Friday, March 29, 2024 Mar 29, 2024
64° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
Publications

STAYING IN

By D Magazine |

GARDENING

Before you start your spring digging it may be wise to consult a local gardening guru’s latest tome: Neil Sperry’s Complete Guide to Texas Gardening. Yes, the green thumb of Dallas has done it again with his second book. This revised bible of gardening details everything you ever wanted to know about putting in a lawn, fertilizing, insect control, and growing fruits and vegetables. Texas Gardening is available in area bookstores for $34. 95.

MOOD RINGS

PEOPLE What do you get when youmix medieval jewelry with Hollywood?Margaret Sullivan and what she calls FakeGlamour. “Not many people can afforddiamonds, but you can wear one of my bigSculpey rhinestone rings, ” says Sullivan.The rings are big-and outrageous in aLiberace kind of way. Not exactly somethingyou’d wear around the house, but perfectfor a night on the town. Some of the5-ounce hunks of Sculpey and stone are sooversized they look better strung on a lightchain and worn as a necklace. Sculpey is asynthetic clay available at most craft storesand is the wave of the future because itbakes in the oven. Sullivan says she usedto make her jewelry from papier machéuntil she discovered Sculpey. Now, shesays, “I have an idea and make a ring outof it. Then I’ll stick a rhinestone in itand bake it. ” -Layne Morgan

On World Time

TRENDS Recent sales of global clocks indicate more Dallasites than ever are on planetary time. In fact, pretty soon we’ll all be multilingual when it comes to time-zone-speak.

You can keep track with timekeepers as elaborate as the Geochron, a 2-by-3 electronic wall map, or as simple as a palm-sized round brass World Time Calendar that indicates times for world capitals. The Geochron, at the Nature Company for $1, 300, shows the hour in 24 standard and 10 non-standard local time zones and illuminates global areas of night and day. Salespeople say it’s a hot office furnishing for international businesses. The Time Calendar, a simple mechanical calculator with no clock mechanism and an antique feel, runs a mere $9. 50 at Nauticals Ltd.

In between is every timepiece imaginable. The tiniest is the Tic Toc Clock Shop’s business card-sized digital world travel clock. Seiko even makes a world wristwatch. The Geochron’s desk-top equivalents from Seiko run $99 for time only and $299 if you want weather data, too. The most nostalgic world clock is Howard Miller Company’s antique-style tinted wall map, complete with sea monsters, in an oak case. You still can’t buy time, but you can tick to the world beat. -Julie Ryan

The Thank-You Note

MODERN MANNERS When LBJ died in 1973, 700, 000 messages of condolence flooded the late president’s family in Texas. Martha Tiller, Lady Bird Johnson’s social and press secretary, and other staff members made sure each correspondent got a reply. So when Tiller, now a Dallas public relations whiz, joined the throngs of business people, socialites, and just ordinary folks who use thank-you notes as a way of life, she knew the ground rules. “I keep them short, succinct, and clever, ” she says.

Dallas Junior Leaguers, famed in fact and fiction for their thank-you notes, really do write lots of them. “It makes people feel that they’re doing a good job, ” explains League president Karen Shuford, who tries to make her notes “genuine and sincere. ” Adds Barbara Paschall, owner of the R. S. V. P. Inc. retail store and party planning service: “I always like to add a personal touch. ” Both women buy their notes, cards, and imprinted envelopes at places of their own design: Junior League Imprinters (357-8821), which is open to the public, and R. S. V. P. Inc. (350-7787).

Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., and Gump’s all sell the more formal, engraved notes, but today’s etiquette permits using more casual materials. Among paper artists, Two Women Boxing (939-1626) sets the standard with a limited but splendid supply of one-of-a-kind stationery sets of Italian papers. Riper Routes (827-3392) stocks some locally made cards, including Katherine Trewitt’s bits of flowers and greenery laminated on paper, plus the store sells fine imported papers for creating your own. Down at the West End Marketplace, Color-tree (720-2297) is the pot of gold at the end of a 20-color rainbow known as Sonburn Stationery by the Pound.

-Derro Evans

VIDEOS

OSCAR VIDS

If your favorite didn’t win an Oscar, console yourse lf with some nominees from the past.

Driving Miss Daisy (1990): Postcards from the edge of the civil rights era, as told through the eyes of a cranky but endearing Atlanta widow and her faithful chauffeur. Even with repeated viewings, the luminous performances of Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman simply get stronger and stronger.

All About Eve (1950): Fasten your Davis, batting moreLowe, and a herd-to-believe Anne Baxter square off as star versus vicious ingenue in this overacted tale of show biz rivalry. Watch for Marilyn Monroe’s bit appearance, plus the what-goes-around-comes-around ending.

From Hero to Eternity (1954): Hollywood in basic khaki goes to Pearl Harbor to discover that war is hell but movies about it can be heavenly. See Montgomery Ctift before end Frank Sinatra after hitting the skids, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr scorching the sands in a seaside sex encounter, and TV’s perfect mom. Donna Reed, playing a prim Victorian who just happens to be a Honolulu hooker.

Amadeus (1984): Who would have guessed that composing classical music in Vienna would be as fraught with peril as Middle East politics? Tom Hulce plays the da-ranged gigglebox of a genius, Mozart, and Murray Abraham twitches a few eyebrows as the scheming Salieri. Aside from the splendid score, this sumptuous production heaves with bosoms, bonbons, and brocades in a visual feast.

-Darro Evans

Related Articles

Image
Arts & Entertainment

Here’s Who Is Coming to Dallas This Weekend: March 28-31

It's going to be a gorgeous weekend. Pencil in some live music in between those egg hunts and brunches.
Image
Arts & Entertainment

Arlington Museum of Art Debuts Two Must-See Nature-Inspired Additions

The chill of the Arctic Circle and a futuristic digital archive mark the grand opening of the Arlington Museum of Art’s new location.
By Brett Grega
Image
Arts & Entertainment

An Award-Winning SXSW Short Gave a Dallas Filmmaker an Outlet for Her Grief

Sara Nimeh balances humor and poignancy in a coming-of-age drama inspired by her childhood memories.
By Todd Jorgenson
Advertisement