American Idol Finale

The myth of the cowboy grew purer every year because there were so few actual cowboys left to contradict it. Larry McMurtry, 1989 (Preface to “In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas” Why did I spend the last month winding my way through the story of the cowboy in film and literature?

Showers for the homeless

Homeless people in Houston can take hot 20-minute showers in mobile shower stalls provided by a group called Moving Waters. “We’re providing 150 showers a week,” says Dr. Jennifer Park, who started the non-profit group two years ago. “In 2021 we provided 400 showers.

Miles and Miles of Thoughts

While writing this week’s column from Florence, Texas, my thoughts are all over the place. I am coming up short for a certain theme, story, commentary, or feature. Much like the vehicle I drove last week, I am all over the place.

Faces & Places

“The hardest question we have to ask ourselves in this life is, 'Who am I?'

Texas leads nation in jobs added

The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.

What’s left?

There is a halfway decent chance that at first glance, readers might have thought the front page of this week’s edition of the Chronicle was an April Fool’s joke, especially given my announcement that I would be filing for one of several public offices last April.

Transparency vs. Permanency

Texas is well into its 88th Legislative Session with over 2,100 bills for consideration, the nation is gearing up for a spectacularly expensive and bloodthirsty campaign for the Oval Office, interest rates are up, the economy is down, banks are closing, closet doors are opening, everyone is a...

American Idol, Part 4:

Woodrow F. Call and August McCrae were not good people. Now that I’ve gotten your attention and perhaps enraged or alienated a few of you, let us wrap the journey through Western literature and film.

2 Cents Worth

I am always so proud when someone stops me and says, “Carol I enjoyed your column so much, or Carol what are you going to write this week, and I always say “I am writing this column for all of you to enjoy.

A slow-pitched hardball

The response from last week’s editorial carved such a deep line of division, with each side rising so fast I had the sense of falling into some parliamentary trench of shame where a politician’s cheerleaders and effigy burners could rain down their rotten eggs of discontent upon me with equal...