First things first: If you want to be an organ donor--and why wouldn't you?--have a chat with your family. Let them know your wishes right now, because chances are you won't be able to tell them when the time is at hand. Oh, and get that organ donor card. You say you don't know how? Well, that's easy, silly. At 7:30 a.m. this Saturday, come to the Shelter House Pavilion, 2003 W. Seventh St. in Fort Worth, and register for the LifeGift Organ Donation Center's second chance organ donation awareness run, which includes a 5K race and 1-mile fun run, along with food, drinks and live music. Volunteers will be on hand with donation cards, and if you bring the family along, you can get the kids some fresh air plus make your post-mortem intentions perfectly clear. That svelte, healthy runner's body of yours could save eight lives from organ transplants and save or improve up to 75 others from tissue transplants--once you're done with it in the far-distant future, of course. Entry fees at $15 in advance and $20 on race day. Call 1-800-633-6562 or visit www.active.com for info. --Patrick Williams
Fast and Fury-ous
3/11
When Sheryl Swoopes does a reverse-pivot, pulls back and flicks her dainty little wrist, the results are amazing. The ball leaves her grip, and it's bound for nothing less than a backboard bounce. She shoots; she scores. Now that she's part of the Dallas Fury, watch her and the whole posse command the courts in a few upcoming home games at the University of Texas at Dallas as part of the National Women's Basketball League. Fair warning: The popularity of Swoopes means a tough hustle for some seats 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the Birmingham Power and 3 p.m. Sunday versus the Houston Stealth. Call 214-476-6712 or visit www.nwbl.com/fury. --Desirée Henry
Dig This
3/13
"Successful vegetable gardening requires knowing what and when to plant," says the Dallas Arboretum's description of its upcoming class in vegetable gardening basics. Yeah, right. From our 20 years of failed efforts to grow a decent tomato in Texas (we're from Illinois, where homegrown tomatoes don't generally have the consistency and flavor of croquet balls), we suspected that even more important is knowing where to plant--i.e. anywhere but here. Master gardener Steve Kimball assures us we are wrong. "I will tell you all the gardening secrets in Dallas," Kimball teases, including how to improve the area's cement-like soil. "By trucking in dirt from the Midwest?" we asked. No, nothing that extreme, Kimball promises. Could a tasty tomato finally be ours? The three-hour class, which begins at 1 p.m., is $20, or $18 for members of the arboretum, 8617 Garland Road. Call 214-515-6500. --Patrick Williams
