by Phil Houseal | Nov 27, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Music, Philosophy
Nov 27, 2024–Young people today think they are hip. When we were in high school, we thought we were cool. But before there was “hip” and “cool,” there was “hep.” I’m reading a history of the big bands from 1920 to 1960. It’s fascinating how their popularity followed...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 13, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Nov13, 2024–Again the great re-ordering of time has side-whacked us. Twice a year we reset the clocks to align with the great solar cycle, compensating for the tilt of our earth to calibrate clock readings to sunrise and sunset. Long ago I came up with an elegant...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 6, 2024 | All Articles, Events, History, Philosophy, Venue
Nov 6, 2024–Whether you embrace or avoid weddings, the celebration itself is a panorama of the human condition. Every stage of a person’s life is acted out in the drama on the matrimonial stage. At a recent betrothal, I was able to sort the life passages into five...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 30, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Oct 30, 2024–Lick a Battery. That is the first of “Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do),” a book that our son gave us. His friend, author Gever Tulley’s simple premise is that we need to go back to letting kids play dangerously. Readers who grew up...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 23, 2024 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Oct 23, 2024–If you share an idea with an old man and he is for it, do it. If he is against it, do it anyway. An old man told me that bit of advice. And it is good advice. Throughout history, you’ll find examples of men and women of all ages and stations in life who...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 16, 2024 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Oct 16, 2024–What do you call a bunch of retirees who meet for lunch every other week, just because? According to the Herald-Zeitung, they call themselves ROMEOs: Retired Old Men Eating Out. They have no agenda, collect no dues, require no initiation, and don’t keep...
