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Oak Lawn

Crime in the Gayborhood

The gayborhood feels considerably safer than it did last year, but we still have some bizarre crime stories.

Here’s a running list of notable crime stories in Oak Lawn.

Police documenting the scene of an officer attack in Oak Lawn.

Police documenting the scene of an officer attack in Oak Lawn.

The Naked Brawler — April 16, 2016

Michael and I were walking the dogs on Easter Sunday when we noticed a bunch of police cars swarming the closed AT&T store across from Starbucks and Eatzi’s.

It was strange to see four Dallas Police cars and two Highland Park patrol cars around a closed store. We grabbed Starbucks and watched as a crime lab van pulled up.

I took a picture of the squad cars and sent it to our breaking news team to investigate. What they found out was hilarious: a Highland Park officer apparently came across a naked woman in the street around 9 a.m.

She was distraught and punched him.

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dogs / Oak Lawn

Back to the tennis courts

Apollo the German shepherd with Ingird the Labradoodle

We finally made our way back to the tennis courts to wear out Ingrid, our labradoodle, and Apollo, the German shepherd that we recently sponsored.

The enclosed tennis courts in our neighborhood are perfect for letting the dogs run around. The speed of our tennis game usually means that they can’t grab the balls — although there were a few close calls.

Apollo the German shepherd with Ingird the Labradoodle

Apollo the German shepherd at the Perry Heights tennis courts.

By the end of the game, some of the tennis balls were so soaked in dog drool that it felt like hitting a water balloon. (Those ended up getting thrown out.)

And yes, it was as disgusting as it sounds.

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Oak Lawn / Restaurants

A look at the new “Q Tacos at Machos Cantina” in Oak Lawn

Q Tacos at Machos Cantina in Oak Lawn / Cedar Springs, Dallas

We got a sneak preview of the “Q Tacos at Machos Cantina” yesterday – a.k.a. the relaunch of Quesa on Cedar Springs.

The restaurant has been open since at least this weekend, but they were still finishing up some things last night ahead of this evening’s launch party.

What’s new

Design: The décor is updated, including the removal of that hideous stretched-out picture from above the Quesa kitchen. The patio wallpaper is new as well.

Q Tacos at Machos Cantina in Oak Lawn / Cedar Springs, Dallas

An artist finishing the interior illustrations at Q Tacos at Machos Cantina in Oak Lawn, Dallas

Concept: The interior dining room (Machos Cantina) has more of a lounge feel than it did before. The kitchen (Q Tacos) now has a walk-up window where you can order and pay for your food. It also has a second window facing the patio that will be open after-hours.

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LGBT / Oak Lawn

The fight on Cedar Springs

February 14, 2017

Dallas Gay Civil Rights March

I am on hold with 911 when the second guy gets punched out.

It’s Sunday evening. My neighbors and I are on the patio of Havana’s nightclub when a fight breaks out on the sidewalk in front of us.

The chaos starts when several guys stumble out of Italia Express (a pizza place next to the bar). A heavyset guy in a purple shirt is screaming at a thinner man. Their friends are trying to hold the purple-shirted-man back when he shoves the skinny guy.

The skinny guy whacks his head on the pavement and then passes out with his hand hanging in the flooded street gutter.

Half the people on the Havana’s patio whip out their cellphones to call 911. Everyone gets a busy signal.

I run inside and ask the bar staff to call the police.

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Daily / LGBT / Oak Lawn

Crap and crime in the gayborhood

December 13, 2016

ilume park small dog park

Here’s what I’m talking about this morning.

1. The shit field: The small dog park in my apartment building has become a chaotic biohazard. It’s generally too filthy to use, and we can hear dogs barking long into the night.

The number of dogs some tenants have contributes to the problem. You have to be paying really close attention when you have four dogs running around.

2. Bank of America: The bank by my apartment keeps getting robbed. It happened earlier this year, and apparently again yesterday. I wonder what the security situation over there is.

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What happened at ilume

December 5, 2016

Oak Lawn Police Monitor

On Sunday afternoon, a team of cop cars surrounded the ilume building and the Facebook posts began.

A Facebook screenshot of one of my neighbor's posts.

A Facebook screenshot of one of my neighbor’s posts about the ilume SWAT raid.

The rumors got pretty ridiculous – ranging from a domestic violence dispute to assault.

Here’s what actually happened, according to the Dallas Police Department:

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LGBT / Oak Lawn

Oak Lawn’s 2016 Halloween Block Party

October 31, 2016

Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party

We had a little gathering in the gayborhood.

Oak Lawn hosts the largest Halloween block party in Dallas. The block party was pretty huge this year, with several pop-up bars along Cedar Springs.

Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party

Krystal and some of our neighbors at the Oak Lawn Halloween block party.

Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party

A view of the crowds at the Oak Lawn Halloween block party.

Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party

These creepy cat costumes were the worst thing ever. Note the t-shirts.

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LGBT / Oak Lawn

Texas Latino Gay Pride

October 9, 2016

Texas Latino Gay Pride Dallas

We made it to Texas Latino Gay Pride.

The festival was held at Reverchon Park, which is at the edge of the gayborhood. There was lots of food, liquor, and some salsa dancing.

Texas Latino Gay Pride Dallas

Mexican tchotchkes being sold at Texas Latino Gay Pride.

Texas Latino Gay Pride Dallas

Mexican wrestler masks for sale at Texas Latino Gay Pride.

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High-Rise, Dallas

October 4, 2016

iLume Park Lobby off of Cedar Springs

The movie High-Rise is about a luxury apartment building that descends into chaos. The film opens with shots of the trashed apartment building and a pool strewn with bodies.

A man then kills and eats a dog.

Although they aren’t eating dogs at iLume Park yet, my apartment building has experienced a rapid and sad decline.

I was so impressed with the building when I first moved in last year – we had a free happy hour every day of the week and continental breakfast in the mornings. There were dog walkers, maids, and tons of events for the residents.

They also did fecal testing / DNA profiles on the dogs, so they could fine anyone who failed to pick up after their dogs.

The building was like a boutique hotel filled with gay professionals and recent arrivals from out-of-state. It was fabulous.

ilume Park Gay Happy Hour

Happy Hour at iLume Park in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

The decline

But the leasing agents had trouble filling the building. They then relaxed their leasing standards, slashed deposit requirements, and started offering 2-month rent discounts to new tenants.

A waive of ratchet residents moved in. There were drug dens, dime bags in the stairwell, break-ins, fights, and gun threats. Many of the original residents fled.

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Dallas Morning News / Oak Lawn

Hillary and the pitbull

September 7, 2016

Oak Lawn Dallas

I got up around 4 a.m. today, wrote the morning news roundup, and then posted the newspaper’s Hillary Clinton ‘recommendation’ to Twitter and Facebook (where it would go viral.)

By 5:30 a.m., I was running for my life down Cedar Springs Road.

I came across a stray pitbull while taking the dogs to the walk-up Starbucks at the edge of Oak Lawn. We were several blocks from my apartment building when I noticed the 70-pound pitbull staring at us from behind an apartment building fence.

Ingrid, my labradoodle, barked at the pitbull and it darted toward a fence opening.

Cut to me sprinting at full-speed down Cedar Springs road with a labradoodle and a Chihuahua. It felt like a scene from Stranger Things (or at least a Dallas version of Scary Movie.)

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Dallas Morning News / Drag Shows / LGBT / Oak Lawn

Drag queens and buses

Asia O'Hara at Station 4 / Rose Room

Last week I started my new job and it was exhausting.

Moving to The Dallas Morning News was a dramatic change for me.

Back in Minnesota, I worked on a 7,000-person suburban corporate campus. The Thomson Reuters campus was so huge that I had law school classmates who worked there for years before I ran into them. It was also common not to recognize anyone in the hallways if you didn’t work in that part of the building.

Since moving to Dallas, I worked from home and didn’t see coworkers in-person unless I was visiting a client’s office.

Now, I go to a downtown office every day. It’s nice being back in a real office because working from home started feeling like being under house arrest. I also had clients in every time zone, so there wasn’t a clear end to the work day.

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Cocktails / Oak Lawn

Summer Pool Cocktails

Iced cocktails at the iLume Park pool.

The pool is one of the best parts of my apartment building.

It’s a great place to relax and socialize with a cocktail during the ~~horribly~~ hot Dallas summers.

However, this summer we had to change our pool strategy.

The demographics of our apartment building changed this spring and now the pool is overrun with children. Our neighbors like to lounge around the pool with booze, whereas children love to run, scream, dive, and splash each other.

It is hard to relax with a mimosa when your pool feels like a Chuck E. Cheese waterpark.

That’s why we fled to iLume – the building across the street. Our complex has the same owner, so they allow us to use the iLume pool for small one-time fee. The awkwardness of walking on Cedar Springs with a bathing suit on is totally worth it.

Cocktails at the iLume Park pool in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

Cocktails at the iLume Park pool in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

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Best Week Ever / Oak Lawn / Thomson Reuters

Perma-vacation

BOA Tower Dallas

I did not make any plans for my 30th birthday (to the exasperation of my friends.)

My neighbors tried to make plans when we met at the dog park.

Jack: “You’re not celebrating?!”
Jill: “You have to do something for your 30th!”
Me: “I am not a big holiday person, and a big party feels gauche in light of the Dallas shootings.”
Jack: “I get that, but you should do something.”
Me: “Like what? Pool time? Bars and drag shows? Brunch? That’s every weekend.”
Jill: “Yeah, living in Oak Lawn is kind of a permanent vacation.”

We did get out of the house this weekend, spent some serious time at the pool, and even had a few long walks downtown.

Downtown Dallas

New and old buildings at the edge of downtown Dallas (near the farmers’ market.)

Flower Reign Oak Lawn

A mannequin with a fabulous hat at Flower Reign in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

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LGBT / Oak Lawn

Independence Day in Dallas

iLume Pool Party

I spent my first 4th of July weekend in Dallas.

There were pool parties, new brunch places, drag shows, and even a trip to Fort Worth.

It was fun, yet exhausting. I was relieved when the weekend was over.

Dallas July 4th

Perry Heights lined with American Flags for the 4th of July.

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Best Week Ever / Oak Lawn

Best Week Ever 3-4: That Texas Heat

Ingrid at Turtle Creek

Best Week Ever posts are a summary of the past week

Texas summers are all about embracing the heat.

You’ll need plenty of water (and a shower) if you are outside for more than a few minutes. This translates shorter dog walks and a lot of laundry.

When we try to become more ambitious with the dog walks, we quickly regret it. Even our walks from Oak Lawn to downtown Dallas get dicey after 11 a.m.

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LGBT / Oak Lawn

This is Bad

This is bad

We started the evening with the mean girls at Alexandre’s cocktail lounge.

The mean girls are actually retirement-age men who park themselves at the bar in the afternoon and insult each other into the evening.

The quotes are amazing:

Statler: “Did Jack get a haircut?”
Waldorf: “No, it’s just falling out.”

Statler: “Can you hold your head up? You look like a turtle!”

Statler: “You guys are being nice for once. I’m suspicious. Is it my shirt?”
Waldorf: “No, that shirt is nice. It actually fits you for once.”

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The Body

Park Image

I saw a body on the morning dog walk.

Well, first I saw the bicycle cops near the Katy Trail.

Then I saw the tired-looking newswoman and the photographer.

Katy Trail in Dallas Suicide

A reporter at the scene of a suicide near Katy Trail.

I followed their gaze to the middle of the park, where a bunch of detectives and officers stood around a tarp that covered the body.

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Oak Lawn / Restaurants

The People I Met

Cedar Grove restaurant

What a weekend! There were long dog walks on the Katy Trail, new restaurants, drag shows, and lots of new friends from all over the world.

There was John from Arkansas, Matt from Boston, Walter from Chicago, Carlos from Mexico, Victor, Geoffroy, and Kenneth – all from France… no one seems to be from Dallas, but so many people wind up here.

Well, except for Ty.
Ty is from Dallas. He’s the exception.

The large number of recent arrivals is why it is so easy to meet people in Dallas.

Most people are new and open to making new friends. It feels silly to point that out, but this is a huge contrast to Minnesota, where the saying was “A Minnesotan will give you directions to anywhere except their house.”

A full article about that is here, and my whining is here.

Pride flags over JRs Dallas

Pride flags hang over JR’s bar in Oak Lawn.

Ai Sushi Oak Lawn

Having dinner at Ai Sushi in Oak Lawn (in the iLume building.)

The friendliness backfired this weekend.

We met one group of people at JR’s. Introductions were made, and people discussed where they came from and what they did for work.

Jack: “I am a Walmart manager.”
Me: “Oh that is so interesting! Our friend Jill works at Walmart too! I think she was Cedar Springs Taphouse. Let me text her.”
Jack: “Oh great…”

Jill arrives and Jack looks alarmed.

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LGBT / memories / Oak Lawn

Last night, We marched

Oak Lawn Pulse NIghtclub Memorial

Last night, hundreds of people gathered at the Dallas LGBT Community Center to support the Pulse Nightclub shooting victims.

All of the important local politicians spoke – the mayor, the police chief, the county judge – and tried to reassure the Dallas gay community that we are safe. The crowd then marched the length of the gayborhood from the Resource Center to the Oak Lawn monument.

Cops and cameras were everywhere.

Oak Lawn Pulse NIghtclub Memorial

Mourners lay flowers and candles at the Oak Lawn Pulse memorial.

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Best Week Ever / LGBT / memories / Oak Lawn

Best Week Ever 2: Oak Lawn After Pulse

Oak Lawn Dallas Centrum

The texts started flying early.

Notifications lit up my cellphone like a Christmas tree this morning – a gunman killed at least 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, and everyone was either sharing the news story or asking whether we lost anyone.

After confirming that our friends in Orlando were alive, we monitored the climbing death toll on our phones while walking the dogs through downtown Dallas. There were more than a dozen bicycle cops on the Katy Trail, and a few nervous security guards at Klyde Warren Park.

Later we brunched in the gayborhood while discussing escape plans for each gay club – would we climb on the roof from S4’s second floor balcony? Is there a back exit door at Havana’s? Would gay guys run to their cars and get guns? (This is Texas, after all.)

The morbid emergency planning was broken by a swarm of people who flooded the Oak Lawn bars. There were cocktails, uncomfortable laughs, and armed security guards. We were uneasy, but still out and supporting each other.

Oak Lawn Dallas Police

Increased police presence in Oak Lawn after the Pulse nightclub shootings.

Oak Lawn Dallas Centrum

The memorial in front of the Centrum building.

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