UNO MAS

One more day!
Just ONE!
And I'll be on VACATION!


I've got a lot planned, but I'll mostly go with the flow. I don't want to feel like I have to accomplish everything I've got in my brain. If I do just some of it, I'll have done a lot. Besides, vacations are meant to be relaxing.

For sure, I plan to write. Everyday. To document my adventures. My blog will be full.

There will also be lots of hiking, working out, and visiting places I don't normally get to visit. I plan to make the best possible use of my home town and the surrounding areas. I'll go out to Denton. I've got a date there, with identical twins. Yep, it's true. But they're actually two young girls who work part-time at Borders; Leisa and Lindsey. It's not a REAL date! More like a Big Brother excursion. I just think it would be fun to visit the old stomping grounds and show those kids all the fun stuff to do in Little D.

Denton has a wonderful town square which features Beth Ann's ice cream shop; a reasonably authentic antique style soda and desserts joint. They have amazing ice cream (you get to mix in your own ingredients, like they do at the Marble Slab), and they often feature homemade cobbler that is out of this world! There's also the Old Opera House Bookstore - a used book outlet that is located, if you haven't guessed, in an old opera house. There are winding stairways lined with books. Even the bathrooms, basement, and closets have shelves of books in them. There's room after room, like a maze! It's an amazing place. I think the girls will dig it, because they're very artistic; art majors, in fact. I'll show them the famous tattoo parlour on Frye Street, too. Whether or not they get any tats is up to them. But their mother would kill me, so I'll try to talk them out of it. There are also numerous coffee houses, jazz joints, and (of course) the Flying Tomato - known for it's delicious pizza; the cornerstone of many a college student's diet.

I also want to pay a visit White Rock Lake, Dallas' most famous (only mention-worthy) urban oasis. It's our Central Park (though I'm sure it pales in comparison). There's a lot to see and do. The Bath House Cultural Center. The Dallas Arboretum. And massive hiking mileage is possible on the White Rock Trail.

The lake and the surrounding hills, woods, railroad tracks, old neighborhoods, and cemeteries are steeped in urban tall tales.

There is Bonnie Belle Island, a phantom land mass which appears and disappears at random. And, of course, there is the famous Lady of the Lake. She's a flapper-era hitchhiker from beyond the grave who, they say, wanders the foggy, lakeside roads, late at night, flagging down unsuspecting motorists. There also used to be tales of Satan worshipping weirdos performing bizarre rituals up on Flagpole Hill, which overlooks the dark waters. And, supposedly, the lake's depths are littered with gangster skeletons in cement shoes.

(And some people tell stories about Groovy Ol' Joel, a spectral hippy who haunts the town houses on the lake's west side...)

However, I won't be doing any ghost-hunting, fishing for Jimmy Hoffa, or rescuing any virgins from Aleister Crowley (or from Joel). My activities will all be in daylight. With my medicine bag in one hand and my car keys in the other.

For more about the legends of the lake: see Enormous John Junkill's excellent write-up at:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1766193
Junkill used to live in a classy old place near the lakeside. I spent a lot of time at his house, as a younger person and, believe me, that area is spooky enough at night, to inspire all kinds of strange yarns. Be they truth or fiction.

I also look forward to getting the house clean and lurvly, doing some cooking (curry, especially), practicing my math skills for school, visiting schools (like UNT, UTD, etc.), buying a new printer and either a scanner or a digital camera, and spending lots of time with Rerun.

Just one more day...