Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1225776
22 letter editor JONATHAN ZIZZO L ast week, I was eager to see an exhibit opening at the Dallas Museum of Art called "For a Dreamer of Houses" that would explore the meaning of home, the significance of the spaces where we live and how they represent us through 54 works from around the world. I don't have to tell you what happened. On the day "Dreamer" was set to debut, the DMA announced it was closing without a reopening date in sight, like all of the city's cultural institutions, in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. And, along with most of Dallas, I soon found myself confined to an actual house and faced with an infinite stretch of time to contemplate how it represents me. By now, it feels like forever that the world has been slow-motion grinding to a halt. First, events were shut down. Then sports and arts institutions, movie theaters, bars, and restaurants. The latest decree is to avoid gatherings of more than 10, though most people I know are burrowing in at home. Right now, instead of sitting in a busy office, passing final page proofs before we put the April issue to bed, I'm sitting alone in my home office, emailing our other editors about those final trims and polishes. It feels like I've been here forever. But the truth is, just two weeks ago I took a road trip to Austin in a car packed with dear friends. The weekend before that, I was part of the PaperCity team at the Jewel Charity Ball in Fort Worth — a glamorous gathering of almost 1,500 revelers in Dickies Arena, sitting close at the table, leaning in to hear the latest chitchat, dancing, embracing. Steve Wrubel's photos and Billy Fong's recap bring it back to glorious life on page 38. Now it's about Zoom dinner parties and Facetime cocktail hours and recipe-sharing over social media. Dinner by no-touch delivery from the restaurants we love. Livestream concerts and virtual mu- seum visits. Buying gift cards from the places we want to stay in business. Donating to charities even if we can't dress up and dance at the gala. Taking a break with this magazine, to escape for a moment into its pages of easy beauty. All of it, from home. All of it about adjusting, adapting, and tamping down the fear that the world will never be the same. We may be physically isolated, but we are still social creatures and we are getting through this together. For now, you can join me on a virtual walk through "Dreamers" in a preview of the exhibit on papercitymag.com. And soon enough, I'll see you there and I know we'll have plenty to say about the comfort and the limits of our time at home. Michalene Busico Dallas Editor in Chief michalene@papercitymag.com