Nipples

Late mid-December, sleepless, out a-prowl, scotching a 12 year Glenmorangie, reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, trying to ignore the unholy bat-wing flap, that buzzing terror that is floating above The Season (a fucked term for the interim between two gluttonous erstwhile-holy days), above my head and the lampshade, up in the midnight clouds over a Christmas-smashed Dallas that is drunk on presents and playing with its twin nipples of Northpark and the Galleria.

But after all, it's only midnight.

Ride That Train

Good news if you happen to live in Dallas and like to get to Denton often - or vice versa. In two+ years that drive will be a ride: DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) will have finished their green line to Carrollton by early 2011 (they are opening it next year and should be finished by late 2010, but after all, a plan is just a list of things that don't happen).

From the other end, DART's counterpart, the DCTA (Denton County Transportation Authority) is planning on having its own train running from the Green Line's terminal station up to north Denton. We'll have to switch trains (at least until an interagency agreement to run on each other's lines is met) but its way cheaper than driving a car up there. The DCTA line, by the way, is also scheduled to be in service by 2010.

Also of note, DART's ridership has well increased (link opens a .PDF) in the last year and should continue to rise as they offer more service routes.

Get aboard the train of love!

Dallas

For those not in the know - I live near Dallas. Not quite in Dallas, but enough that when I go to another state, I assert "Dallas" as my home.

And I like the city, for all its problems. I've spent the last six months reading Unfair Park on a daily basis; and I never fail to catch Jim Schutze's column in the Observer. I also enjoy Angela Hunt's blog.

Unfair Park posted a link to The Urban Fabric's impressive photo, which really is quite beautiful, and I think everyone should see it.