by Phil Houseal | Mar 30, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Mar 30, 2022–Hello, John Q. Public. And how are you today, Mr. John Doe? Mrs. Smith? Meet Mrs. Jones. What jaded labels. I was reading about Vlad the Impaler the other day, and thought, why don’t we still use names like that? How dramatic! How efficient! In three...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 24, 2022 | All Articles, Events, People of the Hill Country, Venue
Mar 23, 2022–Back in high school, my friend John approached me with the complete libretto (text and lyrics) for an Amish Rock Opera he wanted set to music. I remember the first line to this day: Just been existing in an Amish world, Driving my buggy with my Amish...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 16, 2022 | All Articles, Events, People of the Hill Country
March 16, 2022–Were you one of those people who pledged to use the lockdown to create your magnum opus? David Remschel actually did it. But then, the published playwright/middle school teacher is addicted to writing. “The whole idea came about at the very beginning of...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 15, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Mar 9, 2022–I’ve been accused of coming across as a curmudgeon in my writing. I thought it would be interesting to examine my peeves and figure out if there was any pattern. So prepare for a spleen purge. I hate puns. They serve no purpose. They distract from the...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 2, 2022 | All Articles, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Mar 2, 2022–If you could speak to any person alive today, who would it be and why would you choose that person? This question was posed to me at our weekly Table of Knowledge, and I couldn’t answer it. No one else could either. I posted the question on social media,...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 23, 2022 | All Articles, Education, Music, Philosophy
Feb 23, 2022–I am a college student again. Proud member of the Senior Audit program at Schreiner University. Dr. Eugene Dowdy bravely accepts adult beginners into his string ensemble class, allowing us to saw away sitting next to serious music students who started...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 16, 2022 | All Articles, Philosophy
Feb 16, 2022–Why is it so hard to receive a gift? Many of us are unwilling and unable to accept anything freely offered. There is a stoicism in some, a feeling of low self-worth in others, or the impression that a gift equals charity. None of these are true. I myself...
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...
