by Phil Houseal | Feb 19, 2025 | All Articles, Events, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Feb 19, 2024–It’s always about the song. What makes a good song, I asked Gary Nicholson, the prolific songwriter you might not have ever heard of, who will perform at the Hill Top Café north of Fredericksburg on Feb 27. “What makes a good song is a song that people...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 12, 2025 | All Articles, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Feb 12, 2025–I must admit to a feeling of guilt that I have never visited the great museums and cathedrals of Europe. I have not gone on safari in Africa, nor ridden on the Orient Express. I haven’t waddled with penguins in Antarctica nor left REI gear on the slopes...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 5, 2025 | All Articles, Philosophy
Feb 5, 2025–How would you live your life differently if you didn’t now what time it was? Or what day? Or what year? Or how old you were? This is not an idle question. I don’t think we realize how much of our lives are controlled by numbers. For some reason, humans are...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 29, 2025 | All Articles, Education
January 29, 2025– “Bound and binding, binding, bound, Hear the sight, see the sound. What was lost now is found, Bound and binding, binding, bound.” You’re walking out of your house for an important appointment, when you remember you misplaced your...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 22, 2025 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Venue
Jan 22, 2024–In my weekly scribblings I am always tickled when readers take time to respond, often to unexpected aspects of my columns. As happened when I received this: “Thank you for your article The Scent of Color, and thank you for your interest in Crayola...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 15, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Food, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Jan 15, 2024–If chickens didn’t exist, Elon Musk would have to invent them. Think about it. Chickens are the Swiss Army knives of the food pantry. Imagine the discussion around the table at The Creator’s Create-A-Creature Corporation. “OK, team. The boss wants us to...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 8, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Jan 8, 2024–During my first round of raising offspring, I had a brainstorm for creating an innovative building system. Recognizing the cliché that every kid had more fun playing with the box \ than the toy that came inside it, I sketched out ideas on how to connect...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 1, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Jan 1, 2024–After a decade of principled resistance, I’ve finally let an unwelcome visitor inside my house. “Alexa… are you turned on?” I know, I know. I fought against allowing the snoopy digital neighbor into my home because of invasion of privacy, data...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 25, 2024 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
(Note: This is a column from 2015, updated and reprinted by request.) Dec 25, 2024–I am thinking about my Aunt Rose this week. She was 250 years old. At least she seemed to be that age in my childish worldview. She was actually born in 1898, the ninth of 10 children,...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 18, 2024 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Dec 18, 2024–Young person! To be successful in life, you need to identify a mentor. I wish I would have had a mentor. I guess I didn’t because 1) I was a shy child and didn’t want to bother any successful grown-up, and 2) when you are not sure what you want to be when...
