by Phil Houseal | Jan 4, 2023 | All Articles, Philosophy
Jan 4, 2023–To cut travel time, we focus on two options: 1) decreasing the distance between two points, or 2) increasing speed. What if instead we could condense time? What if we could remove every other second, for example? Or at least remove the awareness of every...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 28, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, Philosophy, Venue
Dec 28, 2022–I’m a basketball fan who has been unable to watch any broadcast games since 1999 when our TV antenna quit working. To see the first Spurs championship run, I had to go to 87 Ice Box which my wife didn’t like because I was also watching the kids. But they...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 21, 2022 | All Articles, Food, History, Philosophy
Dec 28, 2022–How many spices and seasonings do you have in your kitchen? How many do you actually use? I’m guessing those are wildly divergent numbers. I’m working on a theory that the hidden culprit in unhealthy eating is the amount of seasoning we use. Whenever I...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 15, 2022 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country, Venue
Dec 2022–What would possess a couple of tech entrepreneurs to erect eight yurts on 10 acres of land in the Texas Hill Country and rent them out as overnight accommodations? “We just really liked it,” admitted Bill Paul, who with his wife, Jenny, are finishing their...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 14, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Dec 14, 2022–With Christmas a’coming, the good boys and girls are sorting themselves out from the bad boys and girls. The other day, I heard a child ask if he could have a treat because he had been “a good boy.” It hurt my ears. Because throughout my life as a parent...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 7, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Dec 7, 2022–Have you ever slipped on a banana peel? Do you know anyone who has slipped on a banana peel? Have you heard verifiable reports of anyone anywhere who has actually slipped on a banana peel? I’d bet the answer to all three is, “No, and why are you asking...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 30, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Nov 30, 2022–This week I achieved what scientists said can’t be done: I cleaned out three junk drawers. Junk drawers are the black holes of housekeeping. All objects within 50 yards of an empty drawer are inexorably sucked into it, never to emerge. The only...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 23, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Food, History, Philosophy
Nov 23, 2022–As you sit down to your Thanksgiving Day meal, I am confident you will observe the list of manners to be followed “At Table:” Promptness when meals are announced When to sit; position; fidgeting Waiting one’s turn When to begin to eat How to eat and drink...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 16, 2022 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Nov 16, 2022–I’ve spent a lot of time in public places lately, staring at my feet. You see, social media users are using the phrase “touch grass” as shorthand for “put down the phone and go outside and be in nature.” Yet many campuses, parks, and public places...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 9, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 9, 2022–I seem to be missing the gene that creates the unquenchable desire to own things. This disinterest in amassing material wealth manifests in many areas of my life. Take furniture. If I had not taken a wife, I would still be eating pot pies off a wooden...
