Author Archive

There’s a difference between listening to holiday tunes for 20 minutes at a time and listening to them for 20 consecutive hours.

The prolonged drought hasn’t caused a Dallas water crisis yet, but the City has decided to be cautious by instituting Stage 1 water restrictions beginning Dec. 12. The regulations affect both residential and commercial water users in Dallas.

The DMN reported the story this weekend, but if you aren’t a … more

In a way, Steve Jobs’ life has become a kind of ideal, a measuring stick for the rest of us slogging along life’s pothole-filled highway. How much of a positive impact do we need to have on others so that we are judged to have “made our mark” and lived a worthwhile life?

That’s the question that was put to a number of Dallas residents as part of the city’s Complete Streets initiative, and the answer is surprising: 85 percent of us said we would happily give up at least 5 percent of our streets to facilitate walking and biking in the city.… more

I keep checking the satellite photo of my home in Google maps, hoping that one of these days, I’ll see a expensive but debt-free sports car parked in my driveway and the car actually will be mine. Unfortunately, that day has not arrived yet, nor is predicting the future what … more

The good news in Texas is that more students than ever are taking Advanced Placement (AP) tests, indicating that more students in the state are taking more challenging AP courses as they go through their high school careers. The bad news: the “passing” rate for the AP tests being taken … more

OK, this is a promotion for meeting planners and not the rest of us, but I’m on an email chain that touts these things and here’s a copy of what I received via email a few minute ago. Looks like Nov. 11, 2011, is the official opening date for the … more

By now you’ve probably heard that the guy who made Apple what it is, Steve Jobs, died Wednesday. There’s not a lot of neighborhood, hyper-local introspection I can bring to bear on that news, other than to acknowledge that just about everything we do at the Advocate utilizes Apple technology … more

I’m ashamed to admit this, but I once burst into tears because I couldn’t afford a kitchen blender a salesman told me I needed at the Minnesota State Fair.

So far this year, crime in every major index the the city measures is down from the same period last year, except for one: residential burglaries are 0.3 percent higher (from 10,003 in 2010 to 10,029 this year), according to a report from police Chief David Brown to the city … more

It’s hard to argue with the judges’  choice of Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack as “best tasting” among the eight finalists for this 2011 State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards, and it’s hard to argue with Fried Bubblegum being selected as the “most creative.”

But having had a … more

It’s hard to know where the idea for “fried bubblegum” came from, and it’s harder still to imagine what that could possibly taste like, but I guess that’s why we have the State Fair of Texas: Where else is your mother going to let you eat this stuff?

The eight … more