By Jim Ayres If only self-driving cars were available now. From my home, I’d set a course for a scenic cruise down Kirby Drive through River Oaks, and on to the twists and turns of Allen Parkway. A right at Taft, a left on Dallas. In truth, my own car already knows that route by

By Jim Ayres It’s funny how a simple fact about my life can change in the blink of an eye. I started the last edition of Foodie Diaries by saying I rarely venture downtown. After Hurricane Harvey, that changed. I’ve been downtown a lot lately, mostly dropping off donations and offering a comforting word or

By Jim Ayres I rarely go downtown. Pride—of course, I’m there. Otherwise, it takes a very special event to put me among the skyscrapers, where I invariably get lost. Sometimes, though, curiosity gets the best of me. A few years ago, I took a tour of the newly (and still) trendy Market Square area for