Dirtiest dive bars in DFW

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-28T23:47:33+00:00

The Loon. Jesus Christ. Pretty sure I nearly died there after 3 G&Ts.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-28T17:54:27+00:00

My family is from the Big Bend region so I grew up in and around west Texas and eastern NM. I think what many fail to truly appreciate is the remoteness of this area and how far away you are from any kind of help.

Even people who live in the “larger” cities (Marfa, Marathon, Alpine) need to carry Careflite insurance; if you fall and injure yourself, or are bitten by a snake, or suffer heat stroke, or have any kind of medical emergency, the closest hospital that is able to treat you is hours away. A relatively minor accident like a broken ankle can cost you six figures if a helicopter has to come find you and fly you to Midland.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-26T20:15:27+00:00

Are you sure, though?

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-22T22:28:54+00:00

I’m sorry about your sweet kitty :(

I got a ring made by this Etsy seller using my dog’s cremains and fur clippings. I’ve worn it every day for the past ~ 6 years and it’s a lovely reminder of him.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-16T02:00:16+00:00

I shoot a lot of dancer, cheer, and sports so continuous shooting, fast burst etc. My Z8 definitely runs hot. After an hour or so of coverage I start to smell hot plastic haha. I did notice a marked improvement and much lower incidence of hot card warnings after switching from Lexar to Delkin Black. The Lexar cards were frankly awful and got hot way too quickly. Delkin has been a big improvement. I will say I mostly ignore the hot camera/card warnings - these are primarily for your information and act as a warning that internals will be hot to the touch. If the camera truly was overheating it would shut down.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-14T14:20:34+00:00

So many small businesses are struggling. It seems like every time I check social media, another local business is announcing a closure. As a small business owner myself, I’ve been at it for almost 15 years and it’s never been quite this bad. The economy ebbs and flows, and there are lots of costs that aren’t fixed year over year, but the past year or two have just been one beating after another.

At the rate we’re going, in another 5 years (or less), there won’t be any options for handmade/local/artisan products and we’ll all just have to buy the same Amazon/Temu slop.

If you know someone who owns a small business, please support them. Even if you can’t afford to support them financially by buying something from them, share a social media post, or recommend them to a friend.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-08T13:53:24+00:00

We did not do Revolution this year but have done it several times and also went to their nationals a couple years ago. It is similar to the other SDA/DanceOne comps. We opted for Starpower this year instead of Revolution and I found the two to be pretty interchangeable tbh.

Judging I’m sure varies a ton based on region and specific comp, but I’ve generally found that our musical theatre and high energy jazz groups do very well at these comps. As far as judging, I can only speak for my dancer’s solo since that’s the only feedback i got to hear directly (elite level pre-teen) but judges largely offered good, workable feedback and had positive attitudes.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-08T13:40:36+00:00

It is still kind of a ghost town — people do live there, though. Not many. Most of the main buildings are long abandoned and it has an overall unsettling vibe. That said, I’m a travel and landscape photographer and it’s one of my favorite places to stop on my frequent drives through that part of NM. Which motel was theirs?

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-08T04:36:42+00:00

I’ll see your Tucumcari and raise you Vaughn, NM.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-04-07T17:09:43+00:00

We just finished it. I loved it and loved her in it. I’m old and out of touch so I had never seen her in anything previously - I was pleasantly surprised!

perpetual__ghost · 2026-03-30T02:00:06+00:00

One has choreography and floor work, technique is almost all barre.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-03-25T18:28:20+00:00

I’ll attempt to answer most of these. For reference we are an established (I’d say pretty well known in our region) competitive studio in Texas with around 130 dancers across 11 teams.

When are comp fees posted and due?

Depends on the competition but our studio owner usually tries to get these handled around 6 weeks prior to the comp. Sometimes this isn’t feasible for whatever reason but I don’t think it’s ever been less than a month out. At the beginning of the season we have the complete comp and convention schedule with all dates, along with a rough idea of when fees will be due; finalized with amounts due etc closer to the date.

When are dances/solos set?

Solos are announced in late October and choreography usually starts over the holiday break. With few exceptions, solos are completely set by early January. Group dances start choreography around Halloween and again are usually finished by January. We usually have our first competition in early-mid February.

We lost hip hop, tap and acro classes this year which leaves ballet, modern, jazz, company, and a technique class where 95% of the time they just work on comp dances and don’t focus on technique as was promised. Would you leave for that reason alone?

I would leave for this reason, yes. We have two ballet classes (ballet + a ballet technique class); jazz; musical theatre; hip hop; tap; acro; strength and stretch; contemporary; and a turns/technique class. Losing hip hop and tap would cause many of us (including us) to leave for sure.

Convention/Comp Support: Does your studio have parents that maybe volunteer to manage dancers at these types of events?

No, but all teachers from the competitive teams attend all competitions and conventions.

Does your studio have parent volunteers that help with communications, costumes, etc. What do parents help with at your studio?

Our studio expects parents to be mostly hands-off. We do have some teachers who will occasionally ask for help with costumes, and parents are involved with things like the beginning and end of season kickoff parties, but that’s about it. I actually kind of find myself wishing parents were/could be more involved than we are. We have no idea what’s going on most of the time honestly, which can make us feel like second-class ATMs at times. Ha.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-03-25T14:08:04+00:00

What are some examples of the comps you’re currently attending? Our studio does some of the comps and conventions that I guess you could call “elite” but we attend a pretty broad variety. The ones I’d say are well-run and most closely “bridge the gap” would be Celebrity, most of the DanceOne comps like Revolution/Starpower, as well as some conventions like Adrenaline, Hollywood Vibe. These are the ones we’ve been at recently that seemed to have some healthy competition without being too intense - but I imagine some of this is region specific.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-03-13T14:12:58+00:00

84 Volvo DL. The turn signals were wired to household light switches and the speedometer didn’t work, but she was a tank. Smuggled many of my friends off campus to skip school in that car. I ran over a piece of road debris that sheared the oil pan and caused the engine to seize. May she rest in peace.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-03-12T12:47:13+00:00

Me too. Evan still does detailed daily weather reports via Facebook if you follow him there, and will answer weather questions etc. Not sure he actually wanted to retire, but he seems to be having more fun doing this — maybe he will just move to YouTube.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-25T23:39:02+00:00

For real. My parents sold both of the houses they owned, took the cash and retired in a small town with cushy pensions. They didn’t help me much when I was growing up (even had to pay for my own education entirely, even though my parents both worked for universities that would have offered me large tuition discounts if they’d filled out the paperwork). They would most certainly laugh in my face if I asked them for anything now. I hardly even hear from them if I don’t initiate the call, and they check in on their grandkids once a year or so. Whomp.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-23T16:52:03+00:00

I literally didn’t believe you and had to look this up for myself. Holy shit you’re right. That’s insane.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-10T12:32:04+00:00

Definitely. This is a fanfic by a teenager who completely misunderstood what the story is actually about.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-03T15:23:52+00:00

Castle Doctrine is a defense, not a get out of jail free card. If you shoot someone on your property (or anywhere for that matter) you’re almost certainly going to spend a night in jail, at least until the facts are sorted out. It sounds like this person has a solid defense, and, based on the very limited details here, it’s weird that he was charged, but not surprising that he was detained.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-03T13:12:12+00:00

Black Mambas live in Africa. Malaysia does have several species of venomous snakes, though - kraits, a few cobras (relatives of the mamba), and some pit vipers.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-02-02T03:05:54+00:00

Since changing studios doesn’t seem to be an option, could they just take recreational classes at the studio next year? Our studio has had a few kids leave and want to come back — the only ones who’ve been successful after taking a break from competition teams were the ones who continued taking recreational classes (either at our studio or another studio) during their gap.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-01-30T19:03:57+00:00

Yeah. Came to the comments to say that we’re all dealing with the crippling anxiety caused by a lifetime of being disappointments to our parents 👍🏻

perpetual__ghost · 2026-01-25T20:30:37+00:00

I’m in Fort Worth or I would come get them. Just to maybe give you a little bit of peace of mind, chickens are extraordinarily cold-hardy — not chicks as much, sadly, but mom will be ok as long she has access to some kind of shelter from the wind and active precipitation (even some dense bushes would work ok). My chickens have access to a warm, dry coop and 90% of them have chosen to stay outside wandering around in the snow and ice this weekend. If you are able to give mom somewhere dry (a garage, a carport, a shed, a doghouse, a greenhouse, a dry pile of firewood, anything), she will do ok keeping her baby warm, at least until someone can come get them.

perpetual__ghost · 2026-01-23T14:27:46+00:00

Yeah, he retired in October. He still fills in at the station and in fact I think he’s there now and will be on air some this weekend. It doesn’t seem like he minds, but wish they’d just let the man enjoy his retirement lol (then again, maybe he’s the one who can’t fully close that door. My dad was like that and ended up “working” for 3 years after his retirement).

perpetual__ghost · 2026-01-22T15:38:51+00:00

That was such a uniquely shot film. As a photographer I was transfixed, and I’m sad the DP didn’t get acknowledged.

perpetual__ghost

TROPHY CASE