by Phil Houseal | Aug 14, 2024 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Aug 14, 2023–I used to wonder why TV’s Jeopardy had a Potpourri column. I now realize it was simply a place for the writing staff to dump all the question/answers that didn’t fit under one heading. Ergo… ### I’m convinced our gardens are more productive when we...
by Phil Houseal | Aug 7, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Aug 7, 2024–The first time more than two cavemen got together to go hunting, one of them stepped up and said, “Here are the rules.” Only it sounded like, “Ug, oomba dooga. sheboygan.” Every meeting ever held since that time, has started with someone reciting the rules...
by Phil Houseal | Jul 10, 2024 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
July 10, 2024–This week I was amazed to learn not everyone grew up with a treehouse in their back yard. A cartoonist online recently wondered why, when every cartoon has pictures of elaborate backyard treehouses, he knew no one in real life who had one. I replied, not...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 26, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
June 26, 2024–Harpo Marx, the wigged, honking jester of the zany Marx Brothers, was serious about two things in life: playing his harp, and being a parent. He was so serious about parenting, that he wrote out 10 rules, which, as you can see, were not “serious”...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 19, 2024 | All Articles, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Venue
June 12, 2024–While listening to a recent NPR podcast of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, the answer choices for “What was one of the lesser musical acts that performed in the middle of the night on the Jerry Lewis Telethon” were: A) the Hell’s Angels singers B) Ray Sanders,...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 5, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
June 5, 2024–“Yuck. He is majoring in business and going into sales.” Growing up in the hip1960s, there was no harsher judgement of a peer than was uttered in that statement. I remember hearing it from someone I admired, and it changed my future. No going into sales...
