by Phil Houseal | Nov 18, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy, PR Tips
Nov 18, 2020–I have a shameful secret. Over the years I’ve dabbled in “the marketing arts.” This is a field filled with exuberant claims, arcane metrics, and secret phrases whose sole function is to persuade unsuspecting marks to buy your pricey chotchkes, attend your...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 11, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 11, 2020–While attending a meeting during a recent cold snap, I looked around and realized everyone was wearing flannel. As I wasn’t paying attention to the agenda anyway, I started wondering what is flannel? What a strange design for a garment. If I were the one...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 4, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
Nov 4, 2020–I could be a nudist if it weren’t for not having pockets. There is some vestigial relationship between boys and pockets. From the day we found our first shiny stone or dead lizard, boys have needed a place to put them. The pocket soon became home for...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 28, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
Oct 28, 2020–I tried to give some co-workers a dozen eggs last week, but they didn’t want them. Turns out they all had hens of their own, and were scrambling to give away eggs as well. There is no clearer illustration of how chicken ranching has swept the nation…...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 21, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
Oct 22, 2020–For boys growing up in the early days of television, all our favorite heroes were single men. The Lone Ranger. Gene Autry. Batman. Zorro. And most TV families were led by single fathers: Bonanza, Andy Griffith, My 3 Sons, The Rifleman, Jed Clampett. The...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 14, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Oct 14, 2020–As a marketing gimmick, I once tried to come up with a clever mascot for a university’s fictional athletic program. I couldn’t do it. I brainstormed the most insignificant or annoying animals and plants that would make a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt that...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 7, 2020 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Oct 7, 2020–Every four years as we approach the elections, I ask the same question: Is anyone “undecided?” Because 90% of everyone who is paying attention to politics fall one way or the other on these binary choices: either Republican or Democrat, Liberal or...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 30, 2020 | All Articles, Music, Philosophy
Sept 30, 2020–With several readers commenting that I’m coming across “curmudgeonly” in my writing lately, I decided to lighten up on the topic choice. So, for your column-reading pleasure, here is a list of favorite musician jokes I’ve heard uttered backstage...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 23, 2020 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Sept 23, 2020–At the risk of flogging this deceased pony called the pandemic, I’ve toted up some outcomes that I shall embrace: 1) The end of handshakes I never liked the tradition of shaking hands. Growing up in business and social circles, a handshake was like...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 15, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Sept 16, 2020–I remember being quarantined. I was 8 years old. I had chicken pox. All kids did back in the early 1960s. But mine was particularly painful. Not because of the disease. But because it happened the week of our big farm sale. We were moving from the farm I...
