I’ve long been a supporter of our Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter and the ASPCA Humane Society. Yesterday I stopped by there and found a number of families picking out dogs for their kids for Christmas. Such a delight to see the excitement and the joy. Then I think about what is coming next. “Johnny! […]
Ever need to curl up with a good book, especially an old favorite, and just drift away on the story? What is it about some books that we remember them forever? The main characters envelope us, carry us along, help us to leave our world and enter theirs. It’s a wonderful respite to escape from […]
The amount of money, time and effort that is spent on decorating for Christmas could, without doubt, solve the national debt problem, or at least come close. Sunday at a cookie gift exchange, one of the church ladies bemoaned the fact that she had not decorated for Christmas. She wasn’t elderly, maybe mid 60s […]
This past weekend I had the singular pleasure of being with three writer friends—breakfast, lunch and afternoon coffee. (I keep this up, I’m going to weigh 200 pounds). How often do we hear of someone who is ‘going’ to write a book? Hundreds, if not thousands, of people would like to […]
How soon old, how late smart. Why do we learn lessons so late in life? A very few years ago, Dr. Ken Hendrickson, Sr., asked me to write a chapter about a Mexican-American Folklorist named Americo Paredes. I hadn’t known that he was still hanging out in coffee houses around the University of Texas at […]
This is the story of Stephen F. Austin and his request for a colony in Texas for a book called “Fly on a Texas Wall–Where would you like to be a fly on a wall in Texas history to see what really happened?” Comments from the fly on his shoulder. January 1821 – Stephen, […]
Footnotes are the bane of an academic’s existence but writing any good book requires research. For the last twenty-five years, I have crouched like a Gringot’s gnome over ancient archives, leafing through four-inch thick tomes, or hauling out Hollinger boxes full of hundred year-old dusty manuscripts. I emerged with hands blackened by equally old dirt […]
Every now and then I am struck by the vivid beauty of colors. Heavy rains have pelted us for two days and just as sunset approached, the skies had begun to clear. The roiling clouds still hung low to the north but the sun had muscled its way through at the western edges of […]
I believe the pleasure of parties is the laughter. Last night Hubby Flatbottom and I attended the one and only Christmas Party he willingly participates in for the holidays. Our friend, Dalia, will not let him off the hook. She has threatened to come get him if he doesn’t show up, so he comes. […]
Many people consider On-line Courses the latest and greatest gift God has ever given to mankind. Not me. Four years ago, our university decided that we professors would have to teach On-line courses. Keeping up with the other profit-making diploma mills like Phoenix University is critical. The on-line courses are highly profitable and huge […]