About Dallas/Fort Worth and Me

Greetings, programs! Floyd here, your guide to all things in the lovely and lyrical Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. As I define it, the Metroplex includes not just the Big D and Fort Worth, but also all the “Mid-Cities” clustered between the two, as well as the halo of surrounding communities. That makes for more than six million people, all rubbing shoulders in a 9,249 square mile territory that includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Bedford, Benbrook, Duncanville, Flower Mound, Garland, Grand Prairie, Haltom City, Hurst, Lewisville, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson, Rockwall, Rowlett, Sachse and the dozens of other towns and cities that have coalesced to form this great big conglomeration of urban sprawl.

While none of these communities is very old, even by American standards — Texas wasn’t even colonized until the 1820s, remember — together they form a vibrant megacity that’s brimming with culture and sophistication at every level. It’s all here, from the smallest, hidden hole-in-the-wall restaurants and gin joints on through the best barbecue ever, exciting rodeos, NASCAR races, community theatres, and high-falutin’ opera. We’ve also got a vibrant art and music scene, centered in Dallas’ Deep Ellum and the West End. Lots of good universities and colleges, too. Oh, and did I mention museums? We have plenty, focusing on everything from African American history to classic art, agriculture to commercial aviation. We’ve even got a couple of JFK museums; no surprise there, I guess. In fact, the Metroplex offers such a rich source of subjects for me to mine that I doubt I’ll ever run out of things to write about. Heck, I could go on for weeks about the State Fair alone — and I probably will.

But hey, I’m not just going to stick to events and cool places to go: I’ll slip you info on everything I can think of about my hometown, including subjects like the weather, food, politics (someone’s got to replace Molly Ivins), my opinion on our illustrious sports teams, and where it’s a bad idea to go over the speed limit.  On occasion, we might even go on little field trips to places like nearby Glen Rose, where you can still see actual dinosaur tracks in the sedimentary rocks of the Paluxy River, or to the exfoliated granite dome of Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg. I know you like the local scenery, so we might just take a few drives into the countryside to check out parks, national forests, and area lakes. So sit back and enjoy, and I’ll fill you in on the details a little bit at a time. It may take a while — it’s a big place.

Personal Stats: I’m a graduate of Texas A&M University, where I spent 7.5 blissful years (ha!) obtaining degrees in History and Anthropology. After a brief sojourn in an amazing place called New Orleans, I moved to the Metroplex, where I’ve lived for about 15 years. I currently live in Garland with my family, including three dogs and two cats. I’m not over the hill yet, but I’m definitely approaching the crest. In my time, I’ve been a professional archeologist, a technical writer, a bookstore owner, and a freelance writer (not to mention all the fun survival jobs I had when I was in college). I’m mostly a freelance writer at the moment. Besides reading, writing this blog is one of the things I do for fun.

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Foxy

In Memoriam
Foxy Brown Largent
July 1, 1997-September 21, 2007

On the morning of September 21, my beloved Pomeranian, Foxy, passed away from antifreeze poisoning. We still don’t know if it was deliberate or accidental. Please, if your pet ever gets violently ill and starts acting disoriented — almost like they’re drunk or hungover — get them to the vet immediately. By the time we took Foxy in it was too late. All we could do was comfort her, try to ease her pain, and let her know she was loved.

She died of kidney failure the next morning.

I’m going to miss my little Doodlesbug. A lot.

6 Replies to “About Dallas/Fort Worth and Me”

  1. 11th Annual DHS Choir Craft Show will be held December 6th, 2008 9:00 a.m. – 4:00p.m. Admission is Free. Denton High School 1007 Fulton Street Denton, Texas.
    If you have space on a great website please post us there.

  2. You have listed a 2009 Junteenth Celebration. Where will this celebration take place? Thanks.

  3. Hello,

    I am a Civil Engineer by profession and would like to request your permission to use the photos of the dam for an outreach event to educate kids about engineering. I would appreciate your response.

    Thank you,
    Anu

  4. Hi,
    I am writing you on behalf of Save-A-Lot Food Stores (1,200 locations from ME to CA and 12 in DFW) and our upcoming DFW event on Friday, 3/26. We love your blog.

    Because you focus on Dallas /Forth Worth, we would like to personally invite you as one of a select few bloggers to meet celebrity chef Tim Love (www.ChefTimLove.com – Winner of Food Network’s Iron Chef America and previous judge on Bravo TV’s Top Chef), Tim will be creating a special chili recipe and sharing tips and techniques at our event. We’ll also have a gift bag full of goodies for you.

    Please reply to this email so we can provide further details. Be sure to include your phone number.

    It would be great if you could join us!

    Christine Yee

    Matrixx (On behalf of Save-A-Lot Food Stores)

    http://www.save-a-lot.com

    http://www.matrixxpictures.

  5. Floyd,
    I am one of the Training Co-Chairs for Indian Trail Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist program. We are looking for an archeologist to talk to the class in May. We serve Ellis & Navarro Counties but I liked the pieces I have found in DFW and Me that you have written. Is this something you do or would consider doing? We generally allot 1 1/2 to 2 hours for a presentation including question and answers. We meet in Waxahachie. Please let me know at your earliest convenience and I will be happy to provide more details.

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