Derek’s graduation

Derek graduated from the University of Houston with a MFA (Master’s of Fine Arts) in graphic design on May 10. It was a three-year program, so it’s been a long time coming. Derek would tell you that the three years went by too fast, but I would tell you that it was entirely too slow. But overall, looking back, it flew by like *snaps fingers*

The school had a live stream of the ceremony, so family back home got to watch it as well. In fact, Derek somehow made into just about every single camera shot. I was getting texts from my mom throughout the ceremony: “I can see Derek!” “I can see him again!” It made them feel like they were actually there in the audience.

The ceremony went by in a blur. At this point, over a month later, I cannot remember much of what was said. I can tell you that Chandra Wilson, who plays Dr. Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy (one of my favorite shows!) was the commencement speaker! That was exciting in itself.

I can tell you that I did cry, a lot! I got a seat right on the floor in the front row, and Derek walked right past me during the opening of the ceremony. I managed to hold it together while I snapped a few photos, and then I lost it. Buckets of tears! Good tears though.

Now we’re in a strange limbo, while we wait for Derek to get a job. I hope everything works out for the best; he has worked so hard.

Here are photos from the day:

MFA Thesis Exhibition

All of the students at University of Houston graduating with a master of fine arts put on a show of their artwork, the MFA Thesis Exhibition. Derek has been working toward this show for the entire three year program.

The opening reception for the show was held last night, and we both had a great time. Derek’s pieces in the show seemed to be a big hit, and attracted a lot of attention all night long. Some of the elements were hands on, so Derek was happy a lot of people got involved.

Derek’s artwork in the show as a whole looked at the history of mass media and the early press, and various problems that arise during different times in history.

The individual pieces in the show included: (these are his words, not mine!)

• Three abstract pieces that are speculations on the future of virtual reality technology. 
• A roll of paper that features tweets from the @TEN_GOP twitter account, which was a fake account that effected American politics in 2016. For the tweets, Derek needed to make his own emoji font in order to print the tweet collection. The roll of paper is 72 feet long!
• A sentence on the wall, made with vinyl, which is the definition of the graphic design term, gestalt, which Derek compares to the long-term, emergent effects of mass media.
• Two recordings, one explaining his work, and the second was the original 1938 broadcast of the War of the Worlds by Orson Welles. Though its possible that the panic that this broadcast caused was exaggerated, it is one of the earliest case studies in the effects of mass media.
• Pamphlets that he has created from historical documents from the 1600s to today. There is a book binder machine, and Derek invites people to take some of the pamphlets and make their own books from them.

It was so great to see people coming up to Derek all night long and shaking his hand and hugging him, students, classmates, friends and professors. It was good to see some classmates that I’ve come to known over the past few years.

I even met the wife of one of the classmates, for the first time in the whole three years, and she said, “I have heard so much about all of you!” to which I replied, “We have heard so much about you too!”

There was a toast to all of the graduates in the show, and when everyone was applauding, I tried so hard not to cry. I succeed for the time being, but both Derek and I agree that there will be no stopping the tears during graduation.

Some of my friends from work, who have become friends of Derek too, came to the show. It was great to have their support too.

The pamphlet binding part of his show was a success, and lots of people took pamphlets home. Everyone seemed to be in awe of the roll of tweets too. Someone came up to Derek and said his work was “brilliant.”

About two months ago, Derek was extremely stressed out, but then everything just clicked and came together rather quickly. The last two weeks were hard, getting everything put together and set up, but that big hurdle is done now. Last night was a great way for everyone to say, “WE DID IT!” In the meantime, Derek, and the other exhibitors, have to give artist talks next week about their work. He also has two write two big papers for another class. Graduation is 41 days away!

Reflection and worries

Do you ever find yourself needlessly worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet, and it might not happen at all?

This is the story of my life. Worry is a family trait that has been passed down through the female generations. I feel like I have been trying to talk myself out of going over an anxiety cliff the past two days.

Derek starts his last semester of school next week. We are 120 days away from graduation. He has started to apply to professor jobs.

We both have said all along that we wanted to stay in Houston, but we will move if he gets a good offer. Therefore he is applying to schools elsewhere in the country. If anything, he said, it would be good interview experience.

On Sunday night he finished up an application to (school name withheld) in a semi-rural snowy mountain town. The deadline was Monday. I had no idea that he had intended on applying there until he was in the process.

All Sunday night I tossed and turned dreaming about what life would be like in “snowy mountain town.” I’m not entirely convinced that I could be happy there.

On Monday morning, I convinced myself to calm down, and that this was only the first step in a long process. We probably wouldn’t hear anything back for a few months yet. But then Derek texted me and told me that the school had contacted him, and they wanted to do a Skype interview. I felt like a weight suddenly came down on my chest, and I had trouble breathing. The anxiety was back. I never thought anything would happen so soon. Am I really going to have to move to “snowy mountain town?”

I’m trying to talk myself off that ledge again. He says he thinks it went well, but it was only one interview.  Maybe he will go through a second round of interviews, maybe not. Maybe he won’t get any offers, and he will have to work at a Houston area design firm for a while while being an adjunct professor (meaning contracted for one class at a time), and then try again in a few years.

He still has to apply to the other positions, including one at the University of Houston. I think I would have less anxiety over the prospect of moving to the other discussed locations, but I still have to face the thought of moving at all.

Plan A was to stay in Houston for at least another three to five years. Packing up in July would come too quickly. I am in a really good place myself career wise, and I have gotten a group of good friends. I would feel uprooted at the wrong time. There are still things that I want to do in Houston and in Texas that we haven’t done yet. I do not want to leave anything unfinished.

I’m concerned about putting ourselves (and our cats!) though another cross country move and the stress that comes along with it.

But on the other hand I love the sense of adventure. I feel like I was always meant to move around.

What to do? I do not like feeling not in control. I was not meant to take it one day at a time but that is my only option for now. I am hoping that Derek gets a great offer and that we feel comfortable in making a decision!

30th birthday activities

Another year has come and gone. This birthday is a little more meaningful than most, because I am now 30. I was initially depressed when the day arrived. Let’s be real, I was actually depressed all summer long by the thought of the impending day.

It was rough to see all of the surprise 30th birthday pictures and events on my Facebook feed from friends, but I had to remind myself of all the quietly passed birthdays that did not make it to social media.

I felt like my birthday was doomed from the start, being on a Wednesday, also being the day that Derek has a night class. I did not expect much the day of, and so we planned to go out to dinner during the weekend.

I was pleasantly surprised though; my co-workers made sure I had a nice day.  There were cards to open, and my co-worker Tracy brought in a cookie-cake and balloons tied down with a tea mug. I share my birthday with my boss, so we all shared the cookie together.

That night, I went to Cavenders and I bought a new pair of cowboy boots for myself. I wore them the next day and I got a few compliments, including from a stranger at the grocery store!

On Friday night, Derek and I attended UH’s College of the Art’s Party at the Grove. It was an open house event for all of the art programs. It was nice to get out of the apartment for the night, and see some of Derek’s classmates and professors. One of the activities was a sketch artist, so Derek and I got our portraits done. I thought they came out well!

On Saturday night we went out to dinner. I picked the Black Labrador, a British pub. This is a restaurant that we have passed many times. The outside of the restaurant LOOKS like England. There is a phone booth, a Union Jack flag hanging, and lots of greenery and ivy.

The inside carried the theme well. We opened the front door and were greeted by a mannequin dressed like a Buckingham Palace guard. We both ordered burgers and got spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer. The food was great. We will most likely come back here again.

I’m trying to feel better about being 30, because why worry anymore now that the birthday has passed? Derek and I are both successfully working at our goals, and I guess my life is in as good as a position as I can be right now. I know that by the time I am 31, life will be totally different, in a great way.

Derek at the University of Houston

I have written all about our day to day life and our little adventures on Texas Tales for two years now, but I realized that I hardly ever mention what Derek is up to at school, which is the number one reason why we moved here in the first place.

Derek is starting his third and final year in the graphic design masters program. I am impatient and I want the year to go by fast, and he is the opposite. He wants it to s-l-o-w down.

This year he will be quite busy. He has to spend the whole year working on a thesis project. He has narrowed down the topic he wants to do the project on, now he just has to just figure out exactly WHAT to do. The third year students will have a thesis show at the end of the school year in the spring.

The University of Houston has provided Derek with some great opportunities, but he has also chased a few opportunities on his own time as well.

Derek has taught two graphic design software classes to undergrads. This opportunity is offered to the best students during their second year of the masters program. He will continue to teach this year as well. In addition, an unexpected teaching opportunity popped up as well. There were some summer openings, so Derek, along with one of his classmates, taught a six-week summer software class.

Derek also was the Teachers Assistant for one of his professors last year, and was set to do that again this year for a print production class. However, this professor was recently named the interim associate dean, which is making her extremely busy. She has trusted Derek enough to let him teach the class on his own! This is perfect, because when Derek was in the workforce (seems like ages ago) his job was in print production! He is excited to get this class started.

Last fall, Derek submitted a pitch for a session at the National College Media Convention in Dallas, and his pitch was picked! We went to Dallas for the weekend and he spoke to college students about typography.

Derek, and one of his classmates, also submitted a research poster for GRaSP (Graduate Research and Scholarship Projects). The event showcases research taking place at UH and is typically a STEM event (science, technology, engineering and math), so it was new for a graphic designer to join. It gave the graphic design program good publicity.  Here is a link to an article about the event:https://www.uh.edu/kgmca/about/news/2017/11-01-grasp-research-posters.php.

He also spent a year working for Gulf Coast Journal, which is a literary magazine that is published on campus. He helped design pages of the magazine. He was specifically recommended for the job, because of his magazine experience, and was able to get class credits for this.

All of this reinforces the idea that moving to Houston was a good thing. Derek hopes to be a professor after graduation. We are hopeful because there are plenty of higher education places in the city.

Family visits Texas

My family (my parents and my Aunt) were here for a week. My dad had moved us to Houston, and my Aunt visited last October for a long weekend, so they already knew what to expect somewhat, but this was my mom’s first time to the Lone Star State.

We had a full itinerary with multiple things to do every day. I did NOT bring my camera, which was refreshing, since I had already done everything before, and did not need photos of the same things. So, this post will be photo free, and more of a review of what we did. Many of the activities that we did are featured in previous blog posts.

The first thing that we did that ended up being a hit with everyone was dinner at the Gorgeous Gael, an Irish Pub in Rice Village. We ended up doing this the last night too.

We went to Old Town Spring, where mom and dad loved The Little Dutch Girl shop and we also went to Hermann Park and rode the train.

Thursday was a full day at the Rodeo. That was the one thing everyone was looking forward to the most. The highlight was seeing sixteen piglets that were born just 12 hours before! Everyone was amazed at the size of everything. My Aunt expressed concern when we entered the grounds at 10:30 a.m. and the rodeo/concert wasn’t until 6:45 p.m., but we kept busy all day. None of my family had ever seen anything like a rodeo. Luke Bryan was the performer, and he was excellent. (Stay tuned for a separate post on the rodeo.)

On Friday we checked out the University of Houston, with Derek as the tour guide. Everyone was really impressed with the student union center, which is about 10 times the size as the one in Mansfield University. Then we headed to the zoo. The highlights, at least for me, are always the big cats. Mom was excited to see Shasta, the UH cougar mascot. Both times we visited the cougar enclosure, she was sleeping. All cats are the same, right?

On Saturday we walked around downtown. We checked out Discovery Green, and wandered the streets for mom and dad to get a feel of the city. They were shocked that there was hardly anyone around compared to New York City. We went to Allen’s Landing, the birth place of Houston, and caught the end of the Buffalo Bayou Regatta, (canoe and kayak race) so a free party was included. We also took them to the pop up location of Niko Nikos in Market Square Park, and introduced them to some Greek food. It was funny when my dad made me order, because he could not pronounce anything.

Sunday was a day in Galveston. We stopped at the Ashton Villa, a house where General Gordon Granger announced the end of the Civil War to the people of Texas on June 19, 1865. We also went to the Moody Aquarium, at my mom’s request, because she loves penguins. We caught the penguin feeding in the morning, which was cool to see. To be honest though, it was a small aquarium, so I do not think the money was worth it. At any rate though, I was glad to get to do something new. We also wandered the beach, drove around the historic east end district to ogle at all of the large houses, and shopped on the Strand.

Monday was a day trip to Waco. I will post about that separately. We went to Magonlia at the Silos for my mom, who is a Fixer Upper fan. We also went sightseeing here and there in downtown Waco.

Tuesday we stayed close to home, because we were all so exhausted from the day before. We went to La Madeline’s for breakfast and then we headed to the Galleria for some shopping. My mom and dad got a kick out of a revolving sushi bar in the food court! We dropped off my Aunt at the airport in the afternoon.

Wednesday was my parent’s last day. We hiked around the Arboretum and then we went back to downtown to check out the underground tunnels since they were closed when we went before on the weekend. We went right during lunch break rush, and my parents were amazed. We also stopped back at Rice Village, and walked around a couple of shops.

All in all it was a good trip, and I think my family had a good first impression of Houston, and the state of Texas. It might be a few years until they visit again, but I am sure I can easily come up with a whole new itinerary since there is never a shortage of things to do.

 

 

 

UH Football

Last month we went to our first University of Houston football game. It was an experience in itself!

There were fireworks, push-ups, flames, flags, and a mobile helmet, just to name a few!

To explain: When the team entered the stadium, there were flames on either side of them. Was not expecting that! UH celebrates touchdowns in a big way: Each time UH got a touch down, fireworks were shot off, and a group of ROTC students plus the mascots, Shasta and Sasha, did the number of pushups for the number of points that UH had on the board. Plus, the cheerleaders and a group of guys called “The Frontiersmen” run up and down the field with the Texas flag, and flags that spell out “HOUSTON COUGARS.” AND, as if this all weren’t enough already, a mobile helmet drives up and down the end zone!

The stadium is huge, compared to Mansfield University’s (where we got our bachelor degrees in Pennsylvania) tiny bleachers. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was at an NFL game!

The student section was wild! They really get into all of the cheers. Within a few minutes, I knew most of the basic cheers. “C-O-U-G-A-R-S… Who we talking about? We’re talking ’bout the cougars!” It helped sitting next to the band!

It was a great game, vs. Lamar Cardinals, and UH won! The downside of the game was that there was a lightning delay for almost three hours!!!! I have now learned that every time there is a lightning strike within eight miles of the stadium, there is a 30 minute delay. Once the game had finally resumed, about half the stadium had left, and it was getting so late that we could only stay until the end of the third quarter.

We are going to attempt to see a second game in November. Hopefully we will have better luck time-wise.

 

Texas bucket list

I’ve been making a list of all the things I want to do while we are in Texas. Here it is below:

Find good Tex-Mex to eat
Take pictures of Bluebonnets
See the Alamo in San Antonio
Go to the River Walk in San Antonio
See the Christmas lights at the River Walk
Weekend trip to Enchanted Rock
Go to a NY Giants game in Dallas
See where JFK was shot in Dallas
Go to a Houston Texans game
Go to a Houston Cougars game
Attend some sort of Super Bowl event/party
Weekend trip to Austin
See Waugh Drive Bat Colony fly at sunset
Visit Galveston on the weekends
Attend Dickens on the Strand Christmas event in Galveston
Go to Kemah Boardwalk
Visit the Space Center
Go to the Zoo
Visit the Museum of Natural Science
Visit the Holocaust Museum
Attend multiple days of the Livestock Show and Rodeo
Buy more cowboy boots
Attend some sort of event at NRG park (our apt. is nearby)

Some of these are simple – good Tex Mex and cowboy boots will be plentiful! Some of the further away things can be combined into one trip. The only thing that may be hard is to attend a NY Giants Game (born and raised third generation fan!) in Dallas, due to possible schedule conflicts. But I will do my best to cross everything off the list, and challenge myself to find many more new things to add.

Does anyone from the Houston area have any suggestions?