Week in Review.

Our Most Popular Stories This Week Focused on Conspiracies, Secession and The End of an Era.

With the holidays fast approaching, it's fitting that this week's most popular stories centered around the places where people convene, the good that we can do and the scary truth about just how hard it is to run away.

• This one came as a shocker to most, which explains its wide reach: Yes, Deep Ellum venue La Grange is closing its doors after an almost three-year run. We spoke with owner Stephanie Schumacher about what went wrong. On a positive note, some other venues have stepped up and offered to host the shows remaining on the venue's calendar.

• It's not all doom and gloom on the venue front: Downtown is getting some action of late thanks to a new DIY space that's the joint venture of local talent buyers Parade of Flesh and local hardcore heroes Power Trip

• Artists also came together this week at Art Conspiracy 8, as 110-plus volunteers gathered to auction off the works of 150 local artists before 2,000 attendees. It ruled.

• You know what else ruled about Art Conspiracy 8? The many attendees who rolled through our photo booth and struck a goofy pose.

• Odd that, right during all of these moments of great togetherness, someone would want to bring up talks of secession, right? We were just starting to like everyone again! Good thing, as we learned in infographic form, secession is a lot harder than it sounds..

…and that should do it. Catch y'all on the flip.