The ABC Life Blog

New Activity: CSI Allen

Since creating the ABC Life Blog, we have found so many interesting things to do or learn about from our local library and libraries in other cities. The Allen Public Library, in particular, is a great source of new experiences and the presentation from the Crime Scene Investigation unit of Allen was no exception.

Of course, the first thing we thought about before the presentation started was wouldn’t this be a great session for a prospective murderer to sit in on and we wondered which person in the room that would be. (We had our eyes on the man in front of us).

The two young women who were in the CSI unit were very informative and gave a great talk. They started it off with an hysterical short video of a squirrel that “staged its own murder” by taking a broomstick and lying down while placing it across his neck. Then they got down to a serious presentation and we learned so much: e.g. even if you go to the trouble of burning off your fingerprints, they can get them from the rest of your hand, even if you clean bloody prints off your car with bleach the prints will show up when sprayed, and it can take 6 mos. to 2 years to get the DNA results back!  Plus, there’s something called the CSI Effect which refers to the fact that jurors can be influenced by those CSI shows and will even occasionally rule someone innocent just because there is no forensic evidence. Really a great little class; now we’re off to watch some CSI episodes and see if they show forensics coming back much faster than in reality.

New restaurant: MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA

We both have a thing for words so when we spotted an ad for Mellow Mushroom Pizza, we were intrigued. Just saying “Mellow Mushroom” puts us in a good mood. So off we went to McKinney for a slice or two. This place is huge – floor space, menu (including lots of gluten-free items) and drink selections. We tried the Kosmic Karma pizza and enjoyed it, but it didn’t grab a top spot in our best pizza list. But the real attraction here is the artwork and watching the cook hand toss those pizzas. Founded in 1974 in Atlanta Georgia, with a huge concentration of restaurants in the Southeast, they have always had friends and local artists painting psychedelic and illustrative murals in trade for pizza and beer. All in all, a mellow lunch experience.

New Restaurant: MONSTER YOGURT

Having recently enjoyed the discovery of delicious yogurt at Purple Kiwi, we couldn’t resist trying out the serve yourself Monster Yogurt where “scary tastes good.” We both went for the Classic Chocolate with a small dollop of another flavor to sample. Although they offer many different toppings and sauces, we kept it pure. The yoghurt was very good and reasonably priced. The Richardson location is a great place to bring children, with its fun decor and indoor playground. Parents and grandparents with young kids should check this place out!

LEARNING CENTER – MRS.

We’ve all filled out endless forms that ask us to choose Mr., Miss, Mrs. or Ms. as a choice of salutation. It’s annoying that female choices denote their marital status and men have only one choice. They actually did have two terms from the late 1800s till the mid-20th century; the term Master was used to indicate he was single. That is why Alfred called Batman Master Wayne, not because he was Alfred’s master.

But here’s a fun fact: The abbreviation Mrs. contains an r because it originally stood for “mistress”—long before “mistress” became used primarily in descriptions of extramarital affairs.

New Activity – MEOW WOLF

Barbara: Laura and I have been to an immersive art exhibit and I have also been to an Escape Room but neither of us has been to somewhat of a combination of both. Unfortunately, Laura couldn’t make it, but I was lucky to be able to grab our friend, Kathy, and go to Meow Wolf in Grapevine.

This art experience was unlike any others I’ve been to. I can’t get over the talent it took to not only design the interweaving rooms but to create the unusual artworks within them. I mean, would you normally ever walk into a refrigerator and close the door behind you?! I wasn’t too good at figuring out the story, but we spent two fun hours walking through, reading everything that the creators left around to fill out the story and just taking it all in.

To complement our experience, we stopped off for MONKEYS AND MARGUERITAS at the Rainbow Forest restaurant. Definitely am looking forward (a few years) to taking my granddaughter to lunch there.

New activity: George W. Bush Presidential LIBRARY

Barbara hasn’t been in many years and Laura has never been so we decided to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Laura went into the day thinking it was going to be a small, sort of boring museum but was very impressed as was Barbara on her first visit. This is a very well planned out museum with exhibits, films, hands on areas and a replica of the Oval Office. The docents were very informative; the woman working in the Oval Office had stories about nearly everything in the room. The only downside to the day was that it made both of us a little sad that the climate of the country and the lack of dignity in politics for at least the last 8 years was so far removed to what we were viewing.

New coffee shop: LEMMA LATTE

To get us back in a good mood we tried a new coffee shop called Lemma Latte in downtown Plano. It was in the location of XOXO Coffee that we had gone to many years ago (of course for the letter X) and they offered many different variations on latte. Laura tried the more conventional Lemma Latte and Barbara tried the CitrusGoth Latte which was charcoal, chocolate and citrus (because she’s such a goth person…not). The Lemma Latte was very good. At first taste the CitrusGoth tasted like an iced melted glass of charcoal but after several swallows it was almost likeable by the time she finished.

LIBRARY LOVE

Laura: Barbara and I love the library! On any given day, you would find at least a few library books in our homes. And what’s not to love? Free books, chances to step out of your reading comfort zone, special events and new discoveries all the time! But one thing we wouldn’t love – finding a body in the library. Not that we ever have (thank goodness) but writers seem to love the concept. So, I just had to read a book and watch a tv show about just such a thing. My show was one of the Miss Marple tv series and the episode was called “The Body in the Library.”  The book was “Murder in the Library” by Katie Gayle. An unexpected murder was revealed when I was watching the first episode of Season 2 of the Britbox show “Lewis.” The title of that episode had nothing to do with libraries but lo and behold that’s where the body was found and someone actually announced, “there’s a body in the library!”

New Activity – Theater Performance – Let The Right One In

Obviously the attendance at live performance theaters dipped during the pandemic. Unfortunately it has not yet fully returned to pre-Covid levels. So when we noticed “Let The Right One In” playing at the Outcry Theater in Addison, we decided to tuck some garlic in our pockets and support the local theater scene. This play is both a violent vampire myth and a coming-of-age love story based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. The actress Charli Henn played the vampire and was excellent, and overall the performances and staging were quite good. On a negative note, they had too many spells of wordless movements and a great deal of teen angst. Although it wasn’t our favorite story, we enjoyed the experience.

Since we couldn’t let the vampire theme leave just yet, here are some fun facts:

“Acting” as a vampire must get in your blood, as evidenced by the fact that Bela Lugosi, famous for portraying Count Dracula, chose to be buried in his full Dracula costume, cape and all.

Vampires may like blood but they have their dislikes too. In addition to hating garlic, vampires are also known to hate silverware. Not exactly your preferred dinner guests.

We often get reminded of the reason we started the “ABC Life.” It’s very easy to get stuck in a rut or decide not to do something because it’s less effort to just sit at home if the circumstances are not optimum (say, it’s raining or you’re feeling lazy or you think you’re going to do that project that you’ve put off for 5 months). This past week we could easily have just done the same old, same old but because of our ABC Life we found two terrific places that we had no idea existed near our homes.

New activity: Art exhibit – Sanctuary and the LOSS of Innocence….and Since

(Yes, that’s a stretch for “L” but the great thing about the ABC Life is you can customize it as you wish if it means getting out and doing/seeing things.)

We’ve been to the Studio Movie Grill in Richardson many times but never knew that there was a wonderful place on the street just behind the theatre called Goldmark Cultural Center. They were highlighting this 3-dimensional exhibit by Martin Delabano which presents two figures in a garden. From the description online: “Martin’s work pulls the spectator in and soon: remarkable details of humor and whimsy bring us into this conversation easily and in joy, we belong to this sanctuary for as long as we are willing to be there…. Find the unexpected: the work that watches you; the repurposed dowel, a box for your memories. In every work there is a vessel, literally or figuratively for us to place that which we need to place there. Perhaps it is joy, sadness, longing or surprise: whatever emotion, it and you are welcome here. Stay a while. “

We both found it very interesting and after seeing this, we could then walk around the two floors of the Center which were filled with various artist studios and look at their works on the wall or through the windows. Quite a delightful place and we will be back (maybe with some cash in hand?).

New bakery: LA CASITA

We arrived here thinking we’d find a small storefront with a single case of baked items and maybe one or two customers. Au contraire…it was huge! The left side was filled with people eating either a sandwich or baked good and the right side had a case of fresh breads with a snake line of people waiting to buy them or one of their coffee drinks or a specialty dessert. We split a fresh sourdough bread and shared a Cuban sandwich and a dessert called the Churro Cruffin, which was a churro baked into a muffin-like shape with dolce de leche piped into the center. OMG it was DE-licious. If you visit their website, https://lacasitagarden.com/monthlymenu, you’ll be able to see the monthly specialty desserts which all sounded yummy. This is highly recommended and we know for sure we’ll be back.

New activity: Sixth Floor Museum

Barbara: When my family first moved to the DFW area we visited the Sixth Floor Museum to see where President Kennedy was shot. Everyone I know who was alive during that period of history remembers where they were and how they felt when they heard what happened. But I haven’t been back since so I went with some friends to see if the exhibit had changed.

It was still very moving and informative. For example, I was shocked to learn that assassination of a President was not considered a federal offense. Also, there seemed to be a whole lot more conspiracy theories – in fact a whole wall of them. 

My friends had never been, so we all enjoyed the experience. To shake off the somberness of the occasion we tried a nearby street taco place called Chimalma Taco Bar. The food was delicious, and an unexpected treat was the waitress, Christine, who talked to us about – well, just about everything.

LEARNING CENTER – KENNEDY

Barbara – In preparation for this outing, I learned a couple of interesting facts from the Encyclopedia Britannica about President Kennedy:

An average adult can read about 275 words per minute. U.S. President John Kennedy could read 1,200 words per minute.

John F. Kennedy carved a rescue message in a coconut after his PT boat sank during World War II; it worked, and he kept the coconut on his desk during his time in the White House.

If you remember where you were when Kennedy was assassinated, please let us know.

New Documentaries:

Laura:  I’ve always thought of the kangaroo and the koala as adorable and well-loved animals. What I didn’t realize is that they are both marsupials (koalas are not bears) and that both these animals are dying off in record numbers. I chose to watch two films on these animals, thinking I would be treated to delightful scenes of animals playing and living a comfortable life in Australia. The two films, “Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story” and “Koalas: The Bare Facts”, proved me wrong and horrified me. So depressing!  Experts believe that koalas could be extinct within 20 years, mainly because although they are protected, the environmental conditions that they depend on to survive are not. Wildfires are not helping. And the fate of the kangaroo is even more horrifying. The kangaroo population is being slaughtered in record numbers, primarily because it is considered a pest by farmers and ranchers. Plus, with all these dead kangaroos, it’s not surprising that they are being turned into a range of marketable products: fashion, pet food and gourmet cuisine. I love documentaries…you learn new things and gain new perspectives. Unfortunately, it’s not always what you wanted to know.

LEARNING CENTER

Barbara: I tried to find a fact that would make us feel a little better after this, so perhaps if it’s the eucalyptus trees in the environment that aren’t protected it’s not as dire as thought.

According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica eucalyptus leaves are full of toxins dangerous to baby koalas. Mama koalas feed their babies microbe-rich poop instead to help them develop immunity.

Luckily for my kids, I am not a koala.

Sometimes things we want to do for a letter work out really well and sometimes they don’t. That was the case for us this month as two activities did not meet our expectations.

New activity – Wanda KING Blues Band

The Allen Library has a very active event schedule for kids and adults alike and it’s always worth checking out their schedule. This past Friday they had Wanda King and her band playing. Wanda is the daughter of blues legend Freddie King. The band was very good and Wanda has a terrific voice but it was a bit of a disappointment as she came out, sang one song, left and the band played the entire remainder of the hour alone with the exception of one more song from Wanda. Could be she had a good reason, but it still left us wanting as we prefer blues singing to blues band by itself. On the plus side, we got out of the house and listened to some good live music.

New activity – KNOX HENDERSON

Barbara had been to this area a long time ago and remembered it having very funky, unique shops and so since Laura hadn’t ever been we decided to take a drive. First, we looked up several vintage shops, one cute sounding store called Froggie’s Five and Ten and an interesting shop called Art is Art. Both wound up being gone from the location we copied from the website and lots of the existing vintage stores were either closed or very high priced.  

BUT although the day wasn’t exactly what we had expected, we decided to reward ourselves with a bunch of K delights from our Kopel childhood memories: we bought knishes, kasha varnishkes and kishka at Deli News and the day ended with a killer blast from the past.

New City: KELLER

It would have been very easy to sit indoors this weekend since it’s been so darned hot, but since it’s “K” month we felt drawn to the Keller Farmer’s Market. On the close to an hour’s drive, we had time to reflect on the pull of K. We were both born Kopel’s and now one of us is a Kroeger and one of us a Katz. The Seinfeld show could have been created for us as we find delight in talking about nothing.  For example, who but the sisters could find Rufe Snow Drive the source of a good ten minute Konversation. Barbara posited that while discussing the name of the street as it was being designed perhaps the person dictating the name had a slight speech impediment and the street was meant to be called Ruth Snow Drive. Laura thought perhaps the designer’s 4 year old son had looked out the window and said, “Daddy, there’s snow on the rufe!”. Kindred spirits indeed!

But on to the farmer’s market. It was located in a pretty area and was of a good size so we had high hopes.

And while the produce was nice, we know for next time that an hour to drive necessitates another sight to see and there was none. But we did come home with some very tasty peaches, blueberries and strawberries so not a total loss.