John Defends His Dissertation

John did a super job defending his PhD dissertation on April 3. Actually, he did a super job on the research and dissertation. His boss/professor said he attended a conference recently with five Nobel winners in attendance. Four of the Nobel laureates approached him with questions about John's work specifically. It is really a breakthrough in the way medical research is done. I'd explain more, but 1) I would probably be incorrect, and 2) I don't want to take the wind out of any sails by posting anything on this blog.













John and his boss, Tom. We're very proud of John.



















John gave a one-hour presentation to his boss/professor and three-member committee, family (Caroline, Misa, the Crawfords, Chieko and me), and several peers. After the presentation we had to leave while the professors questioned John for another hour. Of course John passed.













Traditionally the PhD candidate's professor takes the successful candidate for drinks. Instead, Misa planned a reception in the school's 7th-floor atrium. This was much nicer than drinks.













This is the University of Texas Southwestern south campus. A shuttle runs between the north and south campuses along the ramp in the background.













The north campus is most of the buildings in the background, as well as the Parkland Hospital, where John F. Kennedy was taken when he was shot in downtown Dallas.



















Would you pay $19 for six cupcakes? You would if you bought them at Sprinkles. They were good. Three were red velvet, two were chocolate, and one was vanilla with chocolate. Chieko thinks they were worth the price. I think you have to do these things once.













The first thing I saw when we arrived at the Astles'.



















Elliot's karate lesson.













The downtown Irving mustangs.



















On Saturday morning we went to the King Tut exhibit. No pictures were allowed in the exhibit, but this is outside the building, in the Dallas art district.













After King Tut we rode a trolley to an area with a bunch of restaurants and ate fish and chips at an outdoor Irish pub. This was near the trolley stop, in front of a building in the art district. Caroline has a Tut-replica mirror in the shape of the "ankh" (which means "life" or "eternal life").













The bluebonnets (Texas state flower) are just coming into bloom.













If you've never been to Fry's, you need to go. It's a huge electronics store that sells everything from electric shavers to vacuum cleaners to video cameras, computers, and computer parts. The prices aren't great, but you can find anything. But only if you know what you're looking for--the workers often don't know much about anything. I think the store originated in California in old Incredible Universe stores. In the Texas version you get the longhorns.













Before our flight on Sunday, we went to the Water Gardens in Fort Worth.
Caroline.













Elliot.













Mei.














The water gardens have a couple of large pools. One has water running down rock walls into a river-like bottom, and narrow steps lead to the bottom of the pool.













Caroline.













The Forth Worth Water Garden also has a "mountain."

Challenge:















While at the Water Gardens I found an SD memory card with 180 pictures on it. I think the girl on the left is Yesenia Avelar. She appears in many of the pictures and may be the owner of the camera. I can't make out the logo on the jacket--possibly a school uniform. Other pictures have a wedding, older people, a young family, a cathedral or mission, and an amusement park or carnival.















The pictures look like they were taken outside the U.S., likely in Latin America. If you are a super sleuth and can give me some hints for finding the owner of these pictures, please let me know.