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kissphoria.bsky.social
gwen howerton
@kissphoria.bsky.social
17K followers 1.4K following 12K posts
texas culture reporter for @chron.com
native texan, aggie, astros fan, ⚧️
not related to the actor

📍houston
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kissphoria.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
Using the tool that "Move to Oklahoma" offers, I looked at what my cost of living would be if, on my modest salary of ~$60k a year, I moved from Houston to OKC. It'd be ~13.5% cheaper to live in OKC, which doesn't actually seem like that much? And I'd have to live in Oklahoma.
if i moved to oklahoma city from houston, my cost of living would be 13.55% lower. To maintain your current standard of living, you'll need a household income of: $51,867.66 Housing 28.04% Less Utilities 3.31% More Groceries 3.27% Less Transportation 9.70% Less Healthcare 1.28% Less Where does this data come from? Cost of living data is sourced from the Council for Community and Economic Research’s Cost of Living Index (COLI). Since 1968, C2ER, a leading economic research nonprofit, has been the gold standard in collecting and providing cost of living information across the United States.
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
failing cafe owners reveal one weird trick for boosting your town's tourism
The city looked to tourism and recreation as a major economy as early as 1929, when they opened a ski jump.[18] In 1962, the Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) Committee was formed in partnership with the University of Washington to investigate strategies to revitalize the struggling logging town. The idea to create a "Bavarian-Swiss" alpine theme town came from two Seattle businessmen, Ted Price and Bob Rodgers, who had bought a failing cafe at Coles Corner in 1960.[19] Price and Rodgers had chosen the theme based on the latter's experience in Bavaria while deployed by the U.S. Army during World War II; the cafe was renamed The Squirrel Tree and expanded with a motel and gift shop.[20] Price was chair of the Project LIFE tourism subcommittee, and in 1965 the pair led a trip to a Danish-themed town, Solvang, California, to build support for the idea.[12]
November 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
jacket is coming along nice
November 25, 2025 at 4:09 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
i wrote about the tension over public transit in North Texas. Just as DART finished a 26-mile light rail expansion through suburbs, 4 suburbs want to leave DART, arguing they don't get enough service. They want micro transit instead. What does it mean for the future of public transit in Texas?
DART hasn't been coy about what exits would mean for the rebel cities. If voters do decide to leave the system, DART services would shut off as soon as the day after the vote. That shiny Silver Line train, the one that DART just built? It would no longer make a stop in Plano. Paratransit riders across DART's 700-mile service area could see delays and cancelled rides. The Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail that runs from Fort Worth to Dallas, would speed right through its stops in Irving. Jeamy Molina, DART's Chief Communications Officer, told Chron that a "worst case scenario" where all four cities leave would have a massive impact on not just local transit users, but commuters across the region.
November 24, 2025 at 6:50 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
gig em
November 22, 2025 at 7:29 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
summed up my texans fandom:
Look, I have publicly said a lot of mean things about the Houston Texans. I've said that they're a fake NFL team, that their branding is bad, that the Texans will never win anything worthwhile and should be moved to Guangdong, China. But I said them with love, because I watched the first three games of the season and because I don't respond well to watching my sports teams lose. But after last night, I take it all back. Mills Mafia baby, let's go.
November 21, 2025 at 7:42 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
turns out i don't need to kms i just needed a haircut
November 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
yeah we're drinking the cocktails by Gary Crunkleton thecrunkleton.com/wp-content/u...
The Roycroft by Gary Crunkleton
November 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
my tdor ask.
it's trans day of remembrance i hate to do a notes app thing but i've been overwhelmed lately and wanted to put some thoughts down. you know me and you know im trans. i want you to know it is absolutely mind numbing to be trans right now. obviously there's a lot of hard and hurtful stuff going around. trans people are bearing a huge part of it. people smarter than me have said better and more thoughtful things about it so i'll leave you with a simple ask. be kind to us. be kind to the trans people in your life. we're out there. remember that we are people too, and our humanity is your humanity. love us. give us money and jobs and food and housing and places to sleep and buy our good art and buy our bad art and screw us if that's your thing. i'm friends with a lot of fellow journalists and my other ask is to please be thoughtful when you write about us and cover us. every day my friends and i read the news and learn about more things we've lost and more hardships coming our way. please find our good stories and give us grace. my heart hurts every day but especially today for my sisters and brothers and siblings, the people i know who are alive and the people i don't know who died. they should all be with us. i know the light at the end of the tunnel is coming. i know a kinder world that's gentler on people who don't fit in is on the way. i can see the rough outlines of it. i know it's on its way. but it's hazy. and there's a lot of ground to cover between now and then. be good. live your best life and don't let anyone try to hurt you for it.
November 21, 2025 at 12:11 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
my wife was accosted by the Bills Mafia
November 20, 2025 at 11:18 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
im fucking crying dawg
November 20, 2025 at 8:05 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
you guys all buried the lead, he was a Bluesky poster 😭😭
According to a release from the Department of Justice, Vance went by the alias ‘Diaperjdv’ on Bluesky and made specific threats against four different people. In one message, the DOJ said he did not care whether he was shot by the Secret Service or would spend the rest of his life in prison for his actions.
November 19, 2025 at 8:55 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
That campaign also includes this billboard I saw this weekend.
A billboard reading: "ARLINGTON, TEXAS.... where CIVIL RIGHTS are negotiable" www.arlingtonstrikesout.com paid for by HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health
November 19, 2025 at 1:39 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
I happened to drive through Arlington this weekend. Here's one of the billboards local LGBTQ+ advocates have put up in Arlington.
November 19, 2025 at 12:46 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia has preliminarily enjoined about a dozen Texas school districts, including Conroe and Fort Worth ISDs, from displaying the 10 Commandments. They are to remove "any displays" of the Ten Commandments "presently erected" by Dec. 1
II. CONCLUSION For the forgoing reasons, the Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 42) is DENIED, and the Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. No. 4) is GRANTED. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants and their officers, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, servants, employees, successors, and all other persons or entities in active concert or privity or participation with them are PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from displaying the Ten Commandments pursuant to S.B. 10. The Court waives the bond requirement of Rule 65(c). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, by Monday, December 1, 2025, Defendants shall remove any displays of the Ten Commandments presently erected in any classrooms within their districts. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, by Tuesday, December 9, 2025, Defendants shall file an advisory certifying their compliance with this Order. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all future deadlines and proceedings in this case are STAYED pending the resolution of any appeal of this Order and the resolution of related cases pending before the Fifth Circuit. See Roake v. Brumley, No. 24-30706 (Sth Cir. 2024); Nathan v. Alamo Heights Indep. Sch. Dist., No. 25-50695 (5th Cir. 2025).
November 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
i need seratonin so we put the christmas tree up early
November 18, 2025 at 2:22 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
other mlb teams: we're signing a popular star to a longer term contract

astros: jose altuve's foot is fucked up but don't worry about it
November 18, 2025 at 1:12 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
what perfect album came out the year you turned 16?
puberty 2 by Mitski
November 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
here is a video i did about the texans who moved to russia to escape wokeness
November 17, 2025 at 2:27 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
found a relic of ancient history at the goodwill bins
November 16, 2025 at 5:46 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
a few other pics from yesterday
November 16, 2025 at 4:53 PM
kissphoria.bsky.social
photos i took of Dallas City Hall, which was designed by IM Pei
November 16, 2025 at 12:54 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
obsessed with this vaporwave ass photo i took at the dallas aquarium
November 16, 2025 at 12:49 AM
kissphoria.bsky.social
lmfao
A headline from CBS sports reading "Shane Beamer 'wanted to puke' after South Carolina's collapse at No. 3 Texas A&M"
November 15, 2025 at 11:28 PM