So, it's a little scary how phases of your life disappear from view and when they come back they are entirely out of focus, the edges are gone, and there are some holes, some missing pieces; a loss of resolution if you like. So after Denis graduated from UAB he led a bit of an itinerant existence trying to find not just a job, but a job where he could get a sponsor who could help him extend his visa. As he traveled about, I would occasionally pitch in as a conduit for some documents, or some communications Lhe needed to make with the immigration office. I don't recall him going to Houston for a job, but as I was sifting through some of my old junk the other night I came across several letters from Denis - and Hitomi too - from Tampa, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Green Lane, Pa.(wherever the heck that is), and there they were: two from the Woodlands, Texas. So I opened one up and got a little tickled by the start of this one: "How's everything going back in Birmingham. Everything here is kind of weird. Everyone is a f*king vegetarian and so bloody stuck up and straight its scary." He goes on to explain that the "Hare Krishna nut" who runs the place thinks Denis is "not polished enough" and has his "defenses up". And Denis' reaction: "Of course I do, I don't fancy getting brainwashed. I tell you what this place is f*king weird." Within 3 weeks I got another letter from Philadelphia where he'd followed up a lead. Denis wasn't one to muck about, was he? When he made up his mind he acted quickly - bloody quickly.