Snowstorm: The Rogers Screenplay Next Scene

As mentioned earlier today, my mother and father — divorced 30 years, haven’t seen each other but twice in 20 — are now, through an odd twist of fate — he’s at my house recovering from surgery, she’s here because her power’s out — spending a lot of time together. The next complication: power is now out in my house. We are all huddled around the fireplace. Two kids, the wife, me, and my mom and dad (he holding a bag of his own urine connected to a catheter). I mean, wow. It really does write itself.

Local Magazine Does Not Have Overcrowded Office Today

There is someone in our office today. Can you spot Laura Greenberg?

Report From the Mean Streets of Dallas

The streets are fine (though obstacles do exist, as evidenced by the below photo, taken on Lake Highlands, near the rugby fields). The driveway is another matter. It took me about 30 minutes of shoveling and slipping to get out.

Leading Off (2/12/10): Now Twice As Much for the Same Price!

1. Yeah. It snowed. Hard. Do you really even need a link for this one? (Personal aside: my father, who lives out of the country, is staying with us for a couple of weeks while he recovers from surgery. He and my mom divorced about 30 years ago and have seen each other maybe twice in the past 20 years. Not a friendly parting of ways. My mom lives a few blocks away from me. Our block seems to be one of the few in the hood that has power, so she spent the night with us. The snow storm is bringing people together.) (Another note: Jason was supposed to do leading off this morning. He’s been without power for 12 hours.)

2. Dallas-Fort Worth home foreclosures are up. The March filings are up 18 percent from the previous month and 30 percent from the same period last year. Thing is, though, the February listings were actually down 4 percent from the same period last year, which seemed like really good news at the time. Anyone’s guess, I guess.

3. My screenplay starts with the unexpected reunion of my mother and father due to a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm. But I know where Zac’s screenplay begins: in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of Dallas City Hall. That’s where security officials set up shop yesterday to fly their drone airplanes over North Texas, ready to take out any NBA All-Star Weekend reveler who steps out of line.