Texas Monthly May 2019

We’ve got ourselves a big state to cover here at Texas Monthly. But that task sometimes requires us to trace the threads of narratives that extend far outside our borders. Consider this month’s feature “Sabika’s Story” (page 84), timed to the first anniversary of the shootings at Santa Fe High School, just south of Houston. ¶ When our staff discussed how we might learn more about that tragic day, features director J. K. Nickell suggested we inquire about Sabika Sheikh, a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan who was one of the victims. Executive editor Skip Hollandsworth then discovered a compelling angle on the story, in Sabika’s friendship with Jaelyn Cogburn, an evangelical Christian. ¶ As the anniversary of the shootings approach and the TV networks gear up to rerun year-old…

“I CONCEDE THAT THE BUC-EE’S MEN’S RESTROOM IS SO ENORMOUS THAT IT’S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE ANY CRISIS THAT WOULD REQUIRE GENTS TO QUEUE UP FOR A NUMBER ONE OR TWO. I PRESUME THE LADIES’ ROOM IS EVEN MORE COMMODIOUS.” To Beaver … My aunt Maureen sent me your Buc-ee’s article [“Buc-ee’s Goes Big,” March 2019]. The “cult” of Buc-ee’s caught my eye, because it truly has a cult following in our family. This past month my aunt and uncle drove down to escape the Chicago temperatures, and they teased me with selfies in front of the bronze Buc-ee. So of course I then put my order in for my favorite jerky and BBQ rubs. Lol. MARY BRIDGET GRAHAM, CHANNAHON, ILLINOIS The first time my family entered Buc-ee’s, we were on our way to Port…

What is a photograph made of? What happens when we enhance photography’s relationship to chance? These questions drive the work of artist Barry Stone. Stone is a professor in Texas State University’s School of Art and Design. He explores photography through databending: modifying the code of a digital photo to introduce visual aberrations or glitches. Stone began this photographic practice after a period working in a more tangible medium: collage. “Doing collage work, you’re dealing with materiality: paper, film, and so on,” he says. “What is the material of digital photography? It’s the code.” Stone’s innovation is in relating this digital “material” to photography’s analog history. All photography is based on capturing light. A light-sensitive surface in a film camera records patterns chemically; in a digital camera, light hits a sensor that translates…

Although hostels aren’t as common in this country as they are in other parts of the world, about a dozen have opened across Texas in the past decade. Apart from their reasonable cost—an average nightly rate is $30—hostels are an attractive alternative to hotels and Airbnbs because they offer a sense of community, making them ideal for solo travelers and small groups. Many offer a few private rooms, but the norm is dorm room–style lodging—i.e., bunk beds and communal bathrooms—which brings together strangers from around the world. But not all hostels are the same. Some offer more of a boutique-hotel experience, while others focus on great food and drink and live music. Here are three hostels worth checking into. 1. DEEP ELLUM HOSTEL, DALLAS Named for the trendy downtown Dallas district it…

The first time Deidre Mathis traveled abroad, she was hooked. A trip to the Dominican Republic when she was nineteen left her with a strong case of wanderlust. As a young black woman, she often felt out of place when traveling, but she kept going, racking up 42 stamps on her passport and eventually parlaying her global adventures into a business: Wanderstay Houston, the first black-owned hostel in the state. Since she opened Wanderstay, in December, Mathis has welcomed over six hundred guests, from as far away as England, Australia, and Spain, and she isn’t done yet. She plans to open two more hostels over the next few years. At Wanderstay, Mathis greets each guest by name and has a recommendation ready in seconds when they ask her where to…

Remember that book Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)? Well, Austin barbecue savant Aaron Franklin and wine and food writer Jordan Mackay, the James Beard Award winners who wrote 2015’s Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto, have done for steak what David Reuben did for the boudoir. Their recently published Franklin Steak: Dry-Aged. Live-Fired. Pure Beef (Ten Speed Press) is enormously entertaining, beautifully shot by Wyatt McSpadden, and chock-full of tips. When you finish reading it, not only will you know how to choose a steak, dry-age it at home, and enhance its flavor with sauces such as Perky Red Wine (see right), but you will find your head delightfully stuffed with trivia. Did you know that all modern cattle might be descended from…