STAAR -- ISN'T A STAR

Let me hop straight to the most important piece in our April issue: Sarah Sorensen's article on standardized testing in our school system — what it is and the harm it causes. Sarah is our neighborhood’s SAISD board representative, and she’s been writing some great stuff for us every month. This is really worth a read.

ART, POETRY AND MUSIC

We’ve got a lot of great art this month.

Our cover image is by Barbara Felix. It’s part of a series Barbara painted, ‘Dancing with My Self’, and it’s my personal favorite out of several in that series that I really liked. 

Jane has put together an article about National Poetry Month, and that led her to our San Antonio Poet Laureate, Andrea ‘Vocab’ Sanderson, and that took her to another series by Barbara, entitled ‘The Glorious Way She Moves’, which included a portrait of Vocab. 

Jane was fascinated by the process Barbara used to create the works in that series, so she wrote about it.

And speaking of fascinating stories about how a work was created, read Al Rendon’s description of how he created the portrait of Conjunto artist Flaco Jiménez that is now in the collection of The Smithsonian.

Last month, we alerted our readers to the opening of the San Antonio Art League and Museum’s 92nd Annual Juried Exhibition. The exhibit is still going on. Read Peter Szarmach’s article about the art and the awards.

And once again, our music columnist, Tommy Newman of Southtown Vinyl, has a really fun piece. This time its about a weird record store and record label.

WALKING

Walking is good for you, whether you do it alone, with friends, or with your pup.

I enjoyed reading Nancy Diehl’s piece about the value of walking for your dogs — she mentions four good reasons to walk your pup, and I have to admit that the fourth one hadn’t occurred to me.

Walking is also a fun group activity, and there’s a great group walk coming up here in the neighborhood next month. This one even includes free admission to the Beethoven Männerchor’s Maifest. Let Andy Thomas tell you about it.

FOOD AND WINE

Jen Beckmann of Re:Rooted has another fascinating piece about Texas wine, and, more specifically, the right wine to pair with your Texas barbecued brisket.

Of course, no issue of LNF Weekly would be complete without a recipe or two.

For something quick and fun, our recipe editor, Patricia Ortiz, has written up her ‘go to’ recipe for feeding friends who drop in, crispy tacos.

If you’re willing to invest more time, I’ve included my interpretation of the Tartine Bakery country sourdough bread. This recipe, in four parts, tells you everything you need to know, including how to create your own puro Southtown sourdough starter.

Part 1: The basics

Part 2: Creating a starter

Part 3: Mixing dough

Part 4: Baking

Two things about this recipe: First, if you try it, I'd like to hear about your experience, and second, if you have trouble getting your starter to...  well, start... let me know and I'll give you some of mine.