by Phil Houseal | Jan 21, 2026 | All Articles, Education, History
Some wily entrepreneur in the Old West understood marketing. This coffee bean supplier wanted to make his beans stand out among the grizzled cowboys and settlers who swarmed up the cattle trails and carved out the west. He made and sold Arbuckles’ coffee, one of the...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 31, 2025 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Dec 31, 2025–What if your life were a sitcom? SCENE: Breakfast table, cluttered with opened cereal boxes, butter dish, crumbs and coffee. He: Good morning, dear. What are your plans for today? She: Plans? You think I PLAN my existence. I believe in foreordained fate...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 17, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Dec 17, 2025–Do you name your bread machine? I have just been made aware that there is a whole sub-section of humanity that names objects in their lives. It is not an affliction; it is a life hack. In a previous column I posited how we dehumanize our opponents in...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 10, 2025 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Dec 10, 2025–I was attending a political rally when a high school basketball game broke out. Not really, but the two are connected. As a lifelong fan of roundball, I occasionally drop in on a random high school game just to enjoy the level of play and skills of the...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 12, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Venue
In 2019, Lee Ann Whatley set off on a scavenger hunt to track down all the original paintings done by her grandfather, Lee Ethel. Like every good treasure hunter, she uncovered more than she originally sought. Lee Ethel was a successful graphic designer in Dallas for...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 22, 2025 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Oct 22, 2025–What single-purpose tools facilitate your daily living? That is, what is a tool that does only one thing, but does it extremely well. So well, that you couldn’t function without it. You probably don’t even notice them. But here are some examples I came up...
