The best way to browse through the exhibit is to use the remote control, a separate window that you can keep on the side of your screen and use to jump directly to any part of the site you like.

Story episodes are listed at the bottom of the remote control.

The bottom section of the remote control shows the two stories: "Back to Nature" and "Off to the Moon." The colored bars under each story title are individual episodes. To view an episode, click on its bar. The stories have a natural sequence to them, but you can hop and browse through them in any order, just as you can with a book.

Closer to the top of the remote control are the five exhibits. Each is indicated by a vertical bar.

Why? Each episode progresses chronologically, linearly -- horizontally. The exhibits cut through the stories, sometimes referring to various details in them, but following their own logic.

If you think like an architect, you can imagine the exhibits as section cuts (or slices) through the stories, revealing subtle connections. Or you can think of the episodes as stories in a building, and the exhibits as elevators -- that stop only at certain points on certain floors, to make a point.

Exhibits are listed at the top of the remote.

These abstractions and the connections between exhibits and stories won't matter much if you simply want to look through every exhibit and story from start to finish. But you may not have time to do that, or you might see an image that catches your attention and want to know more about it. Good!

Move the cursor over any image to see if related links are available.

If you see a photo you're interested in, anywhere in this site, move the cursor over it. A box that reads "Click image for related ideas" may appear. (Please note that not all images work this way -- yet.)

Choosing links from "related ideas" popups will allow you to move from story to exhibit and back again.

If you do see the box, click the mouse and a popup will appear, listing "related ideas." (If you have trouble reading the words on the popup, move the mouse and try clicking on the image again, in a different location.) These "related ideas" are links to other locations in Houston Wet. Some are exhibits, and some are stories. If you feel adventurous, click on one of these links.

Once you click, how will you know where you've ended up? If you've jumped to an exhibit, the background color of the page will match the corresponding exhibit color on the remote control. If you've jumped to a frame in an episode, the episode name will appear at the bottom. Click on that name to see an overview of the entire episode. You can always get back to where you came from by using the Back button on your browser.

The (horizontal) stories and (vertical) exhibits connect to each other through these "related ideas" popups. Sometimes the idea behind the connection will be obvious. Other times it may take a little more thought to figure it out. Sometimes the connection will have to do with the images themselves; other times it will involve the storyline or concepts described on the page.

If you see two images in the site that you think should be linked this way but aren't, let me know.

Pull-down menus at the top of the remote control will bring you back here, or to other information about the website.

If you want to get back to this page, or any of the introductory pages, or other material about the site, move your cursor over the words "about" or "adjust" or "help" at the top of the remote control, and select what you want from the menu that appears. If you lose the remote control, simply click on those words when you see them on any page (at the top right and bottom of this page, for example).

The division between story and exhibit in this website is, purposely, a bit messy. But the links between them are, in a sense, the point of the entire exercise. I hope you have as much fun as I've had, jumping from idea to story and back again, wandering through the site at your own pace, finding your own path, and imagining how it all works together.

Larry Albert
July 16, 2002

Photos at top of page: Flag at Rice Stadium, 1962. Courtesy Aubrey Calvin. Brownwood subdivision, 1994. Photo by Eric R. Shamp. Used with permission.