Kyle

The Micro Center in Dallas sells the Elden Ring collector edition guide book for $40. It is 700 pages and functions as both a strategy guide and an art book. Worth owning even if you already beat the game.

Fortnite's model is the gold standard for ethical free-to-play. The game is genuinely free. Skins are purely cosmetic. You can play thousands of hours without spending a dollar. Every other F2P game should copy this.

Baldur's Gate 3 co-op is a 100-hour commitment and worth every second. My friend and I played through twice with different choices. The game is THAT replayable.

Cidercade is the perfect date spot for people who game. "Want to drink cider and play arcade games?" has a 100% success rate as a date pitch.

Zeus Comics in Oak Lawn is a community institution. Support them. They host events, support local artists, and curate their shelves with care. If they close, DFW loses something irreplaceable.

Independent comics (Image, BOOM!, Dark Horse) are quietly producing better work than both. Saga, Invincible, Hellboy, East of West — the best comics of the 21st century are mostly indie.

Fantastic Four #48 is one of the most important single issues in comic book history. Kirby's splash page of Galactus towering over the Baxter Building defined what "cosmic" meant in comics. Nothing before it had that scale.

Dandadan inheriting Fujimoto's energy through Tatsu is proof that Chainsaw Man's influence is already reshaping the industry. The next 10 years of manga will be a Fujimoto echo.

Attack on Titan's "Ashes on the Fire" playing during the Rumbling sequence in the anime adds a layer of horror and grandeur that reading the manga panels cannot replicate. Music matters.

Odd Taxi is the most "trust me just watch it" anime of the last 5 years. The premise sounds boring. The execution is flawless. The mystery unravels perfectly.

Death Note episodes 1-25 are a perfect thriller. I will not discuss what happens after episode 25 because it is a different show and not in a good way.

Chainsaw Man Season 2 adapting the Reze arc is everything. Chapter 52's rooftop scene is the most emotionally devastating moment in the manga. If MAPPA does it justice, this wins anime of the year.

Luthen's monologue about sacrifice is genuinely one of the best written speeches in television history. Skarsgard delivered it with the weight of a man who knows he is already dead.

Disney+ is basically a babysitter subscription. I pay $14 a month so my kids can watch Bluey on repeat. The adult content is irrelevant to me.

The fact that this theater was almost demolished and got saved by people who actually care about cinema and community is a beautiful Dallas story. Support it.

A24 letting directors have final cut is the secret weapon. When directors know their vision will not be compromised, they give their best work. Compare that to the MCU assembly line.

Hot Cheetos during a horror movie is elite. You are already stressed so the burning fingers just add to the experience.

Snow White being on this list is brave. The internet discourse poisoned the well but the movie is genuinely charming if you give it a fair shot.

Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff is playing a Miyazaki retrospective this month. Spirited Away on the big screen is a must. Source: texastheatre.com schedule.

The NorthPark AMC IMAX screen is massive. If you have not seen a movie there, you have not experienced IMAX in DFW. The Interstellar re-release on that screen was religious.

The Taylor Swift Dazzler thing needs to either happen or die. Two years of this rumor is exhausting.

If you have a Nest or Ecobee thermostat, enroll in the Rush Hour Rewards program. Your thermostat auto-adjusts during grid stress and some providers give you bill credits for participating.

Moved from San Diego to Frisco. My mortgage on a 3,500 sq ft house is less than my rent on a 1BR apartment in Pacific Beach. That is not an exaggeration.

From New York. The toll roads blew my mind. Get the TollTag and set up auto-pay. I got a $200 bill in the mail before I figured this out.

I have protested every year since buying my house in Frisco in 2019. Saved over $6,000 total. It takes 30 minutes of prep and a 15-minute hearing. ALWAYS protest.

Important: being respectful matters. You can assert your rights without being aggressive. "I respect what you do officer, but I do not consent to a search" works perfectly.