by Phil Houseal | Jul 1, 2020 | All Articles, Education, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
July 1, 2020–Last week I ventured out. Out of the house, out of town, out of my comfort zone. I took a class. I’ve always been fascinated by the art of script writing. Which is unusual, because writing of any kind was not a plausible path out of the corn patch, and I...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 24, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy, PR Tips
June 24, 2020–Note: This column is not a metaphor for any current situation, nor is the writer responsible for any lesson readers may take away. M&Ms have always been my favorite candies. So much so that when I was banished overseas for two years, it was one of...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 17, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
June 17, 2020–When I first moved to the Hill Country, I was not prepared for how seriously Texans take their history. Growing up in one of the 49 non-Texan states, I arrived unaware of the colorful story of how this 6-flagged region became the Lone Star State....
by Phil Houseal | Jun 10, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
June 10, 2020– “Our diversity is our strength” “We are all in this together” “Due to an abundance of caution” “Thoughts and prayers” How many empty phrases can one language tolerate? Our minds are a file cabinet of sayings. When a certain situation arises, we...
by Phil Houseal | Jun 3, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
June 3, 2020–They call themselves Influencers. We called them the cool kids in high school–cheerleaders, quarterbacks, the guys who could play the chords to Smoke On The Water, and the seniors who drove nicer cars than the teachers. We science fair nerds and future...
by Phil Houseal | May 27, 2020 | All Articles, Philosophy
May 27, 2020–As are many of you, we are using this time to clean house. We call it The Great Purge. So, so much stuff. When we moved to our little property, one of the perks was a 600-square-foot barn. Forget your hot tubs, decks, and “oak-covered views.” This place...
by Phil Houseal | May 20, 2020 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
May 20, 2020–I’ve always held the controversial opinion that no one knows the true extent of our cash economy. All those reports of retail activity, employment, GDP, etc., are based on data of transactions taking place within the official economy. They don’t include...
by Phil Houseal | May 13, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
May 13, 2020–During my lockdown-compliant travels through my silverfish-invested bookshelves, I came across a timely trilogy from the 1990s–The Tightwad Gazette, Volumes I, II, and III. These 300-page tomes were compilations of a popular newsletter produced by Amy...
by Phil Houseal | May 8, 2020 | All Articles, Education, Events, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
May 6, 2020–With a boost from technology, Joan Speer is making sure her high school students stay in a “calculus community.” That’s what the Fredericksburg High School (FHS) math teacher misses most about the current suspension of public schools due to The Virus Which...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 29, 2020 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
April 29, 2020–In the Time of the Virus, I’ve been going through my bookshelf to find inspiration and ideas. Among the editions not yet donated to the library book sale, I came across an old favorite from 1983–Rules of Thumb, by Tom Parker. He defined a Rule of Thumb...
