Dallas City Hall Blog

The 2008 presidential election (all elections really) makes me want to be more politically aware, not just nationally but locally as well. Watching political pundits on TV and listening to water cooler chat at work have reminded me that democracy works best when citizens are engaged and informed, but becoming engaged and informed is easier said than done.

I find the evening news does me more harm than good. I have to wade through 12 depressing minutes of killing, raping, and pillaging before I get 2 minutes of coverage on the goings-on at City Hall. Reading the newspaper everyday takes a lot of time (maybe I’m a slow reader?). I envy the people who read the paper everyday as I assume they have some sort of job that allows them to take three hours to read the paper from cover to cover each day. Don’t get me started on the relentless City Council meetings that take place every Wednesday. I still haven’t figured out how regular people are able to take time off work to attend Council meetings. Council meetings start at 9am and last all day. All this might leave me feeling defeated and helpless if it were not for a little gem I discovered a few months ago on http://www.dallasnews.com/ : the Dallas City Hall Blog. http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/

The Dallas City Hall Blog is a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to keep up with the votes and controversy going down at City Hall each day. There is news of appointments and resignations; budget crises; pet projects of Council members, Mayor Leppert, and City Manager Mary Suhm; but my favorite feature is the live blogging that takes place all day every Wednesday from the “peanut gallery” of Dallas City Council meetings. Dallas Morning News staff sit through those long meetings and give a blow-by-blow account of who said what to whom and why. In 15 minutes (or less) I can learn everything newsworthy that transpired during a City Council Meeting without having to sit through all eight hours of it or suffer through watching it on TWC public access.

Because of Dallas City Hall Blog, I can speak with confidence about matters such as Jenny the Elephant; Industrial Boulevard, Ross Avenue, and César Chavez; and whether Angela Hunt is secretly gearing up to challenge Mayor Leppert during re-election. As the name implies, Dallas City Hall Blog is concerned only with local news. If you want national news, I’m sure CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the behemoth that is Google News are happy to oblige.


I’ll let you in on a little secret: I work at City Hall (location and department are top secret) and I start and end each work day by reading the Dallas City Hall Blog. It’s my little way of staying ahead of the game.

The Sartorialist

Anyone who knows me well knows that I take myself waaaaaaaaaay too seriously. I am the most anxious and uptight person that I know. Consequently, when I stumble across something that reminds me to relax and have fun on the rollercoaster we call life, I pay attention.

Enter the Sartorialist. http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/
I think I’m about three years late on this one, but better late than never. Here’s the long and the short of it: some guy who used to work at a fancy department store decided to start a blog on which he would showcase pictures of everyday people that he thought had a great sense of personal style (or something like that). His blog is filled with pictures of “stylish” people in their natural habitats of NYC and Western Europe.

I would never wear the majority of the outfits featured, but in a very simple way, looking at the pictures makes me happy. The “models” wearing their “interesting” outfits remind me that life doesn’t have to be so serious – that it’s okay to experiment….and to fail…and that I really should incorporate more color into my wardrobe.

For those of you who may be wondering…

Sartorialist (n.) – one who is concerned with the trade of tailoring or manner of dress