He stares at me, then at the hot sauce sitting on the table in front of us, then looks my way again and laughs. I cry.

As I wipe my tears and allow the snot to run down my face, I realize I am an official crybaby. At the age… Read full post »

I’m five-years-old and my little red Hot Wheels toy car is cruising on the side of the couch. Suddenly, the giant fluffy blue road of the couch arm ends and the car crashes off the cliff.

Luckily, the car lands on its wheels – off I go.

Then, another… Read full post »

 It’s 1988. I’m seven-years-old. I’m not giving a damn about my bad reputation.

 A new sound has overcome the room in my grandma’s house that mom and I share. Joan Jett blares, day and night, in the room. Its mom’s favorite new cassette tape and we&rsq… Read full post »

In preparation for my year long journey into the history of Slaton, I had to speak with someone who was there at the beginning. Not necessarily the beginning of Slaton, but of the 1900’s.

Onie Baxley, although one of Slaton’s newest residents (moving to the town in 1997), she is… Read full post »

Back in the day when Kraft’s Macaroni & Cheese was a mighty fine meal & Mr. Roger’s was my homeboy, I discovered an unbelievable province that made me yearn to minimize my already petite body to a more mouse-like size, hop on a tiny toy trolley, and… Read full post »

 I am one lucky man.

Lucky because I was born a few generations shy of being on the other side of the Mexican border. Lucky because I was granted opportunities far too many of my relatives weren’t. Lucky because I have the job of reporting the news of a… Read full post »

To this day, I still remember the feeling of slick redleather against my skin.

As a sensitive 5-yearl-old boy, the moment my mom dressed me in a Michael Jackson “Thriller” t-shirt beneath a tight red leatherjacket – I was never the same again.

80’s glam too… Read full post »

It was the age of MC Hammer Pants and Neon Slap Bracelets.Troll Dolls weren’t only a passing fad, but a lifestyle.

Acquiring a Troll Doll collection at museum level status wasnot only doable, but my ultimate goal. I was going to be the raddest kid on theblock. Of course, I had… Read full post »

It is a universal truth unknown that any young gay American is in search of... popularity.

Gay men in their twenties on a reality television show is like being selected for a prestigious high school cheerleading squad - cocktails included.

Case in point, Paul Johnson Calderon (or, as he likes to… Read full post »

Today, as I swept all the blood and guts off the floor of the gymnasium floor from our annual Halloween pep-rally, I couldn't help but feel elated that this years pep-rally didn't end in tears.

 Not my cheerleaders' tears, no, my own.

This time last year, after another losing season, a… Read full post »

The curse began when I was a child, it has only continued to get stronger since.

In 1989 the Roosevelt Eagles made it to the Texas State Playoffs in football. The next year, when I started attending Roosevelt Schools as a bright eyed kindergarten-er, their twenty year losing streak began. Then… Read full post »

This morning I awoke to a lengthy phone call from a frantic junior high cheerleading sponsor. She had forgotten - THE SPIRIT STICK!

There are two parts to my life. By day I am a news paper reporter, but by night I am a lean mean cheerleading coach machine. You know,… Read full post »

Some of us are born with the natural talent of singing a beautiful aria. Some of us will go on and write that Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Some out there may even have their eyes on the White House and become our next great President of the United States. However, not… Read full post »