MAN IN THEMIRROR Perhaps he’s not an accurate reflection

Why do dogs chase their tails, even after they’ve caught them? Why do people with expensive cars intentionally take up two parking spaces in crowded parking lots?

And why does my aging body still do daily battle with acne?

That’s a question I asked myself the other morning while contorting my face in the mirror right before I gummed my oatmeal and applesauce. It’s not exactly a traditional resolution, I suppose, but surely there must be a way to rid myself of facial blemishes in the new year.

The fact that acne is a problem that just now has risen to the top of my list probably says a lot about my life, especially since the issue continued to clog my brain on the drive to work and even as I fired up the computer to see what had filled my inbox overnight.

And then I read the short email: A good friend was apologizing that a golf outing we were planning a few months down the road probably wouldn’t be happening because he just found out he had esophageal cancer.

I read the few sentences in the email a couple of times, not so much because I didn’t understand what he was saying but because I didn’t want to understand. And then I did what most people would do — I Googled “esophageal cancer” because I didn’t know much about it.

And a few clicks into my research, after soberly noting that the most recommended form of treatment involves finding a “clinical trial”, I saw the numbers: About 16,640 new cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year, and about 14,500 people die of the disease each year.

As my friend, a real estate investment guy who single-handedly pulled me through our MBA accounting class, noted wryly when I talked with him later: “I’ve run the numbers, and they aren’t very rosy.”

His wife of 15-plus years took the news fairly well, he said, but their two teenagers sobbed uncontrollably. Surgery was out because his cancer already had snuck over to surrounding organs, so he was pinning hope on four progressively more aggressive rounds of chemotherapy, four 10-day blocks of hell that my friend said he “hoped to survive” in order to buy enough time for cancer researchers to find a cure for his at-the-moment virtually uncurable disease.

“There are still some things I don’t want to miss in my life,” he said, choking a bit as he spoke the words into his phone.

Hang in there, I told him; I couldn’t think of much else to say. Dealing with cancer is a mostly personal crusade, as much mental as physical, particularly when you know the odds don’t favor the outcome you want.

The conversation ended, the obligatory endof-call greetings were exchanged, and we both cursed his situation without swearing or crying or raising our voices.

I worked my way through the rest of the day, completing my regular tasks and booking future meetings on my calendar and discussing future stories for our magazine. And I went home to fill in my wife about the day’s events.

As the day wound down, I found myself in the bathroom again, staring at the same blemished face that had given me so much pain that morning.

And I decided that maybe I wouldn’t spend so much time looking into the mirror tomorrow, because the reflection looking back at me seemed to be pointing in the wrong direction.

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Each week, neighborhood blogger Carol Toler, neighborhood columnist Ellen Raff and editor Keri Mitchell sit down to discuss the latest in Lake Highlands. Highlights from a couple of our recent podcasts are excerpted below.

WILL T. HEE GREETINGS STAY IN LAKE HIGHLANDS?

11.23.10 David Farris is co-owner of T. Hee Greetings and Gifts in Lake Highlands Plaza at Walnut Hill and Audelia. He learned about plans to convert the shopping center from retail storefronts into residential homes via Back Talk, and entered into the blog conversation, so we invited him to sit in on a podcast and expound on his position:

“Essentially, I started feeling like a thug in New York City, and I’m dealing in the back streets of some alley. If you think about how nice it would be to tear down some of the real estate that we have here — because we have too much retail space, especially if Town Center is going to open; there’s only so many places you need. So to convert some to residential makes a lot of sense, but you have to ask the question, well, what happens to the people who are left behind? You look out our door, and you’re going to be looking at the back of a house in front of you — at least that’s the way I’m picturing it, so I feel like I’m working in an alley. You’re going to tear down all the other retail space; there’s not going to be any new retail business coming in to help generate traffic; and you’re not going to have any visibility because you’re going to have huge homes and a brick wall, so how are people going to find us? ... Once people forget that we’re here because they don’t see us anymore, they’re not going to make us a destination anymore.”

Farris also told us about pre-recession plans to expand Lake Highlands Plaza into a neighborhood service center, and whether he would consider moving to the Lake Highlands Town Center or elsewhere in our neighborhood. For more on the latter, visit our website and search: independent shop

DART OPENS LAKE HIGHLANDS STATION

12.07.10 Councilman Jerry Allen is also a former DART board member, and helped influence the decision to add the first “infill station” to DART’s blue line at Walnut Hill and

White Rock Trail. The station opened in early December, so we invited Allen to join our podcast discussion on how the station came to be, and how it might impact plans for the future Lake Highlands Town Center:

“It was crucial that we were able to get that DART station and get it right there so we could entice these developers to come and finish out the Town Center. ... I came on the DART board in 2005, and when I came on board, I really thought that it was a done deal for the DART station to be there. Well, come to find out it was not. The DART staff was really not behind putting the station there because in the past, we had had opposition in Lake Highlands, about 10 or 11 years ago. [DART] remembered that. And then there was no money set aside. So the next step was to change some minds and get it done. What the DART station gives us in Lake Highlands, it gives us choices. DART has over 73 miles of rail — it’s the largest light rail system in the North American continent.”

In the same podcast, Toler tells us about her experience hopping on the DART blue line at the Lake Highlands Station, and gives tips on a few places she visited without needing her car.

Listen to the podcast every Tuesday morning on the Back Talk Lake Highlands blog, lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/ blog, or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. search: Lake Highlands podcast

Events Online

“Hip taquerias are the new yogurt shops. They are cropping up everywhere. None of them I’ve tried can touch an authentic Mexican taqueria. Both Fuzzy’s and Rusty Taco are underwhelming. I need to hit up Taqueria Los Altos this week to give it a try. $5 is a bargain for lunch.”

–JASONON “RESTAURANT TALK: TAQUERIA LOSALTOSFOR LUNCH”

Do you have an event you’d like to promote? Submit it to our online calendar at bizfinder.advocatemag. com/event. It’s free, or you can purchase an enhanced listing.

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Question Of The Month

We asked our Facebook fans ...

WHAT’SSOMETHING NEW AND POSITIVE YOU HAVE PLANNED FOR THE NEW YEAR?

This is going to be our low-key, local year. Instead of big trips, it will be small indulgences to support the local community. More tiny dinner parties with friends, more cooking together, more day trips.

—MELISSA GROVE

As a human rights lawyer and activist, I’ll be joining the worldwide campaign to eradicate sexual violence toward women and children.

—DR. MADHUMITA PARIDA

I’m going to help my dear Nigerian friends build a school in rural, middle-belt Nigeria. We broke ground last summer, and this year we hope to build so the Mary Penelope Academy can open in the fall of 2011.

—KELLY L. STERN

More exploring of Dallas!

—KERRY SUMPTER SMITH

COME PLAY WITH US ON FACEBOOK!

Just visit facebook.com/ AdvocateMagazines and click the “Like” button for the chance to win prizes throughout the week and to stay on top of the latest neighborhood news.

Experience. Technology. Excellence.

For over 65 years Lakewood Family Dental has been helping Dallas smile. Dr. Beadle & Dr. Slaughter look forward to helping you with all of your cosmetic and general restorative needs. Our office maintains all the lastest technology and we offer a complete range of options allowing you the flexibility and comfort you require.

MOST POPULAR LAKEWOOD BLOG POSTS:

1. LAKE HIGHLANDS TOWN CENTER: ‘BUSY AND IMPORTANT WEEK’ search: station celebration //

2. LH’S KIRK JOHNSON SUBMITS DORITOS AD FOR SUPER BOWL CONTEST search: Doritos // 3.

T. HEE GREETINGS: TOWN CENTER PROSPECTS AND SEVEN DAYS OF STORE SPECIALS search: Greetings // 4. LH WOMEN’S LEAGUE HOSTS ANOTHER GREAT HOME TOUR search: Women’s League // 5. A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE LBJ EXPRESS search: virtual tour

MEDIA KEY: WHERE TO FIND US ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB at 214.635.2120 or crobinson@advocatemag.com.