I've developed a Youtube channel, Will's Texana Youtube Channel. It's free, It's easy. An account is called a channel. Yes, I know and groan about the junk and ephemera that's there, but this last summer I wondered, just what IS there? So I looked. It took a while to get the hang of it all, but using a very undisciplined method which was also very unconsistent, I cobbled together 1,000 videos from other folks' channels and centralized them into 100 topical playlists. There are some drawbacks (e.g., Youtube doesn't allow for alphabetizing the 100 playlists, so you'll find them in a jumble of 100.) I working on a means where by they can be alphabetizing on somebody's separate page, and this alternative would also enable the addition of other folks' playlists on other channels. I'm issuing a report on Will's Texana Youtube Channel as a special issue of my Will's Texana Monthly. If you'd like a free copy just let me know. That report also includes a list of the 50 or so Youtube channels to which I subscribe, some rather professionally done - historical, contemporary, nature, gardening, media, etc - and some casually produced by individuals but worthy of notice and maybe your own subscription. The WT Channel was first intended just as a device to record what I found. Now it serves as a repository (if temporary) to nudge librarians, archivists, historians, teachers, and other interested folks to further explore Youtube and other video repositories for their long-term value. Already one WT channel viewer, Joan Hood, has since begun her own channel, Joan's Texas Women Channel, to collect videos exclusively on that topic which I wouldn't be able to do as well at http://www.youtube.com/user/JoanHood1 . Actually, I encourage you to start your own channel, if not so much to produce your own videos, but to collect along special lines. And tell me where to go and what to do when I get there! It's a broad prairie with only slow rolling hills. I could use some talk and thought. See the whole shebang at http://www.youtube.com/willstexana |
Monday, September 28, 2009
Will's Texana Youtube Channel
TSHA History Day Special Awards
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Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Wolfe, new Exec Dir at THC
 Mark Wolfe is the new Executive Director at the Texas Historical Commission. Light T. Cummings, our current official State Historian, provides a brief bio at his blog posting for September 1 - |
Tejano authors resources
Tejano authors, and well for that matter other Texan authors, could be advantaged to inspect the in depth lists of online assistance offerered by "Bronze Word Latino Authors" at http://authorslatino.com/wordpress/ The lists include Agents, Writers Blogs, Authors Who Twitter, Latino Awards, Book Blog Directories, Book Club Resources, Competitions & Awards, Latino Media, Latin Portals, Latino/a Authors, Pubs Friendly to Latinos, Queer Blogs, Resources, Small Presses, THEM, YA Authors Webs and Blogs - literally hundreds of citations. The Awards include Awards Latino |
Monday, August 31, 2009
Texas Most Endangered Historic Sites - 2010
Preservation Texas has been running up annual lists for several years on endangered historic sites. Sites are announced in February, Preservation Month. If you'd like to nominate a site, the basic criteria includes:
Learn more at : http://www.preservationtexas.org |
Sunday, August 23, 2009
UT's TxTell Stories about Longhorn and the Pasture
 Self-described as "TxTell is a web site that chronicles the impact of The University of Texas at Austin on the state of Texas and the world. TxTell relates the personal stories behind the many distinguished people who make up the UT family, past and present. It also provides information about UT programs and collections, describes our research and discoveries, and highlights other contributions that have made a difference over the past 118 years and counting."" Top Ten: (by number of hits received)
About a hundred stories, some with audio. http://txtell.lib.utexas.edu/ Stories are presented in "Verbose" and "Simple" forms. |
Friday, August 14, 2009
Texas Quotations
The Brainy Quote site allows for searching by keyword. "Texas" brings up a couple of dozen, some rather plain, but I've selected a few for your inspection. Go further if you wish, just click. A lot of the songs start with an image. I was sitting there playing the guitar and I pictured this old, dirty green car, with the window rolled down, in the hot, hot, hot Texas heat, and this beautiful woman I knew when I was a kid sitting behind the wheel, looking out at me. Edie Brickell After I left Texas and went to California, I had a hard time getting anyone to play anything that I was writing, so I had to end up playing them myself. And that's how I ended up just being a saxophone player. Ornette Coleman All new states are invested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures, but Texas was absolutely overrun by such men. Sam Houston Allowing Texas to display the Ten Commandments on State property but disallowing Kentucky courthouses from doing the same is a poor and flawed interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Ginny B. Waite And on election night I'd go down to city hall in El Paso, Texas and cover the election. In those days, of course, we didn't have exit polls. You didn't know who had won the election until they actually counted the votes. I thought that was exciting too. Sam Donaldson And to me, I had come out of Texas, and during that time was when I realized that a lot of people in Nashville, their idea of what country music was was not the same as mine. Lee Ann Womack |
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Texas author search via Twitter
If'n you'd druther search Twitter, without starting an account, you can go to the search page and enter < texas author > and you'll get results. The most recent Tweets at 10:30 a.m. on July 22 are below for your inspection. What it means? I just don't know, but now you know as much as me. http://twitter.com/ filedby: Check out Susan Elizabeth Phillips author of "Heaven, Texas" on FiledBy http://bit.ly/18nUvO (expand )
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Texas Cockroach Satire
It's like a Texas answer to the Onion newspaper. Yes a small Texas town, La Cucaracha, with the distilled, reduced essences, flavors, and quirks of Texas life. Popular life styles, sports, religion, politics enjoy deflation. Surrender your imaginary grip on sanity and be prepared to laugh at yourself and others: http://www.texascockroach.com/O P T I O N S I N C L U D E: Main Menu
And there's their blog at MySanAntonio http://voices.mysanantonio.com/texascockroach/ And the online store http://www.cafepress.com/texascockroach And a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Texas-Cockroach/110205667360
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Hmm, how do you solve a interpretative problem like the Texas Cockroach, the Parlorians wonder about this mythological small town and its newspaper. 
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Texas, Social Studies, and the Wall Street Journal
Texas' neighbors are watching and have noticed the initial script lines of "Texas All in the Family" being tried out on the Texas Education Commission's front porch by actors of yet obscured faces. Exactly who is acting the roles of Archie Bunker and Meat Head are yet to be defined. Of all news sources the Wall Street Journal considers the current Texas leaders' special approach to defining appropriateness or inclusiveness for our children's learning. Texas revisits various parts of the curriculum about once every 10 years. This year, social studies is one of those being visited for revision. Stephanie Simon wrote a July 14 article entitled "The Culture Wars' New Frontier: U.S. History Classes in Texas." By STEPHANIE SIMON The article begins: "The fight over school curriculum in Texas, recently focused on biology, has entered a new arena, with a brewing debate over how much faith belongs in American history classrooms. The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history." By July 16 morning there were 242 comments, read more at http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB124753078523935615-lMyQjAxMDI5NDE3NDUxMzQwWj.html If it weren't for the fact that millions of school children will be affected for the rest of their lives by the eventual decisions, the tragi-comic episodes to come could be viewed as simply entertainment of the "Family Guy" groundling level, not even constructive enough to be "King of the Hill." At the outset, the oddest thing I find is that somebody wants to exclude from the American history textbook Anne Hutchinson, the famous 1600's woman religious dissenter/teacher who was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for refusing to accept the gummit line on the REQUIRED religious formula and not to be confused (I suppose, but maybe not) with the current Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison who'll run in a primary against Governor Rick Perry who controls the commission's appointments. Anyway, this current Texas ban of Anne Hutchinson brings to memory the recent attempt by some Texans to censor the book "Fahreheit 451," a novel against book censoring. Connected to that memory is Louis Sachar's book "Holes," a Newbery-winning novel set in modern Texas where nonconformist children are condemned to endlessly dig holes for greedy adults looking for buried treasure. |
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
UNT Portal to Texas History Continues Digitizing Newspapers
  The University of North Texas Library's "Portal to Texas History" has received continued funding to digitize historical Texas newspapers. UNT's New Service offers the fuller story at Previously "The UNT Libraries first received a two-year $397,552 grant from NEH in 2007, which allowed the Digital Projects Unit to digitize 108,000 pages of newspapers published in Texas. In addition to pages of the Houston Daily Post, which was established in 1885 and ceased publishing in 1995, the unit digitized pages of:
The earliest pages of these newspapers date to 1883, and the latest to 1910. All of the pages are now available on the Chronicling America web site and will be placed by the end of the summer on the UNT Libraries' Portal to Texas History, which provides students and others with a digital gateway to collections in Texas libraries, museums, archives, historical societies and private collections." UNT's Cathy Hartman and Dreanna Belden clarify that an addition grant will assure work continues on other titles. Read more at http://web3.unt.edu/news/story.cfm?story=11520 |
Bob Wills Radio
Gather around that talking box, put the box on the window, sit in the front porch's swings and rockers, and listen to Bob Wills. "New interviews added each Monday at Noon (central time) and are available to listen to 24/7 after that. Older episodes are archived, so you won't miss a thing! "  |
Monday, July 13, 2009
UT Libraries and Google Digitization Project
In case you've forgotten Several documents Newest amendment press release http://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/news/libraries_and_google_amend.html  |
Betty Sue Flowers leaves UT
Betty Sue Flowers leaves UT after career scattered over 45 years, most recently at the LBJ Library. |
Texas Oral History Association Awards
 The awards are self-described at http://www.baylor.edu/toha/index.php?id=29342 AwardsTOHA recognizes outstanding contributions to oral history by both individuals and institutions through three major awards: Read, too, about the latest winners of TOHA's Texas History Day Student Oral History Award. Visit the links above to discover
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Frontier Times Museum Texas Heroes Hall of Honor
 The Museum's self-description: "The Frontier Times Museum was formally opened to the public on May 20, 1933 at a groundbreaking ceremony held on January 1, 1933. Hough LeStourgeon was one of the men who turned stones from pastures into a landmark museum worth treasuring. / Today the museum attracts visitors to Bandera interested in the history of the region. Frontier times and customs hold a fascination that endures and the Frontier Times Museum imparts much of that spirit." The first honorees for Bandera's Frontier Times Museum Texas Heroes Hall of Honor are J. Marvin Hunter, J. Frank Dobie, Maudeen Marks, Captain Joe Bowman, Ray Wharton, Cleo Hearn, Kevin FitzPatrick, "Impresario" Terry Boothe, and Dr. Raul Gaona, Sr. Their website will likely soon reflect fuller information, but you can get a quick glance at some short biographies at the Bandera County Courier |
In the top 50 tourists sites
 The Galveston Daily News points us toward the Stoodthere.com website where currently Galveston's Moody Gardens, San Antonio's Alamo, and Dallas' 6th Floor Book Depository are in the top 50. http://www.stoodthere.com/ |
Judy Alter and 30 Years at TCU Press
In Texas Letters: Judy Alter recalls her 30-year stint at TCU Press - Dallas Morning News Alter makes personal observations and glances back over the birthing of bibliographical units - oft called books. She begins "Nearly 30 years ago, as coordinator of community education at Texas Christian University, I shared an office with the editor of TCU Press. One day he looked at me and asked, "Would you like to be editor?" (He was moving up to be director.) I said, "Sure," and that was my job interview. I knew nothing about publishing, and he knew only a bit more." Read more from her July 12 column "Texas Letters" at |
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Texas as heroic geography ? - Bottum
Within his longer commentary on "Local Color" Joseph Bottum in his "First Things / First Thoughts" blog remarked on "heroic geography."  He writes, "In other words, we don't have many heroic types in American literature. What we have instead is heroic geography. The Virginian, the Down Easterner, the Texas Ranger, the cowboy, the Hooiser, the hillbilly, the Okie. These are tropes that serve the moral function filled in other cultures and other literatures primarily by heroes. And these geographical tropes survive well into our own era of indistinguishable shopping malls from Maine to California." Read the context at http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/07/02/local-color/ |
Writers' League of Texas
Since August of 2008, the Writers' League of Texas has had a blog entitled "A Brief Word" at The posts categories include Agents
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UTSA Library Blog
T H E T O P S H E L F - Blog of the UT San Antonio Library Archives and Special Collections  Seems that around about last December 2008, UTSA's A&SC started a blog. Rather pleasantly done too. It's a mixture of new collections, spotlights on single items of interest, personnel matters, departmental themes, preservation techniques, exhibits, newsclippings, hot links to collections along topical lines, hot links to new collections descriptions, etc. A good all-purpose media to serve the public with content information, technical news, and provision of mini-exhibits. At http://lib.utsa.edu/Archives/ you'll find a departmental self-description "The Archives and Special Collections Department serves as the Library's repository for primary source materials. The department acquires, catalogs and preserves special collections of rare books and manuscripts chiefly documenting the history of San Antonio and South Central Texas, and additionally holds UTSA's University Archives. The mission of the Archives and Special Collections Department is to support and enhance the University's instructional, research, and public service activities by providing access to information resources for learning and scholarship to University students, faculty, and staff. Materials and services are available to UTSA faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as to the local, national and international community." |
Dallas Morinig News Disturbs Torpor
Those Dallas Morning News folks just can't let a hammock- sleeping Texan sway in the sweltering heat. Now they've gone and disturbed the "Great Book Cannon." In the OPINION BLOG Editor Keven Ann Willey, in her July 17 commentary on the Big Rich, stumbles off behind the altar and decides to ask if folks really like the relics left behind by the sancrosanct Texas writers. She asked, "What's the best book about Texas in your opinion and what makes it so good?" Yes, friends and neighbors, she got replies. DMN staff chimed in with their recommendations. Even the unwashed public, who apparently still read, caressed their keyboards mentioning their druthers. But not one mentioned William Goyen, one of our finest who delicately fingered his way across the ghosts and neurons of your mind. |
1836-1985 Texas Newspapers available online
The University of Houston Downtown Blog announced on June 26, 2009 Texas Historical Newspapers: 1836-1985 "Students of Texas history now have access to Texas Historical Newspapers with full-text articles from 41 Texas newspapers published between 1836 and 1985. The collection includes newspapers from major cities, such as Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio, as well as smaller towns like Clarksville, Huntsville, Nacogdoches, and Palestine. It even includes one issue of the early Spanish-language newspaper, Gaceta de Texas (1813). Coverage of the Dallas Morning News extends from 1885 to 1985. Overall, Texas Historical Newspapers has strong coverage of newspapers from the periods of the Texas Republic, early statehood, Reconstruction, and the early twentieth century. Look for Texas Historical Newspapers under History Databases or News Databases on the UHD Library website. " While a wonderful resource, it is limited to students, faculty, etc. Hmm, I wonder if general public folks who walk into the UHD can use the system or is it available through the library terminals without passwords, etc. |
Exquisite Photos of Texas
Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches is not boring. Actually, EBN, nee Chris  also has a remarkable Flickr website by the same name that companions his blog. The blog site, begun in the summer of 2005, is filled with photography and the sidebar has many topically grouped photos, including       |
TEA Social Studies Expert Reviews
Social Studies Expert Reviewers
David Barton, President, WallBuilders
Jesus Francisco de la Teja, Professor and Chair, Department of History, Texas State University
Daniel L. Dreisbach, Professor, American University
Lybeth Hodges, Professor, History, Texas Woman's University
Jim Kracht, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University
Peter Marshall, President, Peter Marshall Ministries
Read de la Teja, Hodges, and Kracht for commentary buttressed by their pro-public school, secular, social studies orientations. Read Marshall, Dreisbach, and Barton for other focal points. Contact the Curriculum Division at (512)463-9581 with any questions you may have or for an accessible version of the content on this page. And for the inquisitive: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/social/index.html |
Friday, July 10, 2009
Porter Prize from UNT
Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short FictionNEWS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS PRESS regarding the 2010 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. The winner of this annual award will receive $1000 and publication by UNT Press. Entries will be judged by an eminent writer. Entries can be a combination of short-shorts, short stories, and novellas, from 100 to 200 book pages in length (word count between 27,500 and 50,000). Material should be previously unpublished in book form. Once a winner is declared and contracted for publication, UNT Press will hold the rights to the stories in the winning collection. They may no longer be under consideration for serial publication elsewhere and must be withdrawn by the author from consideration. Please include two cover sheets: one with title only, and one with title, your name, address, e-mail, phone, and acknowledgment of any previously published material. Your name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript except on the one cover page. Manuscripts for the 2010 award should be postmarked between May 1 and June 30, 2009. The winning manuscript will be announced in January 2010. Watch for more details in Poets & Writers. Manuscripts cannot be returned and must be accompanied by a $25 entry fee (payable to UNT Press) and a letter-sized SASE for notification. Prior Winners— Last Known Position by James Mathews was our 2008 winner, judged by Tom Franklin. Wonderful Girl by Aimee LaBrie was our 2007 winner, judged by Bill Roorbach. Body Language by Kelly Magee was our 2006 winner, judged by Dan Chaon. What Are You Afraid Of? by Michael Hyde, was our 2005 winner, judged by Sharon Oard Warner. Let's Do by Rebecca Meacham was our 2004 winner, judged by Jonis Agee. Let's Do was selected for the Spring 2005 Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. Here Comes the Roar by Dave Shaw was our 2003 winner, judged by Marly Swick. The Stuntman's Daughter, a collection of stories by Alice Blanchard, was the 1996 winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. Ms. Blanchard went on to sign a lucrative contract with Bantam for her first novel, Darkness Peering. Send entries to: Laura Kopchick, General Editor Katherine Anne Porter Contest / English Department University of Texas at Arlington / 203 Carlisle Hall, Box 19035 Arlington, TX 76019 |
Fantastic Texas and Lou Antonelli
Lou Antonelli finds Texas to be Fantastic for science fiction and related genres. Try his sites at Fantastic Texas This way to Texas |
A Senator's Bibliographical Flow
Should you wish to notice what U.S. senators allow to flow from their offices on a regular basis, check the below links from John Cornyn's office under the "For the Press" button.  |
East Texas Book Fest
East Texas Book Fest Septembe 25, 2009 10:00-6:00 Ornelas Acitivity Center - Tyler Are you a published author? Do you want to display and sell your books to a book-loving audience in a fabulous venue? Would you like to be a part of the first book festival in East Texas to honor and celebrate books, authors, reading and libraries? If you have questions or need more information – Please call 903-597-9111 and leave a message for East Texas Book Fest. Chief sponsors of the event are the Muntz Library at The University of Texas at Tyler and Smith County's public libraries (SALT). Spaces are limited, so please respond quickly. |
Monday, June 29, 2009
Beautiful Photography - Best of Texas
 Ok. I've been keeping a secret. One method I use to freshen my mind (also called an open barn by some), is to open an RSS feed I have for a special Flickr account. Flickr, as you probably already know, is a major photographic storage site, a really big buncha pics. Well, some are good, others are great. One of the sites is called BEST OF TEXAS where a group of 500 excellent photographers contribute, or pool, their images. Membership is restricted. I wanted to see their images regularly so I opened a free Flickr account and started an RSS feed. Now, when I'm lethargic from a week of 100 degree temps or a month of snow drifts, I just open my RSS feed list and click the "Best of Texas." The images are not for your casual use; most of the photographers are professional and expect a bit of renumeration for their work. But just seeing the images re-charges my batteries. See more at |
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Paul D. Ruffin - Texas Poet Laureate - 2009
 Paul D. Ruffin is the current Texas Poet Laureate. He is the Texas State University System Regents' Professor and Distinguished Professor of English at Sam Houston State University. At SHSU, Ruffin founded and still serves as editor-in-chief of the Texas Review, an international literary journal, and he founded and serves as editor of the literary book press, the Texas Review Press. Ruffin's written about a thousand works, most of which are poetry, but also includes some novels, short stories, and essays. See http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_pdr/travelpublicity.pdf for a sampler. And he collected some awards along the way. Texas is advantaged by his presence. His critical attention paid to William Goyen, a fine Texas author now gone, is keenly appreciated. Originally from Alabama, he has written an autobiographical work, "Growing Up in Mississippi Poor and White But Not Quite Trash," which will be interesting reading when it's published. For more about Ruffin go to http://www.pauldruffin.com/page2.html Mississippi keeps track of him http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/ruffin_paul/index.html For a list of our poets laureate go to http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/poets.html |
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Color of Lighting - Jiles
Paulette Jiles new novel, "The Color of Lightning" enjoys a review in the New York Times. "HOW THE WEST WAS WON" The review begins: "The hero of Paulette Jiles's third novel is a historical figure, a freed slave whose journey into the Texas Panhandle to rescue his wife and children — abducted not by slave traders but by Indians — derives from oral histories supported by a few traces of documentation. The novel begins in 1863 and ends in 1871, a few years before the local Indians were subdued and confined to reservations, and the great southern buffalo herd was annihilated, forever changing the land." And in the Texas Monthly http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2009-04-01/bookrev |
Judy Alter on Texas Small Presses
Judy Alter on "Texas' small publishing houses feel the pinch of a slow economy" from the Dallas Morning News, April 19, 2009. She begins her considerations as below, on three notable publishers: Wings Press, Cinco Puntos Press, and Blooming Tree Press. "The drumbeat of bad news from New York publishers, including declining sales and layoffs, has been constant this year. But what about small independent publishers in Texas? For the most part, they feel the pain, too. Wings Press in San Antonio was founded in 1975 by Joanie Whitebird and Joseph F. Lomax. When they died, the mantle of publisher fell on Bryce Milligan, who runs the press as a one-man operation: publisher, editor and designer. The press publishes multicultural books, chapbooks (small book or pamphlets), CDs, DVDs and broadsides." Read more at |
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Texas Poet Laureate - Morton - 2010
 Karla Morton - Future Texas Poet Laureate of 2010 This Denton poet has published in a variety of journals, including Southwest American Literature, descant, Amarillo Bay, Concho River Review and the annual Texas Poetry Calendar. She authored the volume Wee Cowrin" Timorous Beastie. She reads widely in public events and has been taped for some television. This Aggie graduate is married and has a couple of teenagers. See her at Michael Price is telling business leaders in Fort Worth about Morton elevation. Morton next year in 2010 will replace Paul Ruffin the 2009 Laureat (see posting on June 28 for Ruffin. |
Cool Jazz, Western Literature, and Wind Power
At Texas Tech just last week amid a conference on wind turbines (there's a lotta hot air in West Texas), one presentation had an unusual title by Michael Borshuk, Texas Tech University, Department of English, Cool Jazz, Western Literature, and Wind Power: A Metaphor for Energy |
Pluma Fronteriza
Out of the El Paso region comes "Chicano Literature Latino Literature - Pluma Fronteriza," a blog on the title's topic. Self-described as: "Raza Literature from the Borderlands. Raza Literature from Cd. Juarez, Las Cruces, and El Paso. Chicano Writers. Chicana Writers. "Pluma Fronteriza" has become one of the most widley distributed publications in the history of Chicana(o) literature. Founded in 1999, PF showcases Chicano(a) and Latino(a) writers from the El Paso, TX/Cd. Juarez, Chih, Mex/Las Cruces, NM tri-state region. This region has created the largest geographic niche in the genre." Some previous posts include
Contributors
It also contains an extensive electronic list on its side panel of other El Paso literary connections and the broader Chicano page.
Worth keeping track of. |
A $ for your food thoughts
Haylee Landford has an interesting scribbler's outlet and maybe a way to make a few bucks or enhance her real estate role. Writing for selected webpages, Haylee has three items of related interest on separate sites that currently were pulled in though my RSS feeds. See these brief essays Texas Food http://www.geotravelblog.com/texas-food A Bite of Texas http://food.droone.com/a-bite-of-texas.html |
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