Dallas Morning News / Texas

Why Bottomless Mimosas are Illegal in Texas

Green Door Public House

I occasionally do reporting for The Dallas Morning News‘ entertainment website, GuideLive.

One of the time-honored gay traditions here in Dallas (and across the U.S.) is brunch, so I decided to a post about the best bottomless mimosa spots in Dallas.

However, in doing my research for the article, I discovered that bottomless mimosas are illegal in Texas.

Not only that, but another publication — The San Antonio Current — did a similar bottomless mimosa article which the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission used as an enforcement hit-list.

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Bar Exam / Dallas / Work

Sliding into Summer (and bar prep!)

Downtown Dallas near the Omni Hotel

Summertime is nigh.

Rising temperatures and tornado outbreaks mean that springtime is almost over in Dallas.

My days are zipping by quickly with extremely early work mornings and a demanding bar prep schedule, but I’m still making time to walk the dogs and hit up the usual gayborhood spots with friends.

Cassie Nova hosting a drag show at S4 nightclub in Dallas.

Cassie Nova hosting a drag show at S4 nightclub in Dallas.

Gunter and Ingrid on a dog walk in the Perry Heights section of the gayborhood.

Gunter and Ingrid on a dog walk in the Perry Heights section of the gayborhood.

Comparing our shoes at an Oak Lawn happy hour.

Comparing our shoes at an Oak Lawn happy hour.

Gunter, the chiweenie on our balcony one morning.

Gunter, the chiweenie on our balcony one morning.

Back to studying

I’m sitting for the July bar exam here in Dallas, which means that I’m undergoing the bar prep experience that many of my old classmates did years ago.

Back at Thomson Reuters, my positions were J.D.-preferred, so getting licensed was never a priority.

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Dallas Morning News / pop-law / Texas

How a dog helped a new Dallasite win his tax case

The dogs at the U.S. Navy Memorial.

I have a new Texas tax article over at The Dallas Morning News — it’s about a New York tax appeal case involving Match Group CEO Gregory Blatt.

Blatt moved to Dallas from NYC back in 2009 after becoming the CEO of Dallas-based dating site Match.com. Prior to that, he ran the legal department of Match’s parent company, IAC.

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Drag Brunch / Fort Worth

Drag Brunch at Urban Cowboy Saloon

The #IAmUrban sign / Disco Guitar at Urban Cowboy Saloon, Fort Worth, TX.

We made the trek to Fort Worth this weekend for drag brunch at Urban Cowboy Saloon.

Overall, it was a fun experience and a great show.

Rocky Horror Picture Show-themed drag brunch at Urban Cowboy Saloon, Fort Worth, TX.

Rocky Horror Picture Show-themed drag brunch at Urban Cowboy Saloon, Fort Worth, TX.

The drag brunch cast at Urban Cowboy Saloon, Fort Worth, TX.

The drag brunch cast at Urban Cowboy Saloon, Fort Worth, TX.

The theme was purportedly “Rocky Horror Picture Show” but the drag queens performed at many non-Rocky Horror songs. This probably kept the show more interesting for people unfamiliar with the movie.

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Law / Marketing

Why Not All Law Firm Blogs are Created Equal

Man working on laptop by Bench Accounting via Unsplash

Although legal blogs can be major brand development tools for law firms, they are just as likely to become horrible money pits — especially when a legal marketing firm is involved.

Some legal marketers are urging law firms to build offsite blogs as part of a distributed content strategy, but this frequently only benefits the marketing firms giving the advice.

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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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Dallas

It doesn’t drizzle in Texas

ilume Park in Dallas during a thunderstorm.

One of my favorite things to do growing up was to read outside on the covered balcony of my grandparents’ house when it was raining.

I went through so many cheesy crime novels on that balcony — mostly P.D. James and Donna Leon.

This was an expensive habit too, because my grandparents live in a village in Germany. I could get English-language novels from a bookstore in a nearby town, but these were nearly twice the cost of German paperbacks.

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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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My Samsung Gear Fit Watch

My Samsung Gear Fit2

The only good thing to come out of last fall’s Samsung cellphone recall saga was that I received a free Samsung Gear Fit2 with my phone as a pre-order promotion.

I had to give back my Note 2 because of the recall, but Samsung never asked for the watch back. (Could you imagine?)

This was also around the time when my Fitbit died for the second time, so I was in the market for a new watch anyway.

After about six months with the Gear Fit2, I am still happy with it and do not miss my Fitbit at all.

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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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Life

Dead Blondes on “You Must Remember This”

Photo of a blonde woman by Pablo Charnas, Wadowice, Poland, via Unsplash.

One of my favorite podcasts is called You Must Remember This — a Hollywood history series that covers the juicy details behind some of America’s most famous and infamous celebrities.

The new season of You Must Remember This is called “Dead Blondes.” It is all about the tragic deaths of iconic Hollywood blondes such as Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

The storytelling is the best part about this podcast. The tales of careers-gone-wrong don’t require any prior knowledge of the actors involved, which is great because I haven’t heard of many of the characters.

I just finished Episode 10: “Barbara Payton,” and it was fascinating.

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Meet Apollo

Apollo the German shepherd

Last week we sponsored a German shepherd named Apollo — he’s available through White Rock Dog Rescue.

The backstory: Apollo was taken in by a woman who found him running loose in her neighborhood. The woman couldn’t find the owner and couldn’t keep him because she travels for a living. So she paid to have him vaccinated/chipped and referred him to the dog rescue.

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Law School Rankings

Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C.

The recent release of the 2018 U.S. News tax rankings reminded me that it has been about a decade since I first started applying to law schools. (I’m old!)

The most dramatic change in the last 10 years is that law schools started reporting much more accurate employment statistics.

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dogs

Why we can’t have nice things

Ingrid, our labradoodle in front of Starbucks.

I have a pretty nice apartment, but I rarely have guests over.

There are a few reasons for that:

The nearby gay bars, restaurants, and apartment pools form important third places that make house guests unnecessary.
Constant contact through social media lessens the demand for in-person visits.
We are more likely to meet people out for drag shows or theme park trips than a dinner party.

But the main reason why we rarely have guests is Ingrid, our labradoodle.

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Dallas Morning News

Early mornings

Working on a newsletter early in the morning.

A new schedule.

My workdays start at 4 a.m. now.

After a trip to the Keurig, the Chrome tabs start flying open — I am off checking analytics, various news sites, and a myriad of Slack channels to produce the morning newsletter for The Dallas Morning News.

By 7:00 a.m., the news roundup is online and in inboxes. Next comes a round of audience emails and social media exchanges before I head into the office.

I try to leave the office by 1 p.m., but afternoon meetings make this impossible on most days. And least once a week, a late meeting or evening technical issues blow my workday past the 14-hour mark.

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Life

Overheard this weekend

February 26, 2017

A view of downtown Dallas from the Trinity River

It was an eventful weekend. Here are the quotes:

I’m sitting in front of Starbucks, waiting on Michael, when a heavily made-up middle-aged woman approaches and riles up the dogs.

Blanche: “Oh how lovely!”
(the dogs completely lose their shit)
Blanche: “Your chihuahua looks like my baby! His name was Steven St. Domingo! He’s dead.”
(she then picks up my dog and lets him lick her face.)
Blanche: “Precious!”
(she looks at me)
Blanche: “Oh! You have such gorgeous eyes! You look like a malamute huskey! … but you must hear that a lot… I have to go to church now and repent for my sins — of which there are many.”

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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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Bishop Arts District / Restaurants

Exploring Bishop Arts

February 7, 2017

Tillman's Roadhouse relaunch party in Bishop Arts, Dallas

I went to Dallas’ Bishop Arts District for the first time last month while covering the re-launch party for Tillman’s Roadhouse.

After getting the gist of the party and giving overly-detailed instructions to my photographer, I took a short tour of the neighborhood.

Having a beer at Parker Barrow's Draft House in Dallas

Having a beer at Parker Barrow’s Draft House in Dallas

The First-Timers

Everyone that I met at the Tillman’s party was horrified that I have never been to Bishop Arts before.

Michael has lived in the Dallas area for 7 years and this was his first time to Bishop Arts as well. Maybe we are just the odd ones who never get out of the gayborhood?

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Life

This January in Dallas

January 31, 2017

Snow falls in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas.

January was hard.

It’s the last day of a long, busy month.

Dallas kicked off January with a snowstorm — which is what they call any amount of snow around here.

At first, people were in denial that it would snow at all. The snow inevitably came, and then there was a collective freak-out in which people fled downtown to spin-out on the highways (or sit in traffic.)

I was amused by this until I remembered that drivers in Minnesota weren’t much better.

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LGBT / Life

My year in Dallas

January 1, 2017

Station 4 Dallas

What a year!

Here are the highlights from my first full year in Dallas.

Work: After seven years at Thomson Reuters, I made the jump to The Dallas Morning News in July.

Home: This spring, I moved into a new apartment in the same building. My building’s original management company also had a very ugly decline which culminated in a sale. (Sadly, the new company isn’t much better.)

ilume park small dog park

ilume Park’s small dog park, covered in poop.

Life: I turned 30 years old this year, but celebrations were muted because of the Pulse nightclub attack and downtown Dallas police ambush. Around that time I also came across a dead body on the morning dog walk. So there’s that.

This fall, I also bought a new phone which happened to be recalled.

Katy Trail in Dallas Suicide

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

Celebrations: Here are some of the events that I made it to this year:

Texas Bear Roundup (TBRU): including a performance by Willam on a hoverboard.
St. Patrick’s Day by SMU: Complete drunkfest, which was fun to attend sober.
Oak Cliff Mardi Gras: A cute neighborhood festival featuring a ton of beads.
Easter in Lee Park: A bizarre event featuring a puppy parade and some serious outfits.
Independence Day Weekend: Including a pool party.
Dallas Gay Pride: Massive, as always.
Fort Worth Gay Pride: A poorly organized, production.
Texas Latino Gay Pride: A small festival featuring some of the neighborhood’s most prominent gay leaders.
State Fair of Texas: Featuring lots of questionable food and a frightening moving cowboy puppet.
Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party: Which was insanely busy.

There were also countless drag shows and pageants, brunches with friends, and very long dog walks.

I’m probably leaving a lot out, but those were the high points of the year. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

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