanese Flower Art of Ikebana. Holy Cow!
And how can we not show this entry by a 9 year old boy, using Legos to imitate a Japanese flower scene.
We spent some time talking to the instructor and are planning on taking her class either in March or April. We don’t expect to be as good as these students are since our talents don’t exactly reach to crafts or design, but maybe with practice?
Oh my (our) goodness, it sure is hard to get back to normal after two months of holidays but 2024 is upon us and the sisters have to return to their ABC life. We haven’t had time to do much in the way of activity so we thought we’d start out with something more passive, like reading and watching.
New book: The Outsider by Stephen King
Barbara: I’ve always enjoyed Stephen King books, but some types more than others. The ones I like the most seem to fall into 3 categories: they have a creepy element that most people can relate to like the creepy clown in “IT”, they have a “what if” element like “what if we changed history” as in “11/22/63”, or the situation could potentially happen which makes it particularly scary, like his latest book “Holly” (which had villains that actually gave me nightmares – a little TOO creepy). The Outsider did not fit into any of these categories because of its element of fantasy. Because he’s such a good writer I did finish the book and it wasn’t bad, just not my favorite of his.
New TV series: The Outsider
Laura: While Barbara tackled the book, I decided to watch The Outsider tv series, now streaming on HBO Max. I’m two episodes in and am definitely on edge trying to figure out the mystery of “who did it.” It presents a set of circumstances that are different than most whodunits so I will continue. It’s a bit slow moving but has enough elements in it that are intriguing to keep my interest. Plus, Jason Bateman is always a talent whom I admire and he has acting, directing and executive producer roles.
LEARNING CENTER
There are quite a few animals beginning with the letter O, each interesting in their own way. One is helpful, one you wouldn’t want to get too close to, and the other – well, bless her heart.
Did you know:
Oysters help purify the water they live in. One adult oyster can filter 50 gallons a day. Just remember that next time you eat a plate full of oysters.
Ostrich kicks are so powerful they can kill a lion.
And our personal favorite – Orangutan mothers breastfeed their young for the longest time of any mammal, nursing them for about seven years. We refuse to look up how large a 7 year old orangutan is; we don’t want that image in our heads!
The ABC Life Blog 