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...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 11, 2024 | All Articles, Education, Food, History, Philosophy
Dec 11, 2024–A recent kerfuffle about changing a street to one-way caused unanticipated effects at adjacent intersections, brought to mind other blanket declarations with unexpected and opposite consequences. In 1918 pure prairie leagues and women’s temperance unions...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 4, 2024 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Venue
Dec 4, 2024–When we put a violin in our granddaughter’s hands last year, I would have been happy to listen to her saw away at endless Suzuki songs. But unexpectedly, and due to encouragement from her instructor, Theresa Britt, she has developed an affinity for fiddle...
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 20, 2024 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country
Nov 20, 2024–If you are looking for a fresh way to celebrate the holidays in the Hill Country this year, think beyond a red-nosed reindeer and consider celebrating Mucky Duck style. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck is a popular Irish pub in Houston that serves as the...
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...
