Category Archives: Society and cultcha

Yet another popular comic strip artist is planning an early retirement. FoxTrot, the popular comic strip that runs in more than 1,000 newspapers – including the Chronicle – will end daily production Dec. 30, as its creator joins the growing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And as long as I’m citing Debutant, I’d like to thank her for reminding me that this is the time of year when all the naked calendars for good causes get released and publicized. Here’s one by a group of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Houstonist guest writer Crystal lays down the law for Trick or Treating at her house: You must be old enough to walk, but not old enough to shave, and you must be in costume. Fine rules, and not too much … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Say Hello to the three hundred millionth American. When America passed 300 million in population this morning, according to at least one expert, the milestone may well have been reached by a baby boy born to a Mexican immigrant at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dammit. The Boondocks comic strip will not return “in the foreseeable future,” Universal Press Syndicate, its distributor, announced Monday. Creator Aaron McGruder took a six-month break earlier in the year but was expected to return this fall to his provocative … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I learned to read by phonics. I think it’s a perfectly fine pedagogical approach, though it has its limitiations. Some words just don’t yield to “sounding it out” – I can still remember getting laughed at the first time I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As a naturalized Texan, I loved this story about the expression “Bless your heart”. Like a sweet candy with a sour center, “bless your heart” can cloak a tart surprise, however. That’s likeliest in the South, where good manners and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is wrong on more levels than I can articulate. While Monopoly is the paragon of good ‘ole fashioned board game fun, the “old fashioned” part had to go. Parker Brothers is phasing out the cash-based version’s funmoney and replacing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great story in today’s Chron about Lucille Bridges, the mother of Ruby Bridges, better known as the little girl in Norman Rockwell’s powerful and iconic painting The Problem We All Live With. Mrs. Bridges is now living in Houston after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t know if the rain we had here earlier will go away and let the annual fireworks show go on as planned, but it’s looking reasonably good now. This beinh Houston, of course, one can never be sure. If … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen? When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services officer. The questions are usually selected … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Pity the poor penny, the least beloved coin in America. There’s another push on to get rid of it. For the first time, the U.S. Mint has said pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I found this article from Sunday on so-called PunkyMoms to be reasonably interesting, not so much because I know a few women who’d fit right in with them, but because of this little snippet: Punkymoms encourage each other to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a nice article about Jeannie Schulz, widow of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, and how she’s adapted to her role as caretaker of his legacy. She was the guiding force behind the creation of the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kids today and their love of plastic. [Y]oung consumers so consistently reach for debit and credit cards that Visa USA has anointed the age group “Generation Plastic,” or “Gen P.” Their habits are driving even more merchants to accept debit … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Thought for the day: In a world that contains Go Fug Yourself, do we still, cosmically speaking, need Mister Blackwell and his annual list? Maybe it’s a generational thing that will eventually pass, I don’t know. You have to give … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Why is Astroworld staying open through October 30 now that it’s announced its closing? Because October is a busy time at theme parks, thanks to a surge in interest for Halloween and haunted houses in recent years. Not so long … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Yesterday I saw a sticker of Stewie from The Family Guy on the back of a truck. Given that it was a poor likeness, and the fact that neither the name of the character or the show was a part … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have a very hard time understanding the values that would lead to this. It’s the end of the day at Plano West Senior High School, and teenagers are pouring into the parking lot. One jumps into a BMW M3. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here are the latest additions to the Oxford Dictionary of English, many of which will be familiar to the blogreading crowd. I’m more than a little shocked that a piece of 1930s slang like “eighty-sixed” is just now qualifying – … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Quick intro and hello: I’m Ellen, from Hello Helliemae, and am thrilled to be a guest at Off the Kuff. Now back to the regular programming… “Issues do not explain Americans’ politics.” Boy, that’s an understatement. But what does? Last … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My view on breastfeeding in public is pretty much the same as Hope‘s. If the sight of a woman feeding her baby makes you uncomfortable, then look somewhere else. Babies operate on their own schedule. When they need to eat, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Those of you who are parents can read what Julia has written and nod your heads. Those of you who aren’t but plan to be can read and learn (and you should). Those of you who plan to remain child-free … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So, um, is it just me, or has anyone else been mentally substituting “political bloggers” for “comics characters” in the last two Opus strips? (For those whose newspapers don’t carry it, the last two strips have been about there are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t know how long this will be up, but there’s a poll on the Click2Houston.com website that says “Should it be illegal to live together in a sexual relationship when not legally married?” I can only wonder how much … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Atrios has a couple of questions: If you leave your child of age X alone for an afternoon and she manages to injure or kill herself, what is the minimum X such that you won’t be arrested for some sort … Continue reading → Continue reading →

First there was caffeinated beer. Now there’s caffeinated soap. Shower Shock (aka “The Original Caffeinated Soap”) is the hygiene equivalent of Jolt (aka “The World’s Most Powerful Cola”). At 200 milligrams of caffeine per wash, consider Shower Shock your own … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Crooked Timber points to this Financial Times article about the Tulsa race riot of 1921. The riot began, as the battles in America’s race wars often seem to, with an allegation of sexual assault. On the warm afternoon of Memorial … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the things that attracted me to Trinity University while I was going through the college applications process was getting personal letters from the chairs of the math and music departments telling me about their programs. Now that I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A comment in this post on Gregg Phillips led me to this blog post that I recommend you read by Father John Whiteford, a caseworker with TxHHSC. Father John and I are not on the same side of the fence … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So we do get a first baby of the year story after all. Nearly 30 years ago Maria Ramon missed being a New Year’s Day baby by two days. On Saturday, with her third child, she did not miss. Omar … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I think this is the first article I’ve read about babies born at this time of year that talks about the tax advantages of December babies. In the final days of 2004, Houston delivery rooms were filled with parents fawning … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jim Henley has a couple of interesting posts on the nature of Santa Claus and how a parent deals with it. Something for me to think about in the coming years (I’d better get started on my story about why … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I confess, I was never much of a Seinfeld watcher, so I never knew anything about Festivus. Turns out the show’s writers didn’t completely make it up. The actual inventor of Festivus is Dan O’Keefe, 76, whose son Daniel, a … Continue reading → Continue reading →