Writing
Thirteen essays, two tracks
Written for this site and published nowhere else. The history essays are about the research, not a retelling of the book. The energy essays are about how decisions get made, not what to buy.
Texas history and the archive
8 essays-
5 min readWhy Texas Drew Its Counties A Day Ride Wide
Nine hundred square miles, a seat near the center, and a rule of thumb about a horse.
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5 min readWhat The Semicolon Court Actually Ruled In 1874
A ruling everyone mocks and almost nobody has read, taken one clause at a time.
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5 min readWhat A Newcomer Found In Waco In 1850
Four sources, four towns, and the method for deciding which one to write down.
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5 min readThe Bureau Records Most Texas Histories Skip
Labor contracts, grievance registers and monthly reports from agents who had every reason to write things down.
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5 min readThe 1876 Constitution Was Written Against A Memory
Why a constitution that limits everyone is best read as a reaction, and how the sources fought over what it was reacting to.
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4 min readRestoring A Courthouse Means Choosing Its Year
The period of significance is a choice, and the building's own paperwork usually makes it for you.
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5 min readA County Brand Register Is A Census Of Ownership
A ledger of burned symbols, kept by clerks who had no reason to shade it.
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5 min readA Town Plat Shows Where The Railroad Was Expected
Streets named for a line that never arrived, and what that tells you about the year they were drawn.
Energy investing through the cycle
5 essays-
6 min readThe Related Party Note Is A Board Matter
A yard rented from the founder, a hauling outfit run by his relatives, and the one paragraph that lists them both.
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4 min readWhat A Yard Tells You Before The Numbers Do
Iron that has been washed, iron that has not, and the one door in the office that was closed.
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6 min readThe First Ninety Days After The Price Breaks
A board meeting in the third week of a downturn, and the order of operations that follows from it.
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5 min readThe Case Against Buying At The Bottom
Everyone says buy at the bottom. The best case against it is better than most people who repeat the slogan have heard.
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4 min readDebt Maturities Matter More Than Leverage
The ratio on the first page of the board book, and the schedule on page forty that actually decides things.