Ever start holiday shopping and end up buying more for yourself than for others? Of course you have because the holidays are never close enough. So if being a shopaholic makes you feel guilty, then the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has an event to help clear your conscience. Shop for the Cure is a silent auction where you can get a head start on your holiday shopping and help raise money for leukemia research. If you enjoy the hunt for the perfect gift or fighting over a parking spot at the mall, then you'll love the underhanded scheming and plotting of a silent auction. Hundreds of great gifts have been donated, and you might even find something for that person you intentionally left off your shopping list. Heck, you might even find something for yourself. It's Monday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Hard Rock Café, 2601 McKinney Ave. Admission is $10. Call 972-355-3445. --Jay Webb
Roll Call
11/14
Artist Theo Stanley is a little busy. He is tired. He is harried. Because his wife is this close to giving birth, he's been up since 3 a.m. and some idiot reporter has tracked him down on his cell phone to ask about his exhibit Presence and Absence, which opens with a reception 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and runs through December 20 at Paradigm Gallery (2704 Commerce St., 214-752-4284). Nevertheless, he answers our dumb question--"Uh, you combine photographic techniques with drawing and painting, and you say the exhibit is a visual manifestation built on the framework of your ideas. Whuzzat mean?"--with grace and intelligence. "A lot of my work is a response to ideas I get from simple things I see or read or hear daily," he says. "Through this process, this response, I find a way to actually touch the ideas." Up next, we suppose: the concept of sleep. --Eric Celeste
Wild Art
11/15
One attraction that makes virtually every kid happy and supports a noble cause is Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, about an hour and 15 minutes south of Dallas. When you navigate Fossil Rim's 10-mile safari drive in your own car, you come across zebras that stick their snouts through your window and giraffes that dangle their long, sticky tongues through your moon roof. On Saturday, from noon to 5 p.m., Fossil Rim will host an "Art Safari" benefit where you can purchase the works of Texas wildlife artists. Prices start at $15, and each patron who takes home a piece of art gets a free children's ticket to the safari drive. You don't need to purchase admission to attend the Art Safari, which is at the park's Nature Store. Call 254-897-2960. --Julie Lyons
