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Greetings From Springfield: A Postcard

While writing a recent article about a childhood trip to Springfield, Illinois, I had an idea for a postcard. I was originally going to include it in the article itself, but as sometimes happens,...

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Scarborough Faire 2012 Photos

Scarborough Faire is an annual Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas, an hour south of Dallas. My friends and I went back in 2011 and had a blast, so when the 2012 festival rolled around,...

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The Mystery Bottle

Many years ago, my dad and I were walking along a sandbar in the Mississippi River. The river was unusually low, and there was quite a bit of detritus washed upon the sandy shoals....

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Idiocracy and the Fall of Rome

In Mike Judge’s movie “Idiocracy”, an average man from the 21st century wakes up 500 years in the future, only to find that he’s the smartest man in the world. This is based on...

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The Towers of Downtown Dallas

Downtown Dallas has one of the best skylines in the country. In my five years of living in the Big D, I’ve never grown tired of looking at it. But skyscrapers aren’t just designed...

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A Train Ride to Springfield, Illinois

When I was eleven years old, we lived on a farm in rural Illinois. My dad worked for a law firm in Missouri, and one day he had to drive up to Springfield, Illinois...

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The Supermarket Casino

Walking into a supermarket nowadays is like walking into a Las Vegas casino. In both cases, the environment is designed to overwhelm your senses and distract you from how much money you’re spending. And...

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The Signs and Murals of Deep Ellum

One day in late spring, just before the weather got hot here in Dallas, I took my camera down to Deep Ellum. This is a hippie/artsy neighborhood just east of downtown. It’s seen the...

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My Favorite Birthdays

Today I turn 20, at least in hexadecimal numbers. And to celebrate my 0x20 birthday, I’d like to take a look back. Like Christmas, birthdays provide a landmark in the memories of life. I...

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Marketing Gimmicks That Need to End

Having worked in marketing for a number of years, I keep seeing the same mistakes made over and over. When it comes to gimmicks, some approaches have stood the test of time, like the...