by Phil Houseal | Feb 9, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Feb 9, 2022–My first inkling that I was a product of “white bread” culture came in 8th grade. We had a student teacher assigned to our small rural Iowa school. He was from New York, so to us he might as well have been a Martian. The incident: He chided me in front of...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 2, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
2/2/2022–I can’t remember any answer I ever got correct on any test. But I remember every one I got wrong. It proves the lesson I read in a fortune cookie: “People learn little from success, but much from failure.” I’ll bet you can remember your own wrong answers....
by Phil Houseal | Jan 26, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Jan 26, 2022–Many of us are reaching the point in life where we need to start shedding possessions. It’s time to clean out closets, barns, and sheds, and offload old clothes, tools, and boxes of Christmas ornaments. But while discussing this with a group of gentlemen...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 19, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Jan 19, 2022–When I feel stressed about life situations, I use a trick: I imagine I am the main character in a novel. What would I want the protagonist to do next? Silly, but it has some logic. By putting yourself inside your own novel, it places you one step removed...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 12, 2022 | History, Philosophy
Jan 12, 2022–While coming up with a topic for this week’s column, I became discouraged. Here’s why: No one bothers to read anymore. We are all tik-tokked and insta-ed to within an inch of our attention span. A few weeks ago I wrote what I thought was a brilliant...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 6, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Jan 5, 2022–Our assumptions are so powerful we defend them fiercely. Even when they are wrong. “Papa… I have a question.” When my 6-year-old grand says this, I know I am ready to have my assumptions challenged. “When we are celebrating Christmas day here, what...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 29, 2021 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
“The things we see every day are the things we never see at all.” G.K. Chesterton Dec 29 2021–I’ve not always appreciated the “little things” people do for each other every day in the course of doing their jobs. Given the adventures this past year of navigating...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 22, 2021 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Dec 22, 2021–A group of us fuddie-duddies (people born in one of the previous centuries) were discussing the appeal and purpose of tattoos and piercings. Why, we asked rhetorically, do humanoids feel the need to ink their limbs and force metal objects through septa,...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 15, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Dec 15, 2021–I recently watched a sci-fi episode that examined the role imagination plays in creating desired outcomes. Specifically, the program described an alien race that observed human behavior by making their imaginations become real. It started with bringing to...
by Phil Houseal | Dec 8, 2021 | All Articles, Philosophy
Dec 8, 2021–I’m convinced the shortest distant from poverty to plenty is via manipulation of 2-dimensional space. I’ll start with a simple example–pizza. What goes into a pizza? A fistful of dough. A cup of tomato sauce. A sprinkling of grated cheese. Plus assorted...
