CODA's Dallas Adventures

This weekend, CODA departed from Memphis to Dallas. We drove in a 14 passenger van (which was an adventure unto itself) and arrived around 2:00 AM Friday morning (much to my mother's chagrin.) Being home for the first time was a bizarre experience. I walked into my house feeling very much like a visitor, luggage in tow. When we arrived, I felt like a visitor missing my home in Memphis, but by the time we left it was the reverse. I felt like Dallas was (once again) home and I was going off to camp in Tennessee. The honeymoon phase of college has officially ended, so this trip back was a bit of a rollercoaster.

There are things I definitely miss about Dallas:
1. Uptown/West Village
2. Mockingbird Station
3. Family (I'm unusually close to my extended family--they all live in Dallas near my house)
4. Closest Dallas friends
5. A plethora of indie-movie theatres
6. NorthPark Mall (which I completely took for granted before coming to Memphis which has the most miserable malls on the planet.)
7. The Arts District
8. Cafe Brazil (a small chain in the Dallas area--open 24 hours--13 flavors of coffee each week--bottomless cup at $2.69. Many significant/memorable experiences have occurred at the Cafe Brazil on Central. I found out I was accepted to Tisch at Cafe Brazil. I had my best conversations with close friends at this Cafe Brazil.)
9. Dallas Theatres--WaterTower, Theatre Three, Kitchen Dog, Echo, DSM, DTC, DCT...I love them all.
10. Whole Foods, Ulta, and all things Preston/Forest and Preston/Royal
11. Driving. It's terrible, but I was raised in a mass suburban metropolis with enormous highway intersections and insane traffic. I love it and I miss it. My high school (The Hockaday School) was about 30 minutes away from my house (without traffic.) If I left my house in the morning before 6:45 I could get to school in about 30 minutes. If I left after 7:00 it would take 2 hours. I love the freedom of waking up 45 minutes before class here, but I also miss driving. I think when I drive. I conduct when I drive. I discover new music when I drive. I rehearse and prepare for auditions when I drive. This fall, I had the opportunity to audition for the Rocky Horror show (which I didn't...) but I had no clue how to prepare for auditions without my car. In my car, I can belt and foible over notes, my voice can crack without anyone judging me...it's the perfect venue. Most importantly, if I was having a bad day, I could hop in my car and go anywhere. Dallas has more variety within the city than most places I've been. Memphis has distinct vibes within each area, but overall it has a pretty eclectic, artsy feel to it. In Dallas, every area has a vastly different feel purpose--Downtown, Arts District, Cafe Brazil, West Village, Mockingbird Station, Legacy, Addison Circle, Highland Park Village, Turtle Creek, Caruth Park, Garland, Irving, Plano, Richardson, Murphy...they are all distinctly different. I miss this opportunity to transport myself to a completely new environment. In essence, I miss driving on insane highways and I miss my car.

I digress-I apologize.

I really do love Memphis, but I am a big shiny city girl, and I do miss Dallas in certain regards. Dallas is a bit too superficial, but I love the affluent sprawling metropolis. I almost feel as though San Fransisco, Boston, New York, and even Chicago have these happy media--they produce a significant amount of original art, they have mass commercial centres, but they also have a great deal of history (and beautiful weather.)

At any rate, driving was not the most significant aspect of the trip. The symposium (how to be an effective arts leader) was rather enjoyable. I found two new heroes in Bill Lively (Founder of Dallas Center for the Performing Arts--a project I've been following and been excited about for a while now) and Ann Daly. Fellow CODA member Lauren Kennedy was a part of a panel on Sunday and was absolutely brilliant. She made a pretty remarkable role model for the CODA freshmen on the trip.

We also traveled down to West Village (to see the scariest film of all time), DMA, and the Nasher Sculpture Garden. I had already been to all these places, but they were (as usual) wonderful! I also had the opportunity to see some of my friends and family on the trip--which was wonderful. We happened to be coming to Dallas over Yom Kippur so I had the chance to see my best friend who attents Arizona University (but was visiting home for the Jewish holiday) while we were in Big D. It was pretty exciting.

It was a wonderful trip. I saw old friends and really became better acquainted with the CODA kids who came on the trip. I also had the opportunity to see Dallas from a quasi-visitor's perspective, which was pretty foreign and interesting. Thanks to John Weeden for making it all possible.

Farewell, friends--I'm off to jazz cultures. Have a lovely day.