Wednesday January 6
Newly sober? If finding sober activities and seeing art are on your new year/new you list, today is your day. From 6pm to 7pm, The Phoenix DFW — an active sober community — is doing a group walk in the Foundry District around Inspiration Alley (200 Carroll St), where artists have painted murals in various shapes, sizes, and themes. Participants must wear masks. The event is free to attend and costs only “48 hours of sobriety.” Register at ThePhoenix.org or call 817-403-5977.
Thursday January 7
At 7:30pm every Thursday in January, visit Levitt Pavilion at Facebook.com/LevittPavilionArlington for Learn With the Levitt. Every week, you will learn about a different genre of music and a new varietal of wine. In this first session, the lesson is about the classics, including orchestral music and American composers John Adams, Aaron Copland, and Ellen Taafe Zwillich. Three types of wines will be studied, including an American chardonnay, a Spanish cava, and a “mysterious old world-inspired blend.” This virtual event is free to attend, but you’ll need to purchase your wines from UrbanAlchemy.bar and pick them up at Urban Alchemy Coffee & Wine Bar (403 E Main St, Arlington, 817-617-2054).
Friday January 8
As part of the NA3HL North Texas Winter Series, see Eastern Division rivals the Long Beach Sharks, Oklahoma City Blazers, and North East Generals face off against local hockey teams from the Southern Division, including host team the Texas Brahmas, plus Mid-Cities Junior Stars and Texas Road Runners at the NYTEX Sports Centre (8851 Ice House Dr, NRH, 817-336-4423). At 7pm — with the puck drop at 7:15pm — watch the Brahmas vs. Generals game. General admission is $5, and suite tickets are $10. (The minimum ticket quantity for suite tickets is four.) Purchase tickets at the box office at NYTEX or TexasJrBrahmas.com/Ticket-Sales.
Saturday January 9
At 10:30am, jump online for Virtual Tall Tales’ next installment at the Sid Richardson Museum (309 Main St, 817-332-6554) via Zoom. During these book discussions, connections are made between classic literature and art pieces exhibited at the museum. The book selection for Saturday is Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, the story of an aging Cuban fisherman. Artwork from the SRM exhibit In a Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington — many depicting fishermen and their wives — will be the visual-arts focus. (As the museum is temporarily closed due to the pandemic, this is an excellent opportunity to view the exhibits.) This event is free to attend, but one person per household should register at SidRichardsonMuseum.org/Events.
Sunday January 10
For some Sarah McLachlan-esque, free animal advocacy that comes with a souvenir that you will actually want to keep, participate in Paint Your Pet! from 2pm to 5pm at Painting With a Twist (203 E Worth St, Ste 100, Grapevine, 817-328-8788). The cost is $60 per person — with 50% of proceeds going to Operation Kindness Pet Rescue — and covers you on all the needed art supplies. This event is BYOB, so you must be 18 and up to attend. The painting itself is limited to one pet per canvas (i.e., don’t try to recreate Dogs Playing Poker). Once registered, you will need to email a high-resolution/high-contrast picture (i.e., no black dogs on black couches), and they will sketch your four-legged friend on the canvas for you. Registration and photo-sending info can be found at Facebook.com/PWAT.Grapevine.
Monday January 11
Drunk ladies learning to shoot. Wait. What? In reality, the Ladies Shoot & Champagne event at 6pm is a girls’ night out with the booze at the end of the night at Texas Gun Experience (1901 S Main St, Grapevine, 817-285-0664) that includes learning some quick firearms safety lessons, enjoying some range time with a certified instructor, and then sipping some bubbly after the guns are put away. This session is for women at the beginner level who may or may not have shot a gun before. Tickets are $75 per person on Eventbrite.com.
Tuesday January 12
Have you ever wondered how to land a federal contract? From 1pm to 3:30pm, SCORE Mentors Fort Worth — an organization composed of volunteer counselors with professional experience in the business sector — is offering a live online workshop via Zoom called Federal Contracting 101 tailored that walks entrepreneurs through the art of the process, best practices, finding bids, setting up financing, and more. Tickets are $75 per person. For more details and the registration link, go to Facebook.com/ScoreFortWorth.
8 Days a Week
From now until the money is in your hot little hand, I am sure you are all wondering what-the-what about that stimulus money we are supposed to be getting from Big Brother. In search of my own answers, here’s what I have found. If you haven’t already received a direct deposit, you will most likely be sent a check in the mail that will arrive by mid-January. A select few — very few — may be receiving a debit card in the mail, also by mid-January. How your first stimulus came to you in no way indicates how you will receive your second stimulus because the government. If Jennifer lost her last debit card and funds are issued to her on a debit card, she needs not to worry as it will be on a whole new debit card, not the old one (whew!). If you receive none of the above by Fri, Jan 15, (or shortly after that) and you actually qualified for funds, you can simply claim it on your 2021 taxes. As it turns out, we’re just borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. (If you’re reading this, my editor let me publish an ancient cliché. Thanks, bro!) What do I mean by borrowing? This funding is part of a “recovery rebate” that was already slated to be credited on our 2020 taxes due April 15. Or so says Kiplinger.com.
