In December 2005, after a successful first date with a man she liked very much, Laura Salinas took a deep breath and just said it: “You need to know something …

“I'm running for judge.”

It must have been a big plus that he was a political junkie. A year later they were married, and for the next four years she was a judge. Then she lost her County Court at Law seat to Walden Shelton in the 2010 Republican courthouse sweep.

This week, I met with Salinas on the 19th floor of the Tower Life Building to chat about her Democratic primary battle for the 166th District Court.

One of the surprise winners in the 2012 bond process had been the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center – a 40-year-old mini community located in one of San Antonio's most impoverished working-class communities and dedicated to preserving the area's heritage, from indigenous to Mexicano to mestizo. Originally recommended for zip by the City staff who prepare the preliminary lists, the Guadalupe was awarded $1.845 million by the Facilities and Community Initiatives committee after a moving presentation by students and a bus tour in which committee members got to see the aging City-owned facility for themselves.

But Thursday, when Council approved the final $596-million list of projects for the May bond election, it reduced that award by more than half, redistributing $750,000 to a District 5 senior center and $250,000 to Blue Star Contemporary Art Center. Changes to the bond recommendations at this stage in the process are initiated within districts by each Council member. D5 rep David Medina didn't contact the Guadalupe beforehand to discuss his plans or give its staff a chance to defend its windfall.

The Guadalupe plans to leverage the bond money it receives to raise funding to build four new classrooms and renovate the historic pharmacy on its grounds into offices and a community museum. Guadalupe Director Patty Ortiz – who's credited with re-energizing the center and overcoming a reputation for debilitating infighting in just three short years – learned about the changes at Wednesday's Council B Session.

With so much to celebrate and fondly remember about 2011, you couldn't pry that champagne glass out of my hand as I merrily made the rounds of every possible party, starting with a jazz-hand salute to those who entertain us year-round at the San Antonio Theatre Coalition's holiday potluck at Jump-Start Performance Co. Surrounded by Joe Mann's ethereal “Queens in Oil” exhibit, which immortalizes gender illusionists like Jimmy James and the brilliant Tencha la Jefa, I mixed and mingled with the likes of actor Marcus Cerda, whose 2004 national Nickelodeon commercial I still fondly remember, Susan Breidenbach, who took home the Jasmina Wellinghoff Award for Contribution to San Antonio Theatre at the Globe Awards last October, and Christopher Champlin, who recently picked up the reins at the Overtime as “an agent of the collective.” Champlin was a director at Fort Sam Houston's Harlequin Dinner Theater for 25 years.

Walking into Knockout Cuts Barber Shop on Hackberry Road, I'm hesitant. This is the ultimate man cave. The smell of shaving cream is pervasive, and chairs are set up facing a wide-screen TV, where a 1990s Jim Carrey contorts for the two gentlemen waiting to be called. The walls are covered with signed pictures and posters of fights and fighters. The only name I recognize is Oscar de la Hoya.

I'm quick to offer styling tips to anyone who asks, but like the plumber whose own house is full of leaks, I wouldn't be here if this story hadn't been assigned by my editor. Perhaps she's trying to tell me something. When it comes to hairstyles, everyone's a product of their generation. A style often reflects the time in a person's life when self-esteem was at an all-time high. We all know that woman sporting Farrah Fawcett hair and accompanying bangs well into her 50s. My all-time high is set to somewhere in the early' 90s and I cringe at the idea of leaving my post as a representative of the decade when saying “Yo!” was a revolutionary thrill.

Eighteen-year-old Moses Martinez is sitting next to me awaiting a “skin taper fade” – a style that starts off bald on the sides and blends into hair.