Texas
A Texas belt buckle in New York
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/CU5MNGMSPBCYXHQPAHTRJBP7TM.jpg "A Texas belt buckle in New York")
The belt I put on often evokes an disagreeable response within the individuals who see it. It has a giant, brass, Lone Star belt buckle that sits on the heart of my hips. I suppose the reactions are justified. In New York Metropolis, the place I’ve been residing these previous 9 months, a streak of conservative wins in Texas state politics has Gov. Greg Abbott on the minds of many whom I encounter inside an admittedly restricted section of the New York intelligentsia. Once I enterprise into that tightly refined strata of society, the buckle turns into a stunning, or a threatening, or a comical sight. I go away my shirt untucked.
I’ve had this belt buckle since my maternal grandfather died in 2006. I used to be in fifth grade — a tough 12 months as a result of my grandfather and household canine died inside a month of one another, and, till then, I hadn’t confronted the loss related to loss of life. However there was a give to the take: He left the buckle for me in his will; his Rolex as properly, however that disappeared after his loss of life.
This grandfather was a toddler of German immigrants who settled in Cincinnati. In his flip, he started his circle of relatives there, though they — my mom’s household — shuffled across the Midwest since his profession as a group school president despatched him after openings. In his youth, he labored in a doughnut store, performed highschool sports activities, and drove round in a sizzling rod from the Thirties. He had a sophisticated relationship along with his father and quietly struggled along with his approval. He was extra American Graffiti than Lonesome Dove.
I point out Ohio as a result of my mom’s facet of the household comes from the state and the household farm is within the southeastern portion — Morgan County. The farm is a vestige of the nineteenth century and, in its method, is the rubble of a collapsed mode of American life that flourished lengthy earlier than urbanization and suburbanization took maintain. The farm was initially bought after the Civil Struggle, by an ancestor who fought with the Union and used his mustering-out cash to purchase the land.
Like my heirloom belt buckle, I treasure a bittersweet reminiscence from the farm. On a summer time afternoon there way back, my grandfather and my youthful brother had plans to eat vanilla wafers dipped in chocolate milk collectively. Neither my brother nor I had been over 5 years outdated on the time, however my grandfather particularly wished to take pleasure in this meal with the infant of the household as a personal bonding exercise. When you’re a preschooler, the chance to eat vanilla wafers dipped in chocolate milk together with your grandfather appears to be simply concerning the peak of luxurious, and so you possibly can see why it was appalling that I used to be denied this pleasure. It was unfair, merciless even, and as they walked to the again porch of my grandparent’s farmhouse, I attempted to tag alongside, hoping my grandfather won’t discover, or that he would possibly take pity on poor me; in any case, I beloved chocolate milk.
He was stern in his pronouncement: I’d not be included, and as if to make it unmistakably clear, the display screen door was shut in my face.
By carrying the buckle each day, I’m given the chance to confront the complexity of that reminiscence and others prefer it, and thru reverence to the closest factor I’ve to a historic determine in my life, my very personal grandfather, I’m in a position to cope with an individual whom I like as he was, and never as some spotless, idealized, sanitized and innocent caricature of a person.
However I’ve gotten away from myself — all of that is to say that my grandfather wasn’t probably the most Texan man you’d ever meet, however then neither am I. It’s easy sufficient to obtain a Texas beginning; one other factor fully to contemplate your self a Texan in probably the most colourful sense of the phrase.
Texas has quickly modernized whereas retaining a lot of its historic residue. Any Texan with the endurance to dwell on it’s going to discover inside themselves this amnesiac sense of a factor, free and vulgar, that had come earlier than the good civilizing mission — a factor now misplaced to time, and as an alternative stands the rat race of high-rises, software program builders, and journeys to Goal on Saturday mornings. A person in Dallas or Houston can have his pair of trainers, or his Lone Star belt buckle and, in coming into contact with these nerve-endings of his forfeited inheritance, will really feel that outdated compulsion rising up inside himself, wanting solely to devour liquor, curse and conquer. However, say it’s a Sunday, and in 20 minutes he should go away for brunch the place these he loves will take photos of their mimosas to share on social media; in such an occasion, his reminiscence will rapidly overlook, outmoded by an affinity for eggs Benedict.
Even with the buckle and with the sense of one thing misplaced, I’ve by no means felt fairly like a Texan. I watched an excessive amount of Disney channel as a toddler and now I’m hopelessly fashionable. Even so, I need to cherish and honor my grandfather’s reminiscence. In doing so, I’m perpetually prone to getting caught by a true-blue nation boy, somebody whose daddy’s daddy would possibly’ve been a great ole boy. With one take a look at me, he’d deduce that I’m “placing on” and am not the make of man entitled to put on a belt like this. It could be no use attempting to clarify that my German immigrant, Ohio-born, doughnut-making, community-college-presiding grandfather bequeathed the amulet to me.
The irony is that I’ve been mistaken for simply such a fellow. Simply final summer time I used to be in Austin and made the error of strolling round with my shirt tucked in and my belt uncovered. After a day at work, I visited a buddy who bartends. Considered one of his co-workers, upon listening to that I’d come straight from work, mockingly questioned if I labored on a farm. This bought a great snigger out of the remainder of the workers who, by laughing, took the state one step additional towards its cosmopolitan conclusion.
Is the buckle proof of my Texas bona fides or solely a remnant of childhood fantasy? Does my insistence on carrying it imply I’m true to my heritage, or solely pretending to be one thing I’m not? It’s a stress many Texans really feel, I consider — caught someplace between cowboy lore and the Wendy’s drive-through.
The problem is discovering a strategy to stability the invisible qualities of 1’s self with one’s personal look within the eyes of others. Due to the benefit with which we change into accustomed to who we expect we’re, we regularly fail to take into account that everybody we encounter types their very own distinctive impression of us as an individual primarily based on what we give them. However, in contrast to these temporary impressions made on strangers which we are able to enable to have an effect on us or not, the belt buckle is an ever-present supply of sentimental worth in my life, pointing towards a person now useless who’s partly accountable for each good factor in my life by advantage of getting given it to me. That is price appreciating, and it’s my very own fault for failing to take action, given the chance, even when strangers could also be appalled. The failure to understand what I’ve been given is unforgivable if my very own vainness is the factor that separates me from the importance of my life. As with the belt, so it’s with each different significant factor that I’ve inherited.
William Jones is a Dallas native at the moment pursuing a grasp’s diploma in inventive nonfiction at Columbia College in New York. This essay is an excerpt from his thesis.
A common theme for No. 22 TCU has been their complete dominance on their home floor this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year 14-1 at Schollmaier Arena. On Friday night, in front of over 3,000 fans, TCU swept Texas Tech (25-14, 26-24, 25-11).
The four seniors honored by TCU were Melanie Parra, Cecily Bramschreiber, Stephanie Young and Ashlyn Bourland. All four players found ways to contribute as Parra finished with 14 kills and seven digs. Bramschreiber filled up the stat sheet with four kills, four aces and seven digs. Both Young and Bourland got an ace.
Both teams traded points in the early going, but Bramschreiber sparked a 7-2 run to give the Frogs a 16-9 lead. TCU hit .417 in the first set and dominated the first set capped off by a Becca Kelley ace.
In set two, Texas Tech made things much closer jumping out to a 8-5 lead. A 4-0 run from TCU put them back in front. This set included multiple runs and it was Tech that got it to set point leading 24-22. TCU was able to end the set on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Jalyn Gibson and Parra paired with aces from Bramschreiber.
Trying to keeps things alive, TCU wasn’t met with much resistance from the Red Raiders in the third set. The Frogs kept up the pressure with multiple runs to build a massive 17-8 lead. Bourland picked up her first career ace and an attack error ended things.
It was a fun night for the seniors that played in front of the TCU crowd for the last time. The 14 wins at home tied the school record for most wins at home in a single season. They also picked up the most wins in a season since 2015. What Jason Williams has done for this program in such a short time has been remarkable to watch.
The Frogs move to 19-7 overall 11-5 in conference. They still are fifth in the Big 12 standings with two games to go. They will travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. and then to Cincinnati on Friday at 1 p.m.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting the blue city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalizes marijuana.
Paxton alleges that Proposition R, which “prohibits the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure,” violates state law.
The attorney general argues in the lawsuit that the ballot measure is preempted by Texas law, which criminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana. Paxton also claims the Texas Constitution prohibits municipalities from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with laws enacted by the state legislature.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” Paxton said in a statement. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them.”
Paxton called the ballot measure “a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution” and threatened to sue any other city that “tries to constrain police in this fashion.”
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A flower bud of marijuana. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
The lawsuit comes after interim Dallas Police Department Chief Michael Igo directed Dallas police officers not to enforce marijuana laws against those found to be in possession of less than 4 ounces.
Ground Game Texas, a progressive nonprofit group that campaigned in favor of the ballot measure, argued it would help “keep people out of jail for marijuana possession,” “reduce racially biased policing” and “save millions in public funding.”
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A mature marijuana plant begins to bloom under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, Calif., May 20, 2019. Paxton has sued the city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that Attorney General Ken Paxton has apparently chosen to waste everyone’s time and money by filing yet another baseless lawsuit against marijuana decriminalization,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director for Ground Game Texas.
“Judges in Travis and Hays counties have already dismissed identical lawsuits filed there. The Dallas Freedom Act was overwhelmingly approved by 67% of voters — this is democracy in action.”
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Since January 2024, Paxton has filed lawsuits against five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana possession, arguing these policies promote crime, drug abuse and violence.
The Texas Longhorns are heading back to Austin with some early-season tournament hardware in hand.
Tre Johnson battled through another poor shooting night but closed the game out for Texas once again, scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Longhorns to a 67-58 win over Saint Joseph’s at the Legends Classic championship round in Brooklyn Friday night.
Transfer guard Julian Larry sparked the Longhorns late, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Kadin Shedrick had 10 points and six rebounds.
The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming, who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Xzayvier Brown added 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
The Longhorns jumped out to an 11-6 lead after seven early points from Kaluma. St. Joe’s started out cold from the field but controlled the game with hard-nosed defense and the occasional press while dominating the offensive glass. This was highlighted by a possession where the Hawks got four consecutive offensive rebounds but only scored one point as a result.
Johnson stayed aggressive on offense for Texas but was off on his shot and was impacted by the on-ball defense of St. Joe’s.
Mark, Pope and Johnson all hit a triple for Texas in about a two-minute span ahead of halftime to give the Longhorns their biggest lead at 32-26 but the Hawks responded with a free throw from Haskins 3-pointer from Brown before halftime to cut the lead to 32-30.
The defense from the Hawks ramped up even more, as the Longhorns were stuck in the mud on offense and had little to no ball movement. St. Joe’s was hardly much better, but its defense continued to set the tone and eventually swung the momentum.
Larry then hit back-to-back triples as the two teams traded buckets on five straight possessions. Consecutive dunks from Ajogbor and Fleming but the Hawks in front 50-46 with 8:25 to play, but Larry continued to take over. He hit 1,000 career points with a driving layup before finding Kaluma for a corner triple to put Texas back in front at 51-50.
It didn’t stop there for Larry, who found a cutting Shedrick for a dunk before diving on a loose ball down at the other end to secure possession for Texas, which had built a 55-52 lead with 3:13 left. The Longhorns used the momentum to put together an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the win in a game where scoring felt hard to come by.
Johnson then closed the game out with six points in the final 4:11 of action, including a pullup jumper at the foul line to put Texas up 63-55 with 1:19 left.
Texas will host Delaware State on Nov. 29.
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