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November 2025
THE MAGIC IS REAL Disney Memories Last a Lifetime
In 1928, a black-and-white cartoon called “Steamboat Willie” captured the nation’s attention. This classic cartoon introduced the world to Mickey Mouse, and it started an empire. Nov. 18 is recognized as Mickey Mouse Day in honor of Mickey’s first appearance. I don’t know your thoughts on Disney, but I’ll share mine. It’s safe to say I come from a Disney family. When I was a kid, we belonged to a subscription service that sent us little Disney books through the mail. I probably had 50 of those books, and once my kids were born, we grew the collection even more. We had countless DVDs, from “Steamboat Willie” to whatever the newest release was at the time. When my daughter was 3 and my wife was pregnant with our son, we made the decision to make our first family trip to Walt Disney World (and I mean family, with us, my mom, and my brothers all going). It was a magical trip (though trying to keep my wife’s pregnancy a secret
from the rest of the family was a chore), and we decided to return when our son was 1 or 2 years old. Over the years, I’ve heard many people question parents who bring their children to Disney parks at a young age, when their kids won’t even remember it. We can debate whether that’s true — maybe young kids remember things, and maybe they don’t. But what’s not debatable is that WE remember the memories. So many of our favorite memories of our kids together have been related to Disney. My wife and I will never forget our daughter’s reactions to the Princesses. Or on our kids’ first trip together, when we entered the Magic Kingdom with one of my kids on my shoulders and the other on my brother’s, when we turned onto Main Street, and my son became animated to share his excitement with his sister as we first saw the castle. And then there were memories of my son and the characters. On his first trip, he was terrified of every character, not wanting to get within 10 feet of them. But that all changed after an interaction with Mulan at EPCOT, where she kissed him on the cheek. Magic took over in that moment, and he was great with characters for the rest of the trip! Additionally, many aspects of the Disney parks don’t appeal to younger kids. Fantasy Land, in particular, can lose a lot of its luster. So, don’t wait! Take your kids as soon as you think you’re ready to go with them! It will undoubtedly lead to a lifetime of memories (just don’t forget my most important tip with kids — build in time for a nap). Those memories didn’t end with their very young ages. When they were older, I found
out one morning that I had to attend a conference in Tampa. By the time I made it home for lunch, my wife had planned out our route from Tampa to Orlando for a side trip. In many ways, I tell people that ended up being the perfect trip — I can vividly remember my wife crying tears of joy as we drove under the “Welcome to Disney World” sign upon arrival, and then the kids crying when we left! Another favorite memory happened overseas. My daughter’s birthday was almost always on spring break, so she got some great birthday trips. By coincidence, we were in Paris on a long-planned trip with extended family on my daughter’s 16th birthday. We told her she could pick what she wanted to do for the day. What did she pick? Spending the day at Disneyland Paris, a visually stunning park. My son even wrote a short essay for a college application where he had to share something they don’t know about him, and he said he can be Goofy. Not goofy as in silly or funny (though he can be that), but how he met all the requirements and would be great at playing Goofy at a Disney park. I even have a theory that our first few trips to Disney World influenced my kids’ decision to go to Hawaii for school since we stayed at the Disney Polynesian resort while there! Walking through any Disney park is a magical experience, but it becomes even more awe-inspiring when you realize, as Walt Disney famously said, “It all started with a mouse.”
- Brooks Schuelke
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Before Smartphones, There Was Water
Members of Generation Z may find it difficult to believe that people used plug-in alarm clocks to help them get up on time in the morning. However, that seemingly archaic means of timekeeping has nothing on how people managed wake-up time before cellphones and even electricity, as we use it today, became staples of daily life. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Plato created a method to ensure students at his academy, which once counted Aristotle among its pupils, woke up at the correct time each day. To perfect a foolproof system, he turned to a surprising tool: water. He constructed a set of clocks that operated using two basins. One basin would slowly empty into the other throughout the night; when the second basin was full, rattling pebbles or whistling air awakened students from their slumber. Known as klepsydra (or “water thief”) clocks, these timekeepers were astonishingly accurate. About a century later, Greek inventor Ctesibius of Alexandria expanded on Plato’s design by incorporating mechanics that produced sounds not unlike those of the more modern cuckoo clock. Ctesibius’s version remained popular until the pendulum clock emerged in the 1650s. GETTING OUT OF BED LONG BEFORE THE SNOOZE BUTTON
Although Plato often gets credit for creating aquatic- based alarms, some variation of the klepsydra concept allegedly dates back to at least the 16th century BCE. Archaeologists uncovered a tomb inscription detailing how an Egyptian
court official of the era devised a similar system. Regardless of its definitive inventor, the water clock roused people long before phone apps, proving that nature often provides solutions to problems centuries before human technology catches up.
While the water clock was undoubtedly an imaginative masterstroke, it is still reasonable to argue that the “snooze” button remains the most critical time-related creation known to man.
Ice Cream in Your Pocket?
YOU CAN’T EVEN MAKE UP THESE STRANGE FOOD RULES
Finger-Licking Fun … or Else!
When it comes to state laws about food, specific provisions on the books from past years may leave a funny taste in your mouth, and potentially get you in a heap of trouble if you break them. This fact is especially true in parts of the South, where your lunch order may need to come with a side of legal advice. Cones and Captured Horses If you want to stay on the good side of law enforcement in Alabama, always remember that ice cream cones are for licking, not sticking in your back pocket. While it’s pretty safe to assume the thought of engaging in the latter activity hasn’t crossed a single mind in 2025, there was a time when horse thieves would stick ice cream in their pockets to attract equine abductees. Considering that we rarely share the highway with horses these days and most people would prefer not to turn the seat of their pants into a sundae, it’s a safe bet this charge won’t fill up courtrooms for the foreseeable future.
On the subject of making a mess with food items, eating chicken with your hands can be a sticky thrill — and is the only way to partake in poultry eating
without running a-fowl of the law in Gainesville, Georgia. If you want to enjoy tasty chicken in that city, stock up on wet wipes and skip the knife and fork, as eating it with utensils is a crime. Although the ordinance banning knives
and forks when consuming chicken was meant as a joke
by the local police department, chucking the rule may draw some disapproving clucks when dining in the place affectionately known by locals and city officials as “the Poultry
Capital of the World,” especially during its renowned Spring Chicken Festival. Perhaps only a good lawyer can help determine whether
the law also applies to vegan “chik’n” options.
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Dividing Homes, Not Hearts
TAKE A BREAK
Co-Parent Like a Pro After Separation
Divorce or separation is often stressful, but it should never be used to draw battle lines for your children. Dissolving a marriage or partnership can be as logistically challenging as it is emotionally draining, especially when developing a positive and effective co-parenting situation. Here are a few suggestions for creating and sustaining clear communication and responsibilities when you and your former spouse/partner no longer live or parent under the same roof. The Key Steps Toward Stability First and foremost, all co-parenting arrangements need a consistent plan for success. A written co-parenting plan should include the custody agreement, travel and/or relocation considerations, financial responsibilities for both parties, schedules (e.g., school pick-up/drop-off times and who is responsible for fulfilling these commitments), and details regarding the child’s education and health care needs. A document of this nature helps solidify both parties’ involvement and holds each accountable for what they’ve agreed to do on the child’s behalf. Additionally, it helps prevent disagreements or misunderstandings that could lead to arguing in front of the child/children, a scenario to avoid as much as possible. While a divorce may present logistical obstacles for one or both parents, it is critical to work toward maintaining the child’s existing friendships and activities, even if they require spending more time with one spouse over the other. For example, if your child’s best friend lives closer to your ex-spouse, accommodating the continuation of this close relationship will help your child maintain a sense of normalcy. The Risks of Reticent Relationships When the end of a marriage or relationship results in a breakdown in communication or cooperation, these fractured ties can have a potentially devastating impact on your child. Common effects of unhealthy co-parenting on children include reduced performance at school, lowered self-esteem, and difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships with others. If communication has devolved into acrimony or has resulted in either side failing to fulfill their parental duties, seeking counseling from a trained professional is one way to help steer the ship in the best possible direction for your child’s health and peace of mind.
SLOW COOKER BRISKET
Ingredients
• 1 (1-oz) envelope onion soup mix • 1 tbsp brown sugar • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper • 1 3-lb piece of beef brisket (flat cut)
• 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces • 1 lb baby golden potatoes • 3 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces • 1 large sweet onion, cut into 8 wedges • 2 1/2 cups beef stock • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce • 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 8 fresh thyme sprigs • 8 whole garlic cloves • 2 bay leaves
Directions 1. In a small bowl, combine soup mix, sugar, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle over brisket. 2. Place meat, fat cap side down, into an 8-qt slow cooker. 3. Top brisket with thyme, garlic, bay leaves, carrots, potatoes, celery, and onion. 4. Whisk stock, Worcestershire sauce, and cornstarch until fully dissolved. Add to slow cooker. 5. Cover and cook on high for 5–6 hours until tender. 6. Remove to a cutting board, fat side up. Remove thyme and bay leaves. 7. Thinly slice brisket against the grain. 8. Serve with vegetables, drizzled with gravy from the slow cooker.
Inspired by ThePioneerWoman.com
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
1100 B Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas 78701 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
It All Started With a Mouse
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What Snooze Button? The Ingenious Ways People Used to Wake Up
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Who Knew Eating Could Get You in Legal Trouble?
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Slow Cooker Brisket
Divorce Isn’t Easy, but Co-Parenting Can Be
The Chocolate Event That Had Kids Crying, Not Smiling
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When AI Marketing Goes Horribly Wrong Willy’s Ruined Chocolate Experience
Never fail to deliver on a promise of chocolate to children.
(in some instances) a single jellybean served in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. The scenery was cheap, while the actors struggled to perform through hastily provided scripts. One character, The Unknown, was a masked and frighteningly attired figure that prompted youngsters to recoil and cry in fear. Perhaps most disturbingly, there was no chocolate to be found. Naturally, people called the police amid demands for refunds, and the lackluster affair was shut down. Subsequent revelations that creators used AI to generate the online marketing images and that the $44 event was not an officially sanctioned “Wonka” undertaking also brought into question House of Illuminati owner Billy Coull’s background, including his history of publishing AI-generated books on conspiracy theories and taboo subjects. Although Coull’s fraudulent and exploitative marketing scheme was reprehensible, it’s far from his worst transgression. Around the time House of Illuminati was shuttered in late 2024, he was forced to register as a sex offender after it was revealed he had followed up his “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” fiasco by sending unwanted explicit messages and images to an unidentified woman.
House of Illuminati, a London-based event company, learned this lesson the hard way when it hosted what angry parents and disappointed kids in Glasgow considered one of the biggest scams in children’s entertainment history. The disastrous day went from offering scant amounts of lemonade and jellybeans to prompting cries of terror and calls to Scottish police, and artificial intelligence was at least partially to blame. In early 2024, social media feeds in the U.K. were abuzz with vibrant images promoting “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” an immersive event boasting chocolate fountains, costumed characters, and “a day of pure imagination and wonder.” Naturally, people assumed the event was a tie-in with the then-recently released film “Wonka” and a nod to the imaginary world created by the classic 1971 movie “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.” Unfortunately, what attendees experienced when “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” arrived that February was far from a fairy tale. Instead of rivers of sweets, they were treated to half-filled cups of lemonade and
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