NPR News

Based strictly on her photos, you might not guess that Phyllis Galembo was born in New York. But after a few seconds on the phone, her accent says it all. "I'm not a very fashionable person if you look at me," she jokes — offering one self-deprecating reason why she might be so drawn to such elaborate ritual costumes.

A selection of her photos, focused on Africa, can be found in the April issue of National Geographic — a teaser, really, for all she's captured.

It's a popular idea in Texas that the Lone Star State — once an independent republic — could break away and go it alone. A few years ago, Texas Gov. Rick Perry hinted that if Washington didn't stop meddling in his state, independence might be an option. In his brief run for the White House, he insisted that nearly anything the feds do, the states — and Texas in particular — could do better.