Virgo Tex's Profile

It's just some funky old photo to most of y'all. Looking closer, you might guess, correctly, that it was taken on a Sunday. For the record, it was an Easter Sunday. Also for the record, I believe it may be... Continue reading

Posted Feb 29, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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Just kill it and move on to the next one

Because I'm an American, I know there's all sorts of international folks who would gladly kidnap and behead me. On TV. I know there are white supremacists in the United States who would happily hunt me down in the woods.... Continue reading

Posted Feb 22, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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"Yes. This is Dog"

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." Robert Louis Stevenson As skeptically humanist as I remain about heaven, I still want to believe that all dogs go... Continue reading

Posted Feb 15, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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Yeah, we can pretend we're that

My favorite music of any past year is the stuff I'm still listening to the next year and the one after that, long after all the year end lists and taking account is past. Sharon Van Etten's epic has been... Continue reading

Posted Feb 15, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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Paging the ghost of Upton Sinclair

The real surprise isn't that this happened, it's the fact that the plant actually got caught. That they did this in the first place speaks to the impotent (by design) oversight of our "reasonable and predictable regulatory structure" that guy... Continue reading

Posted Jan 25, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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The long arm of the law, in your uterus

I feel more empowered already. "Today's ruling is a victory for all who stand in defense of life. Every life lost to abortion is a tragedy, and this important sonogram legislation ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has... Continue reading

Posted Jan 11, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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America, 1900: Subsistence Marriage

My maternal great-grandparents and children. This is on my wall at home, next to one taken around the same time of my great-grandparents on the paternal side. In both pictures, of these two families that were very different from each... Continue reading

Posted Jan 11, 2012 at FIRST DRAFT

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America, the day after Christmas, 1929

My mother is the dark-haired girl sitting between her father and her older sister. They're on the steps of her grandparents' house in Hext, Texas. Said grandparents were probably the source of presents, the dolls, the baseball bat, a stiff... Continue reading

Posted Dec 28, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Because we are cursing bunch of cocksuckers around here

And because Athenae tweeted this, and I couldn't agree more, some thoughts on the effectiveness, or non-effectiveness, of profanity. Best of all, one of the commenters links to this video, which, getting back to ruining children by exposing them to... Continue reading

Posted Dec 21, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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The kids are alright: Star Witness

Because we could all use some inspiration: These two high school students, Kate and Janelle, are seniors in the arts program at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS), located in downtown Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Earlier in the fall, district school... Continue reading

Posted Dec 21, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Assets, not liabilities

Merry Christmas everyone! Having served various administrations, we know that politicians of both parties love this country and want to keep it safe. But right now some in Congress are all too willing to undermine our ideals in the name... Continue reading

Posted Dec 14, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Gay rights are human rights

Conservatives, of course, beg to differ Continue reading

Posted Dec 7, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Happy Anniversary, Doctor

The year was 1963, An Unearthly Child was the episode title, BBC One was the channel. The rest is history. Which Who is your favorite? I'm a total heretic, I really love #11. Continue reading

Posted Nov 23, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Idiots of America, unite!

Want to just riff a bit on A's excellent How, Exactly Would We Know This? post from yesterday, as well as some of the comments, because I believe it's a critical conversation, central to our very own little First Draft... Continue reading

Posted Nov 9, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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I guess Nancy Grace is more what they have in mind

This. Times a thousand. Yes, it's just a stupid tv show and I get that there are traditional aspects to the art form but over and over, week after week, this is about some invisible rigid construct of "pretty" and... Continue reading

Posted Oct 26, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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For the crafty types

No kittens available in your neighborhood? Too poor to buy your own cat? Or maybe you want something very specific, like, say, one that looks more like a giant rabbit alien? No problem. Make your own! Start with about a... Continue reading

Posted Oct 19, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Frank Kameny, big damn hero

In Washington, DC yesterday, a man named Frank Kameny died quietly at home. He was 86. Fittingly enough, Kameny's death happened on National Coming Out Day, something we've been celebrating since 1988, when it was created to commemorate the great... Continue reading

Posted Oct 12, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Innocent families trapped onboard plane with kissing lesbians

When the bits of information about Leisha Hailey's experience on a Southwest Airlines flight first started trickling out yesterday via Twitter (which I was of course on at the time), I had two simultaneous reactions. One, I assumed without knowing... Continue reading

Posted Sep 28, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Winning the internet, all of it

It's not often, lately anyway, that we read a story that makes us want to fistbump the whole interwebs and shout, "Fuck yeah humans!" But this is one of those stories. Video-game players have solved a molecular puzzle that stumped... Continue reading

Posted Sep 21, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Heroism or Socialism?

So, Fox News, it's heroism for humans to instinctively pull together and save someone who's busted up, helpless, and about to burn to death in front of you but it's nanny state socialism for society to provide a safety net... Continue reading

Posted Sep 14, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Texas fires: how to help

Just a few places to donate: American Red Cross of Central Texas Austin Pets Alive! Capital Area Food Bank Austin Disaster Relief Network Catholic Diocese of Austin More updated info available on Twitter: #centraltxfires or #txfires via The Statesman: 118,400:... Continue reading

Posted Sep 6, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Trippy and fun

I watch a lot of television, less than I used to but still more than a lot of grown-up type people would consider seemly. I love great, meaty, meaningful groundbreaking TV, but I also have a weakness for the crap... Continue reading

Posted Aug 31, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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I know you are but what am I?

Posted Aug 31, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Forget the snake oil, worry about the snake

As much as possible, I stopped listening to Rick Perry a long while ago. Now that he's really running, I have to admit it's interesting, in a sick fascination kind of way, to see how he operates as a Presidential... Continue reading

Posted Aug 24, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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Dry as a bone

Extended periods of drought interrupted by episodes of flash flooding. That description of Texas Hill Country climatology is a grim joke frequently used in the education and outreach conducted at the non-profit natural area where I volunteer. It always gets... Continue reading

Posted Aug 17, 2011 at FIRST DRAFT

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