Category Archives: Uncategorized

‘They’ll be waiting for me; I’ll be there tonight’ — A final conversation with a man who was about to die

Posted on May 19, 2015 by juanzqui7

FIVE YEARS AGO today, at 6:19 p.m., the State of Texas took the life of my friend, Rogelio Reyes Cannady. Ten more days and he would have been 38 years old. He had been behind bars more than half of … Continue reading →

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Cut back on energy use? Great idea and I’d do it — but I’m not perfect

Posted on May 11, 2015 by juanzqui7

MY LAUGH OF the day comes from a New York Times piece on “environmentalists” in the Seattle area practicing for a massive kayak flotilla event next Saturday to protest the plans by Shell Oil to lease a terminal at the … Continue reading →

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This is what she did. This is what my mother did.

Posted on May 9, 2015 by juanzqui7

THIS IS WHAT she did: She ate the brown bananas and other over-ripe fruits so that we didn’t have to. She removed the nata — that film that forms on the surface of milk when you heat it, as when you … Continue reading →

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A brief — very brief — visit to a pleasant past

Posted on May 1, 2015 by juanzqui7

THERE SEEMS TO be a lot of home repair work being done in my neighborhood this week, and I’ve become accustomed to the sounds of construction. Hammers banging against wood. Electric saws grinding through planks. Drills boring through two-by-fours. The … Continue reading →

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Nickels and dimes versus nation and world

Posted on April 21, 2015 by juanzqui7

IT’S BEEN A couple of weeks now since I saw the Alley Theatre’s excellent production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, yet it seems that hardly a day goes by without my thinking of the play, and of certain scenes … Continue reading →

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My life after The Houston Post: 20 years and counting

Posted on April 18, 2015 by juanzqui7

THE HOUSTON POST was killed 20 years ago today. It is perhaps fitting that on this day many former employees of the newspaper will be gathering at a Bellaire church to pay tribute to a fellow “Post Toastie,” Fred King, … Continue reading →

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The mysterious Mr. King — and why did he hate my guts?

Posted on April 17, 2015 by juanzqui7

IN MY UNENDING and thankless quest to rid my home of clutter, I came across my high school and junior high report cards. Why I’ve saved those, I have no idea. I used to have my grade cards from junior … Continue reading →

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BOOKS: Mexico and violence as seen by two different sets of eyes

Posted on April 16, 2015 by juanzqui7

I STARTED READING María Venegas’ Bullet Proof Vest: The Ballad of An Outlaw and His Daughter several months ago but about a quarter of the way through her memoir, the release of several new books that I felt compelled to … Continue reading →

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And why are we supposed to believe this crap?

Posted on April 13, 2015 by juanzqui7

IN THE NEW York Times’ lead story today about Hillary Clinton’s big announcement, you will find this paragraph: “Long before any ballots are cast, however, she faces enormous pressure to explain, in compelling terms, why she wants the job and … Continue reading →

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Gay rights victories obscure the fact that other causes are being ignored

Posted on April 12, 2015 by juanzqui7

A NEW YORK Times front page story Sunday marvels at the fact that no big-name law firms signed up to represent the anti-gay marriage forces in the upcoming Supreme Court hearing. Other stories, in The Times and elsewhere, have pointed … Continue reading →

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