For me, the holidays are just ho-ho-hum
Stopping by a friend’s house the day after Thanksgiving, I was amazed by both her lavishly ornamented tree and her breezy declaration of the Christmas colors she was considering for next year. Despite the...
Category: Essay and Opinion
Patchwork of fond memories keeps us warm
We live in a culture of abundance, a society drowning in stuff. Off-site storage units are a growth industry, while houses keep getting bigger to contain the avalanche of possessions. Magazines such as Real...
If you must eat animals, kill them with kindness
We’re quickly approaching “Turkey Day.” That’s shorthand for Thanksgiving, and it emphasizes the meat-centric-ness of the holiday. These days, the Pilgrims are mere Yankee window-dressing to the “Festival of Turkey.” Thanksgiving is just one...
Which Ghouls rule on Halloween? In Austin, that’s a no-brainer
Zombies are the monster of the moment, at least in Central Texas. While the ’80s and ’90s had sexy bloodsuckers inspired by Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles,” zombies are now the most fashionable undead. Sure,...
As the Stones say, you can make it if you try
It’s a cliché of the interconnectedness of the world that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Wales, it affects the weather in Waco. Yet sometimes global forces really do have very local consequences....
Films offer a glimpse of our global neighbors
Travel is often considered broadening, giving one panache, polish and a proper perspective on world events. Alas, the scandalous price of oil, the expense of mountain-climbing Sherpa guides and yaks, combined with the reality...
ACL Fest is just too much of a good thing
This is the tale of two bands. One’s country. The other, rock ‘n’ roll. Both are from Austin and both played ACL Fest on Saturday. The sultry heat made Zilker Park feel like a...
As victims bite the dust, ‘Snakes’ fans bond
When my mother was 6, she was bitten by a rattlesnake. The Boy Scout next door tied a tourniquet around her ankle and whisked her to a Houston emergency room. Sixty-odd years later, she...
Pirates break all the rules… and we cheer
This summer, I’ve seen the pirate flag, the jolly roger, more often than I’ve seen the Stars and Stripes. The distinctive black flag usually includes a white skull with swords, or bones, crossed underneath....
Celebrate the beauty of just being yourself
Like numerous other women across the globe, I spent July preparing for the “Miss Universe” pageant. As the contestants were practicing keeping a straight face while wearing one of those overspangled, Vegas-inspired “national costumes,”...
