Is There Life After Rick Perry?
When Rick Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history loses his first campaign ever, what happens to him? More importantly, what happens to us?
February 2012 Issue
Of Meat and Men
John Mueller was the heir to one of the great Texas barbecue dynasties. Aaron Franklin was an unknown kid from College Station who worked his counter. John had it all and then threw it all away. Aaron came out of nowhere to create the state’s most coveted brisket. Then John rose from the ashes.
By Katy Vine![Katy Vine's Profile Photo]()
Features
Sex, Lies, and Hit Men!
Yvonne Stern knows that her husband, the wealthy Houston attorney Jeffrey Stern, had a steamy affair with a woman named Michelle Gaiser. And she knows full well that two years ago Gaiser hired a series of men to kill her. But she refuses to believe that Jeffrey was in on
The Paper Chase
Houston attorney Bill Kroger and state Supreme Court chief justice Wallace Jefferson are on a mission to rescue thousands of crumbling, fading, and fascinating legal documents from district and county clerks’ offices all over the state. Can they save Texas history before it’s too late?
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()
Web
Ben Kweller Makes Some Noise
The Austin-based musician talks about his new album, his record label, and making viral videos with Jason Schwartzman.
The Drop Everything List
LeAnn Rimes in Fort Worth, the Animal Architecture Awards, the first big Andy Warhol exhibition in Texas, and Johnny Winter in Dallas . . .
Preview: Of Meat and Men
An early look at the cover—and the cover story—of our February issue.
Playing the “National Game of Texas”
The Texas State Championship 42 Domino Tournament is in Hallettsville this weekend, and members of the Austin 42 Club, the largest league in the state, prepare for the big game.
By Katy Vine![Katy Vine's Profile Photo]()
The Drop Everything List
The Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston, dancing to Nina Simone, a forum with chef Alice Waters, and a Texas Cowboy Poetry gathering in Alpine . . .
Feast
RESPLENDENT WITH crystal globes, Philippe Starck–designed transparent “ghost chairs,” and a smart black, white, and gray color scheme, Feast burst onto the scene in San Antonio’s vaguely bohemian Southtown neighborhood five months ago like a New York runway model crashing the ladies’ bridge club. Owner and principal designer Andrew Goodman
Five Ranch Getaways
From riding on the range and stargazing to big game huntin, here are five guest ranches where you can explore your inner cowboy.
The Drop Everything List
Ruthie Foster in Houston, Don Hertzfeldt's short films, the Texas Yoga Conference, and National Anthem Auditions in Grand Praire . . .
Cooking With a Passion
Get cozy in the kitchen with your significant other and turn up the heat on Valentine’s Day.
Sweet Symphony
How two rare Stradivarius violins at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra brought Michael Shih and Swang Lin, who both grew up in Taiwan, together.
The Drop Everything List
Mardi Gras in Port Arthur, the watercolors of Charles Russell, the Winedale Quilt Show, and the couture of Jean Paul Gaultier in Dallas . . .
Galveston Makes Lemonade
After the island lost more than 35,000 trees to Hurricane Ike, a group of artists carved 35 stumps into beautiful and intricate sculptures.
The Drop Everything List
Kelly Clarkson in San Antonio, disco-dancing for a cause, Carnaval Brasileiro, and Anthony Bourdain in Austin . . .
A Q&A With Katy Vine
The senior editor on writing about Aaron Franklin and John Mueller, eating brisket five days in a row, and mastering a barbecue pit.
Web Exclusive
A Q&A With Skip Hollandsworth
The executive editor on Jeffrey and Yvonne Stern and their murder-for-hire story, hit men, and the standard male midlife crisis.
A Q&A With Michael Hall
The senior editor on following the paper trail of Texas history, learning about Jack Johnson sparring with “Chrysanthemum Joe” Choynski, and researching his own family roots.
Columns
Mappily Ever After
Once again, redistricting has devolved into a bitter, partisan, confusing, chaotic mess. But take heart, voters! There is a better way.
The Texanist: When Can Non-Native Texans Start Saying Y’all?
Learning to speak Texan, postprandial bed-sharing, how to start a fire, and a barber shop conundrum.
The Swan Song of Ron
This year’s Republican primary will most likely be Ron Paul’s final run for office. And to the surprise of a political establishment that long ago wrote him off, he’s going out on a high note.
Letter From Ingleside on the Bay
His Town
In 2004, after Marty Rathbun left the Church of Scientology and settled on the Texas Gulf Coast, he thought he had put his difficult past behind him. Then the Squirrel Busters showed up.
Miscellany
Roar of the Crowd
Roar of the Crowd
Breakfast OptionsWhile “Up and Eat ’Em” included many excellent places, any list that doesn’t mention Norma’s Cafe and the Mecca, in Dallas; the Elite, in Waco; or Ol’ South Pancakes, in Cowtown, is seriously flawed [December 2011]. Bill Robinette Dallas You missed the best: Kerbey Lane, in Austin, for
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
For all the stories that we publish in TEXAS MONTHLY, there are always more that we don’t publish, usually because we run out of space and time. In a state that spans 261,232 square miles and contains 25,145,561 people, it’s a safe bet that the things we could cover
Cover Credit
Cover Credit
Photograph by Dan Winters. Food styling by Paige Fletcher. Styling by Lauren Smith Ford.
Reporter
Ben Kweller
The musician and former front man for Radish on moving to Austin, pretending to be a label mogul, and getting his electric guitars out again.
West Seventh Street District, Fort Worth
This once sleepy Cowtown neighborhood has morphed into a shopping and nightlife hot spot.
Tina Craig’s Suitcase
The blogger shows us what she'll be taking to New York Fashion Week.
How to Cut for Sign
After a harrowing skirmish with the Comanche in 1860, Charles Goodnight cut for sign to track down warriors who had escaped. That practice, in which a person searches for people or animals by “cutting,” or studying a section of land for clues, may seem like a lost art of the
Melanie Steele, Wig Master
Steele, a Colorado native, moved eleven years ago to Austin, where she is now the wig master for the Austin Lyric Opera. She has toured the U.S. and Mexico with the Broadway production of The Lion King and served on the beauty crew of the world premiere of Elton John’s
Performing Sketch Comedy
Shannon Sedwick on using the F-word, playing Ann Richards, and pulling things out of her dress like pipe wrenches and saws.
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