by Phil Houseal | Oct 14, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Oct 14, 2020–As a marketing gimmick, I once tried to come up with a clever mascot for a university’s fictional athletic program. I couldn’t do it. I brainstormed the most insignificant or annoying animals and plants that would make a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt that...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 15, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Sept 16, 2020–I remember being quarantined. I was 8 years old. I had chicken pox. All kids did back in the early 1960s. But mine was particularly painful. Not because of the disease. But because it happened the week of our big farm sale. We were moving from the farm I...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 2, 2020 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
9/2/2020–You can’t keep a good dancer down. Recently I heard there was a gang of dancing rebels operating a “dance easy” in Fredericksburg. Apparently this loosely connected group of five or six couples gather on a weekly basis to… wait for it… dance in...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 24, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy, PR Tips
June 24, 2020–Note: This column is not a metaphor for any current situation, nor is the writer responsible for any lesson readers may take away. M&Ms have always been my favorite candies. So much so that when I was banished overseas for two years, it was one of...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 17, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
June 17, 2020–When I first moved to the Hill Country, I was not prepared for how seriously Texans take their history. Growing up in one of the 49 non-Texan states, I arrived unaware of the colorful story of how this 6-flagged region became the Lone Star State....
by Phil Houseal | May 20, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
May 20, 2020–I’ve always held the controversial opinion that no one knows the true extent of our cash economy. All those reports of retail activity, employment, GDP, etc., are based on data of transactions taking place within the official economy. They don’t include...
