Morning's Crash Determined to be a Criminal Act

Speculation here in Austin is running rampant, but it appears the pilot set his house on fire before heading to a Georgetown airport to fly a small, single-engine aircraft into the Echelon building, which houses many offices including the FBI and IRS

Plane Crashes into Austin Office Building

About thirty minutes ago, a single-engine plane flying at full-throttle crashed into a Northwest Austin office building housing several federal offices, including FBI. Two people are still unaccounted for.

Man kills son-in-law over goat

A Florida man was shot in his kitchen in front of his children by his father-in-law, seemingly over an argument concerning the family's goat. Oddly enough, I know a friend of this family and they are trying to figure out what to do to help the kids.

7-year-old Samba Queen Raises Adult Concerns

"Just before 1:30 a.m. Monday, Julia showed up, dressed in a feathery purple miniskirt, rhinestone belt, rhinestone halter top and rhinestone tiara. She had a "minor" ID tag hanging from her neck. She was surrounded by dozens of reporters and cameras.

Notes on the End of Life

I moved to Austin in November 2009. Austin, TX. So lovably quirky and, as it turns out, rather macabre.

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No More Monopoly Money? Monopoly's Modern Makeover

The new design features debit cards, pop music that places after action and clear tokens instead of that little boot you loved to wear on your pinky as a kid.

Good News: No bones were pooped during mommy's bathtime

After three weeks of running solid here and there, we decided that Sunday morning we were going to be church skipping-heathens after it was clear that any efforts to get 5 of us out the door were clearly going to fail.

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Prison Officials worry book 'Texas Curiosities' may make inmates a little too curious

Columnist John Kelso's book featuring Texas oddities ranging from inflatable skeeters to chicken-fried bacon has been banned from libraries in Texas prisons, citing the concern that all the maps of the state and points of interest may motivate escapes.

An Interview With Douglas Rushkoff About His Fascinating Book, "Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back"

I have known Douglas for more than ten years now, both as an author of fascinating books like this one and because we traveled in some of the same circles online.

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An Interview With Spencer Quinn About His New Novel, Thereby Hangs A Tail

Spencer Quinn has done it again. Done what again? I'll explain in a minute but first let me just say that he is 2 for 2 in solid fascinating, entertaining, hilarious novels and that's a rare feat.

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My Interview With AJ Jacobs (part 2) About His New Book, Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

I love AJ for his writing style, for his books, for his interviews with me. I sang his praises at part one of this two part interview which was published here.

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Please, Santa, get Dad his job back

Excerpt: A wintry measure of hard times can be found this holiday season on the knees of white-bearded, red-suited men around the country. A couple of years ago, children were shooting for the moon, asking St. Nick for Xboxes, iPods and laptops.

A Tree's-Eye View (one of Scott's writing exercises)

Each year, they pull me out from the box under the house, move furniture around, fluff my dusty wiry branches and, for a few weeks, it becomes my time to shine. Same ornaments every year, but never in the same place twice.

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I am Now a Welfare Queen

In the eighteen months since the company at which my husband worked for almost 13 years closed, I have had as many as four jobs as a time. This makes it quite hard to be the mother of three children, two of whom have special needs.

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Michael Pollan's Rules for Food

If you've read In Defense of Food or Omnivore's Dilemma, you might find Pollan's rules for food interesting. My favorite: It's better to pay the grocer than the doctor.

Chimneys Beg Santa to Lose 20 Pounds

In preparation for the holiday season, the International Guild of Chimneys makes a simple request: lose the gut or find a new way in this year.

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He's a real boy!~Good News about Charlie, my son

Earlier this month, I had a conversation with Charlie. Most people secretly wish their three-year-old children would STOP talking for just a moment and think nothing of it. But for us, it was a first.

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Bigamy charges against Texas sect leader dismissed

Bigamy charges against the leader of the House of Yahweh religious sect in West Texas have been dropped as part of a plea agreement.

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My Worlds (a response to The Horse Boy/connecting to my autistic son)

I came home late from a movie last night and entered a quiet house with a sleeping family. I went to bed where my place is these days. I fell asleep in Charlie's room on one half of the trundle bed while my husband and son slept in a play tent perched atop the other half.

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. . .

Every time I exhale, I wish that I could will myself to not take in more air. If I could curl my body into a tight enough ball in a dark enough room, maybe I could disappear entirely.

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The Division in My Mind

In the last three months, I've been dividing up my friends. Sounds very junior high, doesn't it? But the sorting factor is not who has the right jeans or is mad at the right person, but rather how they reacted (and continue to react) to Charlie.

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It's even better than a Vote for Pedro . . .

Mommy can make all your dreams come true. Just ask Melody.

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Getting the ball rolling

In the journey to diagnose and help my son, we had our first screening today. Early Childhood Intervention came this morning to our home to talk with us and watch him do what Charlie does.

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Listen!

Listen. No, it's not the sound of one hand clapping. It's the sound of my three children. Asleep. At 8:03 a.m. Oh, how I have dreamt of this day.

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Memoir: I never knew how much I hated the place I was working, until today

Being called into a meeting to fill out exit paperwork when you didn't know you were 'exiting' from the job isn't how I wanted to spend my Monday. Share some bad corporate experiences to cheer me up, please!

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