by Phil Houseal | Dec 13, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Dec 13, 2023– “Are you blind!” “She traveled!” “C’mon ref… that was a foul!” Such was my soundtrack while at a high school basketball game. I like to sit on the visitor side, as that is usually where the most open seats are, and it keeps me from having to listen...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 6, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Music, Philosophy
Dec 6, 2023–As I grow wiser, I believe more and more that art and beauty lie within the spaces between. Graphic designers refer to it as “white space.” Given a 3-inch by 4-inch ad border, for example, amateurs tend to cram it with images and copy. Experienced...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 15, 2023 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 15, 2023–My 8-year-old grand taught me a life lesson on the way to her dental appointment. She couldn’t wait. Like most of you, going to the dentist is right up there with getting tased while standing in a puddle of stagnant water. So I asked her why she was...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 8, 2023 | All Articles, Events, Food, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Nov 8, 2023–For the semi-pro party planners that lurk among us, the holidays are their Olympics, Super Bowl, and Academy Awards, wrapped in a bow with a Christmas carol soundtrack. No group is more motivated to create a memorable event from scraps of paper and...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 3, 2023 | All Articles, Education, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Nov 1, 2023–If you’d told me I would get emotional while picking up a tire, I’d have punctured your sidewall. Believe it or not, I visited a Discount Tire for the first time this summer. It’s like the Buc-cees of tire chain stores. My first clue it was a special place...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 25, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Oct 25, 2023–The next time I sneeze, don’t bless me. That universal reaction to what is essentially an involuntary intimate act disturbs me. Those two simple words–Bless You–while a loving benediction in other contexts, when used after a snot-spraying convulsion...