Texas Blue Mailbag: Week of 5/06/07

We open this week's Mailbag with a rare, behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the Texas Blue.

MC writes:

From where did TX Blue acquire the witty LBJ Says quotes?

I have found some collections on the Internet but some seem pejorative which I am trying to avoid.

Josh answers:

Basically, every Monday morning, we hit Google and start hunting. We keep track of which quotes we use so as to avoid repeats, but I'm sure there are some we like so much we'll end up running them twice. I have seen the kinds of material you refer to, but hey, it's LBJ — what are you going to do? There are a lot of general purpose websites out there with quote collections; just start out by searching for "LBJ quotes".

We like the LBJ Says sidebar because LBJ was a great Texan, a great Democrat, and a great President.

Jim asks if he can send a piece he saw here at the Texas Blue in to his local paper if he gives the original writer the credit.

George says:

Jim, we're usually happy to let others run our pieces elsewhere. Give us a call at the office, at (940) 382-1591, and we'll speak with the original author and work something out.

rabbit162 writes:

Mr. McLeod: Please comment on HB 3693's chances (Alternative Energy, etc.)

Josh replies:

Rabbit! I pass on your request, and I'm sure staff writer Patrick McLeod will be more than happy to address this. You can also contact any staff writer directly by clicking on their name and then hitting "Contact".

Anne writes:

Suggestion: I read the Martin Frost review with great interest. I want to print it out...but I do not want to have the article in the format you offer. The 4/5-word lines are difficult to read, and use more paper than necessary...for a hard copy. I really would enjoy THE TEXAS BLUE more if a more traditional typography were used -- both for speed and ease of reading and for economy of printing (saving paper , trees, landfill). That is, 12 to 18 words per line. Am I alone in this?

George answers:

No, Anne, you sure aren't! Our web size is designed to dynamically resize lines so they fit in your browser, which isn't such a hot feature when you're trying to print. Adding "print-friendly" capability to our posts has been one of the things at the top of our technology to-do list, and I'm happy to say it has finally been added. Now, if you click on the "printer friendly version" link at the bottom of any story, you'll get a version which should print out great on your printer. As an added bonus, any links in the story will be listed as footnotes to the story.

Thanks for the letters this week, and stay tuned next week. Excelsior, etc. (I should note: Josh wrote this closing; he's tired and loopy, and I just have a little too much cruelty in my heart to not leave this up, as well as the answer to friend Rabbit above, and have a little fun at his expense. —G.N. ed.)