Saturday afternoon Elsa, Travis, Liz and Vann drove up from Houston. Together the six of us had an informal Christmas celebration along with a few Dance Central dance-offs via the Xbox Kinect. Later that evening we headed South of College Station to enjoy the sights and sounds of Santa’s Wonderland. This local holiday-attraction features lots of live-music, food, and a hayride through it’s Christmas light display.
Catherine (coworker and friend) and I share several geekie interests including Doctor Who and Harry Potter. Recently, she convinced me to become a beta-tester for the online-world of Harry Potter known as Pottermore. In this on-line version of the Hogwarts’ experience, each member is sorted into one of the houses of the school. I was placed in Hufflepuff. Friday night, Catherine and her husband Jarrett held a Christmas party and those Catherine recruited into Pottermore had to come dressed in their house colors. I wore a black Doctor Who shirt…double the geekness. We had a great time at Catherine’s “house” party.
After Esteban and Kelly’s party, Ruben and I drove to a little Karaoke place called Ginji to meet Elsa, Travis, Liz and Vann for a few drinks, laughs…and some poor but valiant
attempts at singing. We’ll never appear on “The Next American Idol”, but we definitely had fun and enjoyed some good Japanese cuisine.
Saturday evening Ruben and I drove down to the Heights in Houston to attend our second Christmas party of the season. Esteban and Kelly opened their home to friends and family for a fun little holiday gathering. A good time was had by all.
It’s been too long since Ruben and I saw Melissa, Sara, or Nathan. Thankfully, they had some free time to visit with us while they were in Texas visiting family. The last time we saw them face-to-face was in the spring of 2009 when we went skiing in Denver. I can’t believe how tall Nathan is. He’s now 6-foot tall at the age of thirteen and Sara has already started driving! They grow up too fast.
Once again, students worked around the clock at the Viz Lab to finish their animation and video projects for the end-of-semester fall-shows. Wednesday evening we showcased the work of the undergraduate students. Before the animation show began, I was totally surprised when I was presented with my twenty-year-service-pin. Seriously, I was surprised. My first reaction/thought was “it can’t be twenty-years….I’m not that old!”
OK, let the Christmas holiday fun begin. The month of December started off with the College of Architecture Holiday Party. Coworkers, family, and friends gathered at a place on Northgate called Daisy Duke’s to celebrate the season. Afterward, Ruben and I had a blast spending the rest of the evening playing games with friends at Catherine and Jarrett’s new home.
This month saw the end to another semester of teaching the digital photography course (ARTS-310). It’s become a popular class and usually fills within an hour of being open for registration. I’ve doubled the size of my class for next semester and moving into a larger space. The more I teach, the more I learn. The students keep me on my toes and I enjoy the challenge. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the students who took the fall-section of ARTS-310.
