Valentine's Day has come and gone, which means there's been a mad dash through Walgreens and CVS for marked-down candy and hearts. But that's not the only way to have budget-friendly fun in the Bayou City: The tiny house craze is coming to HCCC, we've got a look at big data compiled from insane asylums, and a UHD prof has been burning the midnight oil as a filmmaker. And, for those keeping an eye on the headlines, be sure to check out Wednesday's book signing (hint: It mentions border and race relations). Keep reading for ten of our favorite events that won't cost you more than $10 — and nine of them are free! Check out the Houston Press calendar for even more things to do.

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This Thursday marks the first ever Craft Social, but it won't be the last. Come back the third Thursday of each month for creative crafting with craft beer.

Photo courtesy of Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

Craft Social
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, free
For its inaugural "let's make crafts while drinking craft beer" event, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is drawing inspiration from the itty-bitty, tiny works of art on view in its "Pocket Museum" exhibit. Come hang out with friends both old and new, enjoy the best from Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. and build your own miniature house with resident artist Amber Marie Smith. Props to Art Supply on Main Street for providing the materials and to the students of the Rice Architectural Society for lending their models as inspiration.

Curator of Collections Paul R. Davis says that Dolo's works on view at The Menil Collection include "wonderful masks that will really capture people's attention."

Photo courtesy of Amahigueré Dolo

Of the World: In Conversation with Artist Amahigueré Dolo
The Menil Collection
7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, free
While The Menil Collection is offering up a fresh look at 80 objects created by the Dogon peoples in the '50s and '60s, the Menil is also adding context by exhibiting work by artists in present-day Mali. Amahigueré Dolo is internationally recognized for his expressive wood forms and drawings on crumpled cement paper, and the "ReCollecting Dogon" exhibit includes Dolo's 2007 installation, Components of the World (Adouron Bew) — the first time it has been viewed in an American museum. In this public program, presented in both French and English, learn about Dolo's installation as well as other works with Curator of Collections Paul R. Davis and art historian Jessica Hurd.

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Books by Theodore M. Porter include The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900, Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life and Karl Pearson: The Scientific Life in a Statistical Age.

Photo courtesy of Professor Theodore M. Porter

Insane Asylums and Genetics: How Human Heredity Became a Data Science
University of Houston, 232 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, free
From the dark recesses of 19th- and 20th-century insane asylums – a horrific time in caregiver history that sometimes included skull drills, straitjackets and inhumane treatments – emerged a new hope to seek out and eliminate the causes of insanity. Learn how the meticulous record-keeping of asylum doctors, the tracing of family trees and the calculating of odds led to a new data science. This UH Ethics in Science lecture is presented by Theodore M. Porter, professor of history at UCLA, who is about to release his latest book, tentatively titled The Unknown History of Human Heredity.

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While not busy with his day job as UHD's interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, Ed Hugetz has also co-directed, produced and edited numerous films that have been screened and broadcast around the globe.

Photo courtesy of University of Houston-Downtown

The Alligator-Horses Ed Hugetz Film Festival
University of Houston-Downtown
5:30 p.m. Friday, free
Who knew? Buttoned-up administrator by day, avant garde filmmaker by night. Come view clips from five of Ed Hugetz's flicks: Alligator-Horses, an exploration of 1830s America; The De La Peña Diary, featuring the journal of a soldier serving under General Santa Anna; and To Put Away the Gods, about the Lacondan Maya Indians. Also scheduled are two films very near and dear to H-Town: Who Killed The Fourth Ward? and Who Will Stand With The Fourth Ward? A reception begins at 5:30 p.m., with refreshments and dinner at 6. The screening follows in the O’Kane Theatre and includes discussions led by UHD faculty and Hugetz. RSVP to Julie Norton at nortonj@uhd.edu.

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Come wear red to the opening reception Friday night for a chance to win a work of art. Shown: Mouth No. 34 (detail), by Lisa Krannichfeld, on view in the "St. Valentine" group exhibition at Zoya Tommy Gallery.

Photo by Lisa Krannichfeld

"St. Valentine" Group Exhibition
Zoya Tommy Gallery
6 to 9 p.m. Friday, free
In honor of the annual holiday that celebrates romantic love in the secular form, while still tracing its roots to the early Christian martyr Saint Valentine, come view works by three artists (Clara Grace Hoag, Thedra Cullar-Ledford and Lisa Krannichfeld) who have explored femininity through different – and sometimes controversial – perspectives. Forrest Prince also is showing assemblages that convey God's infinite love for His vulnerable children on earth. Be sure to wear red at this opening-night reception for a chance to have your name added to the lottery and, even if you didn't get lucky on Valentine's Day, you might score a work of art.

Former MI6 officer Thomas Kell is faced with an impossible choice when the threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack looms over Britain. Meet author Charles Cumming when his U.S. tour for The Divided Spy brings him to Murder By The Book.

Author photo courtesy of MacMillian Book Group

The Divided Spy book signing
Murder By The Book
5:30 p.m. Saturday, free
Charles Cumming, the New York Times bestselling author of Fair Game, is back with another gripping spy thriller. In The Divided Spy, Thomas Kell finds himself bitter, angry at the Kremlin and fed up with the spy game. But when an opportunity for revenge presents itself, the former MI6 officer gets caught up in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. The London-based author will be in Houston to discuss his book and sign copies at Murder By The Book.

Array, a site-specific installation at Art League Houston by {exurb}, utilized 47 networked LCD monitors that mined text from headline news and interacted with movement in the space.

Photo by Ronald Jones, courtesy of Galveston Arts Center

Conversations @ The Center: {exurb}
Galveston Arts Center, Galveston
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, free
Their work is a mash-up of sculpture, multimedia and music, but then the artists behind {exurb} mix in some programming, electrical engineering and mumbo jumbo to make their multi-sensory masterpieces like Wave Forms, Topologies and Array. Patrick Renner, Stephen Kraig and Sam Singh are part of the collective and, for GAC's second lecture series of the season, we'll hear from {exurb} co-founder Eric Todd, with a possible appearance by co-founder Jonny DiBlasi. Learn about their ever-present "inquiry into the magic of technology or the technology of magic."

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(L) Willis Barnstone, author of more than 70 books of scholarship and poetry, is a poet, memoirist, translator, Hispanist and comparatist. (R) Tony Barnstone is a poet, author, essayist, literary translator and author of 18 published books.

Photos courtesy of the Rothko Chapel

"Concept of the Divine" Poetry Reading and Conversation
Rothko Chapel
7 p.m. Tuesday, free (suggested donation of $10)
In spite of its large size, Houston sometimes feels like a small town, especially when we start to take notice of coincidences and our interconnectedness. One of the architects who helped design the Rothko Chapel was Howard Barnstone and, in the next iteration of Rothko's "Concept of the Divine" series, we'll hear from three poets from the Barnstone family tree: Willis Barnstone (brother of Howard), Aliki Barnstone and Tony Barnstone. They'll each read from their collection of work, examine their own personal concept of the divine, and engage in conversation with each other and audience members.

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The ReelAbilities Film Festival runs February 19-23 at Edwards Greenway. Tuesday's free screenings include Margarita with a Straw at 4 p.m. and Stilts & Spokes at 7 p.m.

Still of Stilts & Spokes courtesy of ReelAbilities Film Festival

ReelAbilities Film Festival: Stilts & Spokes
Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24
7 p.m. Tuesday, free
Putting laughter into focus, the ReelAbilities Film Festival continues with an evening screening of Stilts & Spokes, a comedic documentary that follows Jay Cramer after he falls off a boulder, breaks his neck and finds himself a quadriplegic. In this heartfelt and entertaining film, we see him rebound to win the Los Angeles Funniest Comic competition and fall in love with a fellow rehabber, an above-the-knee amputee sprinter. Together the couple goes on to inspire millions. Stay after for a special (and free) laughter yoga session with Lanie Diamond from 8:30 to 9 p.m.

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New York author Karl Jacoby is a professor of history and ethnic studies at Columbia University. His latest, The Strange Career of William Ellis, offers a fascinating look at the history of Texas and Mexico around the time of the Civil War.

© Author photo by Deborah Lopez

The Strange Career of William Ellis: The Texas Slave Who Became a Mexican Millionaire book signing
Brazos Bookstore
7 p.m. Wednesday, free
Survival comes in many forms. When former slave William Ellis realized that, even after emancipation, too many doors were closed to him, he went on to plan B. Although he was African-American, his appearance was ambivalent and he channeled the Spanish learned in childhood to reinvent himself as a Mexican named Guillermo Eliseo. Suddenly able to travel in first-class train berths, overnight at swanky hotels and dine at the finest restaurants, he eventually amassed a hefty property portfolio, including a Central Park apartment and an office on Wall Street. Although it’s set during the Reconstruction era, the focus on race relations and the U.S.-Mexico border makes this story even more relevant today. Author Karl Jacoby will discuss and sign copies of his book at Brazos Bookstore.

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