by Phil Houseal | Oct 18, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Oct 18, 2023–You are not who you think you are. You are who everyone else thinks you are. Like every fictional character, Bart Simpson does not exist. He is simply the aggregation of traits thought up by a committee of writers and artists. They have produced 750+...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 13, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy, PR Tips
Oct 11, 2023–Anyone who writes does so in dread of editors. Rearrange my words that I have so expertly placed on paper? How dare you! However, I have come to realize that ruthless editing–in all aspects of life–is what makes it, if not more interesting, at least more...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 4, 2023 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country
Oct 4, 2023–Every time it seems the modern music scene is abandoning “veteran” music-makers on the bandstands of history, a young artist comes along that rediscovers a classic genre, makes it her own, and shares it with a whole new generation. Meet Miss Georgia...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 27, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Sept 27, 2023–While completing yet another task that you never seem stop needing to do, it struck me how little time we spend actually doing the task, versus preparing to do said task. If it were a pie chart, the part spent doing the task would be the size of the...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 20, 2023 | All Articles, History, Music, People of the Hill Country
Sept 20, 2023–My recent column about my One-Hit-Wonder song Rocky Mountain Oysters caused an unexpected and un-merited surge in interest about my songwriting career. While attending a recent dance hall night, several fans requested that I sing The Fredericksburg Phone...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 13, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Philosophy
Sept 13, 2023–The world is a giant maze and we are all rats. I came to this conclusion while sitting in my car watching people navigate. We are very predictable in our behavior. Opening Doors People entering buildings with double doors do three things every time: 1)...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 6, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Sept 6, 2023–As is my wont, I was browsing through another yellow-paged, broken-spined, remaindered paperback–1,500 Literary References Everyone Should Know–when it became evident that, well, we don’t. Too many of us communicate via memes and giphys and LOLs. If I see...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 6, 2023 | All Articles, Music, Venue
Sept 7, 2023–The first thing you notice when listening to Suzy Bogguss do a song like Night Rider’s Lament is the bluesy tinge to her strong clear voice. Now I grew up in a small town in the Midwest just 75 miles from the small town in the Midwest where she grew up....
by Phil Houseal | Aug 30, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Aug 30, 2023–More and more I am convinced the secret to life, longevity, health, growth, vibrancy, use of endless descriptive nouns… is simply this: Keep doing stuff. And not just menial stuff. Although you have to do that. Just as we are–again–purging clutter...
by Phil Houseal | Aug 23, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Aug 23, 2023–No matter how many times you snake along Farm to Market Road 1376, a small tingle rises when you turn off on Luckenbach’s Town Loop. I vividly recall my first trip here in 1978. It was like a pilgrimage to Lourdes. The song Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the...
