Who needs therapy when you can study acting under local Meisner Technique teacher Terry Martin? Local actors, including standouts such as Regan Adair and Tippi Hunter, swear by Martin's 12-week course, which uses a step-by-step approach to breaking down emotional barriers and exploring dialogue through lengthy repetition. Martin, who is WaterTower Theatre's producing artistic director, trained under both Sanford Meisner (founder of New York City's legendary Neighborhood Playhouse) and Meisner protégé Fred Kareman. The class is tough, a real emotional boot camp, say former students. "I never cried so much in my life," says Contemporary Theatre founder and lead actress Sue Loncar. An interview is required for admittance to each fall's select group of students. Now where's the class to prepare for the interview?

Can you tell the difference between a voice scratchy and raw from a nasty case of bronchitis on the verge of pneumonia from one harmed by four hours spent in a smoky bar and performing a scream-filled rendition of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It"? Nope. And neither can your boss. See, Skaraoke--hosted every Thursday night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. by DJ Mr. Rid--is a reason and an excuse to take a three-day weekend. The long-running (first at XPO Lounge and now at Meridian Room) event features a real karaoke machine with books offering more than a hundred pages of song choices. The standing-room-only crowd is always full of liquid courage and ready to sing along. All you have to do is make your request and remember to set your alarm early enough to call in "sick."

After a late-night cup of java at Standards and Pours on the bottom level of this artists' community, venture your way to the main lobby, find the elevator and ride all the way to the top. The roof caters to the residents of this renovated Sears building with sitting areas, a pool and jogging track. People even live up there! Stand in front of the huge neon sign, face Dallas and try not to gasp. Even city naysayers can't resist this spectacular view. Big-time bonus points in your favor if taking a date.

Take it from our mom, Rose-Mary Rumbley is a rock star among Dallas' senior set. Her lively speeches and informative neighborhood history tours are sellouts months in advance. Her breadth of knowledge about all things Dallas is spectacular. Historian, humorist, author and actress, Rumbley, who appeared in the movie Paper Moon, is this area's most in-demand public speaker. Making more than 300 appearances a year at church groups, community colleges, book review clubs, senior centers and business luncheons, Rumbley can make any subject fascinating. She speaks with authority on dozens of topics: Dallas parks, the history of Oak Cliff, old-time radio, vaudeville, Broadway shows, Sam Houston, Texas' small-town food festivals and many others. She's written a book, Century of Class, about the history of public education in Dallas, and wrote The Unauthorized History of Dallas for the city's 150th birthday in 1991. Always on the move, Rumbley recently completed a trip along Route 66, gathering material for another book. Forget retirement. Dr. Rumbley's always ready to rumble.

It's not every weekend you can paint your self gold and do "The Swim" on a go-go girl platform. But it is every eighth weekend. The Lollipop Shoppe is an every-other-month themed party usually held at the Avenue Arts Venue in Expo Park. Music (provided by resident DJs Panda Flower and Tiger Bee, guest DJs and live bands) and decorations are tailored to fit the motif, which has included Space Out, Beach Party or Spy Night. Costumes are encouraged; dancing is, too. And it's usually BYOB. That's six more excuses beyond Halloween to hit the thrift stores and costume shops. But you don't have to go all out to be part of the in crowd. Simply standing, watching and drinking is groovy, too.

Suenos Sabrosos means "sweet dreams" in English, and many of those can be found at this sweet and dreamy ice cream parlor in Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District. Saturday nights you can find the Oak Cliff Circle of Poets reading and sometimes performing their works. They are cool about letting non-members read stuff, original or not, and may even offer membership. Who can beat a sonnet-and-scoop combo?

Maybe your friends or coworkers have set you up with somebody, or perhaps you're venturing into the world of online dating. Either way you have a potentially bad date. Arrange your meet-up at The Cavern's upstairs lounge; it has several factors that work for you. First, it's a bar. There's alcohol. Enough said. Second, it's less crowded upstairs, and seeing fewer people decreases the chances someone you know will see you. Also, The Cavern is named after the club where the Beatles played in Germany at the beginning of their career, and the upstairs room has some Beatles memorabilia. There's your first topic of conversation. Next, half of the upstairs is very, very dark and full of low, sink-right-in couches. If the date goes well, there's a comfy sofa in an almost pitch black space--don't worry, you won't be the first person to test just how dark it is.

So he doesn't stand by a flashy car, tell the cameras to roll and promise to win you a basketful of cold hard cash. When you're looking at a little jail time after chugging martinis and running afoul of a McKinney Avenue roadblock, you need a thorough professional. That's David Burrows, Phi Beta Kappa from SMU and graduate of Baylor Law. Last year alone he kicked ass in 31 trials. That's 31 DWI victories, more than many criminal lawyers tally in an entire career. How does he do it? Wish we could say he keeps photos in some safety deposit box of local judges getting jiggy at a petting zoo. Nope, he's just adept at jury selection and in-depth research, especially the jury selection part--he even teaches other lawyers the delicate art. Not easy, after all, to find that one person who believes that maybe, just maybe, road hazards and an improperly placed tree caused the mishap in question.

Does Fair Park ever cross your mind outside of car shows, Ferris wheels and all things fried? The African American Museum should help change that, and a visit leaves a deeper impression of the area's history. The museum as a whole is architecturally phenomenal and the collections are impressive, but the Freedman's Cemetery exhibition is powerful. A big chunk of Dallas' past is recorded here, so give yourself the time to soak it all in. Funereal artifacts, historic documents and recorded audio provide an enlightening picture of the thriving black community and its struggles against racism in Dallas. It's one thing to know a time like that existed in the city, but it's stunning to see the proof.

It just happens. We're sitting at Reikyu, in a seat that faces out onto Mockingbird Station, and we spy someone in an apartment with the blinds open, probably also enjoying the view. And before we know it, we're watching some guy pace around his stylishly minimal apartment while talking on a cordless phone. It's more addictive than TV at a bar. It's OK, we think. It's their fault for leaving their blinds open. We're not voyeurs; they're exhibitionists. But the truth is we love it, and so do you.