I'm a somewhat regular commenter at the Houston Press. I'll chime in on the food blog, the art blog and the general blog maybe five or so times a week. Once or twice a writer over there has e-mailed me after I've commented asking for clarification or more information on something I've written. There are a few people over there that know who I am ( Read more... )

So a legitimate kurfluffle seems to have erupted over the last few weeks in the book world. I think it's a good thing.

It started, with a glowing review by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times of Freedom by Johnathan Franzen. It's no surprise that there's been a breathless anticipation in certain literary circles about this book. It's his ( Read more... )

Back in November, a former employee of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan announced that she quit, had a conversion, and joined the other side. She had worked in the clinic for 8 years, and had moved pretty high up the chain at Planned Parenthood. She was the clinic director when she left. She said her conversion came from observing an ( Read more... )

We live in a very strange media world. I just read the following paragraph in the Columbia Journalism Review, and it sort of blew my mind: While doing some recent research on the news business, I came upon this remarkable fact: Katie Couric’s annual salary is more than the entire annual budgets of NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered ( Read more... )

Not quite Man, Woman, Serpent Die in Firey Crash, but it'll do.Chihuahua With Earrings Stolen At Gay Bar ( Read more... )

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I'm a great fan of a lot of shows on the Discovery Channel. Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs just makes me happy. I enjoy watching the shennanagins on Myth Busters. Man vs. Wild makes me appreciate my television. And Graham and I almost signed up for The Alaska Experiment last year because we liked the first season so much. (We're not as impressed with ( Read more... )

Have ya'll seen the new PSA that Kiera Knightly did?

Click to view

I thought it was quite well done, and I hope that the campaign works. My first ever legal job was working at the Houston Area Women's Center as a legal advocate for battered women, and I really understood that this sort of crap happens at all income levels, education levels and societal ( Read more... )

I think it's safe to say that I'm a ridiculously active supporter of the arts. Almost all of my free time is dedicated to some arts organization or another. I'm on the board of directors for both Lawndale Arts Center and Diverseworks Artspace. I have co-chaired the VIP party for the Art Car parade for six years. I've been involved in multiple ( Read more... )

I realize that you have to do the fundraising thing every six months or so. I realize that the method that has worked for you so far has been the pledge drive. I realize that guilt and ransom works more or less pretty well.

I just want to point out a few things, though.

1. I give you $15 a month, every month, thanks to that nifty cash withdrawal ( Read more... )