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Krista, I hate piling on a person or an agency when they’re down, but I’ve got another big bone to pick with DART. Here it is: Like a good little fledgling urbanite, I vowed to make a habit of taking the light rail from home to our new downtown offices–and did so last week. The upshot? The very first day I parked the family vehicle at the White Rock transit station–less than a mile from our house in Merriman Park–criminals ripped away at the passenger-door lock, ransacked the car and made off with a bunch of stuff, including the entire center-console bin. This, after I’d parked outside our house in our driveway every night for the last 9-plus years–and never had the car touched once. Now, I’m aware this sign looms over the White Rock park and ride facility: “Not Responsible for Theft or Damage to Vehicles.” But I’m sorry; that ain’t good enough. Why shouldn’t DART have to secure its parking facilities for its paying customers? Until it does, I’m staying off their trains and out of their lots.

One Arts Plaza has that big white square on the side, and the Hunt Oil Tower bulges out like a, well, like a giant H. So I guess it makes sense that downtown’s new Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre has a big rectangular hole at the top on its west side (at far left in this pic). At first I thought they just hadn’t finished the building yet. But I’ve learned since that it’s actually an important architectural feature. On the big media tour this morning, I asked the architect Rem Koolhaas–a tall, gaunt Dutchman who kept checking his cellphone–about the thinking behind the big hole. “You have to have some things where your interest can dwell for awhile,” he explained. Then he went back to checking his phone.

SweetCharity and I picked up Helen Anders of the Austin American-Statesman (formerly Helen Bryant of the DMN) early this morning for the dedication ceremony of Dallas’ $354 million AT&T Performing Arts Center. (Helen’s staying with her daughter in Arlington.) Local movers and shakers like Tom Leppert, Jim Oberwetter, Bill Lively, Michael Hinojosa and Jan Strimple turned out in force for the outdoor event, which took place in chilly, foggy weather more reminiscent of San Francisco than Dallas. When the speakers mentioned the grandeur of the center’s “public park” during the ceremony, Anders kept whispering, “What park?!”–a theme she continued in her interesting blog post about the event. SweetCharity weighed in with a report on all the hoopla as well.

It’s on at the Convention Center, and you can find relevant details at Michael Davis’ Dallas Progress blog. According to Mike, they’ll be discussing:

…linking The Dallas Farmers Market, the Arts District, the Cedars, Deep Ellum, and The Main Street District as well as future developments.

New offices downtown, first lunchtime in the new digs. The DMA/Seventeen Seventeen was closed and Dickey’s is too familiar, so we stumbled into Harwood 609 at … 609 Harwood St. It’s big–looks like it could seat 500–with an over-the-top Tiki theme and glittering disco balls. Not surprising, since the joint (pictured) turns into an old-school R&B club nights and weekends. (The Temptations played there, and they’re shooting to land The Blue Notes–minus Harold Melvin–for New Year’s). Our friendly waiter Quincy explained how the $5 lunch special included soup and salad, an entree and two sides, a drink and dessert. The lovely and talented Kristiana and I opted for well-done burgers with fries, while Jason tried the Southwest chicken sandwich. Total tab: $16.24–and the grub wasn’t half bad. Still, I think there’s a male/female split on a return trip. Kristiana said Harwood 609 looked like an off-strip Vegas lounge and won’t be going back for lunch. Jason and I liked it. I mean, where else can you hear “Cowboys to Girls” (The Intruders) on the sound system at noon? Back to you, Nancy.

In the current episode of the “print product,” there appear two stories about an experiment we ran to determine whether the forthcoming Museum Tower might possibly interfere with the Nasher Sculpture Center’s wonderful installation Tending, (Blue). You can read Willard Spiegelman’s sober, insightful account of our caper here. Me, I just write jokes. Anyway, I’d forgotten till now that I’d taken this picture. In the final scene of my story, when the DSO’s PR director, Stacie Adams, catches me standing in their backyard, here’s what I was doing: