dallas Archives - Memos and Mirth

New beginnings

May 29, 2023

Houston Galleria area and Williams Tower.

It’s been a year since I’ve tended to my little corner of the internet, and a lot of things have changed.

After a year of splitting time between Houston and Dallas, I decided to become primarily Houston based. The commute made sense when I had a partner working in Dallas, but the drive is harder to justify now that I’m single.

Starting over in a new city is somewhat daunting, but I’m optimistic that I’ll figure things out. I’ve done this before, and not too old to restart.

Having the studio in Houston has been eye-opening. It’s a Spartan space, but very easy to keep clean. After getting into decluttering YouTube, I’m not sure if I’m bringing much else down from Dallas besides tech and clothes, but I have time to figure things out.

But for now, I’m living a simple life down south. Can’t wait to see how this turns out. 🥂

Downtown Dallas

Museum Tower

May 12, 2022

Museum Tower, Dallas, Texas.

Downtown Dallas

Another Year

January 3, 2022

Just like last year, I’m a few days tardy with the New Year’s post, but it does come eventually.

2021 was a bizarre, stressful year, but there are many things to be grateful for. The move to downtown was a success, and I love the new apartment. We even got a cactus Christmas tree this year from the Dallas Cactus Queen and it’s totally staying up all year with lights.

I’m not going to make any grand predictions for 2022, aside from that I’m going to keep doing my best, stop stressing about things out of my control, and remember not to overwater the plants.🌵

Uptown Dallas / Work

Coffeeshop Twin

September 11, 2021

I started working from coffeeshops recently. It breaks up the tedium of working from the Oak Lawn apartment, and reminds a lot of my days studying for the bar exam.

Downtown Dallas / Life / Oak Lawn / Work

Moving to Downtown Dallas

August 23, 2021

We signed a lease for an apartment in downtown Dallas last week. After a year of being back in Texas, it is already time for a change.

Oak Lawn is special as one of the biggest gayborhoods in the country. However, proximity to gay bars and friends is not enough anymore. Living in Oak Lawn and working from home was great when I was 25, living a resort-style building, with a job that was good but not too demanding. But lawyering from a gloomy bedroom office is not the tea.

Deep Ellum / Portraits

Deep Ellum Embrace

August 10, 2021

I found the Sartorialist and Last Night’s Party blogs pretty early in college. Before decent phone cameras and the rise of fashion influencers, these photo blogs were revolutionary. I was less interested in the clothes or party shots than the lack of detail about the subjects — you could spin endless stories about their pasts and current lives.

That’s one thing that I really love about this photo, taken in Deep Ellum, Dallas. We know the guy in the photo from the gayborhood, but I can’t quite remember the story about the woman — was she a longtime friend or someone he met that night?

This shot can tell both stories (and more) which is the what made visiting the early photo blogs of the aughts so special. 📷

Dallas

A year back in Dallas

August 8, 2021

It is hard to believe that I’ve been back in Dallas for an entire year.

The theme of the past year has been resilience — we moved across the country during the height of the pandemic when things were extremely uncertain. Would we get sick? Lose our jobs? Would Dallas be as awesome as we remembered it?

Dallas / DJI Drone Photography

That Texas Heat

July 3, 2021

It’s time for the annual “it’s so hot in Texas and I’m shook!” post. Even though I’ve experienced this nonsense many times before, each summer feels like a new affront.

Work is busier than ever this summer, so I’m not spending a lot of time outside anyway. However, one exception has been the weekends, where I am playing around with a new toy — a DJI drone! This is my first picture with it, taken along the Trinity River.

We are still figuring out the capabilities of the drone, but haven’t managed to crash it or get a ticket yet. The new perspective that a drone offers is a game changer, and I’m excited to see what we can do with it! 💃

dogs / memories / Oak Lawn

The Big Freeze

April 18, 2021

The Centrum highrise in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

We had a bit of a storm here in Dallas back in February. First it snowed, and then we got near-zero temperatures that overwhelmed the state’s power system.

Half of our apartment building lost power for 3 or 4 days. Our unit had a couple hours of power each day before plunging back into darkness for 12+ hours. Several of our neighbors were sleeping in their cars to stay warm. We also had a moment where a fire alarm forced everyone into the pitch-black hallways and outside into the cold.

Dallas / Life

Holidays

January 4, 2021

It was a quiet holiday season. We stayed around Dallas because traveling to visit family was unsafe.

The 70-degree days make it a little strange to celebrate a winter holiday, but the downtown lights help. You’d think I would have gotten used to this after living in Miami, but it never feels normal.

dogs / Take Three

The Shelties

December 13, 2020

Dogs spotted during a weekend walk near downtown Dallas.

I spotted these guys on a dog walk near downtown Dallas. Not sure whether these are actually Shetland Sheepdogs or some other mix, but they were cute either way.

Not pictured — Gunter glaring at them from my side.

Oak Lawn / the details

The Pigeons of Oak Lawn

December 12, 2020

A close-up of pigeons in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

It’s usually a good idea to look up when walking on Cedar Springs Road — there’s often a crew hanging out on the powerlines and I’ve seen unwary bargoers torpedoed.

Deep Ellum / Portraits

The Deep Ellum Flagpoles

December 10, 2020

We came across a little forest of flagpoles while exploring Deep Ellum recently.

The poles are in front of the Casa Stellina event space near the intersection of Main and Walton streets. I am not sure whether this qualifies as eccentric landscaping, public art, or just clutter — but it was a very fun backdrop.

Dallas / Landscape / Take Three

Ingrid and downtown Dallas

December 4, 2020

Ingrid the labradoodle with downtown Dallas in the background.

Ingrid the Labradoodle blending in with the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas.

Dallas

Santa’s Helpers

December 3, 2020

A crew setting up Christmas decorations near Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas.

A crew setting up massive Christmas Decorations in downtown Dallas.

This looked like a very cumbersome process and I think they didn’t quite have the logistics worked out that day. I hope to check on the finished product this weekend! 🎄

Deep Ellum

The Design Studio

December 2, 2020

A garment studio in Deep Ellum, Dallas. This photo was taken during Thanksgiving Day, so I got to creep in the window for shots. I’m really interested in the designs that come out of the place — which has a great space. 💃

Dallas / Portraits

Holiday Lights

December 1, 2020

Now that we are done with Thanksgiving, holiday lights are going up throughout downtown Dallas.

We decided to take some headshots by some of the new lights to play around with the bokeh possibilities. These are the best shots!

Dallas / Take Three

Morning Jog

November 30, 2020

A woman jogs along the Trinity River trail in Dallas, with downtown in the background.

I recently bought a new lens for my camera and decided to test it out along the Trinity River. These are the first shots.

Shooting along the Trinity River is interesting because you have a gorgeous view of downtown crisscrossed with powerlines. The powerlines don’t necessarily “ruin” the view, but rather complicate it and make for interesting photos.

Drag Shows / Oak Lawn

Havana Bar & Grill’s Drag Shows

November 27, 2020

Mayra D'Lorenzo performing at Havana Lounge's Drag show in Dallas.

Havana Bar & Grill is one of my favorite spots in the neighborhood. They’ve made a nightclub atmosphere work during the pandemic with table service, food that you can actually order, and amazing drag.

Drag Brunch / Oak Lawn

Liquid Zoo Drag Brunch

November 26, 2020

We checked out Liyah Alize’s drag show at Liquid Zoo last week. It was exciting to see Liyah and Iroc Goodness again (who I first saw at Mr. Misster’s brunch) along with some performers that were new to me.

The show was technically billed as a “drag brunch” but with a 3pm showtime, it was really more of a tea dance show.

Brunch or not, this cast was excellent and the bar staff was very gracious when a performer got onto a table and sent several glasses flying (a true sign of a good show!)