by Phil Houseal | May 3, 2023 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
May 3, 2023–Each week I sit across the table from five gentle men. If this were a different time in American history, rather than sharing breakfast tacos, we would be trying to kill each other. One is British, a native of County Durham, England. If this were 1776, I...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 19, 2023 | All Articles, Events, Music, Philosophy
April 19, 2023–Music stands have always bothered me, but I couldn’t pinpoint the reason. I remember buying my first one as a 5th-grade snare drummer. It was a clever contraption that folded up to fit in a backpack. Handy. But it was also flimsy when set up. Even a...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 5, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
April 5, 2023–Who else hates board games that take longer to set up than to play? The only ones worse are games that take longer to play than to set up. I was thinking of this because we’ve been pulling out all those boxes of games to play with our grands. You know,...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 29, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Mar 29, 2023–Here’s a modest proposal for hyperactivity in pre-teens: let them be kidnapped by Comanches 150 years ago. Hear me out before howling. I’ve been reading the stories of the Hill Country children who were taken into the Comanche and Apache tribes in the...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 22, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Mar 22, 2023–One Wednesday every month I have a date with a special lady. Since last fall, “Pearl” and I have programmed robots, designed circuits, studied bugs, and built structures. You see, Pearl is my 7-year-old granddaughter, and our dates are to the Science Mill...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 9, 2023 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Mar 8, 2023–I hate old memories; I prefer making new ones while I’m able. What’s wrong with memories? Three things: 1) They are never true. 2) They are embarrassing 3) They don’t help create the future. 1) Memories are never true I was raised in a litter of nine....
