The Texanist
Since July 2007, the Texanist has availed himself and his massive reservoir of pan-topical knowledge to the readers of Texas Monthly. With an inimitable style and an unassailable wholesomeness, he has, by way of his signature Fine Advice, exorcized bedevilment, cured the curious, and oriented the disoriented. In short, he has taught many a well-intentioned Texan how to properly conduct him- or herself. Is it ever okay to ask somebody how many acres he has? Is it acceptable to spit tobacco juice at the office? Can one have too many Texas-themed tattoos? Why is Big Red so good? Who knows? Wait, the Texanist does!
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The Texanist: Has There Ever Been Any Violence at the Texas Capitol?
The recent, terrifying events in Washington have an Austin man wondering about mayhem closer to home.
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The Texanist: My Daughter Moved to Texas More Than a Year Ago. Why Hasn’t She Visited the Alamo Already?
A Maryland man is worried that his progeny may never become a true Texan.
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The Texanist: Words of Wisdom for Ringing in 2021
All the Fine Advice you’ll need to make sure the new year is much, much, much better than the last.
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The Texanist: How Can Whataburger Say That It’s Still “Family Owned and Operated”?
An Austin man is skeptical that a company held by a Chicago investment firm can claim that distinction.
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The Texanist: Is There Really Only One Place to Go Trout Fishing in Texas?
An Oregon transplant is hoping he can find a few places to cast a line in his adopted state.
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The Texanist: I Love Tamales. But I Live in Northern Ireland. Help!
A Belfast woman is looking for a few good corn husks.
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The Texanist: Bears Are Making a Comeback in Texas. How Scared Should I Be?
A Midland woman wonders what to do if she meets a member of the family Ursidae in the wild.
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The Texanist: What Old Texas Games Can I Get My Screen-Addicted Kids to Play?
A Houston mom has had it with Minecraft.
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The Texanist: Do Texans Have a Beef With Alberta, Canada?
A resident of “The Texas of Canada” is having second thoughts about retiring to the Lone Star State.
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The Texanist: Why Are People Putting Cilantro in Everything?
A Texas transplant to California is unhappy about the ubiquity of the “nasty and repugnant weed.”
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The Texanist: Can an Alabamian Be the Voice of Big Tex?
A Sugar Land man wants to know if his friend from out of state could be the official greeter at the State Fair of Texas.
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The Texanist: What’s the Strangest Thing You’ve Eaten in Texas?
A Texan deployed overseas wants to know if there’s any foodstuff weirder than armadillo tail with gravy. (There is.)
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The Texanist: Will the Pandemic Let Texas Be Texas Once Again?
A sad and anxious time may offer a silver lining.
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Hollywood, Texas: Matthew McConaughey Is Having a ‘Damn Good Pandemic’
Plus, St. Vincent launches a podcast in the shower, SXSW is sued over refunds, and the Texanist gets his own sitcom.
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The Texanist: Why Do Two Different Hotels Profess to Be the Oldest in Texas?
A Portland man is confused by the Menger Hotel’s and Excelsior House Hotel’s dueling claims. The Texanist is, too.
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The Texanist: What in Tarnation Would I Do on a 38,000-Acre Ranch?
A Michigander with dreams of owning a massive piece of Texas land isn’t sure how he would occupy himself on his $32.5 million spread.
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The Texanist: Isn’t It Time for a ‘Hamilton’-Style Musical About the Texas Revolution?
A McKinney man wants to see William Travis singing and dancing his way across the Alamo Plaza.
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The Texanist: What Is the Most Romantic Spot in Texas?
As Valentine’s Day beckons, a Midlander in a new relationship is looking for an intimate getaway.
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The Texanist: Are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Uniforms Skimpier Than They Used to Be?
A San Antonio football fan wonders if the squad’s already small outfits have gotten even smaller over the years.
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The Texanist: Is It Mean to Correct a Foreigner’s Wrong Ideas About Texas?
A Dallas man worries that he should have let a British couple continue to believe that cattle run rampant through the streets of his city.
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The Texanist: Who on Earth Holds a Cookout at a Highway Rest Stop?
A Grapevine man is puzzled by those ubiquitous roadside grills.
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The Texanist: Where Did the Phrase “Texas Leaguer” Come From?
A Lufkin man asks a sports-related question—and gets more answers than he bargained for.
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The Texanist: Should I Stop Wearing My Stetson Now That They’ve Become So Popular?
A Dallas man worries that hipsters have commandeered his favorite style of hat.
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The Texanist: How Can You Be a Texan If You’re a Liberal?
An unnamed person from an unspecified place has an unsavory point of view.
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The Texanist: The ‘Nub’ of a Corny Dog Is Good Eatin’, Right?
An Austin couple debates the culinary worthiness of the crusty little ferrule beloved by many State Fair of Texas-goers.
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The Texanist: What Do I Do When I See an Upside Down Texas Flag?
A Dallas man vacationing on the Jersey Shore is discombobulated by a discombobulated Lone Star Flag.
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The Texanist: Is There Really Only One Natural Lake in Texas?
A Southlake transplant falls hook, line, and sinker for the lie aquatic.
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The Texanist: Are the Marfa Lights Overrated?
An El Paso man wasn’t impressed by his recent viewing of the West Texas phenomenon.
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The Texanist: If You Didn’t Live in Austin, Where Would You Live?
A Houston man wants to know if our columnist would be happy in another of Texas’s many wonderful locales.
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The Texanist: Is It OK to Wear My Late Uncle’s Giraffe-Skin Cowboy Boots?
A British man is feeling guilty about walking around in exotic animal hide.
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The Texanist: Why Do We Share a State Bird With Five Other States?
A pair of Austin birders think it’s time to replace the Northern mockingbird with something more . . . Texas-y.
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The Texanist: What’s the Best Swimming Hole in Texas?
A San Antonio woman is looking for some liquid relief from the heat. The Texanist has a deluge of options.
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The Texanist: My Husband Shouldn’t Be Driving Around Town Without His Shirt On, Should He?
This week: Topless man on heedless car trip!
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The Texanist: Who Invented the ‘Texas-Style’ Burger?
A Houston man is puzzled by the mustard-laden grub at Jack in the Box and McDonald’s.
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The Texanist: Help. My Friend Says Florida Is More Important to the Space Program Than Texas!
Petty state rivalries, the final frontier.
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The Texanist: What’s the Difference Between a Farm to Market Road and a Ranch to Market Road?
A Houston man visits Austin and is mildly flummoxed by RM 2222.
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The Texanist: Have Texans Played a Big Role in the Space Program?
A Dallas man knows all about the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. It’s the people he wonders about.
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The Texanist: Is the “Big Texas Sky” Really All That Big?
An Austin man notes that the sky is the sky, no matter where you go.
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The Texanist: Help! My In-Laws Call Queso “Cheese Dip”!
A Dallas man’s relations also inexplicably refer to guacamole as “avocado dip.”
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The Texanist: Can My California-Born Wife Call Herself a Native Texan?
An Austin man argues that his spouse’s impressive Texas ancestry should count for something.
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The Texanist: Are There Any Decent Dance Halls Left?
A Corpus Christi man pines for the days of two-stepping on those long wooden planks.
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The Texanist: What Do I Do When a Yankee Calls My Cowboy Boots “Shoes”?
A Texan who spent a quarter of a century in Massachusetts is flummoxed by his former neighbors’ footwear foolishness.
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The Texanist: Why Are People Telling Me Not to Kill the Copperheads on My Property?
A newcomer to East Texas thinks it’s fine to dispatch venomous snakes on sight.
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The Texanist: Is “Steak Night” a Texas Thing?
A new arrival from Colorado wants the true-blue info on the red-meat special.
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The Texanist: What Are the Ten Best Texas Movies?
A newcomer to the state is looking for a cinematic introduction to his adopted home.
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The Texanist: Has PC Culture Tamed the Texanist’s Tongue?
A McKinney man thinks our fearless columnist isn’t as sharp as he used to be.
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The Texanist: Revisiting Some Favorites for February 2019
In our February “Love Letters to Texas” collector’s issue, the Texanist takes a walk down memory lane.
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The Texanist: What Five Things Should I Do When I Get Back to Texas?
A soldier stationed in Afghanistan is looking forward to coming home.
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The Texanist: What Do I Wear to a “Western Chic” Party?
A Connecticut Yankee new to San Antonio’s social circuit is vexed by an invitation’s dress code.
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The Texanist: Are Hot Sauce and Salsa the Same Thing?
A Fort Worth man can’t bottle up his confusion any longer.
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The Texanist: What, Exactly, Is a “Hard Freeze”?
An Austin man thinks everyone knows that water turns to ice at 32 degrees.
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The Texanist: Why Isn’t Chicken-Fried Steak Our Official State Dish?
A Sherman woman thinks the gravy-laden slab of breaded meat deserves its due.
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The Texanist: What’s So Special About the Texas Chili Parlor?
A Canada man has a few questions about the Austin establishment immortalized in a Guy Clark song.
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The Texanist: Why Is Mother So Unhappy About My Non-Texan Girlfriend?
A young Aggie just wants everyone to like his Wisconsin-raised sweetheart.
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The Texanist: Is It Okay For Non-Texans to Say ‘Howdy’?
A resident of Phoenix isn’t sure her fellow Arizonans should be using that word so cavalierly.
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The Texanist: What’s So Great About the Shape of Texas?
A Boerne woman wonders if other Americans are as smitten as we are with the outlines of their states.
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The Texanist: Can We Bury Granddad in the Old Family Cemetery If We Don’t Own It Anymore?
A Houston man wants to know what his options are when that dreaded day finally comes.
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The Texanist: What’s the Deal With This Willie Nelson Boycott?
A California man wonders why people are angry at everyone’s favorite Texas country artist
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The Texanist: Where Have All the Longneck Beer Bottles Gone?
An Austin man is confused by all those new-fangled beer cans at his local grocery store.
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The Texanist: How Do I Tell the World’s Worst Football Fan to Shut Up?
A San Antonio man is tired of the grouchy guy two rows behind him.
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The Texanist: How Do I Talk Politics With My Friends in West Texas?
A Lone Star native who has lived in the Northeast for nearly four decades is nervous about socializing when she’s back at home.
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The Texanist: Help Me Find the Delicious Honeydew Ice Cream of My Youth
A man raised in Sulphur Springs pines for a long-lost North Texas favorite.
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The Texanist: Is It Okay to Parboil Ribs Before You Barbecue Them?
A Notrees man thinks dousing meat in boiling water is akin to cheating.
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The Texanist: Why Does Texas Have So Many Insanely Tall Overpasses?
A visitor from Iowa was baffled by his recent drive through the Lone Star State.
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The Texanist: Is My Husband’s Devotion to Texas-Branded Foods Crazy?
An Arizona woman just doesn’t get the appeal of Mrs. Baird’s Bread or Hill Country Fare cut green beans.
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The Texanist: Great Small Towns That Have Gone Untouched by a Hipster
The Texanist on five great small towns that are (pretty much) just like they always were and don’t need to change at all.
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The Texanist: If You Can’t Take the Heat…
A Montanan turned Houstonian’s first summer in Texas isn’t going all that well.
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The Texanist: Can a Really Hot Pepper Burn the Tongue Right Out of My Mouth?
A Houston man knows that the Carolina Reaper will cause him pain. He’s worried that it might cause him real harm, too.
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The Texanist: Where Have All the Horny Toads Gone?
The reasons why our state reptile—and beloved playmate for generations of young Texans—is so hard to find these days.
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The Texanist: How Can I Drink on the Comal With the Can Ban in Place?
No disposable containers on the river? No problem.
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The Texanist: Is It Legal to Build a Bonfire on the Beach?
An Amarillo man wants to make sure that his Mustang Island getaway won’t go up in smoke.
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The Texanist: Am I a Traitor If I Root for a Rival Texas Team When It Plays out of State?
A Baylor Bears fan is conflicted about what he should do if TCU goes to a bowl game.
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The Texanist: Can a Born-and-Bred Big-City Boy Learn to Love Fort Stockton?
A Houstonian turned New Yorker’s company is relocating him to small-town West Texas. If life were a sitcom, that would be pretty funny.
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The Texanist: Should I Let My Kids Splash Around in a Snake-Infested Swimming Hole?
A Central Texas mom tries to strike a balance between innocent summertime fun and her worst slithering, venomous nightmare.
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The Texanist: Who Uses Tortillas in a Sausage Wrap?
A Plano couple is feuding over what kind of bread product should encase a hot link.
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The Texanist: Why Don’t Texas Houses Have Basements?
A Yankee in exile misses the old days of playing air hockey and breathing in musty odors.
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The Texanist: There Ain’t No Saguaro Cactus in Texas. Got It?
A Katy man is feeling awfully prickly about this botanical fallacy.
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The Texanist: Are You Getting Tired of the Craft Beer Craze?
An Abilene man wants to know what our brew-lovin’ columnist thinks of the mania for newfangled Texas ales.
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The Texanist: Tell Me About This Magical Thing Called Texas Toast
A New York man wants to know everything there is to know about Texas toast.
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The Texanist: Hi, I’m From East Texas! Uh, Where Is That, Exactly?
A Dallas man who grew up in East Texas isn’t sure his home region actually exists.
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The Texanist: Did Tennessee Give Our Flag the Lone Star?
A Kaufman man vacationing in the Volunteer State hears a claim about the Texas flag that just can’t be true. Can it?
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The Texanist: Is It Safe to Drink Really Old Dr Pepper?
An Odessa woman is still working her way through her private Dublin stash.
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The Texanist: Please Get That Chevy Silverado Out of My Parking Garage!
An irate truck owner may need to take a long, hard look in the rearview mirror.
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The Texanist: Why Did So Many Important Events Occur in March?
An El Paso man thinks he’s got a good candidate for Texas History Month. Is he right? Yes, but . . .
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The Texanist: Cargo Shorts and Flip Flops at Gruene Hall? Really?
A New Braunfels man thinks that Texas’s oldest dance hall deserves a little more respect.
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The Texanist: Contemplating the ‘Texas Exit’
A Wichita Man is Curious About Our Occasional Habit of Jumping a Highway Ditch.
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The Texanist: Isn’t the Summer Heat Great? Or is That Just Me?
In the midst of a cold, wet winter, an Abilene woman longs for the dog days of August.
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The Texanist: Why Don’t Breakfast Burritos Get Any Love?
A Texas Tech undergrad makes the case for the breakfast taco’s not-so-poor relation.
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The Texanist: Any Recommendations for a Big Bend Newbie?
A 39-year resident of Houston is gearing up for his first experience of the greatest road trip Texas has to offer.
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The Texanist: Are the Texas Rangers for Real?
A California transplant wonders if the Texas Rangers exist only on the small screen.
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The Texanist: What’s With All the Cheap-Looking Black-Painted Cowboy Hats?
A Flatonia man thinks Tim McGraw can afford a better looking cowboy hat
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The Texanist: Should I Go Vegetarian for the New Year?
A dedicated carnivore wonders how to handle his wife’s request to lead a meat-free existence in 2018.
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The Texanist: What’s the Deal With Tamales and Christmas?
A Dallasite wonders how something so tasty, so filling, and so pre-Christian came to be a holiday staple.
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The Texanist: Should I Get Rid of That Possum Carcass Myself, or No?
A San Antonio woman smells trouble.
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The Texanist: Is Hico Waving Goodbye to the Hidy Sign?
A Dallas man wonders why one good finger doesn’t deserve another.
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The Texanist: Is it Too Soon to Book a Vacation in Port Aransas?
An Austinite misses the beach, but doesn’t want to be a bother.
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The Texanist: When Will My Yankee In-Laws Stop Complaining About Our Spicy Food?
A Tyler man is feeling a little hot under the collar.
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The Texanist: Can Self-Respecting West Texans Use Umbrellas?
A West Texas native wonders if umbrellas are for sissies.
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The Texanist: Can I Claim a Professionally Smoked Brisket as My Own?
The Texanist advises a person who wants to pass off professionally cooked briskets as homemade.
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The Texanist: To Pop or Not to Pop Fire Ant Bites?
How to handle the zit-sized pustule that those evil little @$*!%*#@%&!s leave behind.